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!

Ice Skating

Last night, Brian planned our date and he took me ice skating. We had to drive about 45 minutes across town to get to the rink, but it was worth it! Even though I was so tense the entire time, I still had lots of fun!

I can't remember the last time I went, it's been so long! We were both out of practice, that's for sure. While I don't anticipate ever being good enough to multi task while skating (there was a girl who was skating while texting on her phone), Brian hopes that maybe next time I'll have enough confidence to let go of his hand. I didn't fall at all, but Brian attributes that to my clinging onto his hand so tightly the entire time.

Cake and Ice Cream

Yesterday, we went to a birthday party. Sadie wanted to sit at the table with all the kids, only there weren't enough boosters for every kid. Still, she climbed up on a chair (that's a great skill she has mastered) and sat at the table to eat her cake. Only, she wasn't taking help--from anyone.

Even though she could barely see her cake, she managed to stick her fork in it, grab a bite...

...and shove it into her mouth. Now that's skill!

Hair Pretties and Snow

Every day when I get out the "hair pretty" box to fix Morgan's hair, Sadie always hands me a comb and a clip for hers. Due to her lack of locks to work with, I've always combed it and been done. On occasion, I'll stick a clip in it, only to have her hand it to me minutes later.

This past Sunday, however, Brian wanted me to fix Sadie's hair, too. So, this is what I came up with. I had to wrap the elastic about 15 times because she really doesn't have enough hair yet.
And, by the time we got to church, it was gone. (If you're wondering what is on Sadie's forehead--she had a collision with our friend's brick fireplace last Thursday)

To go along with our lovely single digit high temperatures and negative lows, there was about 2-3 inches of snow on cars when we came out of church Sunday. I volunteered Brian to help the bishop's wife and his home teaching family by scraping off their cars.

And, I made him stop scraping snow so he could take a picture of us in the snow.

Thanks, sweetie! I love you!

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!

Brrrrrrrr!!!

Today's high: 11 Degrees

Adventures in Motherhood!

Let me preface the story with some background information.

Every night at bathtime, Sadie ALWAYS ends up getting out first. She keeps trying to see if the rule, "Don't Stand Up in the Bathtub" has changed. It hasn't. So, every night, she has to get out about 5 minutes before Morgan. With 2 parents at home, this isn't a huge deal. One of us takes Sadie into the other room and gets her dressed for bed. The other keeps an eye on Morgan in the tub. With one parent, it's a little bit more difficult. Hence, the forthcoming story.

Last night, Sadie was all dressed and ready for bed after her bath. I had her in the room with me, but turned to hang up her towel behind the door, thus opening the door for her to quickly escape and get back to the tub. So, she did just that, and heard my footsteps right behind her so she hurried up a little bit faster. (For those of you that haven't been to our house, the distance between the girls' bedroom and the bathroom (even the tub, for that matter) is quite short.) So, there's Sadie, hurrying as fast as she could and when she got into the bathroom, she plunged full speed, head first, right into the tub, pajamas and all! It's a good thing Morgan moved out of her way and that I was just a milli-second behind her to pull her out even faster than she went in.

But, here's the best part.

As I pulled her out of the bathtub by her pajamas, I stood her up and there she was, sopping wet, grinning from ear to ear! For a 1-year old, she thought that was the most thrilling adventure ever! As a mother, I hope we never have to repeat!

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 Trip to the Zoo

Why Did Morgan stand like this for over half an hour???
This is why.

We happened to visit the elephants at the beginning of their bath and Morgan wanted to watch them take a bath. And, in case you were wondering, they clean both elephants the exact same way. So for the rest of us, it was like hitting the "Repeat" button.

Here's what I'm most thankful for. Aren't I lucky??

The Nativity

Usually, the Little People Zoo is in the living room for the girls to play with. At Christmastime, we put the zoo away and bring out the nativities in its place.
Morgan was matching up all the characters and noticed that there were 3 shepherds, not 4. About the lone shepherd, she said, "This shepherd doesn't have a match." So, she looked around and found the zookeeper.
And, Sadie just won't let us put the zookeeper's truck away.

So, this Christmas, we'll have to incorporate a zookeeper and his truck into our story.