Merry Christmas

Let's play catch-up

Wow, so a little over 2 months since I've posted anything! I'll try to do a quick overview of what's been up with pictures!

1st day of school 2010

celebrating Christa's 12th b-day with a Pac-Man cake

Fog Fest parade 2010

my brother home for a visit after 2 yrs in Africa!

We took a trip down to San Diego for my son's Marine Corps bootcamp graduation

October 2010

my new Marine!

Sailor Moon for Halloween 2010

Rachel Berry from Glee (tv show)

Dorothy and toto

Giants win the World Series!!

One of my best childhood memories

My memory escapes me a lot of the time. Oh sure if I see a picture from my childhood I can say, "I remember that!" But most times its all a bit fuzzy. A few things do stand out though and one of them is making mud pies in the backyard. Specifically, the side of the house where it was all dirt and some weeds. I'd love to take the hose around to that side of the house and let the water run. Until the ground was a soft squishy grey mess. Then I'd play. I'd make pies, mud castles and just a general mess of myself. When I was done, I'd hose off the mud and head in for dinner. The best part, my mom never got mad. She didn't mind the mess and she let me be a kid free to explore my world.

And sometimes as a mom that's the best thing you can do.

Banana Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache and Peanut Butter frosting

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My sister-in-law had been craving a banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting so when I saw these on Pink Parsley , I thought they'd be perfect. Two things I did different, I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of bittersweet and I didn't use banana extract. I just used a little more mashed banana instead. I made these for the 4th of July party at her house and stuck them in the refrigerator once we got there. I think they should sit out for a bit before eating so the ganache in the middle has a chance to melt a little. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter frosting but this was actually pretty good!

ENJOY!

No Sew T-shirt tote bag

That's right, NO SEW!! I don't have a sewing machine. And even if I did, I wouldn't really know what to do with it. I mean yeah sure after awhile I could learn a thing or two but I haven't really had the opportunity.

For my son's graduation this fall from bootcamp, I can order a shirt in support of his platoon. The problem? I don't like wearing t-shirts.

U-N-C-O-M-F-O-R-T-A-B-L-E!

So the idea came to me that I could take the t-shirt with the emblem and turn it into a purse or better yet a tote bag! So I searched and found several tutorials that would help me do this. Duct tape! Who knew?

Then of course I thought how cute it would be to turn my kids t-shirts into bags! I went to Michaels Craft Store and they have all kinds of duct tape in patterns and solid colors. My daughter picked a shirt and here's how it turned out!

Sonic the Hedgehog Cake and Cupcakes

My nephew turned 5 and requested a sonic the hedgehog cake

I made a 4 layer white cake with raspberry filling, buttercream frosting and marshmallow fondant accents. The cake was dyed blue and red to get an american flag look.

There were also cupcakes to match.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE LOGGIE!

My Devil Pup is becoming a Devil Dog

I know I haven't posted in a few weeks. I was a little frustrated with blogger, everytime I tried to post anything with pictures the computer would freeze. grrr.

So anyway two weeks ago my oldest child, you know the one I've been gushing over. Graduation, parties, blah blah blah? Well he's off to Marine Corps bootcamp. I'm so proud yet completely devastated. As moms we would do anything to keep our babies safe and HOME. But I know I must let go and let him become the man he wants to be. Right? right.

So he's been gone 2 weeks and we haven't heard a word. That's the hardest, not knowing how he is doing. Waiting for the first letter to arrive. I've been writing but they take awhile to get to the recruits. He graduates in October and I can't wait to make the trip to see him become a Marine.

This month he celebrates turning 18 so in honor of that...

peanut butter cup cake

ps... yes it took 3 tries before I could upload the photo. grr

Happy 4th of July!

It's a Graduation, Birthday and Going Away Party All Rolled Into One!

Yes it's taken me almost two weeks to post about this party. I've been sick! I think everyone but my dad and my boyfriend got this terrible cough/cold/feverish thing. And I'm still not over it. Nice way to start the summer huh?

Anywho, I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would like but here's the low down in images..

