Taylee the Baker, Maker and Cake Decor-a-ter

Taylee said to me, "I wish I could make and decorate a cake for someone."

(I'm guessing she secretly would have liked to have made/decorated Treyson's cake.)

I suggested she call Candice and offer her services for Levi's upcoming birthday party.

She didn't call.

Then as Candice and I were texting later on that week, she mentioned Levi's cake and not being excited about making it. I told her what Taylee said to me and offered her services. She thought that sounded like a great idea... an answer to her prayers. :) 

Later that day, she asked Taylee to make a CARS cake, like one she had seen on Pinterest. Taylee was sooo excited!

The morning of the party, Taylee got to work.

Taylee did the bulk of the cake, but I have to admit I jumped in a few times..just couldn't resist so much fun.

Taylee couldn't wait to use this sugar paper. It worked perfect for the checkered sides.

Look what I made!

The finished cake on location with Lightening McQueen candle.

Nice job Taylee!

Happy Birthday Rylee!

On December 6th, Rylee turned 15!

Since her birthday fell on a Tuesday, she was gone ALL day. It's her regular Tuesday schedule; she leaves at 6:45am and doesn't get home until 9:30pm (Cantus choir practice and babysitting)! So she opened her gifts, when she got home, but we decided to do her birthday dinner and cake/ice cream the next day.
She received a jar from Treyson...

..full of smiles.

Just in case she needs one, she now has a whole jar full. So cute..totally his own idea that Taylee helped him execute.

Isn't this chair funny? I found it at Goodwill and HAD to get it for her. She loves shoes... especially high heels. I thought it would be perfect for her room.

For her birthday dinner, she requested fettucini alfredo, as well as a rainbow cake and "Moose Tracks" icecream.

She was trying to freak me out the other day by saying,

"Mom, do you realize that at this time next year, I could be going to Sweethearts.... and then Prom?!"

I tried to keep it cool and answered,

"Ya.... I'm sooo excited. That will be soooo much fun!"

Really I can't wait to help her think of fun, creative ways to ask guys to dances or answer when they ask. And honestly, really I am a little nervous about it too. :)

More Party Prep

I didn't think that one cake would be enough, so I wanted to make owl cupcakes. This is what I ended up with.

Does it look more like an owl or a Jim Henson Muppet?

For the actual cake, I wanted to make a "log", so I decided to do it jellyroll style. This was my first time ever attempting a jellyroll type cake, so I was a little worried how it would go.

It came out of the pan and rolled up while it was warm, just fine. When it was time to fill, things didn't go as well. As I unrolled the cake, it cracked and broke apart several times. (I think I needed to let it cool more and maybe use a different recipe. I just used a cake mix.) But because it was going to be a "log" I didn't let that stop me. I slathered on the fudge filling, kind of gluing it together, then carefully rolled it up and put it in the freezer.

The morning of the party, I took the log out of the freezer and frosted it with chocolate frosting, going for the bark look. I also used some large stick pretzels covered with frosting for a branch.

Next I stuck wooden skewers into the styrofoam owls and popped them onto their log, along with candles and Taylee's name.
Voila!

Taylee and I made extra owls using the invitation template. I used them to make a banner.

Rylee bought this balloon for Taylee. It was a perfect addition to the party.

This was one of our first ideas when planning the NIGHT OWL party... a bed table.

I like how ours turned out, but check out our inspiration party...amazing!

My "crazy" doesn't even compete with her CRAZY. :)

Abree Turns 6!

I can't believe it... Abree turned 6 years old on Tuesday!

If your baby is 6, then what does that say about the mother?

When I asked her what she wanted her cake to be like, she had discussed it with Treyson and they had come up with... a round cake with a CROWN.

My version is quite simple, but she was happy.

In the morning, I had my "Positive Parenting" class. Abree usually comes with me and is watched in the gym of the institute building, along with tons of other kids and lots of crying babies. She is compliant, but doesn't love it.

For her birthday, I wanted to make the day special. I called up Marianne and asked if she could have a play-date with Emylie. Marianne being so sweet of course said YES and offered to take the girls to McDonalds and even gave her a cute ballerina doll as a present.

Emylie and Abree are taking dance together.

After class, I picked Abree up from Marianne's and she was all sorts of excited. She had to tell me about the NEW McDonalds, what she ate, what they played with and showed me the cute ballerina doll.

Next, I took her to school. She got to bring a snack to share in class. I put 22 Capri Suns and 22 packages of crackers in her backpack. It was so heavy, I wondered if she would tip over before reaching her classroom. Later she reported she had made it. Whew. :)

For dinner, Abree had requested BEEF hotdogs and chips.

