Gratitude and a Birthday Cake
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 9:20PM
Those smiles bring me so much joy.
If you look closely you can see all three of them have the same dimple on their chin. (When Anna was born the nurse exclaimed, "She has her father's dimple!")
They all have the same goofy sense of humor.
To celebrate my husband's birthday this week my daughter wanted to bake his birthday cake all by herself. She did a FABULOUS job and the cake was crazy good.
It was quite providential that a friend of mine from co-op had just emailed our group the recipe for a cake she had made for us the week before. Everyone raved about how good it was. It was the perfect cake for my daughter to make for her dad.
Of course I had to throw in the question: If you need 8 oz. of chocolate chips and you have a 12 oz. bag, what fraction of the bag should you use? She knew the answer immediately, since one of her math lessons this week was fractional word problems.
She was even gracious enough to let her brother lick the beater.
It turned out just beautifully, and it was truly one of the best birthday cakes I've ever eaten.
Just to remind her dad of his age, she had to buy the 4 and 2 candles to top it off.
The recipe was so simple that I had to share it with you.
Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box chocolate pudding mix
8 oz. chocolate chips
4 eggs
3/4 cup applesauce
8 oz. sour cream or plain yogurt (we used sour cream)
3/4 cup water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a bundt pan.
Mix all ingredients (except chocolate chips). Stir in chocolate chips last.
Pour mixture into bundt pan and bake 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar, or drizzle with a chocolate glaze.
I'm beyond thankful for these three precious gifts in my life - my two children and my husband. I'm reminded of the reading from church two weeks ago, a reading that our pastor preached about and has really stuck with me:
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
~ James 1:17
In a week where there have certainly been some annoyances, I'm choosing to look beyond those and focus on the things I am thankful for:
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
What do YOU have to be thankful for this week?
Reader Comments (8)
Awesome post, Mary. First, because I have been insanely curious about the cake. Which, please pass along to your daughter, does indeed look fabulous. (Although she could've been nice and accidentally swapped the 4 and the 2. LOL.)
Oh, there's another fraction question. What fraction is 24 of 42? Has she gotten very far into improper fraction or even mixed fractions? Such as ... what fraction is 42 of 24? Which leads me to my second reason for liking this post. Any blog about using math in real life is a win in my book.
But perhaps more importantly I love how you effortlessly allow your spirituality to come through your blog. It's not forceful, nor is it hidden. It's just ... simply ... you. I think that's the way spirituality should be. Well done.
Looks and sounds delicious, Mary! I have a TERRIBLE track record with any kind of pound cake, but this one is tempting me to just TRY it. (Mine usually don't get done or stick to the pan or something.)
I'm convicted about being quick to hear and slow to speak, too. Proverbs 15:28 was the verse that hit me tonight:
The heart of the righteous weighs its answers,
but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.
Have a great rest of the week!
Sounds like a fabulous cake and I think I will have to try it.
Oh, Mary, how lovely! Congratulations to your daughter on her culinary success. So many blessings! Right at this moment, gratitude is welling up inside me for my own precious family, the *gift* of this day, and the huge blessing of our homeschooling lifestyle. Isn't wonderful to be able to enjoy our children thoroughly -- to know them better as human beings -- than we'd otherwise be able to do if they were gone most of the day?
I'm glad your husband had a great birthday!! Cake looks awesome.
happy b-day to your husband! Looks like quite the celebration! I'm going to try out that cake recipe. maybe for Bethany's b-day coming up in October-but she wants it to look like a cat's face!
What a great cake for Anna to make for her Dad. I love the top picture. The love they all have for each other just shines through. It is so important that we count our blessings don't you think? I love James 1:18. It runs though my head a lot. Lovely post Mary.
How SWEET for daughter to make her daddy a birthday cake! Special priceless memories :)