Andrew is 8 (and a recipe for chocolate cake)

Andrew turned 8 years old yesterday!  Hard to believe he is already that old.  He is such a great helper to me.  He will usually do whatever I ask him to right away (unless he doesn't hear me because he is reading!), and he is great with Aaron.  A couple of weeks ago he told me he was going to be so busy when the new baby came because he would have two babies to take care of (Aaron and the new one) and I would have a lot of weight to lose!  So thankful he is in our family!

He waited all day until Daddy came home to open his gifts.  Pretty excited!

He's not the only one.  :-)

An army guy vehicle.  He asked me this morning, "Mom, how did you know I would like that?"

Big box of crayons from Noah.

Daddy's gift.  Description here.

The neighbors gave us this tin of "ca-corn."  Aaron loves it.

Andrew's cake~He wanted a cake with Lewis and Clark floating down the Mississippi River.  They were trading with the Indian on the river bank.

8 candles!

Grandma Roffel's Chocolate Cake
So-Easy Black Magic Cake
From a cookbook called Creative Cooking
I think box cake tastes pretty good, but if you have a few extra minutes, this cake is extra-moist and delicious.  Grandma gave me the recipe a few years ago which she had photocopied on her printer.  I can see food splashes on the page so it was a well-loved recipe.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup black coffee
1 cup buttermilk (or just plain milk)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add eggs, coffee, milk, oil, and vanilla.  Beat 2 minutes on medium speed ( I just whisked it good for a few minutes.).  The batter will be quite thin.

Pour into a greased 9x13 and bake at 350 for 30-35 min.

Cool and frost with your favorite frosting.