A different kind of post...

Sunday, we will have another person with a very special birthday in this house. My husband Matt gets to celebrate the big 3-0!  To make his 30th really special, we've been trying to do a little something special for him each day this week.  Monday, we made fried chicken for dinner, a rare and wonderful treat that he really loves!  You know, I've been trying to figure out how to cook fried chicken for the entire 6.5 + years we've been married and Monday, I finally made the perfect batch!  It wasn't too burnt on the outside...or over cooked on the inside!  Trust me, it's a miracle!  Tuesday we had hamburgers for dinner.  Wednesday, the boys and I made soft oatmeal cookies.  (It's a running joke...I always made hard cookies at home because Dad liked them that way, and being a scatter brained, always trying to waaaay over multitask personality, it's a good thing!  'Cause my cookies were usually pretty hard...or even a bit crispy...or even a little burnt!  Matt LOVES SOFT cookies...like super soft cookies.  Like cookies so soft they are almost not cooked.  I've also been trying to make those right for the 6.5+ years we've been married!  That's another post for another day though.)  Today we baked Matt's favorite cake!  My boys love helping in the kitchen, so here's a little glimpse into what it looks like when the three of us cook together...

 The boys got to peel the paper off the Margarine...and yes, I use margarine in this recipe.  Don't ask me why, but butter just DOES NOT WORK.  I've tried it.  The cake always comes out dry and crumbly when I used butter.  So we use Margarine...just for this recipe though. ;)

 Yep, it gets a little messy.  Timmy does not like messes.  I had to get him to refrain from washing his hands until we were completely finished.  He's so cute about that!

 Okay!  What's next, Mom?

 The goods, ready to get mixed...almost!

 Next is the sugar.

 Ethan, patiently waiting his turn.  (He really enjoyed his chocolate Shakeology this morning, can't you tell?)

 Timmy is VERY precise.  He's going to be good at details, like his sweet daddy.

 Into the goodies it goes!

 Now Ethan gets to try his hand at it!

 Timmy, waiting for his next turn.

 Mmm!!  Yummy!!  I have ALWAYS loveeed watching the grease and the sugar cream together and get fluffy, ooohhh, so fluffy!  I'd take a lick now in my younger days...when I was "straight as a stovepipe" so my dentist told me when I was about 10.  (I did not think that was very nice of him at the time, but you'd have to know our dentist then.  He was like an uncle to us.)

 This stuff makes some yummy yummy baked goods taste even yummier!

 Oooohhh, the eggs!!!  This part, always makes me nervous...especially when you're teaching 3 and 4 year old boys how to do it.

 They did a really good job though!  No eggshells in this cake!

 Now for the flour....hehe, that part got pretty messy!

 And prep the pans...

 Mr. Cutie woke up from his nap and got to watch.

 I always line just the bottoms of my pans with parchment paper.  It works like a charm every time.  NO more cakes sticking!!

 Mmmm!!  Yummy!!

 And into the oven they go!!  I'm so proud of my little bakers!

Finished and ready for the extra yummy stuff: Daddy's favorite chocolate icing. That's a post for another day too. =)