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.

A Very Merry Christmas

We had a fabulous Christmas this year and hope that everyone else did too. I will apologize in advance about the pictures in this post. I got a new point and shoot camera for my birthday and while it takes pictures much more quickly than my old one (which is why I wanted a new one in the first place) I can't seem to take a single picture without blurring it. I'll have to work on that or stop being so lazy and just pull out the SLR camera instead.


Here are the girls making the annual batch of sugar cookies. This is usually only an annual event because it is such a hassle! So many things have to be done at the same time and it stresses me out. But the girls loved it and I loved the results (trust me...I ate more than my fair share!)

We bought a gingerbread house kit for the first time this year and the girls had a lot of fun putting it together. I thought it would make a lovely display for the holiday season but it only lasted one day before Abbie couldn't take it any longer and started eating it.

Christmas morning highlights included a Nintendo DS for Carly and Abbie, an over the range microwave for Drew and Wendy and a water baby for Savannah.
Savannah with her baby. She is a very good Mommy. She has also started saying "baby" very clearly in the last couple of weeks and it is so cute. We love her sweet little voice!The girls also each got a Zhu Zhu pet. Santa must have gotten caught up in the frenzy of the retail world this year...after all, those little babies were hard to find!

And in parting I leave you with a snipet of the Maxfield family Christmas Eve celebration of playing Lego Rock Band. What a talented group!

Disneyland & Halloween

We've been planning a trip to Disneyland with Drew's entire family for several months now but we kept it as a secret from the girls until the morning we left. They thought we were loading them into the van at 6 AM to go get pumpkins but then when we got to grandma's we told them where we were really going. They were as excited as my children get (no squealing and jumping up and down like I'd hoped for) but excited nonetheless.

Carly, Savannah & Abbie in their ears

The cousins waiting in line to meet Minnie Mouse

Our family in the must-have photo location for Halloween time. One of my favorite parts was that you could go and meet the Disney villains in addition to the usual characters and princesses. We saw Jafar, the Queen of Hearts, the hag from Snow White, the Queen from Snow White and Captain Hook.

We spent a total of five days in California and were at Disneyland most of the time. We were with Scott and Kelley who are pro Disneyland attendees and they taught us a few good tricks like staying at a hotel across the street and going to grocery store to stock up on Lunchables, snacks and drinks to save some money in the park. While there were opportunities to rest and wait while others went on rides, during meals and shows, etc. We still did a lot of walking around and as you can see from the picture below it wore us out!

Thank goodness for double strollers!

We had a great time with Drew's family. I'm hoping it does not spoil the girls too much that we went two years in a row. I've told them several times that we will not be going again next year and that we are very lucky to have been able to go with the Maxfield family this year.

As for Halloween we had a great one this year. We went to a couple of parties on Friday night so Drew and I dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. I'm not really one for making costumes so I let the girls pick theirs out early in the month and told them that there could be no changing of minds. Luckily they were still happy about their choices by the time Halloween rolled around.

Carly the devil

Abbie the angel

As for Savannah's costume, I did put this one together and I'm not sure that was such a good idea. It caused more stress than it was worth. She is supposed to be a peacock in case you can't tell. She had a little tail which does not really show in the picture. But she did look very cute. Too bad that feathers were flying everywhere as the costume slowly fell apart that night!
I love this picture! Drew had been testing out his mask with Savannah for a couple of days and she would never go to him when he was wearing it. She did get to the point, however, that she would push his nose in. I guess that was her way of tell that Big Bad Wolf that he wasn't so tough!

We have a 7-year-old!

Time certainly seems to be flying by these days. I remember the first time I held Carly in the hospital and thinking "It's a little me." Now she is 7! She was very excited for her birthday. All the family came over to open gifts and have cake and ice cream. Since Carly is very much into all things girly, we decided to do a purse cake this year (thanks to inspiration from my amazing cousin Becky). I think it turned out pretty well. At least it wasn't falling over...that's an accomplishment. With each cake I make I learn something new and hopefully I'll have the process down one day and it won't take me an entire afternoon to put one together.
With this cake I also decided that I ought to try and make it tasty too. Usually it is just a store cake mix and I focus all my attention on the outward appearance. So Carly's cake was chocolate pudding cake with cream cheese and raspberry filling covered with a THICK layer of yummy chocolate buttercream. Delicious if I do say so myself!

Something's missing and television debut

Wow! Three posts in the month of September? I'm on fire! So much to tell....

After weeks, possibly months, of wiggling and wriggling Carly finally lost her first tooth! She was so excited. She kept asking how it was going to fall out and Drew would tell her that she needed to push and pull on it until she heard snapping and it hurt. I always quickly jumped in and told her that that was not necessary and the tooth would come out when it was ready. By the end of last week it was getting ridiculously loose (wasn't even sitting straight in her mouth anymore) so I recommended that she eat an apple. Sure enough, a couple of bites into it she exclaimed "My tooth just came out!" She proudly displayed her bloody little fingertip but there was no tooth. "Where is the tooth?" I asked. "Oh it fell out on the carpet somewhere," she responded rather nonchalantly. Luckily Drew found the tooth. So we were going to tuck the tooth into a little pouch to put under her pillow that night but got too busy and forgot. Fortunately she had put the tooth in an empty mason jar on the kitchen table for safe keeping so Drew suggested that the "Tooth Fairy" just leave the money there. The next morning Carly was pleased and surprised to find a dollar in the jar instead of her tooth. She later told us "I think I heard a jar opening last night" which of course was not true because she was sound asleep but I thought it was kind of funny anyway.

And now on to GTU, which for those of you who are not avid watchers stands for a local show called "Good Things Utah." I record this show every day and have for at least the last six and half years. I never miss it. Last week they did a call out for anyone who needed help finding jeans that fit to go shopping with Alicia Richmond from Chic on a Shoestring. So I sent her an email complaining about my flat butt/small gut problems. Much to my surprise I was one of the ladies picked for the segment. I met with Alicia at Fashion Place mall for a rather rushed and not quite as informative as I had hoped shopping trip. She basically just picked out a few pairs of jeans for me to try on for her and then went out and pick a top to go with it. I did get to help a little with the selection of shoes because I had to make sure she did not choose peep toes. That would have had viewers flipping channels for sure! My toes are HIDEOUS! So it was a semi-fun shopping trip. Unfortunately she picked out $178 jeans, an $80 cardigan, a $20 tank top, $38 earrings, and I don't even know how much the shoes were. So needless to say, I did not purchase the outfit. It was just on loan.

Alicia was going out of town and so we filmed the segment on Tuesday even though it will not air until tomorrow (Thursday the 17th 10-11 AM on channel 4 for those of you anxious to watch). Being on the set was a lot of fun. After watching the show for so many years it was crazy to see how small it actually is. Things definitely look bigger on camera...including people. The hostesses are all stick skinny! So I can't wait to see how big I look...probably cow or buffalo sized! They did not give us much direction on what to do like whether we should smile, hold still, keep our hands down, etc. I was wearing pretty high heels (which I do not do very often) and so my legs were shaking a little when I tried to hold still for the camera. I could see them panning down on my legs and I just hope that you can't see them shaking!

All in all it was a really fun experience. It was something I have never done before and will probably never do again.