Elliott's b-day playgroup

We hosted our Friday playgroup today in honor of Elliott's birthday. Even though the yard needs a spring clean-up and some steps, it was good enough to get us out enjoying the warm weather. I took Aunt Charlotte's advice to try a Namaste cake mix and was very pleased with the results. I mixed a regular mix that contained a good bit of sugar with a sugar-free muffin mix, added some hazelnut flour and walnuts to part of the whole thing (plus carrot, zucchini and spices) and ended up with a tasty train and yummy caboose. I used a little butter and coconut oil plus standard powdered sugar for frosting, and the brown frosting is made with carob powder. I tried adding beet juice to make a red frosting, but I did the proportions wrong and it came out gloppy, so I scraped it off and went with a more rust-colored caboose. A choo-choo train piggy bank Christmas gift painted by cousin Zacharie was our primary inspiration for the cake design. Elliott is always asking me to draw a train on the Etch-A-Sketch and lately has developed a fascination with cabooses (cabosi?), so I thought I'd see what I could come up with. It was fun to try to get creative, but of course starting the whole operation at 10 p.m. (when people will be over in 12 hrs. and the house is still a mess) limits things a little. Cutting out the design did allow us a late snack of warm cake, which was delightful.

These days I'm posting blog photos in part for Elliott to look at when he wants to see photos on the laptop and I want him to stay occupied in his booster seat while I clean up or feed myself. He is really remembering names -- when I say Susan is here, he says "Sawyer?" (her son). He has several mama/child pairs down cold. Though Joey didn't make it into any photos, his mom, Katie, came over early to help out and then took the photos of me, for which I'm thankful. Above Elliott is with Alex at the table and with Salome (holding out the recorder) on the couch. Behind the car is Margaret and behind the O-ball is Clare. Shying away from Elliott's soul-penetrating gaze is Gautham. I put Elliott in his Kalamazoo College t-shirt today because it was new and different, and I decided to match him (in my orange K College shirt) just for fun.