Over the River & Through the Woods...

...to Grandmothers house we went (forgive my typos - my keyboard is not working well right now).

Here is the cake I made for my sisters groovy 29th birthday!  I couldve made it smoother with fondant, but buttercream tastes so much better...  

Here is the car my BIL got for my niece a couple of days before, completely unbeknownst to me...

Lily was totally uninterested in taking the car for a spin, opting instead for some snuggle time with Grandpa (the one who teases us).

My niece wasnt so sure she wanted to share her new car with all of her cousins, but she handled it pretty well.  This is also the child whos first sentence was:  I dont share with anybody!  Right in the middle of Thanksgiving with all the relatives!  You gotta love that honesty! 

 

An attempt at a group shot...and not a fabulous attempt, but at least its real!

Lily was finally brave enough to take a turn.  The Dora jammies mustve empowered her or something!  

Three Things This Thursday

UPDATE:
We did all go boating last night with Mark's cousin.  It was the perfect night to be out on the water!  And, so relaxing!  I think I could absolutely live in a houseboat.  The girls had a fantastic time too and have already asked when we're doing it again (which we really need to do because I totally forgot to bring the camera with me).  
Lily was pretty subdued the entire time, but this morning she told me she had fun too.  Her cough is still definitely there today.  Still she's far more active and talkative so far, and that's encouraging.  Hopefully she'll be well enough to drive up to see my family!  I'm just going to keep doing nebs q6 (every 6 hours), and hopefully that'll take care of it without having to start her on oral steroids.      
Michelle over at Psalms 104:24 hosts Three Things Thursday.  Some weeks I have it together enough to join in.  This is not necessarily one of those weeks, but I'm feeling guilty for neglecting the blog again.  With no further ado, let me share three random things that have been keeping me away from blogging lately.

1.  Organizing.  Lily and Leah tore apart their room a couple of weeks ago.  It was completely hideous!  I've worked with them to pick things up, but they just tear it apart again.  And, it doesn't help that we were gone most of last week, so nothing has really gotten done in there.  Slowly, but surely, I'm trying to tackle all of these organizing projects that have not been #1 priorities during the school year.

2.  Cakes.  My sister turns 29 on the 29th, so I'm planning to take the girls up there.  They are so excited to see Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie, Uncle, and their cousins!  The cake I'm planning on making will be a dark chocolate almond sour cream cake with chocolate almond mousse filling.  I will definitely post pics when it's done, but since she does check this blog, I'm not going to say what cake design I'll be using.  That part is a surprise!    

3.  Summer Colds.  Lily is sick again.  Some days are worse than others.  She had a couple of really rough days last week, coughing until she threw up (mostly mucous), etc.  Mostly, she seemed to be perking up though.  Then, Monday night happened - throwing up in bed (not just mucous), which required a bath and new bed sheets (and moving a sleeping Leah), nebs, Tylenol for a fever, and then O2 because her sats were low.  By Tuesday afternoon though, she was doing better.  Yesterday was fine.  Today?  Not so much.  She's mildly feverish again, and her O2 sats are on the lower end of acceptable.  Hopefully she perks up again, because we're supposed to go boating with Mark's cousins.  

****************************************

Oh, and yes, I did change the blog layout again.  I like this one.  It seems less busy.  I also updated the pic at the top.  Unfortunately I don't have a good, recent pic of all three girls.  Will have to keep working on that one.....  

And, now I'm off to start dinner!  Happy Thursday everyone!

Happy Birthday Lily & Leah Part V

Happy 5th Birthday Lily & Leah!

This is the Dora mermaid cake the girls have been talking about for months! I enlisted Mark to help me with the fondant creatures. He made Dora, all of the plants, starfish, and the clam with the pearl. I made the octopus and tinted all of the icing and fondant. The cake itself is a white cake with fresh strawberry filling and strawberry almond buttercream. Accents are all homemade fondant. Unfortunately, Dora looks decidedly "caucasian" because I didn't have the right food coloring to tint her skin. I decided pale Dora would be better than jaundiced Dora, and the girls never even noticed.

Lily opening presents. I finally got smart and made them open one at a time so I could get better pictures!

Leah holding up her present from Elise. Elise really wanted to get her sisters a present, so she spent some of her own money to buy them each something special.

A little doll from mommy and daddy to play with in their new dollhouse!

Is that what I think it is?!

Yes, it's Mermaid Dora!!

Video chatting with Auntie Lavon and Uncle Kevin.

Elise really wanted to make special party hats for everyone. There was one for each of us, plus grandma and grandpa. And, why is it, that right before we're about to sing Happy Birthday both girls were in tears? Do you know? Me neither!

It took a few tries, but she finally blew those candles out.

Zoey got in on the fun too (that would be Leah's plate she's licking clean).

Girls with grandma and grandpa.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Stupendous Seven

Elise Nichole...

On Monday, December 8, my very first baby turned - sob - 7 years old.  A few fun facts about the day she was born:  

Of all the babies born in the hospital that day, Elise weighed the most (8 lbs 5 oz), AND she had the most hair (Come on!  Are you really surprised at that?)  I can't say this for sure, but I'm also willing to place bets that Elise also had the most dimples (one under her left eye, one under her right, two in her right cheek, and one in her left), all of which are still there today! 

Pictures Past:

After a long day of being discharged from the hospital, mommy and Elise settle in for a much needed nap!

Her first Christmas - at my Aunt Peggy's house, where I believe I spent half the time attempting to nurse the little turkey (getting her to stay awake for feedings was more than tricky and involved quite a process of stripping her down to a diaper and tickling her for an hour just to get her to wake up enough to eat.)

I was trying to get a picture of her sleeping, but you can see how victorious I was.

First birthday.

Pictures Present:

Elise's birthday cake.  She saw this cake design and fell in love.  It's my first ever attempt at fondant, and I'm quite pleased with the outcome.  Honestly, if I had to pick a cake to try out my less-than-stellar fondant skills on, this was a perfect choice because the yarn strings (all hand rolled, btw--and Mark helped with that) covered up any mistakes!  

Zoey liked this little kitty too.  We came out to the dining room after opening presents and found her licking the kitty's face.  (I threw the kitty away, but not before an unsuccessful attempt to get a picture of it.  Don't worry, I took the kitten off the cake before said unsuccessful attempt!)

"I'm supposed to make a wish?  I don't think I know how to do that, mom."  

Our neighbor girl E.  Her birthday was the next day, so the girls celebrated together.  

Leah

Lily

"O-oh, now I get it!  Binoculars!  Cool!  Thanks mom and dad!"

Happy Birthday to us...

Last Wednesday, July 30, I turned 33, and my MIL turned 63.  Here is the cake I made for us.  It's a pina colada cake with pineapple cream filling and coconut buttercream icing.  Very yummy!  

The blessingway

I made this cake for a friend of mine who is also expecting her second baby.  It's a chocolate mousse cake with coconut buttercream icing and topped with chocolate ganache.  The silhouette is done with a frozen buttercream transfer.  

I'd never been to a blessingway before, so I really had no idea what to expect.  It ended up being the neatest shower I'd ever been to.  It was just so empowering for my friend, and anyone who's been through childbirth.  We all brought food and talked about what we'd brought and what we wanted it to represent for the baby-to-be's life.  (My lovely cake was there because my friend had asked for it, but also because it represented richness and decadence, and who can't use some of that, right?!)  We also created a web with ribbons, and each of us will wear the ribbon around our wrists until after the baby is born.  It was truly a heartwarming experience.