Thank you! :)

Ben went to get some movies the other night. When he came back I was sitting at the computer desk. When I finally turned around I saw these balloons floating on the ceiling behind me. Ben brought me these balloons. I was greeting with a big hug. I asked him what the thank you balloon was for. He said to thank me for everything I do. Thank you Ben for always making me feel so special to you. Thank you for being so amazing to the kids and I. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. We love you Ben!! Thank you for all you do!!



It's the most wonderful time of the year!

We set up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. My day started at 5 in the morning. I decided to hit the black Friday sales with my sister Cody. I bought this tree on sale at Tai Pan. I love that store. I got some cute decorations, too. The kids were told that the house had to be clean before we set up the tree. So, they worked hard to make sure the house was clean. When it was time to set up the tree, we realized they had given us a tree that didn't have all of the correct parts. So, we packed up the tree, and I headed out the door for Tai Pan, praying that they would still have one of these trees left. To my relief, they did. After I got home we were able to set up the tree and decorate it. Needles to say, the kids were up way past bed time. We all had a lot of fun! :) 

Thanks Ben!

Ben surprised me with flowers the other day! The night before I was feeling sick. I was running a fever. I had a sore throat, and a runny nose. Thanks Ben for taking such good care of me!

Homemade crock pot meatballs and sauce

Last Sunday I made some homemade meatballs. I put them in the crock pot before church, and they were ready a little bit after we got home. They turned out really good. The kids liked them, so that has to say something. However, I wasn't digging the marinara sauce. Next time I will use a different sauce to go over the pasta and meatballs.

 

The finished product, topped with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese. I'm not digging the chunky tomato sauce.

And this is how the night ended. Courtney got put in time out. I guess she showed us it didn't bother her!

LOL!

 

Cake baking, flour faces, smile filled day

Ben got some cake batter on my nose!Thanks Ben!

Courtney sifting the cake flour

Madison sifting the cake flour

Marshall sifting the cake flour

The finished product! I still have a long way to go!     

So, we gave the cake thing a try. We didn't start until 4 in the afternoon though. It didn't turn out how I wanted, but it will take practice. After baking the cake in my ancient stone age oven, we let the cakes cool and headed down the street to cake supply store to buy some raspberry filling to put in between the layers. It was yum-O! Now to the icing story, lol. So, I was supposed to use confectioners sugar. Well I thought that was plain ol' sugar. Ben and I were wondering why it was so crunchy from the sugar, lol. Oopsie! We had fun making the cake. When it was time to put the fondant on, I was so tired that I just slabbed it on without taking much time to smooth it out. The pictures show that. Next time I will make the icing with the correct ingredients, so it will smooth over the cake nice and pretty. Also, if I'm doing fondant, I will take the time to make it nice, smooth, and colorful! It was a fun day!

First post

Well this is officially my first post on this blog! It's 1 in the AM, so it's not going to be much. No pictures this time; I'll get to that soon. I have been on a little freak streak for the past couple days. Everywhere I look I see all these cute cakes. Yesterday Courtney (she's my 2 year old) and I were browsing good ol' Walmart for some ribbon, and I came across the Wilton cake decorating isle. I picked up a 2011 Wilton yearbook, and a book for beginners. I have been reading that magazine since I bought it. So, I decided why not give it a try. I went on a little crazy shopping spree today and spent.... well, let's just say way too much money.... After a little begging, Ben finally gave in, and will be helping me give it a try tomorrow. Okay.... so no begging was involved. He was all for it from the beginning. He's such a great trooper. So, tomorrow we will be a bit ambitious, and make our first fondant cake. I'm excited to see how it turns out! Pictures will definitely be posted. I'm sure the kids will have fun helping us out. We will be doing it all from scratch, so lots of flour faces and buttercream iced hands in the kitchen tomorrow.... I think I'm getting sick though, so I hope that doesn't keep me away from our adventurous day tomorrow.
My next adventure will be scrapbooking. I've put that off basically forever. Okay, not basically , it really has been a long time. I have made 1 scrapbook since becoming a Mommy almost 7 years ago, and that's just because I bought the scrapbook already decorated, and put together. All I had to do was simply add the pictures.... Or maybe I'll take up sewing. They are both expensive hobbies, so only one hobby at a time- thank goodness.