Another gift for you...

Sorry, I didn't get a chance to post today...unwanted unexpected company over today...

However, if there are any of the 6 of you who actually read this thing that DON'T read my friend Lisa over at The Preacher's Wife, you're missing some great stuff. Some of her stuff is quite deep and spiritual, like this one. Some of it is just really, really funny, like this one. But THIS one is by far my most favorite. So, go check her out for yourself, then you can come back and thank me later.

B is taking 3 of the 4 kids away tomorrow to the "Monster Truck Rally" so I'll be free to blog to my heart's content! See you then!

Bow Making Party!

Linda over at Ribbon Rock Star makes the most beautiful hairbows for little girls, and she is offering to teach us how to make them! So, if you want to learn how to make your own hairbows, head on over to her place on Monday and join the bow-making party!

The Bloggy Cookies Exchange is Finally Here!!!

I'm so glad you're here! Pour yourself a nice glass of lemonade, or a cup of coffee, and enjoy some yummy cookies! This is the first Blog-Event I've ever hosted, so I hope you all enjoy it! I have the tips and tricks I promised to making perfect cookies every time, and I also have a surprise for ya'll just for showing up to read my drivel! I hope you enjoy yourself, and please feel free to invite your friends!

I chose to make Easter-themed cookies for the party, I hope you like them!



And, as promised...here is the secret recipe for my cookies.

Painted Cookies


3 cups Powdered Sugar
2 cups Butter (real butter works better than margarine)
3 teas. Vanilla
3 eggs (I use Jumbo, but large will do)
6 cups All Purpose Flour
2 teas. Baking Soda
2 teas. Cream of Tartar

Cream together the butter and powdered sugar.
Add vanilla and eggs.
Mix in the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar.
Mix well and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour or two. (You can chill overnight as well, but if you try to use the dough before it is well chilled, it will be too sticky and you will have trouble rolling it out.)

After the dough has chilled, roll out to 1/8 inch and cut out using desired cookie cutters. Bake the cookies at 375 for 6-8 minutes depending on how thick the cookies are. The cookies are ready when the edges are golden brown and the middles are still ivory. Cool the cookies for a minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Wait until cookies have cooled before decorating.

Icing for Painted Cookies

1 - 2 lb. bag of Powdered Sugar
4 Tbl. Milk
4-6 Tbl. Water
2 Tbl. Light Corn Syrup
1 teas. salt
4 teas. Vanilla (I use clear vanilla to keep the icing white)

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth with no lumps. (A stand mixer is the easiest way to mix it, but you can do it by hand)
Separate icing into individual bowls to be colored as desired.
(Refrigerate unused icing to use at a later date)

And there you have it...the secret is OUT!!! Now, I believe I also promised ya'll some tips to make sure your cookies come out perfectly every time...well, let's get started.

Rolling and Cutting Out Your Dough: There are many different problems that can arise during this stage of the process, and this is my least favorite part of the whole thing quite frankly. But there are some tricks to make it easier, and bring about better results.

1. Place your dough on a piece of parchment paper and cover it with a large piece of plastic wrap (Saran Wrap, etc.) The dough will not stick to either the parchment nor the plastic wrap, allowing you to roll it out without adding any flour to the dough. This keeps the dough from getting dry and flaky as you continue to re-use the scraps.

2. When you cut your cookies out, leave about a 1/2 inch between each cookie, like this:


Then, remove the excess dough, leaving only the cookie cut-outs.




3. Now, instead of using a spatula to transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet to be baked, simply slide your cookie sheet under the parchment paper. This way, your cookies won't be at risk of being mis-shapen during the transfer.




4. Yes, you can bake the cookies right on the parchment paper! AND they won't stick when you go to remove them after baking either!



My final trick for perfect cookies is done after the cookies are baked. Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, use a spatula to press down and smooth the tops of each cookie. They will come out of the oven slightly raised, and this will give you a nice flat surface on which to decorate!




Now, if you have stuck with me all the way down here...congratulations! And, I have a surprise for you! I have made 4 videos on decorating the cookies. This first one is on coloring your icing. I'm sorry if this seems like common sense to you, but I didn't want to just assume that everyone has colored icing before, so I included it in the tutorial. If you already know how to color icing, just skip down to the next video!



This next video demonstrates how to "paint" your cookie. I prefer nylon brushes for painting cookies as they don't tend to "shed" as much as natural hair brushes. And I buy these brushes specifically for cookies, they have never been used for anything else...just in case you were concerned!



And finally, these last videos show some tips for adding details to your cookies. They are a little bit longer than the last one...just a little warning!



This is the last one...I promise! Oh, and please forgive the spots where I stop mid-sentence and maintain a moment of silence...the Princess was mouthing questions to me, and I was mouthing back the answers so you wouldn't be able to hear us on the video! Nobody said this was a professional job, people!



Well, thank you all for coming! I hope it was worth your time...you really had nothing else to do today did you??? Now, if you also made some cookies for this exchange, please sign the Mr. Linky below and please remember to link to your specific "Bloggy Cookie Exchange post", not just your blog. And don't forget to leave a comment and let me know you were here enjoying the cookies! If you didn't enjoy your cookies...you can keep your comment to yourself--LOL!!!

Again, thanks for stopping by!

Maddie Learns to Ride Her Bike!

This morning, The Princess of Pink was frustrated because she was trying to ride on the boys' scooter, but kept falling off. Big brother went outside to help her, and came back inside a little later with a surprise for me. Maddie was learning to ride her bike without the training wheels! I took a short video to send to her daddy at work, and decided to post it here and see how it works because I was thinking of making some videos for another post but wasn't sure how that would work. So, here's the princess riding her bike...I'm so proud!

You've just GOT to read this!

Okay, I'm in a HUGE hurry...as usual, because it's time to start school, the laundry needs to be switched over, the dishwasher needs to be unloaded, and I need to finish my cookies for the Bloggy Cookie Exchange, however...I decided to catch up on some of my blog-reading while I was waiting for the boy to finish his breakfast, and I came upon this post by Tracey, aka Real Estate Girl, over at "Show-Me-State-of-Mind", and I just HAD to take a minute to share it with you all. PLEASE, head over there and read this post...you won't be sorry!

Also, DeeDee, over at "It Could've Been Worse" has written a couple of knee slappers over the past couple of days as well. You can click her link on my side-bar to check her out.

Again...you're welcome!

I just have to say...

Sanjaya wasn't even in the bottom three AGAIN???