Go figure.
After dinner, we opened presents.

She LOVED her new PINK Zhu Zhu Pet named Sweetie.

Gifts- Hooked on Phonics reading games/activities, Silly Bandz, VSmile Lion King game, Zhu Zhu Pet purple bed/blanket and pink carrier/blanket, and her ballerina doll from Emylie.

Make a wish.

Her kindergarten class sang to her and she got this crown and a pencil from her teacher.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet Abree Autumn!

I love you!!!

Treyson Turns 9!

I can't believe it..... My Treyson boy is 9!

We planned a full day of celebrating, including Jason taking a day off work.

After breakfast, Treyson opened gifts.

This year we were going for useful and needed over useless and begged for.

Treyson had been drooling over the new Buzz Lightyear, but there was NO WAY I was paying 100 bucks for an action figure type toy.

Treyson FINALLY received a replacement battery charger for his Nintendo D.S. Now he won't have to beg, borrow and steal his sister's anymore. Whew!
Taylee bought him a Dollar Store gift with her own money and made him an adorable card.

Treyson was in HEAVEN with all of his edible gifts. I told him he didn't have to share (if he didn't want to, but probably would cuz he's just that way) and that he could eat as much or as little as he wanted at a time (within reason...yeah right). A reading light and matching fan were much needed gifts. He also received the "Whimpy Kid" book series that were immediately eye-balled and asked to be borrowed by his sisters.

Treyson requested an "Under the Sea" cake this year. He had a specific idea about a shark eating some fish, but in the end had to just trust that I would come up with something cool.

The guy floating in a peach ring tube, was one of my favorite parts of the cake. I had originally planned to use Teddy Grahams, but forgot to buy them while at the store. I came up with Lego guy last minute. And although he's fully clothed, I think he's having a fun time splashing in the ocean.... until the sharks eat him.

Next part of the celebration day was going to the Boise Music Festival. Jason had seen the festival advertised weeks earlier and thought it would be fun to go see some big headliners; Macy Gray, the Backstreet Boys and Brett Michaels!

We went to the mall, to catch a shuttle bus. There was NO WAY Jason wanted to fight the crowds and try to find a parking by the park.

It was a HOT day. Our 30 minute wait in line seemed longer.

After 2 other buses had come and gone, it was finally our turn to board the shuttle. The buses were meant to hold only 24 passengers, we stuffed about 40 onto our bus which made for a hot, sticky ride. :)

Our first order of business when arriving, was to find a good place for our chairs in front of the MAIN stage. We found a place, close to the sound booth, near the center.

Next we set out to see what else was going on.

We looked at the vendors, bounced in the jump houses and played in the fountain. The mist from the fountain felt sooo good.

Treyson started out by putting his hands in the water. Next, he got his hat wet and dumped it over his head to cool off. Then finally couldn't resist any longer and ended up putting his whole head in the water. He was soaked from head to toe... and probably the coolest of us all.

After we felt we'd seen all we could see, we went back to our chairs.

We ate our packed lunch, as we listened to several up and coming bands/artists.

We weren't as well prepared as we thought. We had brought food, water and sunscreen, but had no shade to keep the 100 degree sun from baking us. The only source of water, was a little drinking fountain that took at least a 30 minute wait in line to get a drink and re-fill water bottles.

When Taylee started not feeling well (heat stroke?), Jason and I started getting headaches and Abree acted bored out of her gourd, we decided to call it a day. Being miles away from our van and knowing we'd have to shuttle back with thousands of people didn't sound very fun or fast.

We were bummed that we didn't get to see the headline singers. We DID see a tinted limo drive up, just as we were leaving and speculated that it could be the Backstreet Boys. When we got back to our van, we welcomed the air-conditioning and then went to McDonald's for ice cream cones and got a Red Box movie.

Daisylyn Turns 1

Daisylyn is one of my cute nieces that turned one this year.

She put on her party outfit and was ready for presents.
The presents were ok, but she liked eating the paper more! :)

We ate daisy cupcakes....

.....and ladybug cake.

We sang her Happy Birthday and then she got her own cake.

It didn't take her long to figure out what do to with it.

"WHAT?!"

She didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

She quickly figured out that cake was YUMMY!!!

As Sydney came by (another one of my cute nieces who turned one this year) she offered her an OREO cookie and some pink frosting. Sydney gladly accepted and kept coming back for more.

"ALL GONE!"

She ate the WHOLE thing!

Daisylyn you are so sweet and we love you very much.

Happy Birthday!