Their Third Birthday

Babies no more, babies no more. Welcome to boyhood, tots!

The twins turned three on Monday and it's been a week of joy and reminiscences as a result. They are of an age to ask, "Mama, tell us about when we were babies", and for me to reply, "Well, when you were babies, you would wrap your little hand around my finger, like this [demonstrating] and you were so tiny we had to carry you everywhere!" The age to want to look at our photo albums. The age to ask for stories: "Tell about the bat, Mama, about the shutters, Mama, about when you and Daddy found our house, Mama, about how we got Ladybug kitty, Mama..." The age to want these tales over and over again as bedtime stories.

The age to receive a four-by-eight-foot sandbox that Curte built for them as their birthday gift.

Oh, I miss my babies, but oh, I love my boys.

We  had chocolate cupcakes with animal crackers stood atop them instead of birthday cake. The cupcakes are made from a recipe Mom has had since girlhood,  and so it dates to somewhere during the 1950s. It came from a newspaper, I believe, and produces a very moist, chocolatey result without fancy ingredients.

Wanting to gild the lily? Add chocolate chips? Wanting to 24-carat gild the lily? Make them fancy dark chocolate chips.

Betty's Chocolate Cake

1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mom did not include the directions to mix up the cake, but this is basically what to do:

In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar.
Beat in the egg.
Sift the dry ingredients into a different bowl.
Fold the dry ingredients into the batter.
Slowly add the water and vanilla.
Put into a baking dish and bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F.