Brian's 32nd Birthday

I find it rather fitting for Brian to have a fall birthday.  The rest of us are in the summer time, so it's nice to break things up and have cake in November, too.  Additionally, it's football season, and Brian is a big BYU football fan.  So, he always gets a football cake!  This year, I added "Y" brownies to the party.

I'm thinking he's getting too old to "light the Y".  Next year, we will have to cut it a few candles short.

By the time we got back from dinner and had dessert, Sadie was tired and grouchy.  She would have NOTHING to do with singing the happy birthday song!

Q-Fest and Papa Dale's Birthday

Last month, the kids and I went up to San Dimas for a day trip, so Brian could study.  Grammy and Grandpa were getting together with all their BBQ friends. 

Since it wasn't a competition, Grandpa Dale didn't have the back of the trailer filled with "BBQ", as the girls say!  So, the kids decided the couch and futons made a fantastic jungle gym!  They loved wrestling and climbing all over the place!

And, it happened to be Grandpa's birthday, so we brought up German Chocolate Cupcakes (which, he only likes the frosting, so next year we may just make him a batch of frosting and nix the cupcakes altogether!) and sang to him.  It was too windy for candles, though.

Happy Birthday, Sadie Bug!! (Part One)

This past Saturday, we celebrated Sadie's 3rd birthday.  Prematurely, because I am not about to throw a party with a days old baby.  So, pretty certain the baby wouldn't make an early appearance (much to my dismay--we've got about 9 days to go), Sadie's birthday came early this year.

Here's her "Happy Birthday Lady Sadie-Bugger" Cake (Sadie can't just ask for a piece of cake.  It's the whole, official title every time).  With all of my cake decorating stuff packed somewhere in the dark abyss of storage, I've had to resort to purchased cakes this summer.  Sadie picked this one out, and, despite the girls' disagreement in the car on the way from Costco to the birthday party (check out the eyes), she had a pretty cute (and tasty!) cake.

We enjoyed sub sandwiches, apple juice, "red chips" (another official Sadie title for what we all refer to as Doritos), and melted chocolate covered strawberries (fyi: indoor pools are really warm and humid).

Sadie blew out exactly 3 candles with exactly 3 breaths.   And then, proceeded to enjoy a pink frosting-laden piece of birthday cake.  (Note: I'm not really one for frosting, but the white cake with cheesecake filling from Costco is quite divine!)

When we got home, she opened her presents from her friends.  I decided to save her other presents for the real day, because Morgan reminds her several times each day that she's not 3 yet.  Not until July 27th.

CAKES, CAKES, CAKES!!!

I've been quite busy decorating since we came home from vacation. For pictures, click here.

Flight of the Bumblebee

Amidst all the chaos of last week, I haven't had much time to post. Morgan's also decided that she no longer takes naps, so that's been adjustment, too. So, while pictures of the family (i.e. kids) will have to wait, here's part of my latest cake creation.

I made fondant bumblebees for a cake that will be posted when completed and Brian said they had to be "in formation" in order to be photo worthy. So, he arranged them to look like they're flying. Thanks, sweetie!

Over the Hill

Here's the final product of my "Over the Hill" cake. It was a lot of work, but it turned out great and I had lots of fun!

Decorating the Gingerbread House

Last night, for Family Night, we decorated our gingerbread house. Morgan has been looking at the box (we cheated and bought the kit) for weeks, waiting to help decorate. So, last night, we finally did.

Before we started, I made one rule. The rule was that she couldn't decorate Mommy's sides. She had two sides and 1 roof and Mommy had two sides and 1 roof. Don't touch Mommy's! Surprisingly, Morgan followed it without any problems. She kept saying, "That's not mine side. I don't touch your side. Only mine side. It has candy on it."


Here we are, frosting the roof.

Daddy and Sadie were quality control (i.e. the candy eaters). Sadie dropped hers on the floor just as Brian took the picture. You can tell where her priorities lie.

Morgan's work in progress. She had to get creative when she ran out of the striped candies.

Morgan's completed side of the house. She requested that I put grass (green frosting) on her side, too, so she could put flowers (candy dots) in it.

My completed side of the house. Guess which side is on display???

I hope we continue this fun tradition!

Cake Photo Shoot

Here's my latest cake photo shoot. I finished the cake last night, but neither Brian or I went to work today, so I have a cake sitting in my fridge.

It didn't turn out quite like I hoped because I got all the way to my class (20 minutes away) and realized I forgot my frosting!!! So, I had to use a tub of pre-mixed icing instead. Now, I have 4 cups of frosting in my fridge and no cake to put it on!

I've been making all of the flowers with royal icing over the last few weeks of class.

Oh, and I got my first cake order!! Brian's co-worker turned 40 and they wanted to have a celebration for her. It's fun to have a hobby that I LOVE and can make a little money, too!

Here's the cake I made:

Another Class, Another Cake

And a bunch of Brian's co-workers very satisfied with the spoils!!

This last class I took, we learned how to do fondant and tiered cakes. I made all of the fondant roses and leaves, and spread the cake with chocolate marshmallow fondant. For a finishing touch, I piped peanut butter icing shells around the borders. Yummy!

4 cake mixes later, I had two tiers for my cake!
It took almost 8 hours to make all the roses and leaves!

Here's the final result.

Thanks, Brian, for all your support! I know this project was a lot of work, and I appreciate your help!

Learning Fondant

Before: A curious 3-year old takes matters into her own hands when Mommy isn't looking! (And she didn't get any cake after dinner!)

After: The cake was saved, thanks to frosting (and lots of it!)!! Here's the final product of my very first fondant cake! Not too bad for a first try!

I also learned how to make fondant roses last night. Here's my first one, ever! I made about 20 more while watching a movie late last night. I'll need 40 for my final project in a couple weeks.

What We've Been Up To...

In no particular order, here's what's been keeping us busy!

Sadie likes to play with trains and even makes the "choo-choo" sound!

I finally got my sewing machine back from repair (again!) and finished piecing Sadie's quilt for her new bed together. She's moving (or so we hope) to a twin bed about Christmas time.

Sadie insists on feeding herself now, even if it's not exactly a Sadie-friendly meal, like Chili. She did actually eat most of it, despite what she looks like in the picture.

Not a single day goes by that these girls are not building with their Duplos.

Morgan started napping for us again a couple of weeks ago, after my sister made a GREAT suggestion (if she takes a nap, she can stay up later than Sadie). Morgan's happier, which means I'm happier!

Sadie's been sneaking into our closet and coming out wearing random items of clothing--shoes, purses, hats...

If you haven't heard, we got our first snow last week. So, we blew out the sprinklers and dug up the plants. Now all we have to look at in the back yard is browning grass and dirt. When does Spring come???

Morgan's favorite book to "read" is Arthur, Clean Your Room! I'll have to get it on video one of these days. She even "reads" it to me in the car when the book is at home!

(Author's note: read = memorized every word!)

I've been taking my cake decorating classes, and the office floor is currently the home for my stuff until I make room in a closet for it!

My Final Cake

For my final cake class, we did a bouquet of roses. Here's my bouquet on the cake. I can't wait to learn fondant in the next class!