Sneaky Ryann

When Ryann was supposed to be in bed,

I saw her sneaking back to her room.

Silly girl.

Easter

Easter morning.

We went to visit in Grandma Pack's ward and stay for dinner.

I was very surprised how many people didn't recognize me.  Especially for growing up in the same neighborhood. 

Ryann, Hailee, Blake and Phoenix.

Maybe one day I'll pay for professional pictures, but for now...

I think we look pretty cute together.

And yes, I did make the girls dresses, Blake's appliqued shirt, and the lining skirt and dickie for the bought sundress.  Damon's shirt was bought.

Official sign of Spring

Around our house, you can always tell whe spring is officially here by Blake's hair.

  

 The last couple of years.

The day that we cut Blake's hair he met a new friend... 

Have you ever seen a car with a mohawk?

MMM Birthday Cake

I heard you could make fondant out of marshmallows, so I had to try it.

Yep you can.

1/2 bag of small marshmallow

2 T water

4 C powdered sugar

food coloring

I wanted to make leaves and try out some of my new fondant tools, so I rolled a couple of colors together, cut out a leaf shape, and started to roll the edges. 

They looked pretty cool, but I didn't know what to do with them.  So they just got eaten.

Then for Denise's birthday, I rolled it together to cover her cake, just like fondant.

I also made the fancy bow, I think that was my favorite part.

Turned out pretty good for a 1st attempt, (just don't look too closely). 

Denise seemed to enjoy it.  Now I just need to practice piping words.

Then for the next birthday in January.  I melted chocolate and added cream for some ganache.  I used it as a filling in the middle and as a frosting.  Then added some sliced almonds around the outside.

Rose seemed to enjoy blowing the candles out on this one.  It was really rich, but if you are a chocolate lover, it was delicious.

Next cake was for my niece Kenzy (which is the same day as Rose's).  This cake wasn't nearly as cool as the cake I got the idea from, the thing was a massive castle.  But really how much cake does a 5 year old need?

Next was a birthday cake for Hailee in February.  Well it wasn't really cake, but it sure looked pretty.

Rice crispy treats with ganache drizzled over the top and chocolate covered strawberries.

I used a little ribbon around the bottom of each tier to add some color. 

The strawberries were gone before we knew what happened.  The Rice Crispy's didn't take too long either.

In March we had a Relief Society birthday activity.  A number of different ladies signed up to bring cupcakes.  I should have taken my camera because mine looked lame in comparison.

This was another idea I got off Pinterest, if you haven't been on there yet, don't.  You'll waste a lot of time that I'm sure you don't have.  I know I do. 

Blake's birthday was the same day I had the RS birthday, so it was nice to just make all the cupcakes and the cake at the same time.

I saw a really cool construction themed cake online awhile ago, so when I saw these little toys I had to buy them and make a similar one.

I crushed up some Oreos for the dirt and dyed some coconut green for the grass.  Winco had some awesome candy rocks and with the trucks, it wasn't really much work.

A big dirt cake doesn't need to look pretty, just tasty.

It's a good thing that we don't have more than 1 or 2 birthdays each month.  I might start having problems with my sugar intake.

I Shouldn't Laugh

We went to drop some things off at the neighbors and go for a family walk tonight.  While visiting with a couple of the neighbors, Blake introduced "Baby Quack Quack" to their ducks.

They got a bit too close, leaned in, Blake lost his balance, and fell in the pond head first.  They were completely submerged.  He was climbing out before Damon or I could get to him. 

You can tell we are good parents... Damon got the camera out before we checked if he was okay.

"Smile Blake."

After a few tears and a bunch of laughs...

We rescued Baby Quack Quack.

Reunited and saturated.

No worries.  They were both okay.  Blake got dried off, changed, and even got a ride in the Ranger.

PS... I had a discussion with my sister-in-law about blogs.  We are both terrible at keeping up our individual blogs.  I do a great job for a short while, then life gets busy and the blog goes to the back burner.  We decided to try and post in our blogs once or twice a week.  I know I can't maintain a post everyday, but 1 or 2 a week is completely doable.  Plus now I have a bunch of stuff that has been happening to keep me in posts for awhile.