Kitchens, fun with Grandma and chocolate.

A friend, and fellow triplet mom, set the kiddos up with a new play kitchen today! Xander, Hayden and Lily got their old kitchen as a Christmas gift back in 09, look at them...they were so little. The kitchen held up pretty darn well, almost 3 years of use and abuse by 3-4 little munchkins is a lot for any toy to stand up to, but it was time to replace it.

When Jason walked in with the new kitchen the kids went nuts...they were in love!

The girls enjoying the kitchen....so excited.

Is it any wonder Jericho is such a monkey...nope, not with big brother Xander leading the way LOL.

Little man may be the biggest fan of the kitchen, he has been in there the most.

After the kiddos got to play with their new kitchen for a bit, we packed up the trio to go spend some time with Grandma. She was going to take them to their first high school football game of the year, featuring their cousin Brock. The triplets went to their first game at 15 months...such a huge change. Grandma lives a couple min walk from the high school, so we dropped the trio at Grandma's house and then she walked with them to watch the game and then once the game was over they played at the nearby park. Jason and I...and Jericho, had a blast spending 4 hours shopping *NOT* Hahaha.

 

When we got done we headed back to pick Xan, Haddie and Lily up. Grandma gave us a glowing report, the kids listened, watched the whole game and then had fun playing at the park. I guess the girls really loved the cheerleaders, they would get up and dance and cheer with them.  Grandma also told us a little 8 or 9 year old boy told Hayden she could be a cheer leader too, Grandma spoke up and told him Haddie wasn't old enough. The boy said well you only have to be 6, that is when Grandma had to break it to him that Hayden is only 4. The boy looked at Hayden and said "Ooooh" LOL.

 

While at the game, Uncle Ron took Xander to the bathroom. Xander had said he needed to pee, so Ron took him to the urinal section and Xander, while staring at it like what the heck is that said "that's a toilet?" Ron laughed, since he didn't know Xander doesn't yet use those...not even sure he had ever seen one before LOL, and took him to the toilet's instead.

 

Speaking of urinal's and bathrooms...ugh, my poor bathroom. It has only been a couple of months now since 5 people started using it and it already smells so bad...it totally smells like an icky boys bathroom. Time to check out Pinterest for some helpful ideas.

 

The trio were helping Grandma water when we got there to pick them up. They did not want to leave, thank goodness we could honestly tell them we would be going back to Grandma's tomorrow.

Jason jumped on his mom's bike and rode a couple times around the yard. He can not wait for the trio to be ready for family bike rides. Xan and Haddie are close!

We got the trio a new toy each while we were out today. The girls got some more My Little Pony's...they love all things pony LOL. Xan got a new Spider-Man.

Now on to the chocolate part. Tomorrow we are having a little BBQ swim party for Auntie Amber (9/11) and Uncle Rick's (9/14) birthdays. So tonight we made the birthday cake.

Death By Chocolate...I hope it is as good as it looks!

3 levels, chocolate cake bottom and top, dark chocolate brownie in the middle! And of course our new fave frosting that has been our go to since the triplets rainbow birthday cake.

If you want a little Death By Chocolate for yourself...here is how.

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cake Mix (any chocolate flavor)
• Brownie Mix (13×9 Family Size I used a Dark Chocolate mix)
• 2 cans of chocolate frosting (any chocolate flavor – dark, milk, fudge…etc) *Or you can use the frosting we did...directions below.
• Eggs (for the cake and brownie mix) **We added 1 extra egg to the cake mix, and 1 extra egg to the brownie mix on top of what the box directions called for.
• Veg oil (for the mixes) **Instead of veg oil we used melted butter in the same amount called for.
• One 12oz package of Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• Two (or three) 8″ round pans

*If you want to do the frosting we use...
2 boxes instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cup cold milk
16 ounces Cool Whip, Thawed
Mix dry pudding mix, milk and powdered sugar with mixer for 1 minute until creamy. Fold in cool whip. We chilled the frosting before using it for a good 5 hours...helped it thicken up a bit.
**The extra eggs and melted butter instead of oil is from a Pinterest post on how to make box cakes and stuff taste more like treats from a bakery. You don't have to do it, I just wanted to give it a try.

Make the Cake & the Brownie:
1. Make the chocolate cake according to the box. Pour batter evenly into two (2) greased 8″ round pans and bake. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a plate to cool completely.
2. Make the brownie mix according to the package. Pour entire brownie batter into one (1) greased 8″ round pan. Make sure the brownie pan is the same size as the cake pans that you used! Watch the brownies carefully as not to overcook them but make sure they aren’t completely doughy in the center. Cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a plate to cool completely. I found it was easiest to remove the brownie by letting it sit in the pan upside down over night. We tried everything to get it out, that was our last idea before having to cut it in half and get it out. Thankfully the next morning it had falled out on it's own without damage.
Assemble the Cake:
3. Pick the plate you want the cake to be displayed on and start with one (1) cake layer. Top the cake if need be (cut off the very top of the cake to make it flat so the next layer can sit on it.) Frost the top of the cake layer with about 1/3 of one of the frosting containers. Carefully place the brownie layer on top of the cake layer. Top the brownie if needed too.
4. Frost the top of the brownie layer with about 1/3 of one of the frosting containers. Carefully place the 2nd cake layer on top of the brownie layer. Carefully frost the top of the cake with the remaining 1/3 of the frosting container.
5. Spread the entire 2nd container of frosting on the sides and top of the cake. BEFORE THE FROSTING SETS, you need to apply the chocolate chips to the outside. Take a handful of chocolate chips at a time and firmly press against the side of the cake until most of the chips stick. Some chips will fall to the plate and you will use those to fill in the holes.
6. Repeat this process around the entire cake. Take the fallen chips and the chips that you have left and fill in the holes and sprinkle on top.