P-U-L-E-E-Z-E!!!

And while I'll admit that Chris's performance wasn't the best, he certainly should NOT have been the one to go. On the brighter side...now maybe he can go back to writing his BLOG!!! Or does he have to wait until AFTER the tour is over??? I'm not sure of the rules on that one.

Anyway, I'm very sorry to see Chris go, and I'm really ticked at those who are purposely voting for Sanjaya just to ruin the show. If you don't like the show...DON'T WATCH IT!!!

I'm just saying...

American Idol -- March 27

Again…just my humble opinion…


LaKisha: Not enough to the dress. (Kinda makes BooMama’s term “muffin top effect” come to mind…but for a little different reason!) LOVE the boots. The song was good. I don’t think it showed off her voice as much as some of her previous songs, but it was still VERY good. It’s really hard for LaKisha to mess up I think. She’s just SOOO talented.

Chris Sligh: Not the best song choice for Chris I’m afraid. He has such an amazing voice, but it didn’t shine with that song at all. I will STILL buy his album, however, WHEN it comes out, I’d LOVE to go to his church to hear him lead worship, and I CAN’T WAIT for his blog to be back up and running ‘cause he is hilarious! Can’t you just see him knitting and crocheting in front of the tv?!?

Gina: Having a REALLY hard time getting past the outfit to listen to the song!!! It’s not enough to be wearing a negligee that is WAY TOO TIGHT?? She had to have those bra straps showing as well??? I don’t know about you, but I take great pains to make sure I keep my bra straps hidden!! I guess she sang well because the judges seemed to like it, but honestly, I didn’t hear it. I was too distracted by the lack of a dress.

Sanjaya: Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to even type that name this week? And….the HAIR???? Forgot the words…so far, that has been the thing that has killed many an idol contestant…can we dare HOPE it will do so this week? I completely agreed with Simon’s assessment. It doesn’t matter what we say, or think, the tween-agers with their unlimited text-messaging are going to win.

Haley: A little better on the wardrobe this week. It could have used several more inches of fabric…especially while she was sitting down on those steps! But the song? I think she did well. I could finally hear her voice over the music. I think the judges were a little too harsh. They always tell them to “make the song their own”, and then trash them for changing the song. I also hope she doesn’t take their criticism and decide to go back to last week’s fashion statement to get votes.

Phil: One of my favorite Police Songs. I think he sang it really well. I don’t know if he “made it his own” ‘cause it sounded like the same arrangement as the original to me, but I thought it was good. Not a big fan of the hat…but liked this performance the best of the night so far.

Melinda: Can’t type…too busy listening!!! Loving the leggings, Loving the voice, Loving the performance…LOVING MELINDA!!!

Blake: I really like his voice this week! Very smooth! And it was a nice break from the beat-boxing trend. I was afraid that he was going to put the beat-boxing into every song. I’m not sure that I agree with Simon about him being the best male vocal. I liked Phil a little better tonight.

Jordin: I just love Jordin. I think she did a great job with it, and it really fit with her age bracket. Not a big fan of the outfit, but it fit with the song.

Chris Richardson: Poor Chris, he sounds like he is trying too hard tonight. I think last week’s vote messed with his head. The judges told him it was his best performance ever, and then he was in the bottom 2 in the votes. He just seems so nervous. I really hope he gets a chance to come back next week and I hope he gets his confidence back. He has a very nice voice and he deserves to stick around another week.

May I just make one side note here. Not being a big follower of Gwen Stefani, I had only ever seen her in a video where she was all punked out. I was so surprised to see her on idol looking so gorgeous! She is really a beautiful girl with the soft make-up and the conservative hair!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have some posts in draft mode, but haven't had time to polish and post them this week. PLUS, I am trying to get my cookies/pictures ready for the Bloggy Cookie Exchange on Friday.

However, I do have another Jonathan story to tie you over until I can finish those other posts!

At one of Jonathan's soccer games a few weeks ago, there was a lady walking around with a parasol to keep the sun away. This was a traditional parasol with the wooden spokes and everything. When the lady passed by, Jonathan said, "Wow, that must have been a REALLY BIG margarita!!"

I am SO levelheaded!

I actually kind of figured it would turn out this way. I tend to think logically, and like things that MAKE SENSE. However, I am a messie, and like creating pretty things, like, you know...cakes!

(On a side note, I also write with half printing, and half cursive writing which I INSIST is a result of being, as stated above, even-brained. However, every book, movie, magazine article, etc. that I have seen says this indicates a very psychologically disturbed person! I suppose that could be true as well. I DO have FOUR children after all!)

You Are 45% Left Brained, 55% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Prayer Needed!

Ladies,
Sarah's (In the Midst of It) daughter is very sick and in the hospital. Anyone who has read Sarah's blog knows Addison's history with serious illness, and knows she doesn't need any more trouble. Nothing has been updated as of this posting, but yesterday's details and updates can be found at In the Midst of It and Blessed Beyond Measure.

Thanks for praying and for passing along the word to others!

I TOTALLY Forgot!!!

I must apologize MOST profusely to Bill McCafferty over at Critique My Blog! I submitted my blog for critique, and he posted this within the week. He reads a few of your blog posts and then writes a critique of it on his blog and all he asks in return is that you post his link in your sidebar. THAT'S the part I have to apologize for. I completely forgot to post his link!

So, I'm very sorry Bill, and I will get that done right away!

He has also written critiques of Blessed Beyond Measure, Fiddledeedee, MomRN2, and others in our little Christian blogging world. So, if you want to have your blog critiqued, or you want to see what he's said about other blogs, go see Bill!

Conversations with Jonathan...

Many, Many, MANY, times over the past two years...

Mom: Jon, we REALLY need to cut your hair.

Jon: No.

Mom: But it's so BIG.

Jon: I like it.

Mom: But you look like no one takes care of you!

Jon: Don't care.

Two days ago...

Mom: Baby David, you need a haircut.

Jon: NO!!!

Mom: But it's all uneven and it's getting into his ears.

Jon: Can I sacrifice David?

Mom: WHAT??? NO you CAN'T sacrifice David!!!

Jon: I mean, I'll let you cut MY hair in HIS place...

Mom: Oh, you mean can you sacrifice yourself FOR David?

Jon: Yeah.

Mom: (heart melted on the spot...)

Last Week while I was singing along with David's "Signing Time" video...

Jon: Mom, why do you say you could never do American Idol when you really could?

