Where in the World is Daddy?

Many families have a parent that travels a lot for one reason or another.  In our case, Jeremy travels A LOT during the summer track season and I knew as Cam got older he would ask more questions about where Daddy is and when he was coming home.  I came up with this idea for Cam's room:

I purchased all of my materials from Hobby Lobby.  This blackboard was 30% off this week.  I found the maps in an aisle of teacher/student supplies.  The maps have holes punched on the side so they may be placed in a 3-ring binder, but they were laminated and the perfect size for my board, so I got a World map and a USA map for my board.  I used chalk markers to create the calendar on the right side of the board.  The awesome thing about these markers is they wipe clean like chalk but write like a marker.

After I took this picture I used the red marker to put a star on the World and USA maps of where we live.  Now when Jeremy travels I can mark where he is and Cam can see where we are in relation to where Daddy is.  I got a box of regular chalk as well so as Cam gets older we together can mark off the days until Daddy comes home!

Hope Cam likes it!

Leftover Peeps?

Some people love them, some people hate them.  Regardless of how you feel about Peeps candy, there is a dessert that will satisfy both parties.  Over Easter I made this sunflower cake found on Pinterest.  Of course, I had to make the cake gluten-free, so here's what I did...

I used Betty Crocker's chocolate gluten-free cake mix and Betty Crocker milk chocolate frosting to bake and ice the cake.  Then using chocolate chips I made circles of chocolate chips to resemble the seeds of our "sunflower."  If you have more time and dedication than I seem to have, use the small chocolate chips for a more realistic look.  Use one package (3 row package) of Peeps to separate and use as your "petals" around the outside of your cake.  I used a little fondant bubble bee I already had, but that is absolutely optional.

The result should look something like this.  

We served with vanilla ice cream.  If you have guests who don't like Peeps they can easily remove them.  I do like Peeps, however, so I ended up getting most of them all to myself!

Although I made this cake for Easter I think it would work for any spring occasion, so put that clearance Easter candy to good use!