October 8: Toby the Tram Engine Birthday Cake

Even though Tysen's birthday isn't until Oct. 18th we planned to celebrate it the 9th when Grandpa and Grandma Davies would be visiting from London, ON, for Koen's Grandfriend's Day at school. 



Thomas the Tank Engine



Last May -- Koen's 5th Birthday

And now a bit of a backstory...when Koen turned 5 last May I told him I'd make him a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake.  A friend told me she had a Thomas cake mold that I could use, but when she brought it over I saw that it was one where I was supposed to decorate it with "stars" of frosting and I just wasn't sure I was up for that.  I went online and found a Thomas cake design that I thought I'd be able to make and a fondant frosting recipe to use (Instructions for Thomas the Tank Engine Cake).  I'd never used fondant before (seriously...I'd never heard of it), but the recipe said it was as fun and easy to use a play-doh...I"m not sure that's the truth, but it worked. :)  Koen was THRILLED with his cake, and he and Ty began planning at that point what kind of cake I should make for Tysen's birthday...Percy, James, etc. 


Back to this month when suddenly Ty decided he wanted a Toby the Tank Engine cake instead of Percy or James.  I was very excited about that idea as Toby is probably the easiest shape to make!  Unfortunately, I was quite sick at the time I needed to make the cake for him.  Fortunately, Seth's mom was still in town and helped me out!  I would not have been able to do it without her, but I really wanted to make Ty's cake for his birthday party! 



Tysen's 3rd Birthday

I used a picture of Toby as a guide.  Working with fondant the second time was super simple.  I used some cocoa to make a brown color for Toby, we cut it into 1 inch strips and layered them to make the wooden slats.  With both Thomas and Toby, I used a tube of black frosting for outlining the face and adding details like the name.  (Notes:  To color the fondant, use gel food coloring; to get a black color, start with a brown -- like adding cocoa). 





Toby the Steam Tram -- (Sorry-I couldn't rotate the picture)



Though I feel like both of these cakes were a success, I think I'll take a break from fondant frosting for a while.  It's not the tastiest (though the recipe I've used and included is supposed to be better than most), so for Brielle's upcoming birthday, I'm hoping to return to the tradition of getting a yummy Costco cake for the celebrate!









Marshmallow Fondant
recipe from Recipezaar.com (now Food.com)
makes enough for one cake

16 oz. white mini-marshmallows

2-5 Tbs. water

2 lbs. powdered sugar

1/2 cup (plus) Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place it in an easy-to-reach area)

1. Melt marshmallows and 2 Tbs. of water in a microwave or double boiler.  Put the bowl in the microwave 30 second, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open and stir again, and continue doing this until it's melted.
2. It usually takes about 2 1/2 min. total (not as long in my experience).  Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
3. Grease your hands GENEROUSLY - palms, backs and in-between your fingers, then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of the marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle.
4. Start kneading like you would bread dough.  You will immediately see why you have greased your hands.
5. Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage!  Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more.
6. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant is sticking.  If the mix is tearing easily, it is too dry, so add water (about 1/2 Tbs. at a time--then knead it in).  It usually takes about eight minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
7. It's best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar).  (Having done this both ways, I'd recommend using it right away.)
8. Prepare the fondant for staring by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap, and then put it in a re-sealable bag.  Squeeze out as much air as possible.
9. Marshmallow fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. 
10. Notes I ran across while originally researching fondant:
1. Roll out black fondant on plastic wrap or wax paper so it doesn't stain your counter -- though I personally didn't have trouble with this.
2. If it gets too dry, sprinkle it with water.
3. If you did make the fondant ahead of time, microwave for 20 seconds before working with it.
4. Use shortening to thin the fondant after kneading.
5. Add cocoa for chocolate/brown fondant.  Do this when you add in the powdered sugar.







October 7: Paper Baskets

In trying to catch up from the last month, I won't have an entry for every day.  Due to illness and other circumstances, we didn't do a very good job of staying on schedule, but I will include what we were able to accomplish. 

On this particular day, I was beginning my bout of the flu, but Seth's parents were in town and Grandma Davies came to the rescue.  I had checked some craft idea books out of the library, and Koen had found one craft he wanted to make -- a paper basket.  (Of course, without thinking, I returned the book to the library so I don't even have the instructions or the name of the book to credit for the idea...oops).  The book was all about recycling materials when crafting.  I've been trying to check out some books about recycling, taking care of the earth, etc. when we go to the library so I can teach the boys more about these things.  They always help put our recycling out, but I'm not convinced they really know what that means. 