Mom: Jon, Simon would say, "Why are you wasting my time???" (in my best british accent)

Jon: (giggling) But what would PAULA say, she's the nice one?

Mom: Paula would say, "But you look so pretty!"

Jon: (explodes into a belly laughing fit and can't speak any more!)

After church a few weeks ago...

Benji: In Sunday School, they asked us what we were most looking forward to in heaven, and I was the only one who thought of this...I will be able to FLY!!!

Mom: Yes, that will be fun. Jon, what did you answer?

Jon: I didn't, I was too shy.

Mom: Well, what WOULD you have answered if you weren't so shy?

Jon: I can't wait to see our babies that went to heaven.

Mom: (no words...just a VERY full heart...)

Last Saturday after I returned from a day long trip with my mom and sisters...

Jon: Daddy got mad at his cell phone.

Mom: He did?

Jon: Yeah, it kept shutting off on him, so he threw it on the couch, and he said if it did it again, he was going to throw it in the trash!

Mom: Oh...

...then after church the next day...

Jon: Do you know what I prayed for in church today?

Mom: No, what?

Jon: Your kidneys, our babies, and Daddy's phone!

Mom: (laughing hysterically that Jonathan ranks my kidney disease, and losing our babies right up there with Dad's cell phone issues!)

American Idol Last Night

Okay, I won't be able to do a detailed, person by person post this week...sorry folks. Time is short, and baseball practice, laundry, and dishes are waiting in the wings!

First of all, let me reiterate...EVERY ONE of these singers is better than I ever hope to be! Secondly, my critique of any particular singer is based on whose album I would buy. I would choose the winner based on which album I would want to purchase for my own collection. Case in point...I have purchased albums by Josh Gracin, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Carrie Underwood, Diana DeGarmo, and I bought Ruben's worship album, but not his R&B album. I also did not purchase Fantasia's album. However, these people can OBVIOUSLY sing...so, I'm not in anyway demeaning anyone's talent. 'Kay?

My favorites last night were: Melinda, Jordin, and Chris Sligh...in that order. I mostly listen for the vocals rather than the "performance". I'm looking for an ALBUM to buy, not a VIDEO, so I really could care less if they put on a show or not...although a really bad performance can overshadow a good vocal.

My least favorites last night were: Sanjaya, Gina, Blake, and Chris Richardson. Again, this was mainly due to the fact that I'm not a big rocker, or a "boy band" fan! I really loved Sanjaya's original audition, and I even liked him through Hollywood week, so I bet he could make an album in his particular genre that would sound REALLY good, however, I think with the competition he is up against on AI, he should be the next to go home.

The rest were good, just didn't stand out for me either way. I will say ONE tiny little thing about wardrobe...modesty is important ladies. Whether you think so now or not, one day you will wish you had kept yourself covered up a little bit more during your youth. :)

And that's my humble opinion this week.

Blog Design Template Contest

Lindsay over at "Splat Designs" is holding a contest for some lucky blogger to win a free template. She has done some really cute designs, so I'm signing up! If any of the rest of you would like to enter the contest, you can go here and register your site for the contest!

ANOTHER ONE

I THOUGHT this was going to be a cake-free week. I THOUGHT I was going to catch up on the kids' school projects, the laundry, the spring cleaning, etc., etc., etc. Well, that's what I was thinking right up until yesterday afternoon when I got a call from a girl that I'm doing a wedding cake for in June. She needed a birthday cake for her sister...today. Forgetting that I had Bible Study last night, I said, "Sure, we don't have any games or practices tonight, so it shouldn't be a problem!" Now, on the one hand I DO need the money, and on the other, she has been waiting for me to have time to make some samples of different flavors that she wanted to try before deciding what flavor she wants for her wedding cake...and I haven't gotten it done. So, this was a good opportunity for her to taste ONE of the flavors at least. So, I spent yesterday afternoon making pink daisies and baking the cake. I spent the early part of this morning (before my dentist appointment) icing the cake and covering it with fondant. And I spent the afternoon (after the dentist and before soccer practice) putting the flowers, leaves, pearls, and lettering on the cake, and then delivering it on the way to soccer practice. And, here you go....Ta-Da!



Oh, and in case you were concerned, the dentist appointment was just a routine cleaning and x-rays, and I got a good report with no cavities! :)

A Quick Reminder

I won't be able to write my post this evening as hubby let me go to a Bible Study at church, and would now like my attention to be focused on something other than the computer! However, I did forget to post on Saturday that it was the 17th and time for Holy Mama's Club 17 again. For those of you who participate, I hope you remembered your BSE! For those of you who have NO idea what I'm talking about, click the link on my sidebar, or go here for this month's post regarding the club! The button on my sidebar will take you to last month's post with links to every single piece of information you could possibly want on this subject.

This is where I must eat my words...sort of...

So, a few days ago, my forever friend C, sent me this photo (hers included the head, but for her privacy, I cut it off) of her SON who had been terribly abused by his sisters, as you can see, and used as a dress up doll. I responded to said picture by announcing that I was going to come and take the poor baby to come and live at my house where the boys out-number the girls, 4-2 and he wouldn't be subjected to such torture.

Then, a few days ago at my Mother-in-Law's birthday dinner, my little David came down the stairs, proud as can be, looking like THIS! Now, in my defense, David put the hat on himself so there was no torture involved. AND a pink hat with heart shaped leopard print is not nearly as bad as a gold lam`e skirt with plastic jewels! But still...it just goes to prove the old saying, that if you criticize the actions of someone else's kids, yours will turn on you around and do the exact same thing!

Karen Kingsbury has a blog! Karen Kingsbury has a blog!! Karen Kingsbury has a blog!!!

Did you get that? KAREN KINGSBURY HAS A BLOG!!!

Now, she doesn't update everyday, or even every week sometimes, but...KAREN KINGSBURY HAS A BLOG!!!

Okay, now that that is out of my system. You can find the link to her blog in my sidebar under "Who is Speaking to Me".

You're welcome!!!

While I Was Away...

I know, I know, it's been awhile since I posted anything...but that cake for my Mother-in-Law ended up taking the better part of THREE FULL DAYS!!! So, in honor of all that hard work, I am going to share LOTS of pictures with you so you can appreciate why I had to leave you for such a long time.

So, picture #1 is of the roses I made. They are drying before I wrap the stems and airbrush the color on them. (I just wanted you to see that I really did make them myself...




And here are some different views of the cake all finished.



