#45...Check!

#45 Learn how to make fondant icing - completed 08/09/10






Gorgeous, aren't they?! As my first post-residency purchase, I bought myself a new Cricut Cake. So, I decided it was time for me to learn how to make fondant icing. :-) I used this recipe: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm (thanks, Charity!) and it turned out beautifully. I covered the cakes in marshmallow fondant and then cut out gum paste decorations. I also made some Lightning McQueen sugar cookies with gum paste Lightning McQueen cutouts (sorry, no pictures). Now I'm quite obsessed with making this stuff and I'm pretty sure we're all going to get fat because of it. So please, give me a reason to make a cake so I stop making them "just because". ;-)

My 101 in 1001

Families Are Forever

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe that the family is central to God's plan for us here on Earth, and one of the greatest blessings that God gives us is the ability to return to live with Him in Heaven with our families. As part of God's plan, He has blessed us with temples. When Jeremy and I were married in the temple, we were sealed together for all eternity. When Matthew and Jordan were born to us, they became a part of this heavenly promise - sealed to us forever. I'm so grateful for this blessing and for the knowledge I have that I will be together with my family forever. If you would like to learn more about temples or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please click here.

As mentioned in a previous post, I had the amazing opportunity to witness the sealing of my best friend's adopted baby boy to his new eternal family. When a child is born to parents who are sealed in the temple, that child is automatically sealed to them; however, when a child is adopted, the parents must return to the temple so the adopted child may be sealed to them and join their eternal family. What a wonderful experience this was! I was deeply touched as I watched little baby S, all dressed in white, lay his tiny hand on his mommy and daddy's hands and be united with them for all eternity. Trust me - there was an over-abundance of happy tears. :-)

The coolest thing about this situation: My friends had tried for years to have a baby when they finally decided that adoption was the right path for them. Months into the adoption waiting game, my friend ended up getting pregnant. When my friend was just a couple weeks along, a sweet girl contacted her to ask if she would adopt her baby! Baby Boy S joined their family through adoption this past winter, and just a few months later, my friend gave birth to a perfect baby girl. How amazing is that?! As you're well aware, I have twins myself and I know that my boys were sent down to Earth together for a reason. They were meant to come to our family at the same time. In the same respect, even though it was through some unusual circumstances, I know that cute Baby S and Baby K were meant to join this sweet family at the times that they did. It never ceases to amaze me how aware God is of us and how much He blesses us!

And now for some pictures. Aren't these babies beautiful?!

Camping with Dad again

My Mountain Men

DIY: Mason Jar Penny Banks

Aren't they cute? A few weeks ago I decided that my boys had a bad case of the greedy gimmees, so I decided to teach them a little bit about responsibility. Now they get an allowance and have a totally cute penny bank to keep it in. They keep talking about saving up for their "very own fast jet!" Keep saving, boys, keep saving.

What you need:
a Mason jar
scrapbook paper
cardboard
ribbon
hot glue

1. Remove center of Mason jar lid and use as a template to cut a circle out of scrapbook paper.
2. Cut a sliver big enough to stick a quarter through in the center of scrapbook paper center.
3. Replace Mason jar lid center with the paper circle.
4. Tie ribbon around lid and secure onto lid with hot glue.
   
5. Cut out an image from the patterned scrapbook paper and glue it to a piece of cardboard (I used a piece of cereal box). Cut cardboard around image.
6. Make a tag w/child's name out of scrapbook paper and punch a hole in the top. Secure tag to back of scrapbook cut-out with glue (or you could string the ribbon through it).
   
7. Hot glue scrapbook paper image to center of ribbon bow (like my airplane above).

If I had little girls I'd embellish these with some cute flowers or something. :-) Have fun!

Hollywood Glam Bridal Sprinkle

This summer I threw a bridal sprinkle (I called it a sprinkle instead of a shower because it was a smallish gathering) for Chole, a friend of mine here in Dayton. Chole doesn't strike me as a "cutesy" person, so I knew I had to do something different. I decided on a Hollywood Glam theme. It turned out fantastic! The colors I worked with were red, black and gold, and of course I introduced as much shimmery bling as possible.

The invitations Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of the invitations, but they turned out way cute. To set the stage for my Hollywood theme, the invitations were made to look like movie tickets and they said:

You're cordially invited to the Hollywood premier of
A Love Story
Starring Chole Baran and Tom Hilsdorf

Guests were encouraged to come "dressed for the red carpet" (and yes, I did have a red carpet).

The Food

The dessert table looked gorgeous and coordinated with my color scheme. The foods each had marriage-themed labels, like "Hey, Cupcake" and "Honey-do, Honey-don't Ginger Honey Crunch". My favorites (and the best tasting) were the "Makin' Whoopie Pies." They were red velvet whoopie pies and you can find the recipe at bakerella.com.

The Details

Like I said, I tried to include as much bling as possible, so you'll see the candles, vases and some food containers are all adorned with little crystals. I sprinkled the extra crystals all over the room. For the pillar candles, I used a similar idea as HWTM. I printed off images of classic Hollywood stars (again, to bring in some Hollywood glam) and wrapped them around white pillar candles. I then wrapped some red ribbon around the candles and put cute studded labels on them (found at any scrapbooking or craft store) that said "XOXOXO", "you & me" and "mr. & mrs.". I was so happy with the way they turned out. Cute! When combined with vases filled with red roses (bought for $2/dozen in the clearance floral section at Kroger!), you get a totally glamorous look.

