A Cola Kind of Weekend

If you know me, you know I'm a major coke addict. Coca-Cola that is! I have been for awhile and, even though I know it isn't good for me, I can't help myself. It's my not-so-secret indulgence. :)

For quite some time now, I've been seeing pins for the chocolate cola cake. I pinned it quite some time ago but hadn't tried it yet. Until this past weekend... 

I must admit, I'm not a big chocolate lover. Chocolate just doesn't do it for me so much. But I do love a really good cake. And, as already established, Coke. And the pictures of this cake just looked so darn good! So I decided to give it a try. 

It really couldn't have been any easier to make. You should copy the recipe I used because you SO need to try this cake! It was very dense and soooooo moist! It feels more like a brownie than a cake and the glaze is very rich. But the flavor is incredible! If you like chocolate at all, you should make this cake at least once! Mmmm-mmmm-good!

In addition to the cola cake, I also used cherry cola for our main dish. I just love the crock pot. So easy and meat always come out so tender. For our dish, I threw 4 chicken breasts, 1 jar of barbeque sauce, 1/2 a can of cherry cola and a 1/2 cup of brown sugar into the crock pot for about 5 hours. Yum! I'm not a huge fan of bbq sauce myself, but this was a really flavorful combination! My daughter ate it right up. (My son, well, he's a lot harder to please!) But Eric and I liked it a lot, too. And what does a 5 year old picky-pete know about good food anyway! lol

Sorry about the grainy pic of the cake I took with my phone. I was more worried about trying these dishes than taking any pictures for the blog. Oh well. Chances are, I'll be making this again and, maybe, I'll remember a pic next time! (If I'm not too busy thinking about how good the cake will taste when it's done!)

A Craft Show and Some Junkin' with Two Christophers

This past weekend was a fun one. Busy. But fun. On A Whim had a display during Christmas Through Lowell. That was a lot of fun. Despite my son Christopher, who didn't necessarily want to be there. He did alright. But he was forced to play with 2 seven-year old girls. Not always a 5 year-old boy's cup of tea! lol. So, we had some rocky moments. But, all-in-all, things were good! We sold stuff and handed out a bunch of business cards. So glad we were able to participate in this really fun event! :) Another big thanks to everyone who stopped by to check out our stuff and to Jodi for letting us display our wares at her house!

Here a few pics of our display (with the wrong camera setting. So pardon them being so golden!)...

On Saturday, when Chris was really getting fed up with the two older girls (lol), he and I went to my boss's house. We were on a mission to get some barn wood from his neighbor who said I could take what I wanted from a smaller barn that had fallen down. Chris was excited to have a break from the craft show biz! So, off we went.

We got to my boss's house (whom I will refer to as my boss because he is also a Chris and this post could get way too confusing! ha ha!) and the 3 of us took a golf cart ride to the neighbor's barn. Not only was he getting a break from the girls, Chris was also getting a golf cart ride. I had one pleased little guy on my hands! :) When we got to the fallen barn, the neighbor came out to talk for a bit. He asked what I wanted the barn wood for. Next thing I know, he's telling us to check out the inside of a different barn and take whatever we want from there. Wow! That's about all I could think when my boss and I peeked in there. Pack-Rat Heaven! Junker's Paradise! Oodles and oodles of vintage things for the taking. Someone's years of packing things away had just become my good fortune! Yay for me! :)

Now, I did say this was an old barn. And one absolutely full of junk. So, with my fear of spiders (which is putting it mildy), I could not really venture into the barn myself. My boss, who knows about said fears, went right in there and starting pulling stuff out. I was a little afraid for him to be honest. Who knows what size of spider was lurking in there. I may have mentioned that there was probably the Mother of All Spiders living in there. But he was not deterred. I even dutifully took things from him as he handed them out the barn door. What choice did I have, after all? I needed this stuff! Spiders and all. :) My Chris was a big help, too. He took the little things and we started making a regular junk pile! 

We managed to pick up some barn wood, too. That was, after all, why we were there in the first place. But I have to admit, I got slightly distracted by all the other goodies we found. lol. When we got done pickin', Chris (my boss) gave Chris (my son) some cookies (which made for an even happier little boy!) and we were on our way back to the craft show biz! My boss even made a special delivery for me so we could get it all home. And, let's just be honest, I am so totally going back for more the first chance I get!!

Here are a few pics of the junk once we got it back to my garage. 

I certainly hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did! And I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving too! :)

My Little Bud Turns 5

 

Any of you that have young children know what a joy they are. (And also what a handful they can be!) But I have to brag just a little about my Christopher today. He's turning five today, and I just couldn't be more of a proud momma than I am of my little guy.

I went to his conference last night and his teacher and I were talking about his progress from the beginning of the year until now. Personally, I have noticed a distinct change in him within the past few weeks. He seems to have gotten older. More mature. It's like all of a sudden, I've been getting these glimpses of a grown-up Chris. And I really like what I see.