The small roses in the front were made by Maddie, the bluebird was made by Benji, and the embossing of the watercan and trowel around the sides of the cake that you can't see very well in these pictures, was done by Jonathan. I made the rocks, the daisies, and the tall roses. And yes, it is all edible...well, except for the wires and florist tape that is...but if you pull the flowers off the stems, they are totally edible!

So, we took the cake over to Grandma's house for a birthday dinner, and completely destroyed the whole thing!


So, we finished dinner, cake, and coffee, and I headed home to crank out this for a birthday party the next day...



Finally, I fell into bed sometime around 12:30am so I could get up at 6:00am to clean up the mess all those cakes made in my kitchen before I headed out for a day trip to Fredericksburg with my mom and my two sisters! After the day trip, I went to the grocery store before I headed home to bathe the kids and catch up with my email, blog reading etc. Now, it is 10:46pm, my legs and feet are swollen, my eyes are scratchy, and my buhootie has grown roots in the sofa--and I haven't read a single blog yet...so, I will leave you with the pictures, and promise to post something fun sometime tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Cookie Exchange!!

I've had an idea, I think it will be fun, and YOU ARE ALL INVITED!! I'm hosting a Bloggy Cookie Exchange! It will be on Friday, March 30. It will be a "Come and Go Affair", so you may come and go as you please thoughout the day. All you have to do to participate is bake up a batch of your favorite cookies, bars, or whatever yummy dessert you choose, take a picture to share, and post your picture-- with the recipe-- on your blog and link it back here! Then, on party day, you can check in here, sign the Mr. Linky (which I'm sure I'll be able to get to work!), and we can all go cookie hopping! And in return, here is what I'm offering you...THE RECIPE. Yes folks, I am going to post my super secret recipe for "Painted Cookies". Now, the first time I made these cookies, I was told not to share the recipe with anyone because that is what made it special...however, I no longer use that version of the recipe. I have developed my own version, and while I don't share it with people here ('cause then they wouldn't need to buy my cookies!), since ya'll don't live here, and you don't buy my cookies anyway, I'm going to share it with you. And I am going to TRY to post either, step-by-step pictures, or a video to make it easier for you to see how I make the cookies complete with some tricks of the trade to make your cookies come out as close to perfect as possible. So, now that you're all drooling all over yourselves in anticipation, you can leave a comment to let me know you are going to participate, and you can email me for the code to the button if you want to post it on your blog.

Cookie Pics I Promised

I finished the 2nd set of cookies for the local highschool girl's softball team today, and as promised, I remembered to take the pictures this time! I'm not sure if you can see the detail or not, but there were 1 dozen of the "lady dragons", 1 dozen of the ones with the mitt embossed into the icing, and 1 dozen with bats embossed in the icing. I was wanting to emboss a dragon, but the details were just too tiny to transfer well enough, so I went with the mitt and the bat. I hope you can see those details in the pictures! I'll make the picture bigger than usual, to hopefully make it easier to see.



Well, there you go. I'm doing a "Grandma's Garden" cake for my Mother-in-Law's birthday tomorrow, so I'll be sure and post a picture of that when it's all finished. We're going to start on the gumpaste flowers tonight, so they'll be good and dry before I airbrush the color on tomorrow.

But now...American Idol is starting and it's time to hopefully say "Goodbye" to Sanjaya!

Thanks for stopping by!

American Idol Tonight!

Once again, I offer my ever so humble opinions regarding the American Idol Top 12...(and if you notice, we're on a first name basis now ya'll--except for the Chrises 'cause, well, there's two of 'em.)

Brandon: I was SO disappointed. I really, really, really, like Brandon, but there was nothing spectacular about his performance tonight. I really hope he gets a chance to stick around for another week. I KNOW he can do better!

Melinda: I don't know WHO said it wasn't their favorite performance of hers, but I think it was FAB! When she got to the POWER portion, I had goosebumps!!! And then when she started crying...oh my word, I just LOVE her! And I REALLY liked her dress...I'm so into 1940's style, it's not even funny.

Chris Sligh: I don't know what the judges were smoking, 'cause I LIKED that version of the song. Although I must say that I was picturing Happy Gilmore on an ice skating date...I thought it was a great twist on the song.

Gina: I was thinking the whole time, "I'm going to forget this song before I get a chance to post about it." It just did nothing for me...and that tongue ring just completely distracts me! I keep wondering stuff like; does food get stuck in it when she eats? Does she take it out to eat? And if she does, how does she manage to do it politely when she's on a date??? I'm seriously concerned here!

Sanjaya: He is such a sweet boy, but pu-leeze, did he EVER find the right note? Really, it's not personal, it's just time to go home.

Haley: Okay...let me first refer you to this quote from last week...

"Haley Scarnata: Again, I had trouble hearing her low notes over the band. I feel like she just isn't taking a full breath and isn't getting the power out that I KNOW she has. But my goodness, she is gorgeous! I think she would probably record really well, but I don't know if she can compete with the likes of LaKisha and Melinda in live competition. I WOULD buy her record however, 'cause I love the smooth quality of her voice."

Yes, my friends, I said LAST WEEK that Haley would be a great recording artist and her voice wasn't as good live...that was BEFORE Diana Ross said THE EXACT SAME THING!!! I'm just saying...

I didn't think she did well enough tonight to move on, but we haven't heard everyone yet, so who knows. I was VERY glad to hear Simon give her some encouragement, though. See, I just LIKE Simon...we agree MOST of the time.

Phil: I think he definitely had the best male vocal of the night, but the song didn't really do much for me. I can't even remember what it was, and it's only been like 5 minutes since he sang! But I DO remember that his voice sounded good, so...way to go Phil!

LaKisha: Enough said...everyone else may go home now...except Melinda and Sligh of course...I think these three are going to be around for the long haul!

Blake: Okay, the outfit??? Eewww! The song??? Eh- The vocal??? A little strained in my opinion. Parts were good, other parts seemed like he was forcing them. I do think his personality and his past performances will keep him here another week.

Stephanie: The girl CAN sing, but one of those l-o-n-g notes seemed to drift off pitch. Not my favorite song, but she sang well with the exception of that one note. I didn't even notice that she forgot the words...that's how familiar I am with the song!

Chris Richardson: Poor Chris...he seems so nervous! I thought the clip of him rehearsing was better than his actual performance. All those runs are making his voice sound really shaky and nervous...It wasn't that good to me. Definitely better than some others, but good enough to be the next American Idol? I don't think so, but again, I hope he gets another chance next week...'cause he really does have a nice voice.

