You

All the hope, all the expectation.
All the worries, all the excitement.
All that came before you, everything we endured, the tears we shed, the fear to look ahead.
All of that fades with every day that I spend with you. And sometimes it all makes sense.
I used to ask myself, Why me?

Now I know the answer to that question.

I sit and watch you sleep, so perfect, and sweet and miraculous. And I know that all that has passed made my heart bigger, and softer, and open.

It made me ready to love you.

Happy 4th Birthday, Paddy!

MORE CAKE!

Here's my Valentine's Day cake that I didn't get made until February 15th.

Oh well.

It's kind of a chocolate version of the "Busy Day Cake." It's a simple one layer number that's quick and easy.


Chocolate Cake

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Mix dry ingrediants together.
Add milk, butter and vanilla, mix.
Add the egg, mix.

Pour into a greased, floured 9 x 1 1/2 inch cake pan.

Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 30-35 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar.

(There is more to my life than cakes...will try to write something real soon.)

Cakes

I have to agree with Sarah on her analysis of Facebook. So I'm joining her in making an effort to do some real writing and recording of our family life. People always say, "They change so quickly" and they're right-so I want to have some written snapshots of our family before this times slips away from me.

I am coming to terms that inside my feminist exterior is a hardcore homemaker. It's a box I never thought I could tick, but here I am: it's coming up on 5 p.m. and I have the dinner nearly ready, things are relatively tidy in the house, the kids are playing "school" nicely (or at least I can't hear any screams, so I'm content to leave them alone) and Ciarán is happy in his high chair chewing on something. So why not make a cake???

I really love making cake for our dessert. There's something so wholesome about making a cake from scratch that negates any guilty feelings about indulging in dessert on a weekday. Hey, it's only flour, sugar, egg, butter and milk! My favorite cake recipe comes from a cookbook I got in college from one of my fellow co-op dwellers, Floyd. It's an old school Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. The recipe is called the "Busy Day Cake," which conjures up images of a 50's housewife in her high heels and dress popping a few Valium and then whipping up one of these cakes just in time for the husband to come home. I'm wearing Converse and unless you class 2 cups of Lyons tea as illicit stimulants, I'm clean living. But this cake will be done in time for Daithí to get home, so I'm nearly there.

I was pretty excited to use my new Valentine's Day cake pan, albeit a few days early.

Busy Day Cake

1 1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all the ingredients and mix. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan, bake at 180 C (350 F) for 25-30 minutes.

Dust with icing sugar (powdered sugar).