Dog cake and some Birthday 'magic'

8 years old has arrived for our tip toeing middle girl.  Dog loving has also arrived and so you guessed it, a dog cake was the appropriate animal cake of choice this year.  We tried to do a dog themed party with some fun entertainment.

We also added a little bit of a talent show from the parents... it was a hit! Enjoy the pics. 

Here he is one and all:  Jock Illuzion... the magician. 

The kids LOVED this and David was so hysterical. This was the hit of the party.  I think we have found some hidden talent. 

If you would like to see a YouTube video of Jock Illuzion in action view here: 

Birthday magic :)

I was the comedy act but the act before me put me in for a pretty expectant crowd. 

Their favourite joke: What do you call an alligator in a vest? An investigator. (ba ha ha)

The theme of our family party was dogs. 

I made a cardboard doghouse for Lydia's presents and

 I also threw together a 'Dog dress up kit'.

In the 'Dog dress up kit': Head bands with felt dog ears I made, a ribbon collar and

 a small doggie treat of candy dog bones to snack on during the show. 

Here is our 8 year old with her cute little birthday present. Yep a little puppy. Tonight the puppy has found a new home in the cardboard doghouse next to Lydia's bed. :) Oh how we love you lovely Lydia.  Happy Birthday. 

This was just a family party and what a precious time with our family it was!

In our west corner - using what we have and who we are, to bless each other,
Becky

Popsicles and poetry. :)

or Thursday. ;)

Simple instructions here: Chocolate kiwi pops

These were our homemade popsicles today.  Chocolate frozen kiwi pops. They were simple, worked like a charm and the kids and adults loved them.

We also enjoyed our Homemade popsicle day with  friends. :) 

Here we are together reading Shel Silverstein "Where the Side Walk Ends" and 

Favorite Poems old and new selected by Helen Ferris

One of my favs: 

By Shel Silverstein

Looking for something to add to your Homemade popsicle day? 

 Here is a GREAT link called Summer Series #3 that I found delightful and has several fun and colourful ideas for kids that could be enjoyed by different ages. Enjoy.

Summer-series 2013 In His Grace

In my west corner.

 Enjoying poems about beards and licking the spatula full of chocolate. 

Becky

Homemade popsicle Wednesday! Summer fun

It has been quite a week here in my home with some news that has left our family in a bit of shock and still trying to process. As I process I am sure I will share more but for now I thought I would share ONE small way I am making summer time with kiddos fun. They picked the day I picked the idea!

Feel free to join us in the fun!!!

Every Wednesday a new homemade popsicle at our house.

Popsicle Wednesday Summer fun has begun at our house. We started today with Banana pops.  

Here are a few homemade popsicles ideas we are starting with:

Chocolate Banana pops

Fruit and Yogurt popsicle

Pure Strawberry popsicle

Source

This was a helpful post on how she made her banana pops I did basically everything she did.

Source

Makes: 6 (4-oz.) pops 

Ingredients 
2 small ripe bananas, peeled and sliced 
1½ cups frozen strawberries or 1 cup frozen blueberries 
2 cups non-fat plain yogurt 
2 tbsp. honey 

Source

Makes: 4 pops

Ingredients

1 cup mashed strawberries

1/2 cup water

1 tbs sugar (original recipe had 4 to 5 tbs)

Juice of half lime or lemon

Here is our version and thoughts on the Banana pops:

The best advice was to freeze the bananas on the stick for 30 min to an hour before. It helped especially for the kids not to get as messy because the banana was so cold it hardened the chocolate right away. 

They were tasty and messy!! 

Another idea is to roll the banana pops in nuts. 

Summer has begun and again our balcony is such a big help to us!

We would love to have you join us in our popsicle making craze this summer!

Using what we have to create and today it is the freezer and some fruit!

In our west corner

 ~Becky

Heart necklace birthday cake. :) ~7 years old

"Ya know mom I thought turning seven would feel different but it doesn't I guess I am just so used to being six." Happy Birthday to my now 7 year old!!!

 Oh how I absolutely love the sweet innocence of these ages. Right now I have a 9, 7 and almost 5 year old I so want to take the time to enjoy them!

Drum roll, Yes yet another very amateur attempt at a fun shaped birthday cake. Hope you enjoy.
One of the gifts we gave Lydia was a heart necklace for her birthday, thus the Heart Necklace Birthday Cake ..the idea was born one night just before I went to sleep. :)

*I used a heart shaped pan for the pendant part and the chain is obviously mini cupcakes. 

Lydia and I worked on this together. 

*For the latch I used a gummy warm cut in half and two rollos. 

Truth be told I would have liked another idea but well this idea came to me an hour before the festivities began so no complaints at least the necklace had an edible latch. :)

 Also one thing I did was set up a small decorating station for the kids to decorate the extra mini cupcakes. Each child decorated one and it was a fun little addition to the evening. 

Enjoying every year with you my little sunshine girl. 

Oh how to keep you little and still let you grow?

