Tis' the Season!

Before I can even start on Christmas I have to rewind a bit because there's some serious catching up to do! So let's go back to October when we took another trip to Disneyland. This time it was just Drew and me and the girls. While it was nice to spend time with just our little family, it proved much more difficult to actually ride things because we have two whimpies amongst us. Carly and Abbie refused to ride Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad...and the list goes on! Hopefully when we go again in a couple of years they will have a more "adventurous" attitude.
Drew and the girls on our first day at the park. It rained in the morning but cleared up after the first hour or so. The Halloween decorations are so fun!
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is my daddy's favorite so I had to get a picture there for him. (Here you go, Daddy-O!)
Don't you just love this one? Could that little face hold any more joy? Savannah had a great time on the rides. She loved this one in Bug's Life and also the Casey, Jr. train. In fact, we had a hard time convincing her to get off when the ride was over.

So next up is Halloween itself. I was a bit of a slacker and didn't actually make a single piece of the girls' costumes this year. However, we did have a family night carving pumpkins. Here are the results:


Baby #4 is doing great. We have received confirmation that it is indeed another girl. No too much of a surprise, right? I suppose our house is just meant to be full of drama. I just hope Drew can hold out! This ultrasound was actually done at 13 weeks and I am now 18 weeks, but I thought it was a good one. Isn't it amazing how far technology has come? Just look at those little arms and legs!

And that brings us up to the present...ah Christmastime! How I love it! I love everything about it...the music, the smells, the food, the shopping, and of course the spirit. This year has been the year of the advent. I have always loved advent calendars and wanted one for a long time. This year I bought this little premade one and we have filled all the drawers with either candy or an activity to do together as a family.
This next one I saw on a blog and had to make one. Each of the pockets has a different ornament to take out and hang on the tree to decorate it. It's been a lot of fun to sew all the little ornaments, although I am not quite done yet. I only have four more to go and I figure as long as they are in there by the time the date comes up I'll be fine. The girls have been trading off who gets to open which advent each day and Savannah just empties them all out and eats whatever candy she can find when no one is looking! We are super excited for Christmas and spending time with our families and friends. We hope you all have a happy holiday season too!

It's official!

We are expecting baby #4 on May 5th. I'm feeling pretty much the same as last time, so my bets are on another girl. But to be honest that is fine with us. What on earth would we do with a boy?

It's Great to be Eight!

Our little Carly has officially turned 8! Hard to believe how quickly time goes by. It was her year to have a friend birthday party (we try to ration those out at our house to spare my sanity) and she has had a plan in the works since last October! That's right, October of 2009. That is when we went to Disneyland for the second time and she was tall enough to ride "Indiana Jones." She loved it and soon thereafter started planning an Indiana Jones birthday party.

When everyone arrived we decked them out in an Indy hat, messenger bag for collecting various treasures, and a licorice whip. Aren't they cute? Too bad my girls have such a difficult time keeping their eyes fully open for photos!

Hidden in one of their bags was the first clue for the treasure hunt. It said something about splitting into teams and making mummies. So we split them into three different groups, gave them each a roll of toilet paper and had them race to see who could create their mummy fastest and find the clue. It turns out that buying the cheapest toilet paper you can find is not the best idea for this game because it kept tearing. Whoops!Next they did a holy grail relay where they had to take turns dipping the grail into the snake pit to fill it with water and then run the water over to a bucket. The idea was that they had to fill the bucket so full that the bad guy (Drew) would drop it and release their next clue. This clue was cut into a puzzle so they had to put that together first and then move on.

