Christmas Prep.

I have no idea regarding how Christmas family celebrations are going to happen this year. Currently in Ontario, only two households will be allowed to combine over the Christmas holidays. And people who live alone (like me) can visit one other family... so who do I visit? It's all such a rotten mess. 

All the usual End Of Year parties, dinners, lunches, get-togethers aren't happening. And I really don't want to spend a lot of time... or actually ANY time at all... doing Christmas shopping in person.

However, there are some Christmas preparations that have to happen regardless. I've done some on line shopping for toys (well, mostly LEGO!) for the grandies, and sorted out a major wrong delivery address for a parcel. I haven't put up a tree yet, but I did get the lights out of the basement for the tree outside. Weather should be good tomorrow so I'll put the lights up.

And of course, no Christmas is complete without cake.... if we can't visit, then I can happily eat this myself. It smells so good coming out of the oven. A dousing with some rum or sherry and then some almond marzipan icing. 

And it's time to make the 2020 linocut cards and get them to the Post Office. 

Another Year.... Another Decade

I had a birthday recently. It was one of those "milestone" birthdays. So we had a party. That's the best way to celebrate a birthday, any kind of birthday.
My family in England sent me some beautiful flowers. No idea what the long green ones are, but they are spiky. The bouquet included ornamental kale.... what could be better, a bouquet you can eat!

We used the community room at the village. The Bride and The Equestrienne worked so hard decorating the tables with a purple and white theme, while OlderSon appears to take the credit in this picture. The Bride decorated the vases, The Equestrienne provided the flowers. YoungerSon organised the photo slideshow and the music. Callum blew up the balloons. Family team work!
Food.... yes, lots of it. Samosas and pakoras from my favourite Indian bakery, spring rolls, spicy meatballs, a cheese tray, crackers, veggies and dip, French pastries, English trifle, all washed down with a choice of ice water, red or white wine, beer, spiced apple cider, coffee, tea.

A purple theme meant purple table cloths, purple streamers, purple candles on the birthday cake, and I even found the perfect purple scarf to wear with my purple top. As you can see.... there were a lot of candles, but luckily I had professional help close by to help me blow them out. We didn't have to call the Fire Department.

The Albert Street Four entertained us with two sets. I used to live on Albert Street, so I know them well. Lots of singalong songs, including my favourite song of all time..... The Teddybear's Picnic.
If you go down in the woods today......

Thank you to my wonderful family who organized the party and to all my family and friends who helped me celebrate. Next birthday party in 10 years. Everyone's invited.
Which "milestone" birthday was it? Well, look carefully and you might find a clue.

4 + 4 = 8

Yep, another year (or should that be two?) has gone by in the life of the twinnies.

Mummy planned a chocolate layer cake, but before she had a chance to put it together, the twins came into the kitchen asking "which one is mine?" so they had a cake each. 

Happy, happy, happy.

Back to Europe trip pics in next post!

Rainbow Cake

I celebrated a birthday a while ago.... actually it was back in November. We had a small family gathering to mark the occasion. It wasn't a particularly significant number, that comes later this year, and may require some partying.
But my lovely DIL The Equestrienne thought it was significant enough to make me this fantastic Rainbow Cake!

Sunglasses optional while eating it!

Four!

Isaac celebrated three fourth birthdays this year. Yes.... THREE!

The first 4th birthday was celebrated at his Montessori Pre-school classroom a week early. He was the V.I.P. for the morning and got to sit on the Birthday Chair while all the other children sat on the floor and sang to him and were allowed to ask him questions such as "What is your favourite animal?" (giraffe) "What is your favourite car?" (taxi).

And the fancy birthday cake is cardboard.... it gets recycled for every birthday!

Unfortunately the teachers lighter had run out of fuel and he had to pretend to blow the candles out. But he didn't mind!

The second 4th birthday was celebrated at the weekend with a family BBQ in the back yard. This time the cake was real, and so were the candles.

There's nothing better than a chocolate cake covered with multicoloured Smarties.

It was a nice sunny day and the paddling pool and the garden hose got a lot of use.



The third 4th birthday was on his actual birthday, when they finished up the remnants of the birthday cake and Isey and I went to watch his mummy play baseball. All excitement is over for another year. Happy Birthday Isaac.

Pizza Party!

It was a Pizza Party to remember! Callum invited his cousins and his kindergarten friends to celebrate turning FIVE! When you're five, you're big enough to learn to cook, so his mum and dad booked a pizza party in the party room at the local Superstore and the birthday boy and his guests learned how to make pizza.
First you wash your hands, write your name on your chef's hat, and put on your apron.
Then you are ready to start. Squish the dough so it's nice and round and flat (don't drop it on the floor, well, not all of it!).

