Payton – Page 2

Back-to-School Chocolate Cake

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PurelySimple #CollectiveBias

My baby starts Kindergarten today. It’s that date you countdown to when you first give birth, it’s the huge milestone each parent looks forward to. The only thing is, once it’s here it’s really scary and exciting all at the same time. To celebrate our daughter beginning Kinder we wanted to celebrate this milestone to help ease her anxiety and to show her we are proud of the young lady she is becoming. We celebrated at her favorite restaurant, gave her a few new books and I baked her one amazing chocolate cake. While I was at Target buying school supplies I noticed a new product in the baking aisle. It’s a new cake mix from Pillsbury Purely Simple that is free of dyes, has no preservatives and no artificial flavors. There is also Pillsbury Purely Simple Frosting, Pillsbury Purely Simple Cookie and Pillsbury Purely Simple Brownie Mix. I immediately thought of a decadent, yet simple chocolate cake recipe I could bake for my sweet girl to celebrate this milestone.

I know that this cake might look super complicated, but I have to reassure you that it took me less than two hours from start to finish. You do not need to be an expert baker to create a memorable and tasty cake. I started with Pillsbury Purely Simple Chocolate Cake Mix, all you have to do is add: milk, eggs and butter. While the cake was baking I had the kids help with baking the Pillsbury Purely Simple Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pillsbury Purely Simple Brownies. These mixes were also simple and came together very fast and within no time I had everything baked. To speed up the cake cooling time I moved the warm cake to the refrigerator and prepared the frosting. My friends always want to know my baking secrets and I have to tell you that using mixes is easier, time saving and usually you cannot tell the difference in taste. This new product does not have that aftertaste that some boxed mixes have and by using simple ingredients like butter, milk & eggs it’s like you baked it from scratch but didn’t have to do any of the measuring yourself.

Simply Stated Chocolate Cake

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

Author: Melissa

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

1 box Pillsbury Purely Simple Chocolate Cake Mix
3 eggs
1 stick butter
1 cup milk
2 bags Pillsbury Purely Simple Vanilla Buttercream Mix
2 sticks butter
½ cup water
1 tsp almond extract
½ cup fresh raspberries, smashed.
Pillsbury Purely Simple Chocolate Chip Cookies (baked according to package)
Pillsbury Purely Simple Brownies (baked according to package)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º.
Grease two 6" cake pans and dust with cocoa powder
Prepare cake mix according to package instructions.
Divide batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool cake and invert. Cut each cake in half and remove the top of the cake to create an even surface.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine Purely Simple Buttercream Mix and butter. Combine.
Add in water and extract. Mix on high until light and fluffy. *I added a little extra powdered sugar to create a thicker consistency to pipe.
Place frosting in piping bag fitted with tip of choice.
Layer your sliced cake with even layer of frosting. On second layer spread smashed raspberries on top of frosting.
Apply a thin crumb coat to the cake and place in refrigerator for ten minutes.
Pipe frosting and top with brownies & crushed cookie pieces.

I just made this amazing cake using Pillsbury Purely Simple mixes, what would you make with them? I would love to hear from you!

If you’re interested in trying these new products they’re available at Target and you can currently save 25% off on any Pillsbury Purely Simple product with the Cartwheel app.

For additional info and recipe ideas visit:

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Happy Fifth Birthday, Peanut Butter Pie.

Dearest Payton,

Today you are five years old. How we got to an entire hand is just insane. I have loved every minute of being your mother. You have the sweetest soul and everyone who knows you cannot wait to tell us this. You are a genuine friend and care deeply about those you love. You are the best big sister and watching you teach your brother brings so much light to my life. I love our tooshie dances, our chases up and down the hallway, our lunch dates and your story telling. My! Oh my! Can you tell a story. You have one wild imagination and I cannot wait for you to start writing your own books. Though, this is your new thing to do at school, your picture books tell amazing stories already, sweet girl you are destined to do amazing things. Everything about you is amazing. I could not imagine my life without you in it.

When I was growing up I had a love for Winnie the Pooh. I know I have told you about this but that silly old bear holds a special place in my heart. When I was gradutaing high school my parents made me a scrapbook of my life thus far. A special Winnie the Pooh-ism that will forever be with me is:

If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together. There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important thing even if we are apart I’ll always be with you. – Winnie the Pooh

My wish for you sweet girl is for you to live by this. You are a strong girl with the biggest heart and no matter where you are, I will always be with you. Happy fifth birthday! Your birthday, along with your brother’s are by far the best days of my life.

Things you are loving:

horses, all things princess, puzzles, drawing picture books, Frozen, Taylor Swift, dance parties & playing dress-up.

You are:

51 pounds, you wear a size 12 shoe, wear a size 6/6x.