In our west corner,

 celebrating the gift of each member of our family~ today that is our new 7 year old.

Becky

linked up at: crafty confessions

My new diet

Sunshine and imported M & Ms from Greece.

sigh, smile, sigh

Need I say more? 

So how should I ration them? 20 a day, 50, 75? 

Maybe instead of counting them one by one it could be more like 1 or 2 fist full. :) 

It will be my new diet for the week: a face full of sunshine and a fist full of colour pieces of chocolate.

Using what we have ...the Greece border oh so close and my fist. ;)

In my west corner...

grateful for a new day with sun and sweet love,

Becky

Visit my food Pinterest board for lots of healthier chocolate goodness. :)

So what are you, a peanut or plain kind a gal?

Peace symbol cake & Perfect every time Carrot cake recipe

Well as most of you who follow my blog know I post pics of our birthday cakes. We have a tradition of making our cakes some fun shape or size, done up each birthday just tacky enough and unprofessional enough that they are certain to be called a labor of love. :)

So without further ado I will now post my oldest daughters Peace Symbol birthday cake which was 

4 months ago. Yep I am on top of it all over here. 

My 9 year old is very into peace symbols. :) She is such a sweetie that girl.

This time with my fabo cake pics I have a recipe for you too. ;)  If any of you like Carrot Cake this one comes out perfect EVERY time and is sooooo simple. You can serve it as a Birthday Cake with frosting or with no frosting with tea/coffee. I am always complimented on this cake!

This cake was to celebrate my husbands birthday, 1 month ago. (a little more on-top of this one. ;)) 

Man I love that guy (my husband that is)!!!

Perfect Every Time Carrot Cake

*1/2 cup oil

*4 eggs

*2 cups sugar

*2 cups all-purpose flour

*2 cups grated carrots

*2 tsp. cinnamon

*2 tsp. baking soda

*2 tsp. baking powder

*1 tsp. salt 

Cream cheese Frosting

*1/2 stick melted butter

*1 8 oz. package cream cheese

*3 cups or so of confectionery sugar 

Pre-heat over to 300 degrees F, Prepare 10' x 10" baking pan or two round or square pans

- Grate carrots, Mix all of the wet stuff, then mix in the dry stuff. Pour the batter into your prepared buttered baking pan(s) and bake for 45 min to 1 hour. (when toothpick comes out clean)

If you would like to see more fabo cako pics to inspire you here is the most recent besides these. 

The bike cake

In my west corner feeling random and goofy,

Good night.

Becky

Surprised them...with coloured pancakes.

If you want to surprise your little ones and hear oohhs and aahhs, 

add food coloring to your pancake mix.

Family breakfast this Saturday was rather colourful. :) Enjoy the pics and inspiration. 

My favourite part was when my little guy came in the kitchen and saw that the pancakes were different colours, he went running to find his sisters yelling excitingly "the pancakes are coloured, 

come on come look what mom did. " :) 

YES, Super mom for the moment. 

Oh and P.S. The coloured pancakes defiantly taste better don't ya know. :)

Have a wonderful weekend and mix it up with something simple.

In my west corner using what I have...this time it was food colouring and pancakes.
Becky

Gingerbread hearts hooked to our mugs ~

Hi! Happy days after Christmas and happy new year! 

 Thought I would post about my spontaneous gingerbread and sugar cookie hearts for the rim of a mug.  

We had our friends staying with us for Christmas and last night before they left the adults watched the movie 'The Help' (highly recommended) as the kids were tucked snug in their beds and we ate gingerbread hearts hooked to our mugs. ;)

My idea originated from this amazingly cute  idea. Gingerbread houses that perch on your mug.

Really check out the post it is super cute but more time consuming than I desired to put into my cookie making this year...soooo little hearts that fit on the rim of our mugs were my next best idea.  

A bit about the how to:

These were very simple I had a heart cookie cutter just the right size. 

After I cut out the hearts with my cutter I then used a sharp knife to slice/cut out a small spot for the cookies to hook onto the rim of our mugs.  

After they baked and while they were still soft and hot I cut away any dough that had spread and covered my little hook. I mainly eye balled it for where to cut. 

About 90% of them worked like a charm but there were a few I cut that were a little off.  

The only thing is I forgot to sprinkle sugar on the top of the cookies (I was multitasking, getting kids down for bed while making these little guys) so they are not as pretty as they could be, but YOU could pretty them up quite a bit. 

I had done a few practice cookies earlier this week when I was making cookies and that helped me quite a bit.  I used ginger bread and sugar cookie dough for these little hearts that you can dip in coffee or tea. 

A  perfect small and simple treat to eat with your hot drink. 

Well enjoy a little heart 

and 

have a great Happy New Year ~2012

Hope this is fun and useful to you over the next few more days of celebrating. 

Keeping it simple in our west corner.

Becky


I am linking up to these fun link parties. 


I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

Playing with food again ~ Saturday sillys

We are olive lovers here.  Black and green both, pits or no pits. 