And then you take a spoonful of tomato sauce and spread it on the dough (remember not to lick the spoon, the next person has to use it too!). Take a chopping board and a cutter, and choose the toppings for your pizza.... Callum chose pepperoni and cheese but there were many more choices..... chop it up and put it on your pizza.
It doesn't matter if you put your sleeve in it.... does it, Mom?
While the pizza is in the oven it's time to make a cookie for dessert.

 A ball of cookie dough flattens out nicely, make lots of  holes with your finger and pop a chocolate chip in each hole. Finish it off with a handful of pink sugar.... bet this is going to taste awesome!
The cookie goes into the oven as soon as the pizza is done.... and then it's time to eat!

 No birthday party is complete without a birthday cake. This one had five candles and Callum blew them all out in one big puff. He's been saying he's been feeling as though he is five for a long time....

.... so now he really is five! Next thing you know, he'll be wanting to be six!
Happy Birthday, Callum!

Birthday Boy

Combine a sunny Saturday, a back yard, some cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents, good food, a jug of sangria, a barbecue and a Big Birthday Boy, and what do you get?

A Back Yard Party, that's what!    


YoungerSon and the Bride invited the family to celebrate Isaac's third birthday.

What kind of birthday cake would you like, Isaac? With no hesitation he said   A BLUE CAR!

So that's what Auntie J made for him, with a green one thrown in for good measure. Mmmm... Oreo cookie wheels. And candy tail lights. But the icing didn't like the heat.... we should have left it in the fridge....  and suffered a partial meltdown, but it tasted good anyway.

Isaac had no complaints.

He blew all three candles out with some timely help from his cousin Callum. There's something very enticing about blowing candles out, no matter whose birthday it is.  
Isaac pronounced the cake "very yummy".

Callum was in complete agreement.
After all, these boys are experienced cakeologists.... they know a good birthday cake when they taste one.
The cake soon disappeared, leaving a couple of cute faces smeared with blue icing.

Then they started on the chocolate chip cookies.

Good cake work, Auntie J!

The twins weren't allowed to eat any birthday cake this time, but only a couple of months to go and they will be celebrating their own birthdays. Now that they've had a taste of Back Yard Partying, I bet they can't wait for their turn to come.
And what do you think they would like for their birthdays? I'll give you three guesses. That's right.... Hair!

Dragon Trouble

Mummy:  So, Callum, what kind of cake would you like for your FOURTH birthday?
Callum:  I want a Dragon!
Mummy:  A dragon! Are you sure?
Callum:  Yes, I want a really big green dragon and I want him to be very very scary and breathing fire out of his nose and I want him next to a police car.
Mummy:  Next to a police car?
Callum:  Yes, standing next to a police car and breathing fire on the police car and I want his tail to have broken the police car window and the policeman is trying to arrest the dragon.
Mummy (hoping he'll forget):  Oh my goodness. That would be quite a birthday cake!

But he didn't forget.

The chocolate spike at the end of the dragon's tail had shattered the police car's back window, as requested, but Callum ate it before he got to the party.

The Equestrienne did a fantastic job, right?

If You Go Out In The Woods Today....

... You're sure of a big surprise....

Back in June, I hosted a party for The Bride to welcome the twins. Of course, the babies still had a while to go before making their grand entrance into the world, but they were very much in evidence if you looked at The Bride in profile! I invited friends, family, neighbours, and we enjoyed an afternoon filled with laughter, friendship, gifts and of course, party food.

Just look at this amazing cake!

Remember that children's song, The Teddy Bear's Picnic?

All created by hand by a wonderful friend. The picnic quilt was made of fondant icing. The grass and flowers were butter icing. The leaves even had sparkle on them. The baby bears were created from rice krispie squares moulded into a bear shape and covered in chocolate. There were baby boots and baby toys for the bears to play with. All completely edible.

The little boy bear cub brought his baby bottle.

And the little girl bear cub was in charge of the teapot and the cookies.
"Shall I be Mother?"

Who was the domestic goddess that created this work of edible art?

My good friend Glitterfly, that's who. She has just started her own blog, so please, go and pay her a visit. And don't forget to tell her how gorgeous the cake was!

The Terrible Twos

Hey, did you know I had a birthday?
Yup... now I'm TWO!
Auntie J got me a cake.... with Lightnin' McQueen and Tow Mater on the top. Isn't it great? Let me grab it... YIKES! What's that gooey red stuff all over my hands? (See naughty little finger marks bottom right.)
Help! Wash hands, Daddy! I all yucky!