Another favorite is the "Love Note Tree". I bought a couple fake branches at Hobby Lobby and spray painted them gold. I also spray painted a vase gold and then hot glued some red roses to the branches. In a bowl, I left some note cards for guests to write pieces of advice to Chole. The note cards had loops of ribbon secured to them so they could be hung on the tree branches. At the bottom of the tree, I put a sign "Leave a Love Note for the Bride-to-Be." It made for a great keepsake for the bride to take home.

I also made a banner to hang over the dessert table. It said "Chole & Tom".

After some mingling and games, a few of us stayed up late to watch a chick flick (ever seen License o Wed? I love that movie.).

And finally, a shot of the glamour girls. It was such a fun night of celebrating and we had tons of fun with the bride-to-be!

One of my favorite things...

Kacey, this post is for you... ;-)

This, ladies and gentlemen, is on my list of top 5 favorite things in the world! I LOVE Rita's. I make a trip to Rita's at least once a week. If you've never been, I would suggest you find the nearest location on your GPS and go. (Kacey, I guess that means you've got to come back to Ohio. I'm saving a Fudge Brownie just for you. ;-) ) SO yummy! My favorite flavor is either Island Fusion or a mixture of Fudge Brownie & Smores. It's a toss-up. Rita's specializes in Italian Ice, though if you're more in the mood for creamy ice cream, then you can't go wrong with their yummy custard. If you're feeling adventurous, then indulge yourself with a Gelati - a parfait which has custard on the bottom, Ice in the middle and custard on top. The possibilities are endless. OK, now I'm craving it and need to go get some. ;-)

My boys have enjoyed Rita's since they were just young babes:


Yay for Rita's!

Don't mess with Friday the 13th

I admit it. I'm somewhat superstitious. Historically, Friday the 13th has never been a good day for me. Friday, August 13th of this year was no exception. Generally, I'm known to be a lucky person. After what I experienced two weekends ago, and the affects thereafter, I'm convinced that the misfortune that Friday the 13th brings indeed hits the lucky the hardest.

For months I had planned a trip down to Dallas to witness the sealing of a friend to her adopted baby (a post on that later). The big day was scheduled for 8/14, so I was set to fly down on Friday, 8/13. On Friday I made it to the airport without a hitch. We boarded the plane, taxied toward the runway and then stopped. There was a problem with the right engine, so we had to turn back to the gate. Bummer. I hate airlines. We sat on the plane for a good 20 min when the pilot announced that it would be at least 2 hours before the plane was fixed, so everyone was then deboarded from the aircraft. My flight was eventually canceled and I got in line as soon as I could so I could try to hop on a different flight. My flight was the last flight down to Dallas (of course), and by the time it was my turn to talk to the agent, the earliest morning flight was completely booked up and the soonest they could get me to Dallas was 10:30, which would be too late to make it to the sealing. Did I mention I hate airlines? Since my parents are in Indy and my boys were staying with them anyway, I asked to be booked on the earliest flight out of Indy. That was a success, so to the road I returned.

I must segway for just a minute to mention that earlier that week, I came down with Hand, Foot & Mouth - a terrible virus that almost everyone is exposed to when they're children. Well apparently, I was lucky enough to escape it when I was a child, but then caught the virus 25 years later from my own children. Ugh. I had a fever, sores all over my mouth and sores on the bottom of my feet. Not. Fun. OK, back to the weekend...

On the way to Indy, I started to feel a little puny, and by the time I reached the half-way point, I was feeling downright awful. I barely survived the 2 hour drive and immediately crawled into bed when I got to my parents' house. I took my temperature = 103 degrees. Lovely. I prayed and prayed that I would be well by the morning so I could make the trip to Dallas. By morning, my fever had broken and I pretty much felt better, so I went ahead with my travel plans.

Thank goodness, the stars were aligned and I made it to the temple with 5 minutes to spare! Everything was perfect and I was a happy traveler...until the afternoon. I started feeling sick again and my throat hurt. I asked Liz's mom to take a look at my throat. With one look, she said, "Oh wow, Honey. You have strep throat. White blisters everywhere." Bummer. Again. I eventually was able to get an antibiotic (sometimes it's lovely being married to a doctor), and I immediately headed to bed afterward. I slept for like 13 hours. Boy, was I a fun house guest! The next day I headed home (without kissing those sweet babies at the risk of infecting them). :-(

By Monday evening, I finally felt like I was getting over my strep throat. Tuesday was fine, and then Wednesday I started feeling crappy again. What the heck?! Wednesday night was awful - I had a 103 fever all night and no medicine would break it. I woke up (well, really I never fell asleep) with a back ache and a massive headache. I was so sick that I took the day off work (something I've done only twice in 6 years!). To add insult to injury, Jordan climbed into bed with me while I was sick, pointed his stubby finger at a giant zit protruding from my forehead and said, "Oh Mommy...I see your headache." ...Gee, thanks. I went to the doctor that afternoon, and it turns out that I'm just a walking virus - "Something bad is going around. I've had patients with 103 fevers that have lasted 3 to 5 days." Bummer. Again.

Hand-Foot-&-Mouth, Strep and some bad virus within the span of 1.5 weeks? Oh yeah, not to mention the travel craziness. Well, as you can see, I survived my Friday the 13th week from Hell. I think next time I'll just stay in bed. :-)