These Owl Cupcakes were a Hoot!

Recently, my best friend Amanda over at We Don't Give a Hoot, baked some of those super cuter owl cupcakes that have been all over the place, with her daughter Gracie. I just couldn't resist baking some with Elijah last week to celebrate Fall and October, my favorite month. Elijah has helped us a couple times in the kitchen before, but I am now starting to realize just how much our little man enjoys helping out in the kitchen. He doesn't eat real well, but he loves to help make it.

Oh, and by the way... that thing where they say that if they help prepare it, they will be more willing to give it a try? Umm, nope! Not Elijah! But, these were cupcakes, so of course he had no problem gobbling a few of them down.

You don't really need a whole lot of instructions for these. What you see is what you get. We baked chocolate cupcakes, topped them with a homemade frosting I made, split Oreo cookies in half for the eyes, and used Reese's Pieces for the pupils of the eye and the beak. 

These would even make a great addition to any Fall festival or Halloween party! Elijah and I don't get out of the house much, so we made them just because. Just because... we're awesome! Ha ha! 

Happy Fall, Y'all!

 

                    

semi wordful-less-ish wednesday | mint chocolate cupcakes

i've been so busy that i am just now getting around to this but last week was mackenzie's birthday. she officially became a teenager and turned 13. with the attitude to match.

she really is growing into a beautiful young lady and i only hope that my parenting thus far will help guide her through the next 7 years of her life. hopefully up until now she has listened to my lectures and life lessons enough to lead her in the right direction because pretty much anything i say after this point will only go in one ear and out the other. it comes with the age.

the good thing about becoming a young parent is that by the time they become a teenager all the little schemes she may concoct, like trying pull the wool over my eyes, are still fresh in my memory from when i tried them on my mom. there is no fooling me, that's for sure.

and that line..."all my friends are doing it!"...i have said that one too and guess what?  a lot of the friends i tried to be just like back then are now losers.

we all have to learn for ourselves though, right?

so, for her birthday, mackenzie asked for what any teenager would ask for, clothes. we only do $20 per child for birthdays but she got money from her grandparents as well. plus, i baked these mint chocolate cupcakes also.

instead of adding actual mint flavored chocolate to the batter, i added the leaves from a chocolate mint plant that i got. i also replaced the oil with unsweetened applesauce. these babies were so moist and the flavor was awesome.

also linking up and with flip flops & pearls, angry julie monday, 5 minutes for mom, and live and love out loud

banana split cupcakes

ask me how many i ate?

4 so far. and i am trying to get them out of here as fast as i can.

not by eating them. well, not by me eating them, but hopefully my kids. i am sure a dental bill will come back to haunt me for allowing my children to eat cupcakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but i am just going to live on the edge and call karma's bluff.

besides, i made these delicious baby's for one of my baby's.

phoenix is hardly a baby anymore, but i just don't see it like that.

have you ever thought "wow, my kid is really growing up!" and then they do something like fall down and want you and you realize just how little they still are? phoenix may be 6 now, but six is still so little. she can't even ride the roller coasters with me at busch gardens yet and she still wears dora on her panties.

if you don't know our little deal with the birthday cupcakes, it was started just recently when a birthday bowling trip nearly caused us to take out a loan. okay, not really, but having six kids who suddenly prefer an ipod or an xbox to barbies and transformers, suddenly got EXPENSIVE. so we came up with this rule...

big stuff for christmas. $20 and cupcakes for birthdays. by the time they get money from every grandma & grandpa and relative around, they have a pretty penny.

mackenzie was telling me she wanted mint chocolate chip cupcakes for her birthday and phoenix said she wanted pink frosting cupcakes. that is how my banana split cupcakes were born. like most of my cupcakes, i totally created these from my head. i didn't follow a recipe, but i am sure there are many different recipes for these out there.

i normally make my frosting from scratch, but i had a coupon that tripled and got the duncan heines frosting for a whopping FREE. yep, i'm cool like that!

banana split cupcakes

vanilla cake mix
strawberry frosting (store bought or homemade)
chocolate sprinkles
bananas
maraschino cherries
nuts(optional) - i didn't use these

mix the cake batter with all the ingredients required on the box except replace the oil with one whole banana. bake according to directions.

once cupcakes are cooled off, frost them with the strawberry frosting and sprinkle with the chocolate sprinkles and nuts.

top with a cherry and banana slice. EAT!


