I survived

Well I survived my 4 sessions of cake decorating 1. When the teacher told us the first week that we needed to return the following week with a frosted cake to decorate I nearly died. I really needed the pre-beginner class, you know the one that teaches you how to FROST the cake not just decorate it.

But I tried and tried and tried. And although I don't have any natural ability it was still fun...kind of. (is feeling like the weakest link in the class really fun?)

So for your amusement I present my creations. Boy those roses are hard to do.

You must know that my master plan is just to teach Mike everything I learned because I guarentee he will be able to do a much better job than me on the myriads of birthday cakes that will come our way. :) (actually I tried to get him to take the class with me but he refused)

BTW- that mark in the rainbow is from a knife that fell into the cake when I got home.

Sometimes traveling with the circus pays

There are not a lot of things I like LESS than going grocery shopping with 3 small children. I actually really like grocery shopping when I can take the time to compare prices, look at new products and decide how to use certain ingredients. I can accomplish none of the above when I have my "traveling circus" with me. Today I had to "run into the store" with my 3 in tow because I needed 2 random ingredients for something I am making tonight. As I neared the checkout I noticed that the Valentine candy was 50% off. Always a sucker for a good deal, I picked up 2 bags of Hershey Kisses to make some peanut kiss cookies and headed to the checkout. For whatever reason they would not ring up on the clearance price. The cashier tried and tried to override the price but could not. After more than 5 minutes of trying to wait patiently with 3 hungry children, my patience was running out and I just told him it wasn't worth the hassle and I didn't need them anyway. I think he felt sorry for me because he handed me both bags and said, "here take them for free since I can't get them to ring up". So yes, sometimes it does pay to have 3 small children with you.(although 95% of the time it does not:))

Old (school) Friends are the Best Friends

I had the great treat of being able to spend a long weekend with my wonderful friends that I met in my freshman year dorm hall at BYU. I flew up to Salt Lake City(with Cole) and the 13 of us spent a few nights at a snowy cabin in beautiful in Midway, UT. We laughed, reminesced, went out to eat, had a "favorite things" gift exchange, shopped, stayed up late and ate lots and lots of treats. It was so much fun. I love these wonderful women so much and am so grateful for their influence on my life. That freshman year when we all met so long ago was truly a magical time in my life. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I went to bed before 1 am that year because we were always too busy laughing, studying (ha ha), talking or concocting some crazy scheme. It really was a once in a lifetime experience and those girls became my closest friends.
Each one of them is so amazing and wonderful.
We started out as 13 college freshmen. As of April 2010 we will have 49 children between us. Everyone graduated from BYU (except for the one of us that defected to the OTHER university which shall not be named), studying varying things such as speech pathology, English, Art, Social Work, Anthropology, Health Sciences, Biology etc etc. 5 of us served missions. 3 of us went to graduate school. We now live in 4 different states and don't get together very much. But when we do it is just like old times.
Thanks for the good times Alyssa, Catherine, Cori, Cynthia, Emily, Heidi, Julianne, Kari, Kristen, Michelle, Pepper and Sarah. You guys are the best. :)

Michelle made a delicious Sunday brunch.

4 little men joined the party.

These cupcakes were so delicious.

wow

I just got back from registering Blake for kindergarten. WOW, time has flown. Wasn't I just pregnant with him, working at a school, and now I am sending him off to school in a few short months.
What a way to make me feel old. Although I don't feel that old considering some of my friends who are the same age as me are registering their children for MIDLLE SCHOOL.

Sisters

What could be better than spending all day with my lovely sisters and Mom doing what we all love doing, shopping, at the fabric district downtown. Love that place. Love my sisters:)
We met down there yesterday to celebrate Carol's birthday. For her birthday lunch we indulged in something I have seen and smelled a million times down there but have never been brave enough to try, the bacon wrapped, salsa topped hot dog from the little cart vendor. When in Rome..... And here is the nastdelicious creation. So good but so nasty.

As for projects, I now have about 16 yards of bright red and blue material to sew superhero capes for Blake's birthday party, some cute madras material for summer shorts for Blake, and some pink and black polka dot material for something fun for Julia.

Yeah for sisters and yeah for fun, funky fabric.

Because I need help

Let's face it, I have no cake frosting or decorating skills. I love the idea of making my kids fabulous themed birthday cakes. I love making yummy cakes. But that's where the fun stops. I cannot frost a cake to save my life. Any attempt I have made ends up in a crumbly mess. EVERY cake I make is frosted by my fabulous husband. But come on, I have to learn somehow. My artist nephew Paul won't always be around to frost ponies and Lightning MacQueens on my cakes.
And so ladies and gentlemen, I am taking a cake decorating class. I'm glad it's not graded because it reminds me of my ceramics class in high school that I got a B- in. (who gets less than an A in a stupid art class anyway?) Be prepared to see some very amusing cakes. Tonight was the first session and for the next 3 Wednesdays I will be frostin it up.
Wish me luck.

Somebody's 3!!!!!!!

The cake The anticipation

The family

The excitement over the tutu. (I saw this sparkly fabric and just COULD NOT pass it up because I knew Julia would go nuts over it)

Even Cosby, Julia's favorite dog was invited to the party per Julia's request. (this was true love for our daughter)

Cole liked the cake. HE shoveled it all in his mouth and had chipmunk cheeks.

Julia turned 3 yesterday. We celebrated with a "pink pony cake" (thank you Paul), homemade pizza, family, Cosby the dog and lots of pretty presents for the big girl.

I love this girl. Really there is nothing more wonderful than having a daughter. She is the apple of my eye and I am so blessed to be her mother.