Boogie Woogie Bugle Girl Caiti?

Caiti's art teacher has assigned them the task of painting a pop art picture a la Andy Warhol. Caiti wants to do a self-portrait so I offered to help her come up with something different and fun... a 1940s glamour girl/pin-up girl complete with victory rolls and luscious eyelashes. (No, I'm not trying to make my 12 year old niece a pin-up girl!) After watching online how-to videos on victory rolls, we spent an hour driving around to get supplies, another hour doing her hair and make-up and another hour taking pictures. Enjoy the glamourous Caiti having fun with the camera!

Halloween has come and gone, but the candy still lingers

Another fun Halloween! I made a "Jack" from Jack-in-the-box costume to wear to a party and contest at work on the 29th. I finished early enough that I was able to debut it at Sam's Burger Joint's yearly Halloween party on the 25th. I took second in this year's costume contest. Yay! I won last year's contest so I guess I need to be thinking about something for next year. Gotta keep the winning streak alive, right? Nah, I will just have to wait and see. Also check out Wilma Flintstone, The Dude, and the 1950s nerd.














We made a bunch of the kiddos costumes this year as well. Casey went as a throw back to the 80s wearing a Rubik's Cube costume. Too cute! Campbell was GI JOE, but still in the box. A little more difficult, but it turned out well. However, it was a little heavy so it was only worn for the pictures. Boo-hoo! Finally, Caiti was "Kash", the Geico money stack. You know, the "I always feel like somebody's watching me" five dollar bills with eyes. The parts I thought would be hard were easy, and the parts I thought would be easy were hard. It also didn't help that Chris and I had different visions for how to execute it, but once we were both on the same page, it came together well. Chris was so happy he felt like a million bucks, or at least $5 anyway.

Happy Birthday Soldier!

Campbell turned nine on September 29th. We celebrated last Sunday at Mama and Papa Dodds' house. Caiti and Mama Dodds made the cake, and Mama Dodds left Caiti and I to decorate it. I wasn't sure I could do the camouflage thing so I let Caiti figure that out. As you can see, she did a great job, especially since this was only the second or third time for her to decorate a cake. Campbell was excited about his "Army" Cake since everyone knows how much Campbell loves all things military. Happy Birthday Campbell!

Stomp me, crush me, make me wine!

This was the battle cry at Becker Vineyards' 14th annual Grape Stomp. I thought it would be a fun way to visit the vineyard so we loaded up the gang yesterday and headed for Fredericksburg, err... Stonewall, TX.










One might think we were going on a really long trek since the table came out and so did the food. Crystal was our official "drive" attendant, making sandwichs and serving drinks most of the way there while Mama Dodds and I alternated as pilot and co-pilot.



Once we arrived, it was time to get down and dirty.



I was the first one into a barrel. I thought it felt good, but some of the kiddos thought it was gross, yet they stood in it for a while so it could not have been THAT bad! Check out our stomping skills by clicking on the picture below.


After hanging out at the vineyard, we headed back into Fredericksburg and walked around Main Street for a while. We ended up at this retro yet hip little Ice Cream, Bakery, and Deli called Clear River. It was a fun place to hang out for a while, and their ice cream was yummy even though Caiti's face says otherwise (the photographer's fault).














By the way, the baked goods looked tempting as well, and we just loved, loved, loved the ceiling (check out the picture above).

12 years and all I got was this lousy can of soup?

Caiti turned 12 on Friday, July 30th, but the family celebrated on the 26th because her dad, the great Chris Dodds, usually plays on Friday nights. Her cake, made by the one and only Mama Dodds, was a surprise (she thought she wasn't getting one) and similar to her mom's since Caiti really liked the fresh flowers and icing basket weave used on Crystal's last birthday cake. Thanks to Aunt Sherry, it was even complete with a "carrot jockey" or as Caiti calls it, a "cake jockey". If you don't know what this is, check out Cake Wrecks and you will figure it out.
















After blowing out her candles, it was time for presents. Although the Dodds kids have been known to ask for such things as honey and bread or whipped cream for Christmas, Caiti didn't only get food items for her birthday. Mama Dodds usually gives the grandkids money, but always wraps it with candy or a small trinket. Aunt Sherry gave her a shirt for school, but decided to include a package of her favorite candy bars and a can of her favorite soup, Progresso Italian Wedding soup. I actually think she was more excited about the soup than she was her new duds. Do I smell a Progresso endorsement in her future?

The Budding Baker

Caiti came down to hang out with me today. While checking out one of our favorite blogs, Cake Wrecks, we decided to bake something. After perusing some cooking sites as well as my own catalog of recipes, we decided on chocolate souffles. I suggested this because I like chocolate and I wanted something that didn't take too long to bake so the house wouldn't get so hot. Caiti loves chocolate as much as I do so she was definitely on board with my suggestion.

Caiti was excited to make her first chocolate souffles even though she didn't know what they were. I first had her stir the chocolate mixture over a double boiler, but only after I made her crack an egg and separate the yolk from the white. Apparently she had never done this before, but her first attempt was successful.

Meanwhile, I prepared the egg whites ready for whipping. I whipped them until soft peaks formed, let Caiti add the sugar, and then let her whip them until stiff peaks formed. She was very impressed! I then showed her how to fold the chocolate into the egg whites and let her finish the process. I then transferred everything into ramekins while Caiti licked the spatula. We then popped them into the oven and anxiously awaited our sweet treats.

They smelled good so we were both impatient to get them out of the oven. Caiti kept saying, "They're not puffing up yet!" I reassured her that they would, and of course they puffed up beautifully. After taking them out of the oven we let them cool a little before topping them with Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie FroYo and digging in. I devoured mine quickly while Crystal and Caiti slowly savored theirs. Well actually, I don't think Caiti savored hers at all. In the end, I think she was a little disappointed with them, but only because she didn't like them. She didn't really have any expectations, they just weren't tasty to her. Crystal and I, however, cleaned our ramekins. In my book, they turned out just fine.


Chef Caiti...



















and her chocolatey creations.





















Yum!