The most dangerous chocolate cake

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

a small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high).

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT!

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

I just made one and it actually took me 8 minutes. Here is my photo montage:

I suggest not adding the chocolate chips. They all fell to the bottom and clumped up so it didn't pop out as prettily. I also suggest mixing it in a seperate bowl and then adding it to the mug. It was hard to get all the flour up from the bottom so there was a bit of white still sticking around down there. Also, know your microwave. Ours is strong, so I should have just gone with 2 min 30 secs. It was a tad overdone and rubbery. Overall, though, very tasty and fun to make!

We'll try it again later tonight for D. She came in from playing and said, "it smells like brownies in here! Can I have one?" So we'll try it again tonight with some tweaking :O)

D's I-Pod Valentines

I just realized I never posted about D's I-Pod Valentines for her classmates! They turned out sooo cute! I got the idea out of Family Fun Magazine. Here are some pix of her making them . . .

She attached the free Chuck E. Cheese token Valentines as the nametags.

They are made from a small box of Sweet Heart conversation hearts, covered with colorful paper and the play list and tuner printed from Family Fun's website. Then add string and we used chocolate kisses for the ear buds. The kids LOVED them and were putting the kisses in their ears pretending to be listening! They weren't very hard to do at all.

Free Diaper Giveaway!

Win a free Bumgenius 3.0 Diaper!

This is a valuable All-In-One cloth diaper that you can use for yourself or give as a gift to someone expecting a baby! Go check out Hot Belly Mama's Blog for details on how to win this wonderful All In One Cloth Diaper.

Hot Belly Mama will announce the winner on March 30th, after her 30th birthday! Here is the direct link to her blog:
http://hotbellymama.blogspot.com/

Good luck!

BY MY BEST GUESS, C IS 7 MONTHS OLD

Ok, this is a toughie when you're born on the 29th! When is C really 7 months old since there IS NO February 29, at least not this year?

I figured I'd take the half way point between Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 which by my best foggy brained figuring was 12 noon today. So I GUESS C turned 7 months old at 12 noon today??

Hubby thinks I'm nuts, but this has really been bothering me! I count these month birthdays very seriously!

p.s. Were you wondering where I've been lately?? C has been very, very sick and is finally getting better. It was a harrowing 10 days of very sick baby and VERY tired Mama. He had a really bad upper respiratory thing. He's still not wanting to eat much, so I hope that comes back soon. He's lost a bit of weight, I'd guess at least a pound.



Here's a pic of Mr. Sicky trying to eat - it's hard to eat when you can't breathe!

Extreme Makeover

D has been growing her hair since last spring with one goal in mind, to donate it to Locks of Love.

Here she is on the last Sunday for her to have big beautiful curly hair.

Here is the BIG CUT!

She felt fancy because the hair stylist put the grown-up cape on her instead of the childish one. This one came from New York City!

TA-DAH! Here is the cut and the pony tail that we will send to Locks of Love!! It had to be at least 11 inches to qualify to be sent off.

Here is the back view:

She loves her swingy new bob. I think it does make her look all grown up, though :o(

Free Valentine's from Ch*ck E. Che*se

Here is a link to printable Valentines which entitle the recipient to 5 free tokens at CEC. I think we'll use these as add ons to D's Valentines this year.

D is giving each of her classmates an I-P*d for Valentines this year! More on that later...stay tuned!

D hasn't had much face time on the blog lately, sorry about that! She's having a very eventful week this week, though so look for some exciting stuff soon!!

Adoption Mama Tag

1. How many months (days, weeks, YEARS...)from 1st paper signed to placement ? 3 years 7 months

2. WAS YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER EXCITED? In the beginning, but he was about ready to quit.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS WHEN YOU GOT "THE" PHONE CALL?
I was in total shock! There I sat having just folded a load of kitchen towels and vegging out watching The Next Food Network Star marathon and up I went out the door to the birth of my son!!

4. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FOUND OUT? Sitting in my living room in my big cozy chair.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 37 when we started 40 when he was born YIKES!

6. WHAT IS YOUR CHILD'S BIRTH-COUNTRY (and province or city)? Texas, USA

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Hubby called me to tell me about the baby. I called my Daddy on the cell phone on the way out of the driveway.

8. DID YOU REQUEST A BOY, GIRL, OR EITHER? A girl, a girl and only a girl LOL!

9. HOW OLD WAS YOUR CHILD AT REFERRAL? about 2 hours shy of birth!!

10. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU SEE YOUR CHILD'S FACE/PICTURE FOR THE FIRST TIME? When he popped out into the world :O)

11. WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR CHILD? Probably some diapers? We were given sooo many gifts, that we didn't need anything at all for several weeks!

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Before July 29 the wait was BEYOND irritating after the call I didn't have time to be irritated about anything!

13. WHEN WERE YOU ABLE TO TRAVEL? The second I hung up the phone :O)

14. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, a big one when he was 3 weeks old

15. HOW OLD WAS YOUR CHILD WHEN YOU SAW THEM IN PERSON FOR THE FIRST TIME? The moment he was born.

16. DID YOU PACK ANYTHING SPECIAL JUST FOR YOUR BABY? NO! I didn't even have a camera with me!

17. WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT YOUR TRAVEL EXPERIENCE THE MOST? That it was just down the street instead of half way around the globe!!

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS WITH YOUR PAPERWORK/PROCESS?Boy oh boy, could ours be the most complicated adoption that ended in the least complicated way???

19. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OR PLACE YOU VISITED IN YOUR CHILD'S BIRTH COUNTRY?THE BEST? Every time I pass the little hospital where C was born, I think of that amazing day! And I pass it every day!

20. HOW MANY DAYS/WEEKS WERE YOU IN YOUR CHILD'S BIRTH COUNTRY? N/A

21. FAVORITE PLACE/THING TO EAT WHILE THERE? N/A

22. FAVORITE PLACE TO SHOP WHILE THERE? N/A

23. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU ON THE PLANE GOING/LEAVING? N/A

24. WHO MET YOU AT THE AIRPORT? N/A

25. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU DID AFTER LEAVING THE AIRPORT? N/A

26. WHAT DO YOU CALL YOUR ADOPTION DAY? I guess our "gotcha day" for C is his birthday! But Adoption day will be the day we finalize.

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? CDY

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? Well D is 8 years 3 months, but since we're
talking about C's adoption right now . . . he's 6 months two weeks

29. ARE YOU PLANNING TO GO BACK TO THEIR BIRTH COUNTRY SOMEDAY? N/A

30. HAVE YOU STARTED OR ALREADY MADE YOUR CHILD A LIFEBOOK? I've started, but haven't touched it since Sept.