Belated Birthday Post

I just realized I didn't post about 2 recent birthdays in our family.  I had all intentions to, but for whatever reason didn't. I blame the heartburn.  No reason, just feel like blaming everything on it right now.  It is starting to defeat the current medication I'm taking for it.

Jonathan's birthday was last month.  He turned the ripe old age of 29. :)  Ohlen insisted we make a cake.  And that it be a Star Wars cake - because Daddy would LOVE a Star Wars cake. Jonathan also loves pizelles, so I made some of those too.  Regular anise flavored, and some chocolate ones.

Jonathan loves dark chocolate, so my aim was to try and make a very chocolately cake and icing.  I made my go to chocolate cake recipe, but halved it.  I used a dark cocoa.  I didn't want to make a regular big cake, seeing as it would be just for our immediate family.  I made the cake in my widest loaf pan, then cut it in half and made a very small two layer cake.

I really didn't want to make any more icing in different colors like I usually do to decorate.  So I found some pictures and fonts online, and made a stencil of sorts.  Then I sprinkled powdered sugar over top.  It did ok.  I should have had a finer powder for the more intricate details, and by the next day the powdered sugar was all dissolved in the frosting so it didn't look as good. But it worked for the little bit that it needed to. :)

Then at the beginning of the month we celebrated Noah's 2nd birthday.  We had a small gathering here for that.  I did a round layer cake for Noah.  I used my go to yellow cake recipe.  Noah is really loving strawberries right now, so I mixed some strawberry jam with the frosting for the middle, and garnished the bottom of the cake with quartered strawberries.  I decorated the top with Thomas, also a current favorite.
As you can see, I had a helper with both cakes.  He was so excited about helping, and keeping the cakes a surprise.  He had a great time celebrating the birthdays.

I can't believe my little boy is 2 already.  Not to mention his big brother will be 5 in a few short months.  And they will have a sister in a month or less.  My goodness.  Time is slipping through our fingers.
Noah's two year pictures.  (A few of them anyways.)  I might try again when the sun isn't in his eyes.  It was overcast most of the day, until right then.  And I'm just noticing how shadowed his face is. Oh well, I still like them. :)  He was in a great mood to be photographed that day.

House stuff is still trucking right along.  The timing is going to be interesting to say the least.  I don't think it matters when this little girl decides to come.  It is going to be interesting regardless.

Fun with Animals

For Ohlen's birthday I decided to take him to see some animals. First we went to Hershberger's Truck Patch. They have alot of animals that we could walk up to and pet, or just watch. Ohlen really liked it there, although at first he was a little scared of the goats that would stick their noses out. He especially liked the chickens that were running around. Sadly they didn't have the pony rides going, but hopefully the next time we go out there it will be up and running.

Then we headed to Rolling Ridge Ranch. I would definitely recommend that place to anyone with kids. I was a little concerned because the sky was looking dark, but everything turned out fine. We payed and looked around at their petting zoo and other animals until the wagon was ready. There were only 3 other people on the wagon besides us. Another lady and her 2 year old daughter and the driver. It was so cool. We got buckets of feed to feed the animals we saw. They would come right up to the wagon. Ohlen's favorite to feed, I think, were the ostriches. They would peck the feed out quite ferociously. Feed would fly everywhere and he thought it was hilarious. There is nothing better than seeing your child experience something new and thoroughly enjoying it.

When we were on the last leg of the wagon ride it started pouring! The other lady and I hugged the kids tight, trying to keep them dry. Ohlen was pretty dry, but I was soaked! It was crazy. I'm glad it did though, because we really do need it. So we all ran to the gift shop to look around a bit. We picked out a little rhino to take home. Then we headed back to Berlin and got some lunch. He got this cute little fuzzy Neopets toy in his meal and some stickers. Definitely a better kids meal toy than usual. Right up there with the Transformer he got a while back. It was a really nice day with my little guy. I can't wait to get out to a petting zoo again soon.

Below are some pictures of the day. The first picture is before we left, sporting his new sunglasses from Aunt Laura. The 2nd is from Hershbergers. The rest, except for the last, are from Rolling Ridge. The last picture is after we got back and Ohlen was showing off his booty from the day. :)

Happy Birthday Ohlen!

More on birthday festivities later today after some sleep. :)