They had to go to the archaeology dig to search for the next clue and also some treasure rocks! We made them by wrapping little prizes in tissue paper, then in tin foil, dipping it in plaster of Paris, and then spraying them gold. The kids had to hit the rock on the ground to crack them open and find out what prize was inside!
The last clue sent them back inside the house where they had to search through three dishes at the banquet (monkey brains, snake guts & eyeball soup) to find the golden idols.
It all wrapped up with presents and cupcakes. Drew made little snakes, whips, and Indy hats as toppers and they turned out really cute. After all the kids went home we pretty much headed straight out the door to go have dinner at the Mayan with grandma, grandpa, great-grandma & cousin Mekenzie. It fit the theme quite nicely and was a great way to end the day!We're so proud of Carly. She is such a kind, responsible, and mature little girl! She will be getting baptized on the October 9th and we can't wait for that day!

Farewell to summer!

Summer really flew by this year. We've kept pretty busy. We've gone on a few trips, attended several funerals, gone on lots of fun activity days with cousins, done a remodel of sorts, started a new business, and now are starting a new school year. Phew! So I thought I would post a few pictures of said events.
In July we went to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone for a quick trip. We stayed at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel which was really nice and had a beautiful lake view but the girls much preferred the Motel 6 in Jackson because it had a TV and a pool. This was a historic trip to Yellowstone for me because after going there at least 6 or 7 times this was the first time I saw a bear! Yeah! It was a young grizzly grazing just to the side of the road. So awesome!During the summer we always have activity days with the cousins and Grandma on Drew's side. This picture was when we toured the Sweet's Candy factory. I couldn't resist getting a shot of everyone in those stylish hair nets!
This was our last activity day for the summer and it was a trip to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. Abbie and her cousin Katie were very convincing as doctors while they sorted through and studied various x-rays.

This summer we also "remodeled" our kitchen. Most of it was just with paint and color changes but the biggest change was the floor. It all started with this antique buffet I bought off KSL.And if you're going to paint a buffet, you might as well paint your whole kitchen, right? So here are some before and after pictures of the kitchen. This is what it looked like when we first moved in:Here it is after our first paint job:
And here is what it looks like now!So clean (or at least from far away) and bright! And as for the buffet, we spruced it up with a new coat of paint, bead board on the sides, fabric decoupaged on top and new hardware!And that brings us to this morning when it was time to head back to school. Carly is starting 2nd grade and Abbie 1st grade. It's hard to believe they are getting so big!Happy back to school and farewell to summer everyone!

Rodents of Unusual Size

The other night after the girls had gone to sleep I opened the refrigerator to quite a surprise. Apparently we have an infestation of Rodents of Unusual Size in our house and they found the block of cheese! I think this particular ROUS' name might rhyme with fabbie. I could have died laughing because it wasn't just one little nibble, there was a whole corner of the block missing! Yes....I really do feed my children!

Abbie's dance recital was a few weeks ago. Unfortunately we got there a little late for a good seat. It was packed! So I was watching the wrong little girl for a while because I am blind. Luckily Drew recorded it with the zoom so I was able to actually watch Abbie perform the dance later when we got home. She did a wonderful job and now we are glad dance class is over and I don't have to drive back and forth any more!


This is Abbie with her cousin Katie who was in the same class. I told them to strike a dance pose and this is what I got.

Last week we had a picnic dinner in the park followed by the second tennis lesson for the girls courtesy of their dad. So fun to watch! They are both actually doing a really good job. They might have lucked out and not inherited their mother's complete lack of coordination and athletic skill after all.

We have a little panty snatcher in our house. Savannah likes to raid the girls' closet and put on as many pairs as she possibly can at once. This girl is crazy. She keeps us laughing for sure!
And finally, we went on a trip to the zoo with the Maxfield cousins. It was a perfect day for it (only in the 60s) and the girls had a lot of fun. Savannah especially liked the tigers. She would watch them walking along the fence and point and say "Yook! A tiga!" and then growl at it. We also loved seeing the baby elephant eating strawberries and playing with a tree branch.
The first weeks of summer have been treating us well. I quit my job at IHC (not long-lived I know) but I am happier and much less stressed now that I'm back to 20 hours a week instead of 40. Drew is still plugging along at work. He is turning the big 33 on Tuesday so wish him a happy birthday if you get the chance. The girls seem to fight all the time and might drive me insane before the summer is over but I'm going to try to hang in there!

