Zoo Hunt and Jar Painting

We live near a really great zoo.  As members, we got to participate in an Easter Egg the day before Easter.  We made a day of it and had a great time at the zoo.  Our adventure in picture-form:

Another recent development in our house is LB's allowance.  We've done the allowance thing on and off in the past, but this time we're trying to be consistent and get chores done. 

She's getting $4/week if she gets 10 checks on her chore chart.  Her chores include; helping with little sis, vacuuming, cleaning her room and taking down laundry.

To start the process off with a bang, I gave her mason jars to paint for sorting her allowance.  It gets divided into Spend, Save and Donate jars - with $1 in Save, $1 in Donate and $2 in Spend each week.

Her first Spend purchase was a PS3 game called "Fat Princess" (it involves feeding a princess cake and is something like Capture the Flag) that she was able to get with a combination of Easter $ and allowance. 

We'll see how the process goes :)

Five more weeks and I'll be at my due date.  I'm hoping to make it until at least the 19th, but after that I'll probably start to get impatient.  Please let me know of any prayer intentions you have that I can use as offerings during labor.

Happy 34th Hubby :)

My husband turned 34 on March 28th....and I'm just getting around to this blog.....

Anyway, I think the birthday was a big hit.  The birthday boy's request was for the most chocolately cake I could come up with.  Well, I took this challenge to heart.

A view from the side

A view from the top

Up close with the m&m's

Finally got all the candles on!

Call the fire department!

The excitement builds....

Blow!!!!

The carnage

After posting some pics on fb - I got requests for the recipe.  Here's what I did:

2 8" rounds of chocolate cake (box mix - made according to package directions)
1 8" round of flourless chocolate cake (not because it was flourless - just because it tastes like a cross between fudge and brownies)
1 tub cool whip
2 large Heath bars
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup mini m&m's
2 large Kit-Kats
1 can chocolate frosting
milk chocolate for shavings on top

The recipe for the flourless chocolate cake comes from Epicurious.com.

I added the 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips to the top of the flourless chocolate cake before baking.

After baking and cooling the cakes, I stacked them alternating regular and flourless.  In hindsight, I'd recommend putting the flourless chocolate cake on the bottom because it'll make the cake easier to cut.

So, first cake round on the cake plate, then I topped with cool whip (could use whipped cream, but my hubby is lactose intolerant).  I put a couple crushed candy bars on, then topped with the next layer.  I did this again and once the third layer was on, I covered the entire cake in chocolate frosting, added m&m's to the sides and chocolate shavings to the top.

Since it has cool whip, it needs to be refrigerated.  This makes the flourless chocolate cake layer very fudgy-thick, which is why I would recommend it as the bottom layer.

Add or subtract amounts and change up candy bars until it's the right mix for you.  Be forewarned, it's SUPER rich....but oh so delicious!