Payton’s 4th Birthday {Disneyland}

(bear with me as I play catch-up of events)

Payton’s second wish for her fourth birthday was to go to Disneyland. Since daddy was in Austin for her special day, Grandma and I took the kids to the happiest place on earth. We learned last year when taking her Disneyland one week before Christmas it meant chaos and this year was no exception, it was pure chaos! Last year it was raining the morning of and this year it was nearly 80 degrees. Luckily for us, the kids don’t really care if we ride too many rides. All they seem to care about is seeing the princesses, Brayden needs to see Goofy otherwise his two-year-old planet will spontaneously combust, cotton candy, popcorn, a ride on the carousel, maybe even a coast through Ariel’s undersea adventure and finishing off the day with purchases made at The World of Disney is all they truly need. Actually, this is our routine 75% of the time, luckily for us we have passports so it makes it easy when the crowds get the best of us.

We made the most of our December 18th trip and tried doing holiday-type things like decorating sugar cookies at Mickey’s Jamboree. This was the highlight of our trip because Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Mrs. Claus and Santa were all nestled back away from the chaos. The kids could interact as long as they wanted with the characters. We were probably thirty seconds away from being tossed out of the park for Brayden’s stalking skillz (yes with a ‘z’) on Goofy and Pluto. I am sure the human behind the fluff was so annoyed with my kid. Hell, he even parked himself down next to a teenage girl during one of the last hillbilly shows and made himself comfortable. At one point he kept inching closer to her, grabbing her hand and leaning on her arm. This kid has mad skillz (again, with the ‘z’) and he’s only two. It was fun chasing him around, they had fun and I had fun watching them act like crazy ass kids. After the kids, grandma and I consumed way too many sprinkles and icing we exited the park and met my sister’s family to celebrate my nieces 9th birthday and miss p’s 4th. Dinner was chaotic like the park, but more so because my son decided he wanted to enter into his terrible two’s that day. Lord help me and let it pass quickly because I can’t look like “that” mom out in public any longer than I have already endured. Okay, enjoy the picture overload. Payton’s fourth is finally recapped. Now onto planning the fifth birthday.

Brayden already getting to dart because he made contact with Goofy. See the disinterest with Mrs. Clause?

We’re still all good here. Engaged young boy somewhat paying attention to his Grandma’s direction…somewhat…

what else is in there? I’ve already tasted all the sprinkles. I need MORE!

Payton, bless her patient heart. She decorated her cookie, obliged for her photo and stayed put with Grandma to watch the show.

Grandma now decorating Brayden’s $6 cookie.

Plethora of affection for Mickey & his pals.

“holy s*** mom! It’s actually Mickey Mouse!”

Okay, I’ll give him a hug. He seems alright and he sings about hot dogs.

But Goofy is just like me! We’re so cool we blow kisses to one another.

I ran away from my mom and found another girl. Slowly but surely I will work my way over.

we also finally talked mommy into purchasing two balloons, the yellow one is still floating high onto her ceiling 5 weeks later. take that $7 balloon that mommy thought wouldn’t last!

we gave mommy a run for her money today, can’t you tell how worn out she is? but I got an Anna crown so I am good…

Grandma enjoying my craziness and for me giving my mommy a run for her money. payback!!

a picture says a thousands words.

Happy FOURTH birthday, Peanut Butter Pie! I hope this post provides you with many laughs when you’re old enough to understand all of this!

tiny dancer

This past weekend Payton had her first ballet class. Is she graceful? Not quite sure yet, but her heart is there. Watching her pay attention to Miss Nicole was so cute, watching others before she acted, nonchalantly biting her nails as she waited for her turn and taking two silly ballerina twirls while the teacher wasn’t watching made for an anxiety filled 45-minutes. Am I a stage mom? Probably. This pint sized kid is definitely my mini me. Her favorite part of class? Striding across the room like a princess ballerina pony. My favorite part of class? Watching her light up as the teacher asked, “who hear likes ponies?” and taking moments to find me from her circle to wave hi. My tiny dancer is finally at “ballerina school”. Bring it on dance moms.

brother & sisterly love

The love they have for one another is a magical thing. Their personalities compliment one another, they run to one another when the other one cries or is placed on a timeout. They play well together. The eldest explains when he is doing something wrong or when she is irritated it always begins with a “Budddd-yyyyy!” When she wakes in the morning it’s usually from hearing him talking and she immediately wants to run to him, usually shutting the door in my face so she gets to hear “SISSY!” first. They play in his crib, the laugh, they play peekaboo, they push each other on their cars, each teaching one another on daily basis. She is the first to exclaim, “buddy pooped…again!” She knows when to duck from his already straight shot of an arm. He watches every move she makes and wants everything she has. They both have a major sweet tooth, but love their veggies the same. I pray that their love never fades, I pray that they don’t go through the typical brother/sister feuding, I know that is wishful thinking but one can hope. These two beautiful blue-eyed children are my life. I cannot imagine a day without them and I am pretty sure they couldn’t go a day without one another either. The bond that siblings share is such a wonderful thing to witness. I am blessed that they call me mom.