Koen and Grandma Davies set out to craft a paper basket.  This craft used newspaper (only one or two sheets, I believe) and after folding it in the directed fashion, you had an incredibly strong paper basket.  And it was strong!  The boys carried around multiple wooden Thomas trains in their baskets without the baskets breaking!  Koen took pride in decorating his basket by coloring it with markers, and Ty followed suit (even though Ty was outside playing, Grandma made a basket for him as well).  A month later, we still have both baskets in tact, though a few minor repairs have been made.

October 1: Fall Place Mat

The boys started collecting leaves every time we went outside, so I figured it was time to make an autumn placemat.  One idea I'd read online used clear contact paper to make the placemat, but I didn't have any of that at home, and I remembered making mats with waxed paper, so that's what we went with. 

Tysen carefully placed each chosen leaf on the waxed paper which I had laid on top of a towel (thinking ahead for using an iron!)  Prior to inviting Ty to make his new mat, I shaved some broken crayons so he could add some extra color to his mat.  He had fun spreading the crayon shavings around, although he wanted to cover the leaves with the shavings rather than put the color in the "blank" spaces.  Once he was finished designing his new mat, I placed the second piece of waxed paper over top, covered it with a towel and began ironing. 

Now, one thing that never even crossed my mind was that my towels were textured.  Using textured towels to help protect the waxed paper ended up texturing the waxed paper, so we ended up with a textured placemat.  A mistake that turned out to be kind of a cool feature! The crayon shavings didn't melt and spread as well because of the texture keeping it more in place, but it still turned out nicely.  Ty was happy with it!  We trimmed the edges to make it look nice and that was that. 



Ta-da!





September 30: Frog Hollow Park



Frog Hollow Park



Even though I'm posting this a month after we visited the park, the boys saw the pictures today and wanted to go back, so already you know it was a great visit!  I'd heard about this park from numerous sources and decided we should try it out.  Yes, we do have a park right down the road from our house, but sometimes a new environment with new toys is just plain exciting!!! 

Frog Hollow Park is hidden right around the bend from Metro Hospital just off M-6, so it was just a short drive.  The afternoon was a beautiful autumn day -- sunshine with a bit of a breeze.  We spent over an hour exploring and playing.  Despite its popularity it wasn't extremely busy, and it was easy to keep track of the kids even if they were in different spots of the park.  We'll wait until next spring, but we'll definitely be return visitors!



Brielle sat back and enjoyed the sunshine.




Our little monkeys...





September 27: Pumpkin Muffins (again)

These boys LOVE their pumpkin muffins!!!  When I asked Ty what he wanted to make today, this was his choice!  Interestingly, both boys choose the pumpkin/spice cake over the chocolate.  Whose kids are these anyway? ;)  I guess it is a good choice for the autumn season.

(Side note:  A few days after this I saw pumpkin in our stores in the US again!!!  It's been off the shelves for MONTHS due to last year's freeze.  And while were EXTREMELY grateful to Grandpa and Grandma Davies for being our pumpkin suppliers, we should be OK again.)

I know I've posted the recipe previously, but for the record...

Yummy Muffins

• 1 large can of pumpkin
• 2 boxes of spice, chocolate, or carrot cake mix
• 1/2 cup water

(If you use the smaller can of pumpkin, just halve the recipe)

Mix all ingredients.  Mixture will be lumpy.  Divide into 18 muffin tins/paper liners.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.  Enjoy!

September 25: Time Line

Koen's homework assignment was to create a timeline of his life.  Even though it's not one of our planned days, I decided to write about this experience.  As Koen and I sat down to work on his timeline, it quickly became apparent that his idea of what his timeline should look like and my idea of what his timeline should look like were very, very different.  There were 10 spots to fill in with boxes for a picture to accompany the event.

The first thing we needed to figure out is what goes on a timeline.  At first, Koen couldn't remember what Mrs. VanSledright had said about it and I didn't find any written instructions, so we just went with what we thought was right. 