Jordin: Oh my, I get so nervous when they sit on the steps in those dresses!!! Plus, it's hard to sing sitting down! I thought she did well though. She started out well but started to get a little off in the middle it seemed. Although I don't know the song, so maybe that is the way it is supposed to go... But STILL she is good, and she is fun to watch! 17 years old??? WOW! AND, it cracks me up how she towers over Ryan!!!

So, out of the 12, I think Sanjaya SHOULD go home...but I've said that for 3 weeks now, so we'll just have to see.

I just HAD to mention it...

Okay, I'm REALLY not supposed to be on this computer thingy for fun stuff until AFTER the kids are down, but I had to do some not so fun stuff on it, so I just HAD to take a second to mention something to you all.

A few days ago, I was out at the local Outlet Mall buying my new Professional HD 6 qt. KitchenAid Stand Mixer (more on THAT at a later post!), when I walked by the Tommy Hilfiger store and ya'll won't BELIEVE what I saw...

EVERY SINGLE COLLAR ON EVERY SINGLE SHIRT IN EVERY SINGLE DISPLAY WAS TURNED UP!!!

I'm talking 1980's style, turned up collars!!! Are ya'll believing this??? If I see any NFL worthy shoulderpads, I don't know what I'll do!!!

Bloggity Book Club--"Get Out of That Pit"

I know I'm late in posting this, but honestly, I haven't quite finished the book yet. For the three people who actually read this blog on a semi-regular basis, you know that the past two weeks have been cake and cookie crazy, so that explains part of the delay here. For those who know me in REAL life, you know that I have a problem with procrastination, motivation, perfectionism, etc., etc., etc...and that pretty much explains the rest!!

I have a confession to make here...when I first started reading this book, I wasn't seeing my own pit at all. I mean, life around here has been fairly good lately. But I DID find myself thinking of other people I know who live in REALLY, REALLY DEEP Pits of their own, and I kept wanting to send them an anonymous copy of the book. (Yes, I know...that was NOT the point of SISTA Beth's book! I'm working on it. I'm working on it...)

So, as I get farther and farther into the book, I start to feel like maybe I am in a pit after all, but it is more of a literal pit...a messy, disorganized, dirty, house...and not so much a spiritual pit like Beth is talking about. And as I am again reprimanding myself for not seeing the "spiritual" message I'm supposed to be grasping, I had what Flylady calls a "lightbulb moment". Perhaps my physical pit is the result of a spiritual pit...hmmm. I really should explore this further...

In the meantime, I continued to read my favorite blogs, and I found myself really wanting to be a little more like Barb over at A Chelsea Morning, and a lot less like me! Fortunately, I was still reading Sista Beth's book, so I was able to stop myself before becoming "co-dependant" on poor Barb to get me out of my physical pit!

I'm teasing, of course, but at the same time, I really do HATE a dirty house, and I really was feeling like even if this wasn't the kind of pit Beth was referring to, perhaps it did need to be addressed. So, I began to look at the reasons why it is so hard for me to keep my house the way I want it...and here's what I came up with:

1) I have four kids. Yes, it would be MUCH easier to keep clean if there were no kids here to mess it up, but honestly, my house was messy BEFORE the kids too, so although they are a contributing factor to the current mess, they are obviously NOT the real problem--besides, I REALLY LIKE THEM, and would have a hard time giving them up! Hee-hee! So, I had to keep digging.

2) I have too much on my plate. I homeschool 3 of the 4 kids and try my best to keep the 4th out of trouble in the meantime. A full day of school for me is about 8 hours. I say for "me" because each child only has 1-3 hours worth of work on any given day, but I have to work with each of them individually, so I spend about 8 hours each day doing school. I also have the cake business. There are a couple of reasons why I keep up the cake business even though I'm crunched for time; I ENJOY it (most of the time). It is a nice break from the daily grind and a chance for me to be creative. And the extra money helps to pay for the kids' sports, etc.

3) I have health issues. It seems like I have been tired most of my life. The first time I recognized that this might be a result of my kidney problems was after I had surgery to put a temporary stint into my kidney to make it function better. While the stint was REALLY uncomfortable, the rest of me felt SO MUCH BETTER! I seemed to have more energy, and everything just didn't seem as hard. For years I thought I was just really lazy, and I would beat myself up about it. It was actually comforting to find out that there was something physically wrong with me.

So, yes, I do have some legitimate reasons for not keeping the sparkling house I wish I did. However, as my Prince Charming has pointed out (more times than I care to mention), I seem to do the things I WANT to do just fine...ouch! And it is true. I can force myself to get up and decorate a cake even when I don't feel well, but it is darn near IMPOSSIBLE to force myself to clean the house when I'm not feeling well! Partly because part of the "not feeling well" includes nausea, and looking at dirty toilets, floors, etc. just makes it worse! But seriously, I REALLY HATE a dirty house, so why isn't that motivation enough to get up and do something about it?

Guess what I discovered...I really do have a spiritual pit! It is not laziness, or poor health, or kids I am battling here, it is Satan. Why does Satan care if I have a dirty house or not? Because of who I am! I am the type of person who wants to have people over so we can eat homemade bread, cake, and cookies, drink Diet Coke, and watch really good movies together! I also want my house to be the one where all the neighborhood kids come to hang out. ('Cause I want to know what my kids are doing and with whom. And I want some say in how they do it!) He also knows that I beat myself up over my failures in this area. All I have ever wanted to be was a wife and mother, and I feel that if my house is dirty, I'm not doing a good job at either, and I feel defeated and miserable.

Every day that I live in a dirty house, is a day that I don't walk in God's victory, and a day that I don't live the life I believe God has called me to live. And THAT, my Sistas, is why Satan cares if my house is clean or dirty!

I have gotten in and out of this pit many, many times. Sometimes, I get pushed in (by kids, schedules, etc.). Sometimes, I slip in unaware. And sometimes I jump in because I just choose to. I have jumped out by working my tail off to impress someone who was coming over. I have climbed out slowly with the help of the Flylady. And I have made the pit, not quite so slimy with sheer determination. But I always know that eventually I'll be back in it. Now, I can see that there is a way out...and I'm going to have to read the rest of the book to find out what that is!!!