Turkey is known for its olives and olive oil. My kids can eat handfuls of olives. :) 

So even though peanut butter sandwiches don't seem to go with olives...they do in this little west corner.  

Enjoy your weekend and play with your food. Go on go play with your food (or your kids food anyway) :)

Car sandwich on the go.

*Peanut butter sandwich for the car body

*Olives for the wheels

*Cucumbers for the road and exhaust smoke. 

Sunflower love Sandwich
Little extra tidbit:
(There happens to be a Sunflower field fairly close to our apartment and in the spring it is simply gorgeous.)

*Peanut butter sandwich for center of sunflower

*Maderins for petals

*Cucumber for stem

*Olives for leaves

Today is a holiday here. (Kurban Bayram) 

So to all of my dear Turkish friends ~ Bayramiz Kutlu Olsun.
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving more now as I watch my Turkish friends prepare for their Holiday.

In our little west corner,

Becky

Autumn means cozy Homemade Granola

Temperture is dropping and sunsets are coming earlier. 

Autumn has come and with it so many fun smells, colors and tastes. 

One thing I especially enjoy about fall time is warming up the kitchen in the morning and making it all cozy. Granola is one easy and yummy way to do that.

Our Stove-top Granola:

This takes me a total of 35 to 40 minutes to prepare/cook/serve

* 4 cups of Oatmeal

*1 tbs oil

stir together in a large skillet (frying pan) on med. heat for 4 to 5 minutes

Take oatmeal out of skillet and place in seperate bowl.

(Turn your oven ON low/med)

Add 

*2 Tbs. butter

*1/4 cup brown sugar

*3 Tbs. honey to skillet

mix together

Allow mixture to become bubbly

add 1 tsp. vannila or almond extract to the bubbly mixture depending on flavor desired

Next return oatmeal to mixture and stir until oatmeal is somewhat moist.

Cook on med heat for 10 minutes. The oatmeal will darken and become brownish. Stir occasionally.

Turn OFF oven

Put granola on cookie sheet and place in warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Oven should be off - I do not mix or stir. 

Remove granola from oven and

add nuts and dried fruit as desired.

Let cool for 15 minutes and serve.

Find yourself a bowl and serve it up. 

I love these fun colorful bowls.

Cozy moments.

In my cozy west corner being my cozy queen self. :)

Becky

"I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

Linking up to these parties: Making the world cuter,Skip to my lou

5 ways we are kickin this heat & Giveaway Winners

SUMMER HEAT~  
Here are 5 fun things we are doing to beat the heat. :)

(Giveaway winners are listed at the bottom of the post. :))
Congrats congrats. 

Our seasonal Welcome Rock 

1. Homemade juice popsicles. 

Yes the ever so common simple dimple popsicle. A box of juice, pour, put in freezer, ta dam.  I love simple especially in this heat and my kids dig these. See for yourselves. :)

2. Blow up pool 
Yet again another simple solution but one that has brought lots of relief to ALL of us. 

3. Homemade Lemonaid (makes a GREAT slushy)

I literally have been eating this non stop.  Yes eating I put it in a cup and stick it in the freezer and tada an hour  later I am spooning pure coldness in my mouth. Also adding a few frozen strawberries is a great bonus to this drink.

Lemonade

3 cups of water 

1 cup fresh lemon juice (4 lemons)

1/2 cup sugar

Add: 1 cup of hot water plus the sugar, stir and allow sugar to dissolve 

then add lemon juice and remaining water.  Let cool or add ice and serve.

4. Hummus ~Salad for lunch and dinner 
We just don't tend to be as hungry in the summer especially when it is so hot. We often eat variations of salads some Turkish and some from the U.S. Hummus is a staple during the summer here. That cute little hand is snatching some black olives. 

                            

 Our Hummus Recipe:

30 ounces of Garbanzo beans/Chickpeas(without juice)

1/4 cup Tahini

1/4 cup Virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Lemon juice

1/4 Purified water

1 or 2 gloves Garlic

1 tsp salt

Garnish w/ Cumin on the top

5. Dinner, movie and fans


Inexpensive and great way to beat the heat for a few hours.  Simple dinner, fun cartoon (we have three kids 7 years and under so our options are limited. But hey I like Madagascar. :)) and fans turned up to high pointing at us. Oh I forgot to mention we have a projector and so our wall becomes our theater. :)

Well that is what we are up to this last week or so. Oh yes and Potty training in there has been, well not as easy as the first two. I figure we all learn right? I mean are any of you still wearing diapers? Well then I cling to hope. 


We have some fun crafts that the kids and I want to share too.  But that will have to be for another time. Well off I go to bed and will enjoy the rain that just fell! It brought with it a cool breeze.


Announcing the winners of the fun giveaway. 
The Ebru art goes to:
Laina over at Vibrant Serenity.  Congrats bloggy friend. 

The Garlands goes to: 
Lisa over at Organized Chaos
Congrats Lisa. :)

~in my west corner doing what I do 
Becky