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twelve

that's how old ryan is today.

sunday, we made these cupcakes. originally they were supposed to be chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate whipped cream frosting and chocolate sprinkles on top. except while i was making them, i decided, i didn't want to use 3 whole eggs and the oil it calls for. instead, i used the egg whites only and a banana in place of the oil. i also added hershey's chocolate to the frosting, upon ryan's request.

and let me tell you what folks, those were the best darn cupcakes ever.

THE BEST!

i call them chocolate covered banana cupcakes.

seriously the moistest cupcakes i have ever eaten. you could definitely taste the banana, but it wasn't enough to totally overpower the chocolate. and probably not a good idea to add the banana if you were making something like a mint chocolate chip cupcake (which is what mackenzie has requested for her birthday next month)

so in honor of ryan's birthday today, here is a list of ryan's likes and dislikes so you can get to know him a little better.

you can usually find ryan doing these things:

• texting on his phone
• playing halo or dance central on xbox
• riding his ripstick in the neighborhood
• playing ninja wars on his computer
• listening to his ipod
• watching something scary or animal planet on tv
• slapping, poking, kicking, or annoying jacob
• eating tacos
• fishing in a river, lake, or pond
• talking about girls
• running from spiders

  
i love him to the moon and back. happy birthday ryan!

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cupcake coma

the cupcake shoppe bakery is a cute little cupcake shop here in our area that i visited last week to pick up a few yummies for my bestie's birthday.

of course since i had the munchkins with me i couldn't visit a cupcake shop and not get them one as well. i also thought it would be fun for jason and i to enjoy a little cupcake party of our own after the kiddos went to bed.

coffee and cupcakes...yumm!

picking just one was a tough decision. and when i am faced with such a tough decision, this is usually what happens...

starting at the top (left to right):

row 1- coconut, cookie monster,  row 2- mint condition, pretty in pink, 
row 3- banana pancake, you mocha me crazy,  row 4- big red, peanut butter cup

i was in a total cupcake coma!

check out the cupcake shoppe bakery if you live in the raleigh, NC area. or for more information about each of these cupcakes, visit the cupcake shoppe bakery website!

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miscellany monday | a few randoms before tuesday

what a weekend!

to grandma's house we go (and grandpa too!)

for the first time in his little life, elijah stayed away from me overnight! all the kids stayed with their grandparents, in fact.

mackenzie stayed with her dad's mom and the other's stayed with my parent's.

ever since the girls' dad passed away, i have tried to make sure they still have opportunities to see their grandmother marsha and spend time with her. marsha just started her own small business and makes all kinds of bath and body products as well as candles, room sprays, and reed diffusers.  she had promised mackenzie that they would make some items together that she could give to her friends for christmas.

they made the cutest cupcake bath bombs.

the icing on top is bubble bath and the bottom (the cake part) is a bath bomb.  how cute are these?


a great day for football

the reason the kids went to stay with their grandparents was because friends and i had tickets to the carolina panthers game.

the panthers are having a not-so-good season but we weren't going to pass up a chance to head to charlotte and catch our boys play the atlanta falcons. it was cold and at times rainy, but it was so worth it. even if they lost...AGAIN!

