Sacramento Trip

We finally came back from our trip to Sacramento--to a lovely snowstorm/blizzard in Denver! And then, we had Brian's exam, my final cake class, and Halloween. So, almost a week later, I'm posting our trip highlights!

Morgan decided to help pack the suticases. On the top of her list was clothes for her, 3 jackets, her elephant costume and about 2 dozen books!

Do you think we fly a alot? Morgan loves to go through security at the Denver Airport and she's becoming a pro! Shoes off, backpack in the bucket, and walk through the metal detector. Then, she can ask for a sticker!

The weather is so beautiful in Sacramento this time of year, we couldn't help but play outside! Grandpa emptied the wood out of the wagon for the girls and they just loved to take rides in the red wagon! If only Sadie was riding, Morgan insisted on putting the dump truck in, too!

We enjoyed a morning at Fairy Tale Town and the girls had lots of fun. I think Grandpa had the most fun (note: he's been going at least since I was a little girl and not much has changed--maybe new paint colors on some of the activities, that's all!). Here's Morgan and Sadie on the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe slide.

Grandma took Sadie on The Crooked Mile. Sadie was so glad that it wasn't really an entire mile! I don't know who was more excited to see the end--Sadie or Grandma!

The girls took a few minutes to relax in Cinderella's Carriage.

Put Grandma in charge and here's what you get: Sadie climbing on top of the kitchen table, throwing the entire basket of wooden apples all over the kitchen floor!
And, what toddler doesn't find the tupperware cupboard in every kitchen they enter?

I made a cake one day, just for fun, and the girls' favorite part was licking the beater!

Morgan found her newest best friend, Emma (my cousin) and they played and played! Emma broke her arm on the monkey bars at school and is very proud of her pink cast!

Grandma still has the cash register from when I was a little girl. Even better, there are still coins to go with it! Can't believe they haven't been lost after all these years!

Here's Sadie Bug in her Lady Bug costume, climbing up the step stool, in hopes of climbing onto the table next.

In preparation for her move to a big bed at Christmas time, I made Sadie's quilt for her new big girl bed. Grandma helped me tie it.

Once a month, Grandma and Grandpa meet a bunch of friends for dinner, and it happened to be while we were visiting, so we came along. Morgan thought the chocolate-dipped rice krispies treat was delicious!

And, Sadie enjoyed raisin bread toast for breakfast each morning, along with whatever Grandpa and Grandma were having, too.

We flew home in the evening, so when I woke up the next morning, here's what the backyard looked like:

Thanks so much, Grandpa and Grandma, for letting us come visit for a whole week! We had lots of fun and Morgan wants to go back to the place they have cinnamon rice milk to drink!

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!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Including the life of Brian's sunglasses. If you need a refresher course on their story, click here and here.

Thanks to all that have shared super glue time and again to help repair Brian's beloved pair of sunglasses. But, alas, last night, they finally became unable to repair (well, Brian finally decided maybe when the lense snaps in half, super glue just won't cut it anymore).

Farewell to Brian's $5 sunglasses. And onto the hunt for a new pair...

Broken...

The Camera Broke!!!

I can't begin to tell you how many times this camera has been dropped over the last 4 1/2 years (yes, our camera was a dinosaur, so it was about time to upgrade anyway), and it recovered just fine. However, Saturday, it wasn't as lucky. It won't even turn on anymore and the lens is halfway open now.

So, bear with us as we purchase a new camera and then leave for vacation for a week (the girls and I are leaving as Brian studies hard for his next exam). No pics or updates until then. But, I'm sure we'll have lots to tell about when we get back from Grandpa and Grandma's!

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.

And Men Are, That They Might Have Joy!

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)

Last night, for family night, we learned about Joy. After explaining to Morgan that having Joy is like being happy, we asked her what makes her happy. She responded, "Dancing the Hokey Pokey!"

So, we danced for our activity. First, we all did the Hokey Pokey, so no video here.

Next, we danced to Sadie's favorite song, If You're Happy and You Know It. She's currently fascinated with bending over, touching her toes, and resting her head on the floor. She does it several times throughout the day. I guess that's what makes her happy! (You have to turn your head sideways for this one, sorry!)

Lastly, Morgan entertained us by dancing to her favorite song, Life Is A Highway.

For dessert, Brian brought us Paradise Bakery cookies! They're my favorite, so he always saves one to bring home when they have them at work.

We definitely had a joyous and fun-filled family night!

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!

Introducing...

...Morgan Elephant!!

(She even makes a cute "breeeee" elephant sound and waves her trunk to go along with her costume!)

It all started when I asked Morgan what she wanted to be for Halloween. She couldn't think of anything, and didn't like my numerous suggestions. So, we were stumped. What would she be? Then, one night, while we were brushing her teeth, she exclaimed, "I'm Morgan Elephant! and Sadie's Sadie Bug!" (Sadie's toothbrush just happens to have a ladybug on it and Morgan's, an elephant.)

So began her insistence on being an elephant for Halloween. Forget the fact the my sewing machine is currently out of commission, so I am left to using my serger and--probably the bigger issue--I DON'T SEW CLOTHES!!!

My next stop was the pattern books at JoAnn Fabric. Surely Morgan's not the ONLY kid whose ever wanted to be an elephant before! I perused what seemed like thousands of pages of patterns, and found one infant pattern for an elephant costume. I went up to the cutting counter and asked the lady if she knew of any other elephant patterns. She said that when her daughter wanted to be an elephant, she rented an elephant costume from the costume shop. (Translation: you got me! Good luck on the elephant!)

So, I took a good look at the trunk on the pattern picture and set out to find gray elephant trunk fabric. After locating the only gray bolt of fabric in the store and procuring a few squares of gray felt, I returned home to begin making an elephant.

After I finished serging the trunk, ears, and tail (a sewing machine would have been easier, but, currently not an option), Morgan helped me stuff each component of her elephant costume with "fluffies" (i.e. batting). So, now we have the elephant parts, we just needed to find a gray sweatsuit to attach it to (remember, I don't sew clothes!). Of course the stores only had black, blue, green, etc. sweatsuits or printed gray ones. I kept looking at every store I went to and finally came across this legging set and turned it into an elephant! Even if it's 2 sizes too big, it's the best I could find!

Next year, I think I'll try and convince her to be a mouse! Most of the work will already be done!

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Also introducing...Morgan the Pumpkin!

She found the Halloween box in the basement and decided to play dress up! This is the pumpkin outfit she wore as an infant, she just didn't do the snaps at the bottom.

And, she zipped it up the front so the jack-o-lantern is on the back. Just improvising...

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!

Growing Up...

I can't believe how fast time flies! Even though Sadie is still perfecting the art of eating with utensils, and I'm still wiping up spills on the floor and changing diapers, our SadieBug is no longer a baby! Here's some things I've caught her doing the past few weeks:

If Morgan leaves the door open in the car, Sadie can now climb in and sit down. She can't really move it yet, but I'm sure it won't be long!


My cake decorating stuff kind of took residence in the front room while I was taking my class. It's all pretty well contained and out of the way--until Sadie decides that the white box is perfect for sitting on. Just pull everything else down and climb on up!


The toy cabinets are for more than just toys now. Sadie likes to climb inside.

Only, she's too tall to sit up in this one! Bonk!

And, my favorite. When I was in the shower last week, I heard Morgan come into the closet and say, "It's okay, Mom. I'm just getting a purse." And, later that morning, I saw Sadie like this:

Look out, world! Here comes Sadie!