I'm not really sure if a personal revelation is what we were supposed to right in our Book Club post, but this is what I got out of what I've read in the book so far. I'm planning to spend the rest of today doing laundry, watching NASCAR, and finishing the book. I may be back with a follow-up post once I finish it, but for now...that's my first Bloggity Book Club post, and I can't wait to see what we are going to read next! For more Bloggity Book Club posts, check in over at Little Bits of Life.

This Week's Game ReCap

Well, neither of our teams did very well this week (except for our Texas Longhorn Men's Basketball Team who pulled out a win after a very rough start...Hook 'Em baby!). Benji's baseball team lost 15-6 Wednesday night. They managed to redeem themselves a little in the last inning, 'cause going into that inning they were losing 15-0! Their coach's speech following the game started out with "Well, I'm not as mad at you as I was after the 2nd inning!" I agreed with his assessment of the situation completely! We just weren't making the plays. Case in point, here is Benji missing a throw from home to try to catch the guy trying to steal. If you look closely, you can see the ball above the runner's head and nowhere near Benji's glove! Not like him at all, I must say.

Now Jon's soccer team did a little better. They still lost, 5-3, but they were winning 3-2 with less than 10 minutes to go, when a series of freak accidents happened allowing the other team to score 3 unanswered goals on us. Jon played offense again...a new position for him...but this week he did much better. He actually got in there and tried moving the ball up field! He had a beautiful head shot that I managed to snap a picture of...immediately AFTER it happened! But the best part of the game for me, was when my Jon actually TRIED to score a goal! Jonathan has always preferred defense, and had absolutely no interest in the offensive part of the game. However, after getting a shot at making a goal, he has decided that he really wants to score at least one goal this year. Here's the picture of him just after he took the shot and just before he landed on his buhootie! You can see the goalie's foot coming up under Jon's foot in the picture. This made Jon trip and the goalie was able to secure the ball and save the goal. I was still mighty proud of my little guy!

Well, that's my sports update for this week. It is Spring Break here this week for those who attend "real school", as my kids call it. So there are no games this week. You'll just have to wait to find out if they do better next game!

Thanks for stopping by.

New Look...

Just returned from a soccer game, and decided to change things up around here a little. I'm still saving my pennies to get a new custom blog design, but in the meantime, I thought this one was a little easier to read. I love green, but sometimes it was hard on my 41-year-old eyeballs to proof-read my posts! So, we'll try this for awhile and see how we like it!

I took some pictures at this week's baseball and soccer games, and got at least one really good one of Jon, so after I fix the meal and put the little one in bed, I'll get those uploaded for your viewing pleasure.

Half-Begun or Half-Done???

Before I forget...I had a last minute order for baseball cupcakes on Thursday. It was for a friend, so I went ahead and did it for her. The team was the Cubs, and since she was a friend, I went a little further than plain baseball cupcakes and I made "Cubs" cupcakes. Here's a little picture for you...



Now, back to yesterday... so I got the 3 dozen softball cookies all made (about 4-5 hours later), dried, and delivered on time...but forgot to take pictures for you all. I'm so very sorry, but when I delivered them, she liked them so much she ordered 3 dozen more for next week, so I'll post pictures for you all then.

Then, I took the kids and ran some errands that were necessary before beginning the 6 dozen cookies for the baby shower.

And then we came home and I started on the Baby Shower cookies...8+ hours later...Voila!

(The theme was Dragonflies and Ladybugs, and the colors were red, sage green, and black.)



So, it only took about 13 hours to get all the cookie orders finished...which comes out to less than $3/hour...SO not worth it, unless you see the look on the face of the person who gets the cookies...THAT is TOTALLY worth it! Needless to say, with 13 hours of cookie craziness, and 3 hours worth of errand running...we did NOT get caught up with our schoolwork, and I did NOT finish my book club reading! I guess we'll just have to tackle those today!

In the meantime, my Prince Charming has invited his mother over today, and I am going to put on a pot of coffee, bake some cookies really quick and get ready for a nice, pleasant conversation with my mother-in-law run around like a crazy woman trying to clean up the HUMONGOUS mess from all the cookie-making that I was too tired at 2:00am to clean up. And then I'll sit down and relax for a bit before she arrives run around the rest of the house picking up after the 4 kids who were allowed to run wild during yesterday's cookie extravaganza, dusting, vacuuming, and mopping every thing I possibly can up to the very last minute before she arrives!

It's a Party Ya'll!!!

*Update: Hey, I asked RibbonRockStar how she made her Blog Party Post a "sticky" and she shared her knowledge, so now I have complied with the request and made mine a sticky at the top of my blog as well! That means that everything I have posted since this party started is now BELOW this post. Technology is so COOL...it makes me want to sing ala Kip Dynamite "I love technology, but not as much as you, you see...but I still love technology...always and forever..."

Hello, and welcome to the party!!! I've never been to a blog party, since I'm quite new to this whole bloggy world, but it's been "cake-crazy" here this week, so I'm ready to have some fun! If this is your first time visiting my site, WELCOME, and feel free to browse through any of my previous posts. You can meet all four of my children under "Meet the Crew", you can read about my fabulous Valentine present, or just look at pictures of cakes and cookies. If you haven't been by already, be sure and stop by Five Minutes for Mom the hosts of this incredible Blog Party!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh My, Oh My, Oh My!!!

My friends, I am NOT looking forward to this day. I kept waking up during the night, worried about this day. I have to make 3 dozen cookies and have the icing dried before noon. (These cookies take about an hour/dozen and the icing really should dry for 8-12 hours!!!) Then, I have 6 dozen more to do for delivery tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we are about a day and a half behind on schoolwork, and I just checked in on BooMama to discover that the Bloggity Book Club is TODAY!!! I still have a few more chapters to read people!!! Why did I think the club was on the 17th??? And the icing on the cookie??? (I know, it's supposed to be "cake", but I'm doing cookies today...roll with it!) Sabrina, Sundance, and Jared all left American Idol last night while Sanjaya is still there!!! My husband, on the otherhand, is mourning the loss of Antonella...he didn't care if she could sing...he just wanted to see her every week...my Prince Charming, I'm telling ya'!

I did make some cupcakes yesterday, and my boy played some baseball this week (although quite badly as it turned out), and I have some pictures for you all to enjoy, but right now I must lay on the couch watching tv, eating homemade bread, and drinking Diet Coke make cookies, teach school, and read how to "Get Out of That Pit!"

I'll be back later with the pictures, and my Bloggity Book Club post!

Thanks for stopping by, I wish I could offer you some cookies...but they are all for the clients!

In My Humble Opinion...

