My boys

My kids saw my blog the other day, and I got an earful because their brother's picture (2, in fact) is on here and theirs are not. So, since their birthdays are coming up this week and I am still on crutches and unable to bake, I thought I would introduce my boys.

Chase will be 11 in about 2 weeks. He will be in 6th grade. He loves baseball, swimming & weather. Yes, weather. Only kid I know that likes to get online so he can check out the weather. Not to see if it's going to rain, mind you. That would make sense. He's just fascinated by weather. He did a science report on tornados this year. I've never seen him work so hard on something for school. Maybe he'll be a metorologist.

Chase




The twins will be 6 years old on Tuesday. I can't believe it. It's amazing how fast the time has gone by. It seem like they were just sharing a blanket in that teeny little bassinet, and here they are going into 1st grade. They have been a joy in our lives, and there has never been a dull moment.

Noah is a sweet boy, but definitely the ornery one. He loves music, loves singing and playing the piano. He is a flirt and a comedian. He can be infuriating, but at the same time he's impossible to get mad at. He spent several weeks in the NICU when he was born. He is our little miracle.

Noah

Jacob is very smart. He spent most of Kindergarten in 1st grade classes, and this year will be in the gifted program. He taught himself to read before his 4th birthday, and was reading at 5th grade level when he started Kindergarten. He is always the one to take control, and loves to remind Noah that he's the oldest (by 1 minute).

Jacob

Hawaiin Birthday

The beach cake for my niece Sydney's birthday. This was another one that I had to throw together quickly and hope for the best. The base is a 2 layer white sheet cake, carved to resemble the sand. The cliff is a 3 layer chocolate cake, also carved, and filled in with scraps. The entire cake was covered in buttercream, then graham cracker crumbs were added for the sand. The brown got a lot darker than I had planned. It is hard to see the gray rocks on the cliff next to the dark brown cliff. The waterfall is fondant, brushed with luster dust. I loved the effect I got with it. The palm trees, sign, umbrella, flip flops and Sydney are all fondant.


As you can see, I cannot make people. I don't know why I have such trouble with them. I can make flowers, animals, just about anything. Except people. I should have let one of my 5 year old twins make her - she probably would have looked better than this. Oh well, I'll just keep practicing. Maybe one of these days I'll get it. The birthday girl (and all of her guests) loved it, and that's all that matters.

Her cookies were pretty basic. Seashells, fish, octopus & starfish

I wish I'd had more time to spend on these cookies. I love the cookies that you can be creative with. They are so much fun!

My twins have decided on an ocean theme for their birthday, in just a couple of weeks, so I'll get to play around more. I also have to figure out how to incorporated SpongeBob into the cake without it being all about him. Oh, the joys of twins. Trying to make both of them happy can be infuriating at times.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Finally!

Well, I finally found some time to update my blog. What a crazy couple of weeks!
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes for my son. There's nothing worse than seeing your baby in pain and not being able to do anything for him. He is doing great and back to his old self, I am so glad.

I, on the other hand, am now into my 2nd week on crutches. Boy, does that put a damper on baking.
I hurt my knee last Monday. Hopefully it is just sprained. I had surgery on that same knee 3 times back in high school and college, so I am really praying it is nothing major. I go back to doc tomorrow, hopefully I will get good news.

Anyhooo, on to the cakes!

This was my niece Addison's 2nd birthday. Her mom wanted something pink and girly with daisies, and this is what I came up with. It was chocolate and white cake, with buttercream icing. The daisies, butterflies, ladybugs, candle and letters are all fondant. The butterflies were dusted with luster dust, and I think they turned out pretty good. They were definitely my favorite part of the cake. I really need to work on icing with buttercream. I can never seem to get it smooth.

Take a look, see what you think. Any comments or constructive criticism is appreciated!

My poor baby

My poor little guy. At my niece's birthday party ( see hawaiin cake pics soon), my husband took away the coaster that he was trying to insert into the VCR. Any one who has ever taken something away from an almost 2 year old can probably imagine the tantrum that ensued. As his head was about to hit the sharp corner of the coffee table Mark grabbed his arm to catch him. When he did, there was a sickening pop, followed by immediate screaming. Not just crying, screaming. Screaming like I have never heard after almost 11 years of being a mom.

We spent the next 5 hours in the ER, Christian crying inconsolably most of the time. We finally find out he has a dislocated elbow, which they say is easy to fix and his pain would be gone within 30 minutes.

30 minutes, huh? Mmmm....not so much.

3 HOURS later, they have made 2 attempts to get it back in, and done xrays (have you ever tried to hold an almost-2-year-old down on a hard x-ray table? - I don't recommend it) and he still would not move or try to use his arm in any way. So they wrapped his arm up and put his little sling on him. (Isn't that the cutest thing?)

He is doing much better now. He still isn't moving it as much as he should, but it is getting better every day.

Here is my little man in happier times.

I've got lots of cake & cookie pics to post, so check back!