They Say It’s Your Birthday…

…Well it’s my birthday too!  Yes, today is my 36th 29th birthday! Horray!

Before my day even began, my 14 year old daughter, Emily, woke me before she left for school to sing me Happy Birthday.  It’s a tradition in my family that everyone gets sung to on their birthday.  Near or far, we make it happen.  So, this morning, Emily was the first to sing Happy Birthday to me!  Such a sweet gift from my baby girl.

My day officially started an hour later when I rolled out of bed with the sun shining through my window and a blanket of snow covering my neighborhood.  Just when I thought all the snow had melted, Mother Nature brought us more!  It was a beautiful sight from my window this morning! (I posted a pic of the snow on Instagram!)

My baby boy, Matty, woke up in a super good mood full of snuggle and love.  I love it when he’s in a happy mood in the mornings! He brings such joy and happiness to my day when he’s happy!  Great way to start my birthday!

And then the best thing happened.  My husband called me from Afghanistan to with me a Happy Birthday and to tell me he loves me.  He told me that today, he had  an American flag flown over the Forward Operating Base he’s stationed at in my honor.  It’ll fly over the FOB for 24 hours and tomorrow he’ll take a few pictures of the flag and of him taking it down.  When he comes home, the flag will come with him and will have an official certificate saying where and when it was on the flagpole in Afghanistan.  What a an amazingly special birthday gift!   I am such a lucky woman to have a thoughtful, loving and brave Husband!

UPDATE:  Here are a few of the pictures! Aren’t they great?  I’m so proud to be married to such an amazing American soldier!

On the agenda for my birthday… do a little laundry, take a hot bath and spend the evening with good friends over dinner and cake!

Cake! Yes, of course there will be cake!

I absolutely LOVE my chocolate cake recipe. I know I’ve said it a million times before, but it’s the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had.  Moist, rich, and full of chocolate flavor.  It holds up perfectly to any frosting and is just so YUM!

So, for my birthday cake this year I made three layers of my favorite chocolate cake.  I used my Double Chocolate Layer Cake recipe and divided the cake in three 8in cake pans to bake.    I filled the cake with my Perfect Peanut Butter Buttercream… both layers inside.  To frost and decorate the outside of the cake, I made a double batch of my Mom’s chocolate fudge frosting recipe.    I had extra peanut butter and fudge frosting, but no worries… it won’t go to waste!  Finally, I decorated the edges with a simple piped scallop edge and topped the cake with chopped Reese’s!

It’s a peanut butter and chocolate lovers dream cake.

And I’m not gonna lie.  I’ve made this cake before… well maybe not exactly this cake.  But the chocolate peanut butter combo I’ve made before.  But this one… it’s pretty darn amazing with both the peanut butter buttercream and fudge frosting.

Recipes to make my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake:

• Chocolate Layer Cake – make 3 8in layers and bake for 25-30 minutes
• Perfect Peanut Butter Buttercream – make a single batch, you’ll have plenty to frost the inside layers
• Chocolate Fudge Frosting – make a double batch, you’ll want to have enough to work with.

So, besides my hubby not being here… it’s been a pretty darn good birthday!  Here’s to another great year of life!

Oh… and because I just learned how to make them… here’s a fun GIF of me serving a piece of this cake!

Enjoy!