So, in case you didn't hear, my DVR spazzed again and dropped my Tuesday night recording of AI, so I didn't get to hear the guys...again! That Tivo is looking better and better every day! But, I was able to get the girls to record, so here is my opinion, be it ever so humble 'cause every one of these girls would blow me right out of the water!

Okay, I am by no means a music expert, and I don't know most of the pop songs from the past 2 or 10 years, 'cause I'm just a little bit country, ya'll...HOWEVER...

Jordin Sparks: Hard to hear over the band sometimes, but I just REALLY like her, and I want her to stick around!

Sabrina Sloan: I can't really remember much about the performance itself, and I've NEVER heard the song before, so I can't compare to the original, but again, I just REALLY like her and I want her to stay.

Antonella Barba: She can sing, better than I can--for sure, but I just wouldn't pay money to hear it, ya' know? I wouldn't turn the station, but I wouldn't buy the record either. But she's young, if she keeps working and gets some training, she could be really good one day.

Haley Scarnata: Again, I had trouble hearing her low notes over the band. I feel like she just isn't taking a full breath and isn't getting the power out that I KNOW she has. But my goodness, she is gorgeous! I think she would probably record really well, but I don't know if she can compete with the likes of LaKisha and Melinda in live competition. I WOULD buy her record however, 'cause I love the smooth quality of her voice.

Stephanie Edwards: I know this girl is good, but she just isn't one of my favorites. Perhaps it is the style of music she sings...I'm not a big R&B fan. There just doesn't seem to be too much that stands out about her. I can't even remember what she sang to be honest.

LaKisha Jones: What else is there to say about "the Mom". She is SOOOO good! And may I say, her dress was MUCH BETTER this week. She's had a few "What Not to Wear" moments on the show, but last night she looked GOOD! And yes, I will definitely purchase her record WHEN it comes out, 'cause it IS coming ya'll!

Gina Glocksen: I really liked Gina when she took the tongue ring out for the show, and when she dressed like a girl. I wanted to punch Simon last week when he said that he missed "her edginess" cause I knew that tongue ring would come back this week! But girlfriend CAN sing, so I think she'll stick around another week.

Melinda Doolittle: I like her better EVERY TIME SHE OPENS HER MOUTH!!! Even if it's to talk about "equality" vs. "OCD". She is just wonderful, and I will buy any record she puts out, but I'd rather have the DVD so I can hear what she says between songs, cause she is hysterical!

So, who do I think SHOULD go home? Antonella. Who do I think WILL go home even though I still like her? Haley. But hey, don't listen to me, I was SURE Sanjaya was gone last week...

Works for Me Wednesday--Kitchen Edition

Our Daily Bread



And yes, I do mean daily! Since I can't have sodium, bread with baking soda is a big no-no, so I make my own yeast bread almost everyday. Yes, that is a full-size loaf like you would buy in the grocery store. This is Texas, people, we don't mess around with those little loaf pans...we do everything BIG!!! (Notice how it doesn't even fit on the cutting board? And yes, it will last about one day around here!)

Okay, so we make lots of variations of this bread, some lower fat, some sweeter, some with garlic or Mrs. Dash to go with an Italian meal, but this is the basic, oh-so-easy recipe, and coincidentally, the one we made today:

You will need:

1 cup of hot tap water
2 Tablespoons of dry yeast
2 Tablespoons of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of sweetened whipping cream
3/4 cup of milk (you can use 1 1/2 cups of milk if you don't want the fat and calories of the whipping cream...but seriously...why wouldn't you???)
5 cups of bread flour
Butter-Flavored Cooking Spray

Instructions:
Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees.

Put 1 cup of hot tap water (about 110-120 degrees) in a 2-cup measure.
Add 2 Tablespoons of dry yeast and 2 Tablespoons of sugar and set aside. (the sugar "feeds" the yeast and gets it going.)

Put 3/4 cup sweetened baker's whipping cream and 3/4 cup milk into your mixer's bowl and (if it's not metal) put the bowl in your microwave for 45 seconds on high. You want both the bowl and the milk to be lukewarm. If your bowl is metal, you'll have to figure out another way to warm it up a little.

Attach the mixing bowl to your stand mixer, add 2 cups bread flour to the milk, and mix with the wire wisk on low speed.

Right about now, you should be noticing that your 1 cup of yeast mixture is now frothy, and growing before your eyes. Once it doubles to 2 cups, add it to the milk/flour mixture, and continue to beat on low speed.

Add 3 more cups of bread flour, one cup at a time, to the mixture. Once the mixture gets too thick for your poor wire wisk, switch to the dough hook. (This may be once you've added ALL of the flour, or only after a cup or two.) Continue to mix with the dough hook, increasing speed until the dough forms a nice ball around the hook. It should still be quite sticky though, not smooth and elastic like other breads that require kneeding. (NO KNEEDING!!! Didn't I tell you this was easy?)

Pour the sticky batter into a pan that has been sprayed with butter-flavored cooking spray, (I prefer the Crisco brand myself.) and press evenly into the bottom of the loaf pan. (This recipe will make 2 of those smaller "meatloaf" sized pans for those of you who don't have a giant, Texas-Sized pan. If you don't want two loaves, just cut the recipe in half.)

Spray the top of the dough with the butter-flavored cooking spray, and put in your 170 degree oven...BUT TURN THE OVEN OFF NOW!!!

Let the bread rise for about 30 minutes until it has risen nicely above the top of the pan. (Use the oven window and light for this.) DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!! Just turn the oven on to 375 degrees and bake your bread for 20-25 minutes.

When the bread is nicely browned on top, and sounds hollow when you thump it, it is done! Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so and then on a wire rack for another 10 minutes before cutting it.

YUM!!!

For more WFMW tips, go visit Rocks in My Dryer!