 

9th row baby!

we got the chance to meet and get autographs from steve smith and charles johnson.  super nice guys!

and we met the famous catman, the panthers #1 fan.

the best part was we got to go with the greatest people, two of our best friends, rick and amanda. love these guys. you might not recognize them, but you would probably recognize their daughter gracie.


cookies and...water?

or soy milk.

we took phoenix to the dr. and he suspects she is allergic to milk.  not the way you may think of being allergic to something where you break out from it.  the hormones in milk affect your mood and since i have been having some trouble with phoenix's behavior, he thinks that an emotional disorder combined with an allergy to milk may be the reason for her mood swings.

he has taken her off of milk and she can only drink soy milk and can't eat anything with regular milk for two weeks.  it's harder than i thought.  it seems like everything has milk in it.  like m&m's!


jason is out of town in alabama this week so i will be super busy every day.   

wish me luck!

super simple recipe - oreo cookie cupcakes & cool whip cream cheese frosting

that frosting in those little containers are just...blek!

i prefer this yummy homemade recipe that never leaves any cupcake survivors when i top them with it.

the cupcakes i made jason for his birthday were oreo cookie cupcakes. i always use batter from a box because i don't actually know how to make it from scratch. i am sure it's easy, but hey, i'm no buddy valastro, and i have six children, so i have no time for parlor tricks.

besides, if you follow the directions on the box, you can still make some super yumm cakes and cupcakes.  i've never had complaints.

oreo cookie cupcakes

prepare cupcakes the way you prefer. while cooling, prepare the following frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese softened
1 stick butter softened (6 tbsp.)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz. cool whip
oreo cookies

• in a bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients
• beat until smooth
• add in 8 oz cool whip
• mix with mixer on medium for about 1 minute, or until smooth.
• in a food processor, blend oreo cookies into cookie crumbs

there are two different ways you can use the oreo cookie crumbs to top your cupcakes. you can either mix some of the cookie crumbs into the frosting mix, sprinkle them on top once you have frosted your cakes, or both.

for jason's cupcakes, i sprinkled it on top. totally your choice. awesome all three ways.

frost cupcakes.

top with a cookie.

ENJOY!



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Miscellany Monday - Halloween Weekend With A Few Other Randoms

What an awesome weekend! We were super duper busy every minute!  

Baby Talk

Elijah says "Mama" and "Dada", not consistently, but he says it. 

It appears that Elijah's first real words are "Owww!" (as in ouch) and "Stop!" 

Not only does he say them CONSTANTLY, he says them correctly (sort of).  If I grab something away from him that I don't want him to have or someone else (like his sisters Phoenix and Tyler) try to take his toy he SCREAMS "Owww!" If someone is bugging him (sisters, Phoenix, Tyler) or aggravating him he gets an angry face, yells "Stooop!", and usually hits the person (Phoenix, Tyler).  Can you figure out who drives him crazy?

The Gang Was All There

Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and of course Scooby.

They were on a mission to solve the mystery of one of the "scariest" little monsters in town. 

That was our Halloween.

Trick or Treating was actually on Halloween for us (as opposed to Saturday like some neighborhoods were doing) and word on the streets was that our "little gang" had the most original theme.  

I really think it is just the fact that we have the whole Scooby Doo gang that draws so much attention.  We were even remembered from last years costumes, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Most asked question of the night..."Where is the Mystery Machine?"

I am also entering this photo into this week's photo challenge at The Paper Mama.

and this week's photo challenge over at The Trendy Treehouse.

Party 'Til The Break Of Dawn

Okay, I think the last time I was at a party that late, was over ten years ago.  

Today is Jason's birthday, but we celebrated at home with the kids on Saturday. Nothing over the top, just a pot of homemade vegetable beef soup, homemade Oreo cookie cupcakes, and a couple gifts.  

Jason's laptop bit the dust earlier this year and he has been periodically using Ryan and Mackenzie's computers for work, so we purchased him a new netbook computer with carry case.  He was more than excited that he finally had his very own computer again.

 

The cupcakes were so easy and super tasty and I will definitely be baking them again.  

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and will have a wonderful week ahead as well.