Easter & Laser Cops

Drew's nephew Ben turned 5 and his cake request was certainly a unique one. He wanted the Matterhorn ride from Disneyland with the abominable snowman and laser cops. This is what he got:

We had fun on spring break. I took the girls to the zoo with my friend Cindy and her kids. It was a great way to start off the week. We also rented movies, played outside, built a blanket fort, and made a craft with cousins.
Wasn't Easter beautiful this year? I was so glad that we finally got a warm day for Easter egg hunting. It seems like the last several years have been freezing cold and kind of miserable. I made the girls matching skirts this year. I was thinking about making shirts but decided it would not be worth all the time and so they each just wore a button-up white shirt they already had. The outfits were made complete by "A Little Princess" style enormous green bow. Perfect!

(Okay, so a bow this size makes Brooke look a little like Aunt Jemima!)

Drew is doing great at work. He really likes his job and I think he must if he's willing to get up at 5 AM every day! We appreciate all he does for us!

As for me, here's the scoop....
What I've been reading: "The Passage"
What I've been watching: Dancing with the Stars, Awake & Touch
What I've been doing: Typing, genealogy & planning parties

Keep an eye out for the next post...Brooke's gonna turn 1! For those of you on FB you already got a sneak peak of her pictures. Think lots of pink balloons and one super cute baby!

Wedding Cake and 88!

So I had what I lovingly refer to as a bonus family when I was growing up, my BFF's family The Williams. They pretty much included me as one of their own and let me tag along on family vacations, out to dinner, etc. etc. A few weeks ago one of the boys got married and they asked me to make their wedding cake. Whoa! This is always very flattering and yet very nerve-racking for me. I added up the hours that Drew and I worked on this bad boy and it is somewhere around 30. The roses were all made one petal at a time and with a total of 21 roses, that's over 250 petals! Phew! They wanted the topper to be Herman and Lily Munster with one little change...red hair. The bride has red hair and they wanted it to match. So cute!

And this next cake is a big deal too because it is Drew's first solo cake! Way to go Drew! He made a Kung Fu Panda cake for his nephew who turned 2 and had a fun swimming party!

I think this was Brooke's first time swimming and she was not so sure about it at first. In fact, she downright hated it. Perhaps you can see the terror in her face in this picture. But after a while she calmed down and by the end she really liked it.

This last cake is also a goodie because it was for my fabulous grandma who turned 88 this year! My grandma means the world to me. I fondly remember snuggling up against her arm on the couch when I was a little girl. Going to Grandma and Grandpa's house was just about the greatest destination I could pick back then. She makes a mean chocolate chip cookie and also happens to be the original cake maker of our family. She made all of my birthday cakes growing up. Grandma, I love you "all the way to the mountains" and hope you had a very happy birthday!
One last thing....we're trying to sell our house. We would like to be able to build but I can't start dreaming yet because we've got to sell what we've got first. Wish us luck and if you know anyone in the market send them our way!

February Fun

February just might be one the drabbest months of the year. By this time we are all sick of winter and ready for summer to arrive. I'm to the point where I'm even craving exercise, and that is saying a lot!!! I'm in desperate need of a vacation and can't wait for the Maxfield family trip to Disneyland in May. Until then, however, here's what we've been up to:

Not much. It's kind of funny because every year when I'm working on scrapbooks or when we are putting together the family video, there is a serious lull during the months of January and February. We just don't seem to take any pictures or video for some reason. Usually until Easter rolls around. So I snapped a few pictures just minutes ago to capture our activities.


Brooke is finally eating real food. She's been eating baby food for months now, but any time we tried to feed her food with any texture, like pieces of bread or cereal, she would gag and act like we were trying to kill her. She finally came around a couple of weeks ago and there's no going back now. This girl loves to eat! Here she is enjoying some Rice Krispies.
Savannah has become quite a handful lately. She is defiant with a capital D. There's nothing like asking your child to do something over and over while they just continue to play and ignore you completely. So much fun! But she is also a total joy to be with. She says the cutest things and has a wonderful imagination. She has recently learned how to spell her name, which his quite an accomplishment given that it is 8 letters long. Now we just need to work on writing it and she'll be set! Here are some shots of her playing with her baby and working on some puzzles.


Of course there has been some cake-making going on over the past few weeks as well. This first one was for Carly and Abbie's BFFs. Their birthdays are only 10 days apart, so this Monster High cake had a 7 on one side and a 9 on the other. I've got to give a shout out to my parents on this one. I was in desperate need of help with Brooke the day I was making this cake because she was not happy being ignored. So my mom and dad came over and my mom actually ended up chipping in on decorating the cake too! You guys are the best!

This next cake was for the same two little besties. The Monster High cake was for the family party and this waffle cake was for their friend party. Love this one! I don't know why, but I've got a real thing for cake shaped like another kind of food.



This is a train cake that Drew and I made for a co-worker of his. I've done this design before but I think this one came out a little better.

