Fondant Failures

No, this is not even close to a cake we made, but I really wanted to. Luckily there are many people out there that have the touch for fondant. Mike and I have been slowly trying to master it in hopes of making the cake/s for the twins Bday this weekend. No such luck! Mike has tried to perfect his skillz twice now. Once with a Marshmallow recipe from my cousin's blog (Thanks Mindy) and once with the store bought fondant. I sat around voicing my opinions and ideas which he didn't listen to anyway just to watch it either be too sticky or crack all over or just be down right ugly once it was done. So Thursday night, I decided that I was going to show him how it was done and got another marshmallow recipe out that a friend showed me (Thanks Emily) and went to work. And you guessed it, I totally bombed it as well. We have followed the directions and I just don't think we have "the touch". Fondant just doesn't seem to be in the cards for us. I am throwing in the towel now. Mike is more of a die-hard and says he'll keep trying it here and there when we have time to play. But for now Harmons bakery will be seeing me for the party on Saturday unless you are skilled and have a lot of free time this week. If you have other recipes (rather than the marshmallow kind) or helpful hints and tricks, feel free to share so I can pass them on to Mike.

Plane Crazy

The twins will be 2 in just 1 more week! I am happy to say that this morning we finally finished up their Bday present. From us they are getting their new room with the bunk beds from the previous post. We decided to move away from the monkey-themed nursery and go with airplanes for the theme. So I'm ready to share it all with you guys now. First I started off with using the Cricut for some decals for the door.


Once the Bunkbeds were up we put on the "plane crazy" bedding from Disney.

Next I had some fun on Etsy for the next 3 items. Since I don't have a cartridge like this, I cheated and ordered this decal. It's a "twin-seater" ha! I couldn't resist and it looks so great above their beds.

And I ordered this Lampshade.

And who could resist ordering a switch plate cover from there when it was only $3.

But my favorite of all is something that I think will be treasured for a long time even when they grow out of this room. I asked Mike to get out his paintbrushes that have been on hiatus for a while an put his artistic ability to good use and he painted them a picture to hang above a dresser. I sooooo LOVE it! He is seriously so talented (one of the many reasons I married him ;) ). I helped with the lettering a little and of course he came back and fixed it for me since I don't have a painting bone in my body.

Here's a shot of it closer up.

I am so happy to say that their room is completely done and now I can spend this week focusing on the last couple of party details and cleaning the house for all the guests!

Just Backfloat

This morning Caleb and I were having an in-depth conversation about all the different kinds of sports when I told him, "you know, swimming is a sport." With that his little eyes lit up and he said, "so I've been doing a sport every time I go to lessons?" And I told him he was in fact learning the sport. Then we talked about getting better and learning to do it on his own. I told him that when he learns to do it really well and gets practice that maybe we could talk about him joining a swimming team and that he would be able to race other swimmers down the pool to see who was the fastest. He thought about it for a minute, then grinned and said "I think I'll just float!"

Early Ann. Surprise

While we were in Price over the weekend my Dad broke out this beauty and gave us an early Anniversary gift. He found it a while ago and has been saving it for us for our renewal ceremony with Elvis in May but didn't want to take it all the way down to Vegas with us so he gave it to us early. It's Elvis AND and Anniversary Clock. LOL. Plus the coloring is blue, same as my dress will be. Awesome! Thanks Dad and Judi, we really do love it. It's on the mantle being displayed.

60 DAYS til Vegas !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let the countdown continue........

Photo Shoots

Remember how a goal of mine was to learn the new camera? Well this past weekend I got in some practice down in Price. My sisters kids were very helpful in posing for me. Our first location pick didn't work out so we went to an impromptu spot and let the posing begin. The main problem I seemed to have was with shadows, so I'll have to work on learning some tricks with those. I have also been trying out some basics in the photo editing software I got. I have so much to learn on both the camera and the software, but I am trying. Any feedback or helpful suggestions would be useful, feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks Tracey and Cuties for your help! These should make some great prints for the family walls and to share with people.

*****Warning******* The next set of pics includes a semi nude, white, skinny, geeky male. That's right! I made Mike do some posing for me too one night last week so I could play with some settings and he went all G.Q. on me. It was really fun though and I am pleased with these pics. I haven't gotten a chance to run them through the software yet but I have been loving sharing them around. He's only slightly embarrassed. ;) Love ya hon! Thanks again for helping me out.

Taste the Rainbow

You'd think my little Leprechauns had found a pot of gold yesterday when they found Dad's Skittles he had mistakenly left on the counter. They were so cute and were having such a good time and eating them and coloring themselves, I didn't have the heart to take them away. Besides, it was a holiday and all ;).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you remember to wear your green!

Wonderland

Yesterday I had a training to go to in the morning for work so Mike decided to work from home so he could watch the boys. When I finished and came home it was about their normal time to go to the babysitters house so we took advantage and went to a movie together. We opted to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in 3D at the IMAX. My brother was in town so he joined us. I loved the movie. Mike says it was just ok. It was so fun to be able to sneak off and in the middle of the day too. We got home in plenty of time to have a nice evening together as a family.

Sporty Morning

I finally got to make it to one of Caleb's swim lessons today. Mike has been so awesome about taking care of them during nights while I am at work and Saturday mornings while I watch the boys. But we made a family outing of it this morning and I took the camera along to grab a few pics. As you can see he's loving swim lessons and is now at the sea horse level at the fitness center. We still have a ways to go before he's all the way there, but he's making progress.

As soon as swim lessons were over it was time for baseball tryouts for Pee Wee league. We went and he got to hit a few balls in the cages and throw some balls around. The weather was cold and it started raining so they cut it short which was good since it never ceased and then turned to snow for the remainder of the day. We should know who his coach is and when practices start by the end of next week. But here's the first of most likely many baseball pics to come.

Bunked

The bunkbeds are a successs. Caleb has already had 2 slumber parties on the top bunk (thinking of another tonight) and look what I found at naptime last weekend. Even Dad likes them. :)

How To: 9 Steps to Perfect Bunk Beds

Step 1: Remove stuffed hippo and other items from room and rearrange to make space.

Step 2: Make sure to dump out the rest of the toys all over the floor and wear the bin over your head and face to look cute.

Step 3: Take packaging and spread it around the house

Step 4: Stand around and look cute and innocent

Step 5: Help Dad assemble

Step 6: Sit on Mom's lap and watch Dad assemble and take pics of Dad doing the work

Step 7: Sit on bottom bunk right in the middle so Mom can't finish putting on new bedding

Step 8: Play Play Play on the top bunk

And Finally Step 9: Stand back and admire your handiwork

2 Buckaroo's

One month from tomorrow, we will be parents of 2 -2 year olds. Scary thought. I have been buried deep in planning mode for their party. I have been crafting and buying like crazy, it's always nice to have a good mix of both. So I thought I would share a few pics of what I have been up to for their Cowboy-themed party. First off the invites:


And yesterday I got the makings of a mighty fine banner cut out and glued together:

And of course, I've even been working on the wardrobe and made them a couple of little shirts with the iron-on vinyl.

So much fun, but I am happy to say that I am almost done on the planning side. Just have to order a cake and decide on the grub to serve. Party is on April 3rd. I'll post the rest of the decoration and party pics then. Can't wait!