In this family, we like to make things at home, from scratch. And Derm Dad is into fancy.

Last Saturday was Everett’s third birthday. We were invited to a potluck on the same day so we decided to make that Everett’s birthday celebration too. We picked up a pre-made birthday cake (actually it was from a fancy cake place), rationalizing that we’d just had a baby, Everett’s a middle child now, and he wouldn’t notice or care. Well, we just couldn’t live with ourselves. Derm Dad decided to make a Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake (Cinnamon Cake with Chili Chocolate Buttercream Frosting) for Everett’s birthday celebration (albeit a week late) — we knew it was a winner since Derm Dad previously made it for my epic 30th Birthday Party. We (Derm Dad and Adele) made the cake on Thursday and I crumb-coated it that night. Tonight, I frosted it. Yumsky! We’ll serve it tomorrow night with our friends the P family. And we’ll put Everett in the traditional birthday crown (which he’ll hate) and maybe even put out the birthday tablecloth for a photo (stay tuned).

And, Adele was painting today with her lovely new paint set that Mammaw sent. Eleanor was asleep, Everett was playing happily with his toys, so I decided to do a little painting myself. Behold.

Fun, right?

In the past, I’ve painted for nature study, which is just as much science as it is art — and actually, it’s mostly just about really seeing and loving God. For nature study, I use dry brush watercolor, but I think I’d like to experiment a bit with acrylics – just for fun. I had to use acrylic on the bottom red section because I needed to move it up, but I couldn’t cover the blue with just watercolor. It’s a lot better now.