Cakes and Cookies

I've been baking and decorating cakes for awhile; I've always made Lucas' birthday cakes and Hannah's, too (although she's only had one birthday).  Growing up, I remember my mom baking and decorating my birthday cakes.  She let me play with her piping bags and try to create.  I've shared some of my creations and here are a few more.  I love the challenge and it is fun to try new techniques.

Vicky asked me to make a white cake with black polka-dots.  She provided the pretty green cake plate.  Lucas' reaction to this cake was "It looks like a cow; white with black spots."

A surprise baby shower cake for Erin & Scott.  They know the baby's gender, but aren't sharing. 

It was fun to try my hand at chocolate curls.  This is white chocolate that I tinted yellow and green. 

Jenna had a "rock star" themed birthday party and wanted a guitar cake.  Her decorations were pink, aqua and purple. 

I had leftover buttercream in piping bags so I whipped up some sugar cookies when VW's came over to hang out.  I wasn't sure what the reaction to decorating your own dessert was going to be.  The kids and adults loved it! 

Hanna had a well thought out plan for a pretty flower. 

Lucas squeezed the bag to make a big pile of buttercream.

I don't remember what Jonah's looked like and you can't tell from the pic.  Oops.

Josh had the most buttercream, by far and he was a proud artist. 

Hanna is a huge Hunger Games fan.  She's read all three of the books and couldn't wait for the movie to come out.  Just her luck - the movie was released about the same time she turned 13!  This was a triple layer - chocolate/white/chocolate.

Homemade fondant bookmark.

One of the best parts - the cake was a total surprise!  She loved it and has told me about 15 times how cool it was.  Her friends loved it, too. 

Cupcakes for hosting sorority. 

Strawberry with homemade whipped topping and fresh strawberries. 

Chocolate with cream cheese frosting and chocolate curls.

I love the creativity and the challenge! 

Preschool Open House

Three Year Old Good Shepherd Preschool Open House

March 20, 2012

This is the closest to the whole class as I got, apparently.

Lucas is on the far right end in green/white stripe shirt. 

Owen, Sadie, Charlie, Reece, Collin, Hunter, Lucas.

Jonah, Gracie, Paige, Ava, Mya. 

The introduction song, "There's Lucas..."

Gramma Connie, Papa Steve, Hannah, Uncle Brian - enjoying the show.

Artist.

The disciples, Jesus and followers.

Lucas, Hunter, Collin and Reece were disciples.  Charlie was Jesus.

I don't know what action he was doing to a song, but I just couldn't resist posting this picture.  Funny. 

More art.

Peaceful and prayerful.

When Hannah saw Lucas on the stage she started pointing and screeching; his biggest fan!

MELT in Galena

In March, we had our annual girls get together for my elementary/high school girlfriends.  We did something new and different this go around... we brought our husbands and children with.  We rented a beautiful and spacious home in Galena.  We were all so busy catching up and caring for the kids that we didn't get a picture of the four of us together.  This picture from Erin's wedding in October will have to do! 

Leah cut her hair since then, Erin is five months pregnant and my spray tan has worn off, but otherwise we look the same :-) 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous that March weekend and we had so much fun letting the kids play. 

Washing the truck.

Teamwork.

Toby exploring the trike.

I love that I caught this photo of his pure excitement... and the string of drool.  Cutie pie.

That truck put on a lot of miles. 

There must have been 50 wagon rides and Steve probably gave 40 of them.  The kids (my kids in particular) kept begging for more!

Annie.  How sweet is she!  Beautiful baby.

The gang on another walk. 

Just watching all of the chaos.

Tate was interested in Lucas' bike so he and his mommy gave it a whirl. 

He loved it and did really great. 

Sweet boy.  He was a trooper because he had been fighting a double ear infection and a sinus infection.  Poor guy!

Pretty Annie!

I whipped up a recipe of some ooey-gooey goop.  Lucas and Tate were intrigued. 

Then Steve had to check it out. 

Hannah couldn't resist, either.   

Erin is due in June.  This will be baby #6 for MELT. 

We had a surprise mini-shower for her. 

Because we knew the boys would think it was gross, we played the melted candy bar in a diaper game. 

Brent and Scott.

Steve.  I think Annie thought it was gross, too. 

Jaret putting his nose to the test.  Like he'd EVER do that to a real diaper!

A fun weekend of friends, stories and laughter.  Can't wait to do it again!

my baby has no fear

These pictures are from early March (temperatures in the high 70's) on a day Hannah and Lucas were playing with Caylie, Jenna and Ella.  Ella is 20 months old and decided she would climb up the ladder to Lucas' play set.  I commented to our neighbor that Hannah would be climbing up the ladder by June. 

Nope. 

About ten minutes after I opened my mouth, Hannah was climbing up the ladder.  She never blinked about how tall it was or what to do when she got up there. 

(remember the "free rides" post?  The spot on Hannah's hairline is from falling out of the wagon onto the gravel.  Oops.)

Lucas telling Hannah to sit down to come down the slide.  Hannah is pushing Lucas on the forehead like, "get out of my way, I want to go down the slide."

Wee!  She loved it!

Helpful hands to catch her. 

More!  More!

Despite coming down the slide like this, she kept climbing and sliding.  Over and over.

My baby has no fear.