One in the oven

A cake that is! There not much better than the smell of a cake baking in the oven, and my oven's been full of them all day. If you know me you know how much I enjoy baking cakes and cupcakes. I thought I'd post some picts of my other passion (besides my family) my cake creations!

This is a cupcake bouquet

This is our dinning room table filled w/ bouquets- that was a lot of work!

This is a cupcake cake for Anna's Kindergarten Grad at our co-op

Another smaller cupcake bouquet

I loved the film out of fondant on this one but wasn't too happy w/ the camera

Another cupcake cake

This was for a wedding shower, it''s covered in fondant and the black sides are ribbon

A treasure cake..what kid wouldn't love this sugary treat?

Had some trouble with the handle and spout on this one but turned out good

Musical shirt cake

small wedding cake, this has white chocolate frosting (YUM!)

Last years Kindergarten cake for our co-op

Wedding Anniversary cake

This was a fun one, all hand carved and painted!

Another carved cake thankfully Matt is good at helping me figure out how to carve and assemble these kinds of cakes, he's good with the technical parts

I have a bunch more I love but can't post due to copyright laws:(

Hope you enjoyed a taste of my cakes

Summer Time Fun!

What a crazy & fun summer we've had

Anna & Levi enjoying a cold treat on a hot day

Swimming is hard work!

We built a retaining wall & planted 2 gardens this summer -Here are Micah & Adah showing off a small piece of our hard work

Elijah's excited to ride the coaster, his friend..not so much

Summer's not over yet! But when it's done, I'll be sure to post more summer fun pictures, including our upcoming trip to the Carribean.

My Girls

What a joy it has been to watch my girls interact and grow together. Granted, Adah is only 9 months but the bond between her and Anna has already begun. Anna gave Adah a "makeover" the other day after Adah's nap. How cute! Notice the dress up shoe, tiara, pretend hairdryer, & necklace adorning our sweet baby!

Today Anna was dressing Adah up in a apron getting her ready for "baby cooking lessons". And as I watched her gently tie the much too big apron on her baby sister who was grinning from ear to ear, I was moved.

Maybe it's because I always wanted a baby sister and was the youngest:(

Thankfully I had a dog and cat growing up that I got to dress up. Not the same as a sister but you have to work with what you got!

Or maybe I just felt blessed to get to be Anna & Adah's mommy. No matter the reason, I am just so thankful to get to watch them grow and learn together.

Toilet Talk

It's amazing what kinds of topics you talk (or write) about when you have kids. I can't tell you how many times while out with friends the conversation turns to toilet talk. Why? Who knows. But if you have small children I'm sure you can relate! Here are two funny stories of Micah's toilet talk.
We were at Target a month or so ago and Micah had to go potty, if I ever get to go shopping without taking someone to the bathroom it will be a miracle.. anyways, so he's sitting on the toilet and passes gas and says to me in a surprised little 2 year old voice, "oh, that's my noise!" It was hilarious. And ever since if he has gas, he'll say matter of factly, "that's just my noise!" It is so cute.
Recently when he has to do number 2, he'll tell us he has to "poof", then he'll proudly look into the toilet when he's through and say something like "look, see my poof" It's only cute because he's two of course but it still cracks us up every time.

If you give a kid a cupcake..

You'll have to take his picture

(Micah at Grandma's surprise party)

Priceless

A couple weeks ago, Levi and I were coming home from picking up dinner for everyone and we were getting into our big 12 passenger van and were parked next to a motorcycle. Levi made the comment that the motorcycle was too small to fit our big family since it only fit two people. Then he said "mom that motorcycle is only big enough to fit a wife and a honey". A wife and a honey! Not a wife and a husband. I asked him what he said because I'd never heard him say that before and he repeated "you know mom a wife and a honey like you and Daddy". Priceless!
That comment reminded me how important my marriage is, not only to Matt and I, but to our children.
I pray our children always see us as a wife and a honey!

Here Goes!

My first post on my first blog! Exciting stuff!
Well here goes..

We've been busy getting ready for our trip. We leave in 3 weeks! Matt & I are taking the older 3 kids to Florida for 2 days then cruising to the western carribean for 5 days. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. We're taking Matt's mom and step dad as her birthday present this year. My dad, & Matt's 2 great Aunts are also coming.
The only hard thing is we are leaving our 2 little ones with grandma & grandpa for the week:( It was a hard decision to come to and I'm going to miss them terribly! But...
I need this vacation! Really, I do. Last family trip we took was when we had 3 kids (now have 5) ; Levi was 14 months old, he's now 4! Our last family vacation turned into an absolute nightmare so I'm praying this one will be much much better than the last.