Stardate: 2013, Captain's Log

A new year!  It's the time to reflect on the past year and make resolutions of change for the coming one.  The only resolve I have so far is to get this house sold.  Perhaps 2013 is the right time!

We've been fairly busy around here, as I'm sure everyone has.  I probably bit off more than I could chew around the holidays with several homemade gifts in the works as well as a few cakes thrown in.  But I made it...or I should say we made it.  Poor Drew was stuffing and sewing little mice with me on Christmas Eve.  (Have I mentioned that he is the best husband ever?)  

November marked Brooke's first haircut. She did pretty well but did require a little bribery to sit still.

 Abbie designed herself some nice facial hair with the use of a Sharpie and Scotch tape.  I wish I could have captured Brooke's reaction to it, because she was freaked out!

Thanksgiving was spent with my family this year and was really nice.  Once again, I brought the camera along and only took two or three pictures.  Here's one of Carly enjoying dinner...although she doesn't seem to be too thrilled, does she?

And then it was December somehow.  Our advent calendar kept us on the go with trips to Temple Square, going out for ice cream, painting ornaments, watching Christmas movies, and even special shopping dates with Daddy.  The girls each got to go on an outing of their choice with Drew and then went shopping for a gift for the sister whose name they drew.  They loved this and it will probably become a new tradition. 

We also made a gingerbread house with a kit I found at Trader Joe's.  I'm not sure you can see it, but there were three little sugar people included in the kit.  So cute!

Savannah's preschool party was complete with a visit from Santa.  She didn't seem nervous at all and told Santa that she wanted a walking baby this year for Christmas.

 Here are our sweet girls all dressed up in their Christmas outfits. 

And before we knew it, the big day had arrived!  Christmas morning was so fun.  The girls were all excited with that they got and there was no pouting or fit throwing, although Savannah did keep very close track of what she had on her list and what she actually received and was only slight disappointed that Santa didn't bring the pony she wanted. 

Here's a shot of Carly opening her iPod Touch

 Brooke with her puppy

Abbie giving her Merida doll a hug through the packaging

 Savannah with one of her many, many Lalaloopsy dolls

The rest of the day was spent visiting family!

Let's not forget the cakes!  I did two cakes the weekend before Christmas, which if you don't think that's enough to make a girl like me go crazy, you're wrong.  I won't be doing that again....especially not a wedding cake!

This wedding cake was for another of my Tremonton young women, Nicole.  She wanted white on white paisleys.

 

The next cake was for our nephew Sean, who requested Sulley and got a the whole Monster's Inc. theme instead.

Next up was a dinosaur cake for someone I don't know personally but got my name through the grapevine.  Can I just say that her response to the cake made it totally worthwhile?  She was so excited and complimentary.

The fourth and final cake was for our niece Katie.  She requested Fillmore from Cars.   This cake seemed doomed from the start.  I didn't stack it right to begin with so had to take it apart once to fix that.  Then once I hand the layers filled and the whole thing iced, it kept leaning so bad that I had to tip it over on it's side and cut a wedge out.  Then I didn't make quite enough fondant and so the bottoms were horrible looking, very rippled and bunched up.  Drew and I tried to save it with the finishing touches, but it just wasn't quite what I had in mind.  Katie was happy, though, so it all worked out.

 We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!

Ghosts in the Graveyard

Once again time has slipped by quickly.  I've been meaning to update the blog for a while now, so bear with me and all the pictures!

First I thought I better add the pictures of the other two wedding cakes I did in August.  These were both for the same couple who were having two receptions and therefore needed two cakes.  Breanne was one of the mia maids I taught when we lived in Tremonton and now she's all grown up and married.  Makes a girl feel pretty old, I tell you!

 I also promised in my last post that I would include some pictures of Abbie's baptism.  It was a wonderful day with the exception that I had to give one of the talks.  But once that was over and done with, I was able to enjoy the day with family celebrating Abbie.