First time ever making and decorating this type of cookie. I really enjoyed the process and learned a lot. Next time I'll know what to do to make the designs come out even better. All the tips I did learn were from Bake at 350 . And everyone seemed to love them, they were nearly all gone by the end of the party.

The Cake. Another thing I wish I had taken more pictures of. If I had, there would be a whole post on how to make a cake like this. The top layer "18" of course is his age in less than a month. But he'll be in bootcamp then, sob. It was three layers of cake the top and bottom were chocolate and the middle was a yellow cake. In between each layer was strawberry frosting. The middle cake stood for his graduation. Honestly I don't even remember what the cake layers were! But the filling was real strawberries. And the bottom cake was to celebrate his upcoming entry into the Marine Corps. Again three layers of cake made to look like camouflage. Darn I didn't get a picture of it! But trust me, it was awesome. The filling was chocolate. Oh and the lettering and numbers are marshmallow fondant.

The kids having fun playing Wii

After much thought and searching and even asking for help from YAY DIY! for a keepsake I decided to have everyone write a little note to Josh on posterboard then I took a picture of them with their sign. I'll get them printed up and arrange them in a photo album. I got the idea from a website called Chookooloonks .

As you may notice there are a few references to having the car windows rolled up and the heat on. Well yes there may have been an unfortunate incident but he walked away OK. And that's all I have to say about that! *eh-hem*

Josh with his Auntie and Uncle

There was lots of food. In the kitchen along the island I set up a nacho bar. To keep the cheese warm I kept it in a crockpot and then lined up taco seasoned hamburger, refried beans, chips, olives, onions, sour cream and sliced jalapenos. Then in the dining room we had fixings for sandwiches, spinach dip, punch, fruit and pepper garlic chicken wings. Even a potato salad we forgot to put out!

A big thanks to everyone who came and an even bigger thanks to my parents for hosting(and funding) our little shindig!

Grad Gift Help

Now that my son Josh has graduated from high school, its time to party! So in preparation for his graduation/birthday/going away party I asked the ladies Lia and Erin over at YAY! DIY to help me out. Josh not only just graduated but he is turning 18 and going to bootcamp in 1 month! Whew! I really want to give him something special and I've asked the guest to come prepared with a written note to give to him. A congrats, words of wisdom or a memory that they'd like to share. Now what I'm going to do with those notes, I'm not sure yet.

The ladies at YAY! DIY came up with a few suggestions and also posed the question to their readers as well. I'm so excited and grateful for their help. Go check out their post and their blog! And soon I'll let you guys know what I came up with as a gift for Josh.

And just so this post doesn't go pictureless:

How to Make a Candy Lei

It's graduation time and we just celebrated my oldest child's graduation from high school. Lots of grads get flower leis or ones made of money but the candy lei seemed to fit my son's personality best. He LOVES candy! They are really simple to make and don't cost a whole lot either. I had a ton of candy left over from the Candyland birthday we had for our daughter and the cellophane and curling ribbon cost me about $7! My son's school colors are green and gold and it just so happened that the store only had green cellophane left! So I went with that and gold curling ribbon. You could do clear cellophane and use the school colors in the ribbons.

The supplies: cellophane, any color and you could even use plastic wrap. Curling ribbon and candy and scissors.

Step 1: measure how long you want your lei to be. I took the curling ribbon, measured around my neck and cut the length that seemed right. Mine was about 67 inches long, my son is tall. I then cut it to about 8 inches wide. I also cut my curling ribbon at this time to about 14 inch lengths. I think I used something like 29 pieces of ribbon.

Step 2: Lay your cellophane out, grab you candy and start piling it in small groups down the whole length of the cellophane.

Step 3: Next fold each side of the cellophane over the candy. I found it easier to work with putting a weight on one end while I tied the ribbons on the opposite end. I happened to have a pack of wipes nearby!

Step 4: Start tying the sections of candy off. I double knotted the ribbon and used two ribbons on each section.

Step 5: Curl the ribbon with your scissors. Be careful not to pull too hard or the string might break. I did this several times. Oops. Its okay, no one will notice.

Step 6: Now bring your ends together and tie together! Waa-laa!

Here is the graduate wearing his candy lei: