Captain Snorkel. Also known as my father-in-law. He earned the nickname on a vacation to the British Virgin Islands.Somehow, it stuck. He loves all things sailing, and has passed that love on to my boys because of the trips and sleepovers on the sailboat that he and my lovely mother-in-law thake them on. Those kids don't know how good they have it. Anyhow, when the big six-oh came along, there was no question when it came to his birthday cake. None at all. This one was so fun to make, even my hubs got into it. He gets credit for the flippers and a whole bunch of the fish. I had no idea how much fun it is to share your passions with the one you love. Unfortunately for him, my attention span when he's explaining linear algebra and coding systems is awfully short. Try though I do, I think I might stick to basic ingredient measurement conversions when it comes to my dealing with numbers. Happy Birthday, Captain Snorkel! 

The way to a man's heart...

Is through his stomach, right? So then whoever decided that Valentine's Day should consist of chocolate and other sweets was probably a woman, trying to squeeze her way into the heart of a man. Makes sense to me. My Valentine (well, the grown up one) believes this too. Meaning that I usually spend February 13th in the kitchen, preparing for the next day. Vanilla cakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Festive, right? I know. And they were as good as they sound. My Valentines (big AND little) were feeling the love.

A Grinchy Birthday

What 4 year old doesn't love the grinch? Ok, let's be honest. What person, no matter what age, doesn't love the grinch? I'm not talking strange human-like drawn-out story Jim Carey grinch, I mean the Grinch in it's pure form. The original. The way Dr. Suess intended. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes, as a kid, when no one was paying attention, I would slip it into the VCR in the middle of July. My kids, of course, have been well indoctrinated into the world of classic Christmas movies. These include (but of course,are  not limited to) Home Alone, "toy-mation" Rudolph, Santa Claus is coming to town, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, and even the less well known Santa and the 3 Bears. But of course, and as it should be, the Grinch is the favourite. Lucky for us, my eldest has a birthday in December. You can imagine my excitement when a Grinch cake was requested! My sister Amanda and I were up to the task, because, as I have said before, Christmas equals baking. True story.