Cake Decorating

I've been wanting to take a cake decorating class for a while and last month when Michael's had a deal where tuition and student kits were 50% off I decided to go ahead and sign up for the Wilton's Basic's class. It's a 4 week course and it was a lot of fun!!! I'm so glad I did it and now I have yet another skill to play around with. :) I just can't help myself sometimes.

The first week we learned about frosting - how to make it, what consistency is good for what, how to fill a bag and pipe it, etc. Then we got to decorate some cookies.

The second week we brought an 8" cake and learned out to "torte" it which basically means cut it in half, fill the middle, and frost the entire cake. We also learned about coloring and dimensional decorating and that was pretty fun.

The third week we decorated cupcakes and learned about some basic flowers - rosettes, shaggy mums, drop flowers, leaves, etc.

And for the final class we did another 8" cake and learned how to do the basic Wilton rose, lettering and how to design a cake. I had SO SO SO MUCH fun doing this. The unfortunate thing so far that I've learned though is that good tasting frosting doesn't look as good as yucky tasting frosting. So, I'm still in the search for one that will do both. I'm also very curious as to how the asian whipped cream frostings will work so that will be my next experiment.

I'm just happy that I've already been able to put my new skills to use for Lily's birthday and I can't wait to decorate more cakes!

Lily Turns 5!!

My baby turned 5 on 6.23.2011. On that actual date we didn't do too much but we did take her to the dollar store and she got to pick out a few things there. Luke and I have decided that the dollar store is a wonderful way to celebrate birthdays :). We celebrated her birthday on Saturday the 25th. Luke and I had family visiting - Stuart, Hope and Chris. Chris is our adopted sister and she came up to Washington to run in the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon.

On the morning of the 25th we went down to see Chris finish her half marathon at Quest Field. It was really fun and exciting to be down there. After we came home from the marathon I started getting ready for Lily's big birthday dinner. Then we took a break and went swimming at the Y because that's what Lily really wanted to do for her birthday. Both girls did REALLY well swimming! I was so proud of them! Chris was the only one that came with me because Luke and Stu went to Boom City to get some fireworks... I'll post more about that later. :). But, Arya was able to swim by herself in a life jacket and Lily went under the water multiple times and put her feet at the bottom of the pool! Definitely time to start swimming lessons!

We came back at 5:30 and made dinner for a bunch of peeps. Zeke and Maggie's family over, my mom and all the rest of our guests were here to celebrate with her. We had some super yummy mondo burgers, then we had cake and opened presents!

Lily's been wanting a princess cake for FOREVER so I decided to make her one. Turned out pretty good. :) (I took a 4 week course in cake decorating this month and decided to put new skills to use.) We actually used white cake mix and colored it purple because that's her favorite color and put in a bit of raspberry extract. It was yummy! Then we made cupcakes for everyone too.

I was able to find a doll hotel at a consignment shop awhile back for $2 and she LOVED it. She also got wipe-away books, a necklace and a chinese outfit from my mom, and 2 dolls from Zeke and maggie - Tiana and tinker bell for her hotel. It was all SO SO FUN!

Grass Time

About a week and a half ago, our lawn was completely ridiculous! The grass came all the way up to my knees!! I guess that's just what happens when life gets really busy. Anyway, the kids went out and were playing in it and I thought it was just so darn cute so I decided to snap a few shots of them playing. Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't lose Michael in it. :)

Lily's Ballet Production- "Seasons"

Last weekend Lily's Ballet studio had their Spring Production - Seasons. It was really quite amazing and they had paid to have some Pacific Northwest Ballet principals come and participate. Lily was a snowflake in the Winter Season. There's been a lot of rehearsals and a lot of extra volunteer hours, etc. Last Friday I was at the Meydenbauer with ALL of my children from 3-9. Saturday was the show and Lily was there from noon till 7 and I was there from 3-7 with her and Michael. It's a pretty insane time commitment considering Lily is 4 and she's only on stage for roughly 2-3 minutes.

But, we had fun, she did well and she got to dance with her cousin Jeremy. Parents of children participating are suppose to donate 4 hours of volunteer time to get the production together, whether it's backstage help, costume change, or watching kids while they are in the green room. I fulfilled my hours by doing 100 rose bouquets. :) My mom purchased 2 of them for Lily and Jeremy so the flowers that you see Lily holding in the pictures, that's what I did.

Aren't they so adorable?!

Lets Go Fly A Kite!

Last weekend Luke and I took the family on a very impromptu trip down to Beverly Beach, Oregon. One of Luke's best friends growing up, Bekah Green, called us and invited us to the beach Thursday night and we decided to be spontaneous. So, we drove 5.5 hours down on Saturday afternoon and returned on Sunday afternoon. Yes, I know, insane for such a short time, but we had a BLAST. It was the first time the girls and I flew a kite! We had a ton of fun at the beach even though it was still quite cold. And from these pictures you might be wondering, where is that cute little boy of mine? Well, it was quite windy and cold the entire time and since he still can't sit very well yet, we left him in the carseat... poor guy.

When Lily first got a hold of the kite she took off running like there was no tomorrow. It was AWESOME watching her go.

Family Photos

My good friend Tami took these family photos for us. We LOVE them. Thank you Tami!