A cake blog

I have started a new blog to display my cakes and for "business" purposes. Check it out at :
http://acakegirl.blogspot.com/

My Baby is Two!

Savannah's birthday was yesterday. I can't believe my baby is 2! She is so much fun right now. Her little voice just melts my heart and she says the cutest things. Some of my favorites include "ah peem" for ice cream, "wub you" for love you and "danna" for Savannah.

We had a little party with family. For some reason, when my girls turn 2 they do not enjoy having "Happy Birthday" sung to them and Savannah proved to be no different. She had a little pout on her face and looked like she might cry. But she thoroughly enjoyed the rest of her party, especially getting to be outside!


Here she is riding her new tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa Maxfield. I'm hoping she'll get the pedaling concept down one day as well as steering. Right now she just sits and enjoys a good coast down the gentle slope of the driveway.

Here she is actually smiling (a fairly major accomplishment when it comes to picture taking) with her birthday balloons.

Here is her birthday cake. She loves monkeys and Nemo so I opted to make the monkey cake. It was Neapolitan with layers of white and chocolate cake and a strawberry mousse filling. I nearly lost it when party attendees started saying they didn't want any cake. WARNING: If you come to a birthday party at my house and I've spent 6 hours making the cake, you will be having a piece! ;)

Another event these past couple of weeks was Savannah's hernia repair. She had a ventral hernia just above her belly button. It was very small and didn't really bother her so the surgery was elective. But the surgeon told me that if it was his daughter he would have it repaired now in case it became a problem when she got older and young children heal so much faster. We decided to go ahead and have it done now before it would be too traumatic for her. Things went really well. We had it done at the new Primary Children's wing of Riverton Hospital. They were so good with her. She got to play with lots of new toys and they gave her a mild sedative before they even took her back in the wagon to the operating room. I had envisioned something much more dramatic like her screaming and crying and reaching for me as they walked away down the hall. I'm so glad things went well. The nurses were amazed at how well she came out of the anesthesia. She as actually pretty happy when she woke up, which is more than I can say for her waking up from her nap every day!

Here she is in her hospital jammies with Daddy. They were a little big for her and she looked so stinkin' cute!

And finally, I thought I would post a picture of another cake I did last week. This was for my friend Lindsay's little boy who was also turning 2. It turned out okay, although a little crooked and bumpy for my liking. If you know anyone in the market for a cake I'm trying to start up a little biz so spread the word. I'm doing two-tiers like this for $40 or shaped cakes for $50. (Sorry for the shameless self-promotion. I've got to get started somehow, right?)

My First Wedding Cake

After days of stressing out and 12 hours of standing on my feet (not all at once mind you), I present to you my first wedding cake!Ta Da! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I was pretty worried for a while there. I've never made gumpaste flowers before and it's probably not a good idea to try something for the first time on a wedding cake, but oh well! The bottom layer is french vanilla cake with raspberry filling, the middle layer is chocolate with still more chocolate filling, and the top layer is lemon cake with a lemon pudding and cream filling. I hope it tastes good. It weighs probably 35 pounds or so. But the best part about it in my opinion is that it is done! YEAH!!!

Dropped off the face of the Earth?

It's been quite a while since I've done a post. I'm going to blame it on being ridiculously busy as of late! I decided to apply for another transcription job with IHC and was kind of surprised when I got the job. It was quite a process. I had to go to training in Salt Lake the first week and then had to work up at McKay-Dee Hospital until I achieved their required level of speed and accuracy. They told me to plan on at least 2-4 months. This stressed me out to all extremes because it meant I had to find babysitters, and the fact that I have a todder, a morning kindergarten, and an all-day 1st grader only complicated the matter. I eventually was able to line up multiple babysitters every day for my various little ones and I must give an enormous THANK YOU to all of you that were able to help out! I so appreciate it! I had sitters lined up for all of March and April hoping that I could get the training done in 2 months instead of 4. Luckily, I was able to go home after just 1 month! Yeah! So now I am trying to get used to a set schedule working 24 hours for IHC each week, 20 hours or so for MDSI, and and hour or two for the Department of Health. Balancing 3 jobs, 3 kids, and 1 hubby has not been easy and I'm hoping to get the hang of it soon. As far as the fam, we are all doing well.

