Faith

Happiest of Easters!

7:17 PM

For those of you that haven't figured it out yet, I'll let you in on a little secret. My family doesn't follow the "norm"...

In our house, we don't do the "Easter Bunny" (or Santa Claus for that matter...). There is something uncomfortable to me about celebrating the death (and birth) of the greatest man in history by totally detracting focus from him onto fictitious characters that are allowed to break into your house because they come bearing gifts. It's so important to me that my kids look at these holidays as more than time off school or occasions to receive gifts, but as a time to stop and reflect on their faith and the savior that makes their daily life possible.

I also don't judge people... so carry on your traditions!

We DO; however, exchange gifts for such occasions.
Why? BECAUSE...
Christmas: It's a BIRTHDAY celebration and the Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus.
Easter: Jesus' death is the world's GREATEST gift.
More Selfishly: It's less socially awkward and I don't want my children feeling left out.

I tell you all of that to say...

SO, sweet baby Liam celebrated his first Easter today! He enjoyed it immensely even though his gifts were not brought by a rabbit.

Photo evidence:










and YES I did make the only dog of mine that would sit still participate in the festivities! Poor, poor Dylan!


We are fortunate to attend a church that offers Easter services throughout the entire weekend, so we attended Saturday night and enjoyed a relaxing Sunday brunch!

I hope your Easter celebrations were JOYOUS!

Food

Summertime Strawberry Jello Cupcakes

3:56 PM

Sound Delicious? THEY ARE!

I found this pin on Pinterest:




but it linked to a picture, not a website and had a vague description of what seemed to be a tasty cake.

I thought I would elaborate on my version...

FIRST... I am of the opinion "Why make cake when you can have CUPCAKES!" So, do whichever you feel more comfortable with. The cake version is DEFINITELY easier!

Here's what you'll need:

Box of white cake mix
BIG box of Strawberry Jello (8 serving)
Strawberries
Cool Whip
Cupcake Liners
(Ingredients for cake mix... mine was 3 eggs, water, and vegetable oil)

Prepare your cake mix according to the box directions.

Fill your cupcake trays with the batter and bake according to the directions on the box.

After baking, remove them from the oven and let them cool.

While the cupcakes are cooling, mix together the Jello according to the package directions.

Return to your cupcakes. Take a fork and poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes. Poor the Jello mixture over the top of them until they are saturated.

(This is where the cake becomes easier. With the cake you can poor haphazardly over the top whereas you must poor CAREFULLY with the cupcakes. I put the Jello mix into a measuring cup that had a handle and a spout to make pouring easier. The best advice I have to avoid overflowing the cupcake is to pour a little, let it absorb, then poor more!)

Move your Jello soaked cupcakes to the fridge to chill. The Jello box says 4 hours, but I chilled mine over night.

After your cupcakes have chilled and stiffened up, cover them in coolwhip! I used a piping bag for mine, but you can use a ziploc with the tip cut off!

Use this awesome Pinterest tip for adding the coolwhip to the bag:
Source: bakingdom.com via Leah on Pinterest


After they're "iced" add a 1/4 strawberry slice to the top and return to the fridge!





Pull out right before serving for a light, cool, summertime dessert (or breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack for us pregnant folks)! It almost tastes like strawberry shortcake!

ENJOY!

If you have an awesome summertime dessert, I'd LOVE to hear about it!