Happy 7th Birthday Bianca!

Our niece's birthday was recently and we've had a few parties to celebrate!

On her birthday (the 14th), Gabe's whole family (parents, sister, etc) went with us to a spaghetti dinner that our girls' daycare was holding. We met at our house, drove there and had dinner and then came back to our house for the celebration.

Of course there were presents:

and a yummy ice cream cake:

The kids had a great time playing awhile after too!

Then this past weekend was Bianca's friend party at one of those indoor bounce places. They had a lot of free time to run around and play and then they did a few organized games....hide and seek, tug of war, and the huge parachute!

Then we went to the party room for pizza, cake and presents!

Cassie and Avery

We stayed for awhile longer and let the kids play some more and it was quite the chore getting them to leave! They were having too much fun!

Happy 7th Birthday Bianca! We hope you enjoyed your special days!!

Salted Caramel Dump Cake

How about a recipe?

Since Thanksgiving is next week and all! Yes, NEXT week folks!

Day to day life has been busy and nothing Earth shattering has been going on so I don't have much to update about.

So to fill the blogging void, here's a new recipe I tried out about a month ago. I think I saw this going around on Facebook-although not 100% sure. Anyways, it caught my eye somewhere, I jotted it down and decided to try it.

Delish. (and easy too!)

Salted Caramel Dump Cake
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup milk
1 box Devil's food cake mix
1 1/2 cup chopped caramels
1 cup chocolate chips
sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13" pan.
2. Whisk pudding and milk for 1 minute.
3. Stir in cake mix-it will be thick!
4. Spread into pan
5. Sprinkle with caramels and sea salt (a little goes a long way)
6. Bake for 30-40min
7. Melt chocolate chips and drizzle on top

Ready to bake!

Ready to be eaten!

(Notes:  This came out really good. The only problem?  Once it cools, the caramels get pretty hard. So this is best served warm. Once I realized they hardened, I microwaved a slice for a few seconds and that also did the trick. Maybe next time I would try a caramel sauce/topping in place of the candies?  I also could have used more sea salt as I really couldn't taste mine. I was afraid of using too much and I don't think it was enough.)

Happy 3rd Birthday Leigha!

The day after Halloween we went to Buffalo for the day. We were due for a visit and had a birthday party for Leigha to attend.

We went to my Mom's and hung out for a bit-had lunch, played, etc.  Cassie took a nap and then we headed to my friend Megan's house for Leigha's 3rd birthday party!

We got there and the kids did some games and we had some food. Then it was gift time!

After gifts was another game:

Cassie

And then time for cake! 

Yes it was as good as it looks!

Cassie checking out the cake!

Singing Happy Birthday:

And a swipe of frosting for fun!

After cake, we hung out a bit longer and visited while the kids played. Then we headed home!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Leigha! We had so much fun at your party!

Trick-or-Treat

We had a really great Halloween.

The girls are at such great ages-each year they get more excited and more into the holidays. It's just awesome.

Avery had school on Halloween and got to take her costume to school with her. They did a school wide parade and then a classroom party. I didn't get to make it to the parade because it was right in the middle of Cassie's nap time.  But I heard it was a lot of fun!

Once she got home, we waited for Gabe to get home. Then we had some dinner and got them all geared up for trick-or-treating!  Of course around here, Halloween has to have the crappiest weather possible. Earlier in the week it was in the mid 70s!  Halloween was in the 40s with rain. Crappy.  So as usual, the girls wore multiple layers under their costumes. They even stopped back home for gloves!
 

Elsa and Anna

My little Anna

Gabe and his Mom took the girls out for a bit. They went to see a house in our area that really goes crazy with the decorations and they hit some houses along the way. They stopped home and Avery decided she was done! Cassie pitched a fit because she wanted to keep going! So Gabe took Cassie out for more and Avery and I stayed with Gabe's Mom and handed out some candy.  After about 20min or so, the crowds died down and then Avery decided she did want to go out some more. So I took her out around our house for a bit. Then we all met back home and called it a night. They had so much fun!

And our pumpkins this year?! They rocked. My husband has some carving skills y'all!

Anna

Elsa