Tackle it Tuesday

*UPDATED: Scroll down to the bottom if you have already read this post, and are interested in the finished product!*

I have decided to try to join in with the "Tackle it Tuesday" meme and see what all I can get accomplished! Now, today's mission was supposed to be either cleaning out my refrigerator--gross, or cleaning up my laundry room--possibly EVEN MORE gross! However, do you remember my mentioning a not so minor flood at our house this weekend? Well, there was one and now my "Tackle it Tuesday" project is the perfect project to further milk the gimmick of my blog title!
You see, there I was on Saturday morning, trying to be "Supermom" with the first of several sorted and ready loads of laundry in the dryer, the second load in the washer, and me calmly and carefully decorating a guitar cake for a friend's daughter's birthday. Then...water started running out from underneath the bathroom door...B runs in to shut off the water that is gushing out of the toilet (this was CLEAN water, people)...and I run to grab towels to try to stop the river before it gets too far into the hallway. Something has clogged the pipes and when the washing machine went into it's "drain and spin" phase, all that water had no where to go, so it came up into the bathtubs and out one of the toilets. So, B went to the garage to get the "Shop-Vac" to begin vacuuming up the water in the bathroom while I ran to get the carpet cleaner to suck up the water in the carpet. It turned out that even after all of our efforts, the hall carpet was just too soaked, and had to be pulled up, padding and all, and taken outside to dry on the driveway. The carpet had to be pulled back in the boys' room so that large fans could dry it as well as the sheetrock in the wall they share with the bathroom. Large fans were also aimed inside the bathroom cabinets, and on the carpet and sheetrock in the master bedroom which also shares a wall with the bathroom.

In the meantime, no more laundry could be washed, no dishes washed, no potties could be used, and no hands could be washed.

Now picture if you will, one cake decorator, who is now no longer calm or careful, and has been coloring fondant a nice black color, with her bare hands, and cannot wash said hands...not a pretty site! Not to mention, everything I touched turned black...it was a cruel twist on the whole "Midas Touch" story. So, I am wiping at my black hands with baby wipes with very little success, while still trying to get my cake finished on time without black fingerprints all over it, and B says to me, "Maddie needs to go to the bathroom, can you take her to a neighbor's house or something?" Why not??? I wasn't BUSY or anything! So I call my neighbor to give her three seconds notice that we will need to descend on her bathroom (which at my house, on any given day, would require at least 30 minutes notice to clear a path to the bathroom, and to make a quick swish and swipe in the bathroom to avoid spreading the plague!) She graciously, (though I think a bit reluctantly,) agrees and I show up looking as though I have a bad case of frostbite on my hands!! All the while I am thinking to myself, a month ago this would have all been a huge inconvenience and a big pain in the buhootie...but now...this is all "Blog-Fodder" my friend! Yes!!! I will not have to come up with anything interesting to write about the weekend...it's all been handed to me with a big red bloggy bow!!!

So, to get back to my "Tackle it Tuesday" project. I now have two days worth of dishes and laundry to catch up on now that B has given me the "all clear"! (See how nicely that fits in with my blog title??? Neat, huh?) I am posting the "before" pics below...I'll post the "afters" when I get it all done! If you want to join in with your own project, just click the button at the top of this post and get tackling!!!

(On a little side note: B told me he found the clog, but couldn't tell me what it was exactly...which I understood to mean that it was either something he flushed, or put down the drain, (which I must say is HIGHLY irregular as he is SO picky about what goes down the drain, he doesn't allow me to put any kind of food down the garbage disposal...only dishwater is allowed ---what's it supposed to dispose of for Pete's Sake?) OR he never found the clog at all, but everything seems to be working fine now...so he's not going to worry about it...)





Okay, the dishes and laundry have officially been tackled!! Here's a picture of my empty and shiny sink (Flylady would be so proud!)



And the counter...



And the nicely washed, dried and folded laundry...just waiting for the midnight elves to come in and put it all away!



And this not-so-little pile of socks...are the ones which have no matches. There are about 20+ in there, and not one match!

A Really Good Song!

I was trying to find out how to make a song play automatically on my blog, so you all could hear this, but I can't figure it out. In the meantime, if you look on my sidebar, directly under the "Praying for Ethan" button you will see a media player. Push the "play" button twice (don't ask me why, you just have to push twice!) and you can hear one of the greatest songs I've ever heard. It was written and recorded by sweet little Ethan's aunt specifically for him during this fight, although it is so very appropriate for any number of trials you may be going through. If you follow the link to Ethan's site, you can pull up the lyrics as well as the scripture reference the song was based on.

This is a beautiful song, and I hope it touches you all as much as it did me.

Bringing the Weekend to a Close

Well, besides being cake crazy this weekend, we were also kid crazy (you see how I came up with the name for this blog?) with sports. We had 3, count 'em, 3 baseball games and 1 soccer game, and a not so minor flood (which I will post about at another time as it doesn't apply to kids, cakes, dishes, or laundry, and I'm really trying to milk the gimmick in this post!) this weekend in addition to the four dozen cookies (which I wasn't able to get pictures of) and the four cakes that I have already posted pictures of...Yes, Virginia, I am exhausted. So, here is the breakdown for those who may be interested...
All three baseball games were won: 6-5, 14-7, and 15-6! Here are a couple pics of the boy running to cover second base, and diving back to first base to avoid getting caught stealing! (He would be the one on the ground with his cleats in the air!)




The soccer game was also won: 4-2! Here's a picture of the other boy...running to the ball with a defender in hot pursuit! (Jon's in the white.)



So, the kids and cakes got taken care of, but the dishes and laundry are only half done...as usual...and mom comes tomorrow, so I guess I'll be getting up early again to finish up before she gets here!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm going to bed now!

Final Cake for this Weekend...Yahoo!

Okay, so I didn't quite make it up at 4:00am...but I did get my cake finished and delivered on time and I only had one major goof in the process! So, overall, it was a pretty successful endeavor. Now, it's time to watch my kid play baseball, finish my laundry and prepare for this week's 9 dozen cookies, 1 cake, and 24 cupcakes......so far, anyway! Here are the pictures of this weekend's final cake. It was for a baby shower for a little boy. I just love the little baby hands!

Cake Crazy

Okay, today was nuts with more than just cakes, but I'm out of time and energy to post on all of that now...but it's coming...believe me, it's coming!

I still have one more cake to make for delivery in the morning, but I am just too wiped out to do it now, so I'm heading to bed and setting the alarm for 4:00am (ugh!) when I'll get up and do the last cake for the weekend. In the meantime, I thought I'd post the pictures of the two cakes I did get done...nothing too fancy this time...one was for a baseball team's opening day, and the other for a birthday party for a friend's daughter. I hope you enjoy them!

Some Quick Pics For You

Okay, so I gave in and bought a new camera today, which means.....after four months of looking without success...I'll find my old camera! But, I did a really cute baby shower cake today for a teacher who loves books... and while you can't see all the details very well in these pictures (because I hadn't figured out the flash yet when I took them,) hopefully, you can get the idea.

Gotta go to soccer practice now...enjoy the pictures while I'm gone!