My Chris has always been a sensitive little guy. He's pretty in-tune with what people are feeling and I just love that about him. He has a big heart. He's the kind of kid who genuinely feels bad if he does something to hurt or disappoint someone. And he honestly likes to make people happy. He has a strong built-in conscience and an empathy for those around him. I plan on doing my best to nurture that so he will grow into a man with the same kind heart he has as a young boy.

Just this morning, he showed his soft side, so to speak. I bought him some Captain America tattoos for his birthday. I thought that would be cool because he's such a big fan these days. So, he opens his tattoos and says, "I already have these." I quickly said, "no you don't," thinking he was mistaken. I was just as quickly put in my place by the seven year old boss of the house when she clearly stated that he indeed does have those already! Well, I guess I really am getting old because I still don't remember buying those for him before now! lol. But, I said something like "shoot, I'm sorry. I didn't know you already had those." And Chris's response... "It's ok mom. I lost my other ones so it's good you bought me more." I'm sure they're not lost. They're probably in our closet with the other tattoos. But isn't he just such a sweetheart for trying to make me feel better about it? :)

In addition to his sweetheartedness, he's so darn funny and adorably cute too! I just love listening to his stories at the dinner table. He's stinking hilarious! His teacher and I were talking last night about his scrunchie face. If you know Chris, you have probably seen it. If not, you are really missing out! He has the cutest expressions but  the scrunchie face really takes the cake. He knows it, too. Whenever I try to tease him about it, he gets a huge smile on his face. Which, in turn, makes me smile too. He always knows how to make me smile. Always has. He's the kind of kid that you have to turn your back on so he won't know you're laughing when you're trying really hard to be serious about something you're saying to him. What a stinker he is! 

So I wanted to take a minute today to say Happy Birthday to my little guy. He's the joy of my life in so many ways. And I hope, when he is grown, he remains the big-hearted, sensitive yet silly guy that he is now. Happy 5th Birthday Little Bud!

Friday SHEnanigans (with kids in tow)

***Disclaimer: no children were harmed during the making of this blog post.***

Sometimes the simple matter of picking up an auction item turns into a regular, full-blown fiasco. Let me just start out by saying that with my recent car troubles, and the small size of the old girl in the first place, there was no way I was going to be able to pick up two 84" long louvred doors with my own car. In comes Sarah, the recruit for the job. Recruited because of her van, but the company wasn't so bad either. :)

We picked up a couple of old chairs... piece of cake. 2 pieces of vintage luggage... easy-peasy. Now, on to get the louvred doors.

Before I move on with the story, did I happen to mention that we had all 4 of our children in tow? If you are parents of young children, you understand that having 4 children in 1 vehicle for a road trip, short though it may be, can be adventure enough. If you do not have/have not had young children, well, let me just say, you really have no idea the fun that can be had! Now, back to the story...

We arrived at the auction house, I paid for the item, I waited in a semi-long line, and then I walked back to the van to await my new, used doors. I will say, I had it all worked out in my head. I had looked at the dimensions of the door. All was good. They would most certainly slide right under the seats in Sarah's van. No problem. No sweat. With the week I've had, I really should have known better!

Out come the doors. On a forklift. Hmmm, I'm thinking... they sure do look bigger than I thought. This may not be good. The young man took them off the forklift. I asked if they were heavy and he said they weren't. Well that's good, I thought. So we proceeded to slide them under the back seat. Yes. This was going to work out after all. Until, clunk! They were hitting something. Upon examination, they were hitting the middle seats. Oops... too wide. The monsterous auction doors were not going to fit after all. :(
Well, I'd be darned if they weren't gonna fit! Poor Sarah drove all the way out there to help me out and she'd be darned if they weren't gonna fit either! We rearranged some booster seats, the guy slid those puppies up over the seats (after numerous threats at children to sit down or get clunked in the head with said doors!), tilted them over a couple children's heads, and we made it work, gosh darn it!

Now, little Holly felt sure she was gonna get hit in the head with the doors. But, let me assure you, she had a good inch and a half clearance above her head. No worries. My own little man, Chris, who cannot sit still to save his life, did indeed clunk his head. If you know him at all, you know this head-clunking thing is an everyday happening with him. So no need to be alarmed. Hannah fretted about the doors falling on her sister. Of course, she's only 6 and doesn't know how expertly we had tilted them and secured them in the van. Keara, well she pinched her finger in between hers and her brother's car seat, which we scooted right next to hers in order to fit the doors in. But, hey, that kinda thing could've happened at anytime. It certainly cannot be blamed on the doors...

We are home now. We've eaten dinner. We're all good. I'm sure Sarah and her family are safe and sound at their house, too. And I have the doors tucked safely away in my garage. So, even though it was a regular "adventure," as Sarah so nicely put it, we all arrived home with only minor injuries to a few parties involved. And, most importantly, the mission to retrieve 2 louvred doors for repurposing was completely and utterly accomplished!