When I asked Koen what he thought should go on his timeline he came up with playing with Isaac, playing with Tysen, and playing with Evan.  I stopped him at this point and said that it was great that he enjoyed playing with his brother and cousins, but a timeline usually focuses on specific events.  After defining events as special things that happen at special times, he revised his suggestion to when he got Thomas and some his other trains.  I realized that to a five-year-old like Koen, getting a Thomas train IS a major event!  At this point, Koen remembered that Mrs. VanSledright said things on their time line should be super-duper important!  So I tried to redirect him again and suggest we start with the day he was born which was a super-duper important day, but I got, "Mom, that's BORING!" (emphasis his).  I suggested we look through some pictures to come up with good ideas for his timeline. 

So in the end, we compromised.  We did start his timeline with the day he was born, and also included the days he became a big brother to Ty and then to Brielle.  We added the Christmas he got his train table and the Christmas he received Thomas the Tank Engine...his first of his now extensive collection.  My suggestions of including the start of Kindergarten and losing his first tooth, major events in my mind, were met with his, "That's BORING!" response.  We went with the following:

1. May 15, 2005: The day Koen William Davies was born (6 weeks early!)
2. Christmas 2005:  Flying on an airplane to visit Aunt Jane and Uncle Mark in Arizona.
3. Christmas 2006:  Getting a train table.
4. October 18, 2007:  Becoming a big brother to Tysen
5. Christmas 2008:  Getting Thomas the Tank Engine for Christmas.
6. August 2009:   Going to a hotel with Grandpa and Grandma Davies and the rest of the Davies family (repeated in July 2010)
7. September 2009:  Starting preschool at St. Mark's Lutheran School
8. February 21, 2010:  Becoming a big brother to Brielle.
9. July 2010:  Spending time with Grandpa and Grandma Smits and cousins/family from Chicago and Arizona

(Isn't it sad that I can only remember nine of them???  I guess I need to start some memory exercises.)

So in addition to the Thomas highlights, he was able to include his initial ideas of spending time with his cousins and family which made him happy and he included a few major events like being born and becoming a big brother.

The other thing I wasn't clear on is whether we were supposed to find photos of these events or if he was supposed to draw them in the space provided.  He was so excited about the assignment, he drew all 10 pictures by himself, and he did a great job!  Apparently, everyone else used real photos on their time lines (not sure if that's true or an exaggeration) but I told him it was great he did all the pictures himself and that I was really proud of him.  And that's the truth!

I can see it's going to be tricky to let Koen, and eventually the other kids, go with their own ideas for assignments for school when I think I know more of what the teacher wants.  I definitely don't want to squelch their creative ideas, but learning how to guide them is going to be my homework for the year...and probably continuing on through many more years.

September 24: Binoculars and Trumpets

For the past few months I've been saving empty toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls knowing they are great for projects.  I decided it was time to use some of the ones cluttering up the floor in the front closet.

Ty and I started with a pair of toilet paper rolls.  I helped him staple the two together side-by-side so he would have binoculars.  He then colored them and decorated them with stickers.  I punched holes on each side for us to place a string through so he could wear them around his neck, but he had no interest in that.  He knew just what to do with them and began looking around the house with his new set of eyes.

I asked if he wanted to make another project or if he just wanted to play with his binoculars, and he was ready for more project action.  

The kids will sometimes grab an empty toilet paper roll and begin using it as a trumpet, but in looking for project ideas I found/rediscovered a slightly different, more sophisticated way of trumpeting using the card board tubes.  I first cut a square of wax paper...maybe 3x3.  I then helped Tysen secure the wax paper to one end of the empty paper towel roll with a rubber band.  When I "trumpeted" with the new trumpet for Ty, he was thrilled with the new buzzing noise that came from it.  It took him a few tries to emulate the sound, but he figured it out and there was no stopping him after that. 

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not the most science-minded person, but I wondered if using a shorter cardboard tube would change the sound of the trumpet.  So, just to experiment, I cut another 3x3 square of wax paper and Tysen and I made a short trumpet.  Just an FYI, the difference in the size didn't make a difference in the way the instrument sounded...I suppose because the real instrument being used is the voice!?!  Like I said, I'm not the best at understanding the science of things.  

When Koen got home from school, he wanted to make a set of trumpets as well (not just one -- he needed both sizes...just like Ty).  He'd made binoculars like these in preschool, so he wasn't interested in those, but he was all about the noise-makers!