Another Cake

Friday was a busy day in the kitchen. I made a cake for Mark Jones (the owner of Matt's company) and it was hideous beyond reason and I just couldn't take it to him. I was on my way to deliver it but had to turn around to go home and start over. I was near out of time before the work day was over but with some miracle I was able to bake another cake, decorate it, and deliver it all under two hours. In that time, the girls and I had to stop by the grocery store first for some more ingredients. Everything was insane and chaotic while trying to make a second cake but I am so glad I did it. It was a lot of fun and it challenged me but it all worked out and Mark loved it. The first cake was so horrible looking that I cannot even post a picture.

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Taking Coverage

Last night I took the girls with me to the combined youth activity. They played human foosball that got a little crazy so I put the girls underneath a table against the wall to protect them from the flying ball. Sadie, not wanting to miss a thing, grabbed onto one of the young men leaders and put her head between his legs. It was hilarious!

Taking Things for Granted

I have had a lot of things lately that have made me take a step back and make sure I am not taking anything for granted, not even the simplest things. There are several people close to me that are dealing with trials or changes in their lives right now and it has made me look at my trials differently. I will try not to let things get me down that I don't personally have any control over. If something bad happens, I cannot change that what happened but only how I react to it. I am not saying that things don't get me down or I don't have bad moments because I do but I strongly believe that the Lord has a plan for me and sometimes I have to go through different things so I can learn to lean on my faith, learn a lesson, help others, or at least have compassion for others.

I wish I could do more for others that are going through these many different things and I pray that I will find away. I think something that I personally need to do is stop feeling guilty for different blessings in my life but learn to appreciate them and never take them for granted. I don't want to go into anymore details at this time but thought it was a good reminder to be grateful for the jobs that we have, the homes we live in, our families, and everything else.

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A blessing that I am most grateful for and hope to never take for granted is my husband. Our YW lesson on Sunday was about spiritual gifts. I have teased in the past that Matt must have been crazy when he married me because we are different in so many ways but I don't think it is a coincidence or a joke. I have come to love and appreciate our differences because where I am weak, he is strong and together we are at our best. He has gotten me through so much and I love him more today than ever before.

Attempt Number 1

The girls were asked to feed our friends' cats for the week while they were on vacation. This was a chore that Sienna and Sadie were more than willing to accept and they had a lot of fun doing it. Sienna would scoop their food for them and both girls would watch and giggle as the cats ate.
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Since it has been freezing outside this past week and our friends only live down the street, I let the girls ride in the back of the van with a blanket in regular seat belts. They thought they were so special (and they are!).

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This is what two little girls do when mommy spends the entire day baking a cake.

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So, Matt's beautiful sister Adrianne Leah is getting married next month and has asked me to make her wedding cake. I am extremely excited and nervous to do her cake. It will be so fun but what if it doesn't work out? Luckily, Adri is one of the easiest going and one of my all time favorite people around so everything should be just fine. Because I haven't used fondant very often or baked cakes of this capacity, I felt like it was a good idea to practice a few times before the big day comes. Please don't get scared looking at these pictures, this is NOT how Adri wants her cake decorated. The practice was only for me to see if I could manipulate fondant in this quantity and get it to cover a cake this large. I chose to make the base layer out of rice-krispie treats to save time and because I didn't need a cake that could serve 200 people sitting around my house.

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WAHOO! I got fondant over the entire thing. It was not easy but I did it! Please forgive it for not being incredibly smooth, I have lost my fondant smoother but will find it before I attempt baking this a second time.

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After starting the cake I received a text from Matt informing me that there was a birthday on his team over the weekend. I was going to pawn the cake off on his team anyway but now I had the perfect excuse to use cake for the 2ND tier and not rice krispie treats. I decided to change things up and do half chocolate, half red velvet.

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The bottom tier is covered in fondant and the top tier (there will be a 3rd tier when I make the actual cake) is covered in buttercream icing. I did this to show Adri the difference in appearance but also because I ran out of fondant and icing tastes better.

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A little inside joke from Matt's team. Happy birthday Logan!

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Overall, I am really happy with how things went. It took me over seven hours and more shortening, marshmallows, rice krispies, powdered sugar, and fondant than I'd like to admit but I had fun. Most importantly, I learned what I need to do differently and change for my next attempt. First, the rice-krispie treat tier did not come out tall enough. I need to add a few more batches to make it the same height as the cake tiers. I also look forward to having babysitters to entertain the girls while I destroy my kitchen!!

Sienna Wants a Puppy

Sienna asks us almost daily if we can get her a puppy. She absolutely loves animals but her favorite without a question is a dog. We went to a party/get together over the weekend and our friend has two dogs that kept Sienna and Sadie entertained late into the night. One of these days they will get their puppy, just not yet.

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Sienna and Lilo.

Guess Who is Old Enough for Nursery??

That's right, my baby is in nursery with her big sister. She did great until she saw me when they went on their walk but was fine when they got back to the classroom.

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I didn't intend on taking my camera but when I dropped them off I realized I had my purse which had my camera. Good timing for Sadie to move on because Matt and I have been asked to participate in a Marriage & Family course for the next few months during Sunday school and it will be more enjoyable if we can actually participate.

Our New Spot

Matt and I love taking the girls out to eat every weekend, we look forward to it all week. More often than not we end up going to Mimi's because their delicious food as well as the fun atmosphere and how much the kids actually love and eat their food. Also, we go to a late lunch and don't really do much for dinner. We still love Mimi's and it will always be a go to spot for our family but we've recently fell in love with the idea of going to breakfast together. This tradition started as a holiday weekend thing but we decided we really enjoyed the late breakfast early lunch a lot too. Anyway, over New Year's weekend we went to Cracker Barrel again and loved it. We all got full on delicious breakfast food and had so much fun for under 15$. After eating we spent time looking at all of the fun old fashioned candy and all got a treat on the way out. It was so much fun and I love the quality family time we get every weekend. We look forward to going again on Saturday.

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Sienna and her daddy playing at breakfast.

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Sadie didn't want to be in a picture so I had to go to her.

Sadie having fun with her pegs.

The girls chose a large bag of Sixlets as their treat to take bowling.

We took the girls bowling after breakfast. Sienna became obsessed with the ramp and had so much fun rolling the ball down the lane.

Sadie barely gave Matt time to put the ball on the ramp before she was pushing it. She would giggle the entire time.

Sadie also liked changing the scores. I only wish she would have helped mine out.

Our attempt at taking a picture of ourselves. I love the picture but we blocked the flash so the lighting is a little off.

NOSE! Failed attempt, but it was fun. I wish every weekend was a three day. I absolutely cherish my time with Matt and the girls. I am so grateful and blessed to have such a wonderful husband and that we can still have so much fun together doing the simplest things.