Savannah is talking like crazy which we all love. She is quite possibly the most polite toddler I know, always saying "deet do" (thank you) for everything and anything.

Abbie is gearing up for her big dance recital in May. I think she will be mostly excited to not have to go to dance class anymore and I'll be glad to not have to drive her!

Carly is busy doing extra chores to earn a "build a bear," so if anyone needs anything done, give her a call! Both she and Abbie have become quite efficient at scooping dog poop!

Triumph & Tragedy

DISCLAIMER: Please do not be alarmed by the title of this blog post. No physical harm or injury has befallen any members of our household.

So it's been a crazy week! Drew's sister Kelley asked me to make cakes for her cutie kids because they were going to have a combined birthday party. She let me have free reign with the design of the cakes, only specifying that they should go along with the carnival theme. So the first dilemma was deciding on what they should look like. We had already done a carousel cake for Abbie's birthday carnival, so that was out. So after much searching and about 9 hours of baking and decorating here's what I came up with:
Sean got a chocolate "hotdog" cake with peanut butter filling (quite delicious if I do say so myself)

And Katie got a berries and cream "hamburger" cake.

So the cakes were the triumph of the week (mostly because I finished them on time and don't have to stress about them anymore) and now for the tragedy.

While make the cakes on Friday I had taken off my wedding ring and placed it on the paper towel holder because I didn't want to get sticky fondant and nasty food coloring all over it. I didn't think about it until that night at the party and made a mental note to self that I should put it on when I got home. Well my brain really is not working right lately and I can't seem to retain thoughts and/or information for more than about 45-60 seconds, so needless to say when I got home I forgot all about my ring.

The next morning was Saturday and so we all got to work cleaning the house. I had cleaned the kitchen and hadn't even thought to look for my ring. One of the last things to clean was the kitchen table and there was a vase of old roses that needed to be dumped out. So Drew threw away the roses and I dumped the nasty water and the few remaining leaves down the drain. I flipped on the disposal and

GGGRAAGHHROARAAAAARAUGGGGRRRH!

"That sure doesn't sound right," I said as I flipped off the switched. I figured it must be some cooking utensil or something because this is not the first time we have heard that sound in our house, but as I reached down into the drain and closed my fingers around the mostly round object, my heart sunk. I lifted it out and glimpsed at it for only half a second before I couldn't look any more. It was my wedding ring. And it was not in good shape. I held it my hand and instantly started to cry. "It's my ring!" I gasped as Drew came over, asking to see it. It took a minute but I was finally able to open up my hand and closely inspect the damage. Sweet Drew just gave me a big hug and let me cry into his shoulder. He is so wonderful! I LOVE THAT MAN! He was very understanding. I honestly have no idea how it got down the drain. Although the paper towel holder is next to the sink, it is still a good 11 or 12 inches from the edge so it must have gotten knocked into the sink by something. Guess I'll never know. So here's the damage:

These pictures really don't do it justice. The ring isn't even round any more. The gold is completely chewed up and five of the small inlaid diamonds from one side are gone. I just thank my lucky stars that the center diamond is still there!

We went to the store Drew bought the ring from but unfortunately they do not have the same setting. It's been over 10 years since he bought it and it seems as though things in the jewelry biz have gone up in price (if you can imagine). To get a setting similar to mine will cost us about $850. Holy crap. That one's going to have to wait a while. In the meantime I have purchased a $7 fake ring from Kohl's to fill the gap on my left hand.

Well there you have it....my triumph and tragedy...at least for this week anyway.