OK, all cleaned up. Hmmmm... now I'm not sure of the next move. And there's my cousin waiting for his cake.

OK, Mummy lit the candle so that means it's my cue to blo-o-o-o-ow!

Now everyone is happily munching on my cake... and I get to play with the toys.

WooHoo! Being TWO is a blast so far. I must make sure I'm TWO more often!

Three At Last!

When you're little, it seems to take forever for another birthday to arrive, but last week Callum celebrated being THREE!

OlderSon and The Equestrienne booked a birthday party at the local 5-pin bowling alley (YAY! Glow In The Dark Bowling) but it turned out to be a brutal weather day with high winds, blowing snow and freezing temperatures, and not all the birthday guests could brave the roads to join in the Glow In The Dark fun.

Oh well, bad weather's to be expected in Canada for a February birthday. Perhaps Callum should celebrate an official birthday in June, like the Queen.

The Equestrienne created yet another work of art in the form of a scrumptious birthday cake. Cakes 1 and 2 were a train and a car. All forms of transport, I wonder what next year will be? I'm told that the big C on the tail stands for CallumAir.

He did a great job of blowing out the candles.

And then he ate one of the wings. And then it was prezzie time.

Like all little big boys, Callum's really into Matchbox cars. But he also got a toy kitchen complete with pots and pans and vegetables and pies, and has been having fun cooking dinners with it ever since.

Life's pretty good when you're THREE!

Party Animal!

Whenever another birthday arrives, everyone comments on how fast the year has flown by, and especially so when it's a Very Important First Birthday. Little Isaac is celebrating being a Citizen of the World for a whole year.
And to mark this auspicious occasion, there was a special family party this weekend in YoungerSon's back yard, and his clever Auntie J created a very special dinosaur cake.

Chocolate buttons for spots, chocolate chips for toenails and Hershey kisses for those scary spikes all along his back. But how could he look scary with that friendly smile on his face?
Isaac needed a little bit of help from his mummy when it came to blowing the candle out.

He was offered a handful of dinosaur tail before the cake was cut, but when his fingers sunk into the soft icing, he screamed blue murder and desperately tried to wipe the icing off..... he's never touched anything that squishy and green before.
But once he discovered that it tasted pretty good, he soon cheered up!

And then it was time for the prezzies. Lots of them too. He told me that the best part was ripping the paper up.

Isaac had a terrific time at his party with all his cousins and second cousins and uncles and aunties and Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and great grandparents and friends and babies and kids. He wishes he could have a party like that every day!
In Isaac's words.... "WOW!"

Seven Hundred and Thirty Days.

Seven hundred and thirty days?
That's TWO YEARS!
And that's how long I have been a Nana to Callum.
The Equestrienne waved her magic wooden spoon and created a fabulous Birthday Cake in the shape of a car.... VW bug convertible rally car to be exact. Oreo cookies for wheels, and liquorice allsorts for headlights, steering wheel and chequered flag, and a liquorice tailpipe!

"If my arm was just a little bit longer, I could taste the icing....."

The party included aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandma and Nana, and family friends.

On the menu: pizza, veggies and dip, more pizza, chips, grapes, pretzels, M&Ms, and even more pizza!

But first, Callum and his cousins went outside to help OlderSon tap the maple trees. It's getting close to maple syrup time. They helped drill the trees, hammer in the spiles and hang the buckets to catch the sap. (The blue bucket on tree to the right)

And then they made an alien snowman.... scary, isn't he? "Take me to your leader..."

Finally, it was Birthday Cake time. "I blow candles out!"

And then it was time to open the presents. Callum wasn't quite sure why he was getting presents, but he certainly knew how to open them.

And the best prezzies? A little blue car from Nana (same colour as Nana's car), and a road play mat from Grandma. Perfect combination!

Party Hearty!

It was Party Central at OlderSon's house on Sunday. An assortment of uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents, including one great-uncle and one great-aunt, battled their way through the snow flurries to help celebrate Callum's first birthday.

The Equestrienne created a splendid train cake.
The tracks were made of black liquorice and coffee stir stix.
The windows were Smarties.
The wheels were chocolate cookies.
And the cargo was marshmallows.

His cousins showed him how to blow the candle out and then it was time to EAT!

Once the prezzies are all opened, you can have so much fun tearing up the wrapping paper.

And of course, wearing a SuperMan cape gives you extra SuperBaby strength and energy to party till you drop. Which he did..... eventually! That boy is a true Party Animal!!! He's already looking forward to next year.