bits o' fun

My honey spoiled me this Christmas by splurging and buying me what I really really wanted: a mixer. I've done 6 married years without a mixer & got along fine but I'm really wanting to start branching out to more mixer-needed things like meringues & bread doughs. So. That's what he got me. Unfortunately, the one he bought me was like a freight train loud to which everyone had to yell over no matter where in our little house we were :{ So this week we traded it in for the one I originally had my eye on: a KitchenAid =] It's not the color I wanted (it's gray), or the style (head lifts up instead of tilts) but it's got the power & quietness I needed & already I'm loving what I can do with it =] Yesterday I made a delicious Red Velvet Cupcake recipe to celebrate my hubby's birthday with his fam:

and then since we had some of yesterday's luscious frosting left over, today we made fun snickerdoodle cupcakes =]

Today the boys also painted some Valentine's Day cards which may arrive to their destination sometime before the end of the year =]

And tonight. Last week, after a little stalking, I finally found a good deal on a swing set for the boys! It was on clearance @ Walmart, the last of its kind =] Z has been harassing C ever since to get it out of the box & build it & he was sooooo excited when C came home & started right in on the setup. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to show the finished fun product =]