And this cake was for another co-worker. And I want you to know that while I baked and frosted this cake, Drew did 95% of the rest. He made the fondant, covered the cakes and did almost all of the decorating. I only made the checkered flag "J" and put the lettering on the Route 2 sign.
So is cake decorating a family thing? You better believe it! Check out the cakes that the girls decorated themselves for an Activity Day talent show. Amazing!

And this is a little sneak peak of the wedding cake coming up next week. I've made 21 roses over the course of three days. Can't wait to be done with this one!Of course there has also been some crocheting going on. My friend Marge and I are trying to build up an inventory of items to open a little booth in Quilted Bear. So far I'm kind of stuck on making bibs. They are quick and pretty dang cute. I love this lacy pattern for girls.
A few other interesting tidbits from the month of February:

What I've been reading: Graceling and The Fire

What I've been eating: Can't get enough Italian dressing the last few days. I really want to try the new white chocolate M&Ms. Anyone tried them yet? I heart white chocolate.

What I've been watching: Downton Abbey season 2. I'm a little depressed to have to wait another year for season 3. Love this show! Also digging Celebrity Apprentice and Project Runway All Stars.

What I've been doing: Bought a kettlebell yesterday to work out with and already my thighs are killing me.

Yarn Geek

For the past few weeks I find that every time I go into Wal-Mart or a craft store, I'm drawn to the yarn aisle. I have become a yarn geek! I just love to go look at all the colors and textures and I want to buy them all! I've switched from knitting to crochet for the last few projects and I think it is a little less easier for me. The only downside is that I must have terrible crocheting posture because I've had a stiff neck for the past two weeks straight. Drat!

Someone else has been busy around our house lately. I went to get little Miss Brooke out of bed the other afternoon from a nap and this is what I found:
She is standing! And I also included the next photo because I just love her expression. She's probably thinking, "Why are you taking a picture of me instead of getting me out of here Mom?"

We also did a cake last week for Drew's niece Katie, who turned 8 this year. She wanted a grand piano and yes...it played music! Drew rigged up the base of the cake to hold his phone hidden underneath playing piano music. I have to admit...it was pretty awesome! Thanks Drew!

And lastly, I wanted to let everyone know that I have added a new service on my Etsy shop to restore old photos. I think this is so fun and hopefully something a service that people are in need of. So if you know anyone who has some photos that need fixin', send them my way please! You can find it here!

The End is Near...

...of the year of course! I can't believe it's almost 2012. Crazy how time flies. And with the year at its end that means Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone in a whirlwind as usual. I took special note of a line for A Christmas Story this year when he says something about how Christmas is the point in which the entire kid year revolves. Isn't that so true? I had exactly that feeling when I was a little kid. Once Christmas was over it was pretty much time to start counting down the days till the next one. I hope my own girls have that same magical feeling about Christmas.

But let's not forget about Thanksgiving. This year we had a quiet dinner with Drew's parents. It was really nice and we appreciated Linda going to so much work just for us. Abbie and Savannah both had pilgrim hats from school and Brooke was decked out in a turkey onesie I made for her so I made them all pose for a photo.

Now onto Christmas! This year we got to visit with Santa not once, but twice! This is an event which we usually sk because it just seemed to scare the girls so we figured why bother. But Santa was at Savannah's preschool party and at a family party this year. And much to my surprise, there were no nears shed!
Amidst all the hustle and bustle, Brooke has been mastering the art of sitting up unassisted as well as crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks but then kind of gives up and resorts to an army crawl. Still very mobile! I'm afraid she has reached the next-to-impossible-to-change/dress phase, which means any time you lay her on her back she is instantly trying to roll over and crawl away. It's quite a battle around here at times.Christmas morning started at 5:30 at our house. We were planning on getting up at 6 but Drew and I were both too excited to wait any longer. Technically, Carly had woken up at 3:30 when one of the younger two were crying and wanted to get up then, so I guess 5:30 wasn't too bad. The girls were excited about all their gifts except Abbie was almost certain that Santa had gotten confused because he brought a 3D DS to Carly and not her. Hopefully she will learn to be happy with her bike. :)
We spent the rest of the day at church and then visiting family. A day well spent indeed!
And of course there have been a few little crafties in the works. I made a winter carseat cover for Brooke that is out of a little thicker fabric than the other one so as to keep out those nasty winter drafts.And I knit washcloths and crocheted dish scrubbies for my visiting teaching ladies. Complete with a little note (idea courtesy of Marge...thanks Marge!)

I made little felt owl ornaments to tie on the girl's teacher gifts (homemade caramels and Big Hunk candies).
And I made little ruffle tree skirts for all the girls. This one is Savannah's.

And what post is complete without a cake? My nephew's request this year was a zombie head. He wanted it to have a knife stuck in the head too, but we figured that when we cut the cake that knife would do. And so I give you the Christmas Eve Zombie cake...(He's supposed to look like he is emerging from the grave)

Exposed slimy brains? ... check!

Worms crawling in and/or out? ... check!

Eyeball hanging on by the optic nerve? ... check!

Bony fingers and brittle nails clawing through the dirt? ... check!