The gorgeous girl all dressed up

Abbie and her daddy

Family photo op.  This is how most family pictures turn out for us...someone not looking, someone else with their hands in front of their face, etc. etc.

Since Carly and Abbie's birthdays are only 3 weeks apart, and they were both due for a friend party this year, I talked them into doing a combined party.  And what was even better was that we had the party somewhere besides our house.  If you have not tried this route, I highly recommend it.  The downside is that because it costs more money, they were not able to invite as many friends as they normally would.  But I think in this case the pros outweighed the cons and they had a great time at the Syracuse Family Fun Center.

The cake and party favors

 Next up was Carly's 10th birthday.  Wow...double digits.  Ever since her birthday Savannah has been asking me how long until Carly turns into a teenager and I tell her a long time, but it's starting to feel dangerously close.  For her party we met at a park close by and had cake, presents, and then went ice blocking.  It was a lot of fun.  We also enjoyed dinner out at Mimi's.  Yum!

Enjoying the loot

Carly's minion cake

 

It's often the little details on a cake that make it extra cute and fun to make.  Check out the slingshot in his back pocket!

The same weekend of Carly's birthday we had a request from Drew's friend to do a Batman cake and sugar cookies.  Once again, Drew stepped in and saved the day by decorating the entire cake for me while I was on a hike with the activity day girls.  He also helped me frost the cookies. 

Sometime in the following weeks there were a few other cake orders:

Backyardigans, Blue Dino & Snow White

An anniversary cake for our friends Celest & Korey, complete with a little figure of their daughter.  This "trail" cake was a lot tougher than I thought and probably will not be attempted again.

A surprise 60th b-day cake for one of my friend's dad.  He played football in high school, baseball afterwards, and now works at a golf course.

This was a thank you cake for Caputo's Deli for hosting the surprise party

 
 A Squirt cake for my friend's daughter Elizabeth.  I believe this is the 7th cake that Marge has ordered from me, making her the most repeat customer I have.  Thanks Marge!

And last but not least is Halloween.  We have a fun family party with Drew's side a couple of weeks before the big day.  Everyone carved a pumpkin and we ate dinner together.  So much fun to play with cousins and cause a general ruckus at Grandma's house.  

One of these pumpkins is not like the other....

 For costumes this year I wanted us all to be mummies because I had seen a really cute homemade costume on a blog.  The only one I was able to talk into this costume idea was Abbie.  And I was actually quite glad.  This thing was a bugger and so much harder than I thought it would be.  I flat out did not want to take the time to sew all the strips on and when I couldn't find my safety pins we had to pull out the stapler.  But she didn't seem to mind and the end result is decent...from a distance.  Here are our little spooks in their costumes

The Mummy

Ghost Bride

Madeline

"Oh...you're a girl dragon!"

We've had some fairly busy times lately and I'm feeling the burn out.  Our house has been up for sale for 7 months now and although I try to accept that it probably just won't sell because we owe too much, I can't help but get my hopes up a little when someone comes to see the house.  Although showing the house is another stressor in and of itself.  It seems that they always want to come when I've got a cake to work on and the house is a disaster.  I keep asking the girls to keep their rooms clean to no avail.  And then there's my job.  My wrists have really been hurting since this summer.  I think it is because I've taken on more typing with both jobs.  I dream of the day when I don't have to work and get to call myself a stay-at-home mom.  Working from home definitely has its ups and downs and I think some people don't even consider it a real job.  Well I can tell you that it is very real.  I've really been struggling with my stress level since we've been trying to sell the house, type 5 hours a day, make cakes nearly every weekend, and clean up after four little kids.  But I know we are blessed and this too shall pass. We did quit the night cleaning job and that has helped a little.  It is much nicer to stay at home with Drew in the evenings and enjoy some mindless television.

What I've been watching:  The Walking Dead and Doc Martin

What I've been reading:  Wild Mountain Thyme and The Witch of Blackbird Pond

And speaking of The Walking Dead, I leave you with one final shot of our Ghosts in the Graveyard....