Nursery Snack Time

This is an exclusive preview to the treat/craft Jeremy and I are going to have our nursery kids make on Sunday. It's a covered wagon for Pioneer Day. I had Miranda try it out for me yesterday so I could get an idea of how it might go--but then there's always the unexpected that happens every Sunday with all those little kids! It's hardly recognizable after she starts munching on it :) I think we might do this towards the end, since there is a bit of sugar involved: two marshmallows, four banana slices, one piece of licorice (I bought the pull apart kind for Sunday), four animal crackers, and some frosting to hold it all together.

Mr. Bradley

Willow Park & Graybills

We came. We roasted hot dogs. We fished. We made s'mores. We got devoured by mosquitoes. Ahh, sweet summertime.

Crazy Ingenious

So... this looks hilarious at first, but think how ingenious it is really! Think of all the use you could get out of this: wash your hands, help the potty training sister, try on clothes in the dressing room, go get a Diet Coke from the vending machine (just kidding).

I found this on KidsTravelHappy.com.

Let Freedom Ring

I love pics from the 4th of July--all the vibrant colors and fun activities that just define SUMMERTIME! Jeremy took three days off work, so we had a fun week. Wednesday we went to the zoo with Jeremy's mom. After a rough start to the day (Miranda got sunscreen in her eyes), we all ended up having a great time. And now we have a membership, so if anyone wants to go with me, I have a free 'visitor' on my pass! Brad's first trip to the zoo. He loved it and was such a good baby the whole time!Thursday we went to the Oquirrh Temple Open House. It was really neat, but M was being a pill the whole time, so we hurried through the end of it. We even had to skip out on the cookies--that I've heard are SO yummy--because we couldn't reward her for bad behavior. Also, there are no pictures of the event because of this. Jeremy and M also went fishing that morning, but there aren't any different pics to show for that, either :)

Friday we went swimming at our local rec center. It has a great pool with tons of fun things going on and M had a huge smile on her face the whole time. Even B loved it. Every one but M was worn out after an hour, though. But this day, M was very good and didn't throw a fit about leaving early, even though I know she could have enjoyed a couple more hours. We promised her we'd get back there soon. I also don't have any pictures of the pool because I didn't want to tote the camera along this time, but here is one of M and B in their swimsuits prior to the open plunge. They were both hamming it up, excited before the swim! Saturday was the classic celebration, of course. We started out the day with a street breakfast and kid's bike parade. It was a lot of fun--we have great neighbors and others in the ward always tell me they're jealous that we live on "the fun street". Check out M's cool wheels. She loved having her tricycle all decked out--ahh, to be two again. Then Saturday night we ended the festivities at the Yoho's in Sugarhouse for an old fashioned BBQ, firework display, water fun for the kids (and husbands) and watching Sugarhouse Park's fireworks from their backyard. I was the only one in my family who stayed awake for those, though. Then, last but not least, I have to include this photo, too. This is from the Lehi Round-up All Horse Parade last week. We went with our fun friends who also have a two-year old girl and a baby only one month older than B. There were horses with glittered hoofs, stars painted on their hips, braides in their manes and tails, ribbons galore, and a cowgirl 'princess' on almost every other one throwing handfuls of Tootsie Rolls at us. But guess what the two toddlers couldn't stop talking about for the next couple of days: all the horse poop. Great. Maybe next year they'll get more excited about the glitter.

Amatueur

This is our 100th post and I just couldn't have it be a regular, non-related topic. I know what most of you (Emily, Angie, Jen, etc.) are thinking, though. "Amateur. I'm on my 217th post."

Adventures in Cake Making

The weekend before last was Cody and Darci's wedding. It was beautiful, even in the downpour rain. They're so cute and happy together--congrats you two!

It was also D-day for my first official fondant wedding cake. And I have to admit, it turned out perfect! I was so happy with it and I'm so excited to know how to do fondant now. I've been having a blast 'playing' with fondant and finding excuses to make cakes--and give them away to people so I don't eat all the calories :) So, here are some pictures of the wedding cake assemblage. However, first off, I have to start with the last pictures, The Mess. Also, notice The Mess is continued in almost every other picture here, as well.The never ending dirty dishes. This is typical random stuff Miranda drug out to entertain herself and for me to trip over. Really, though, Miranda and Brad were good sports through the whole baking process, and I made two full wedding cakes because I was so paranoid something would go wrong with the fondant on the final step, so it was way more work than it had to be. Thankfully, Jeremy took both kids on errands Saturday morning for a couple of hours so I could do the creative part. These are some of the cakes with their butter cream coating. The butter cream frosting is necessary so the fondant has something to stick to. Triumph! This is THE hardest part, getting a smooth, non-torn, non-folded, non-bubbled covering of the cake! Here is it is in all it's ribbon and dot covered glory. I loved the green ribbon on the white--so striking. And finally, all set-up safely at the reception. Jeremy came up with a great fool proof transportation method involving Duct Tape and Glad "Press N Seal" wrap.

Okay, so now I'm breathing a sigh of relief over a successful wedding cake. Ready for pictures of more less-stress cakes? This is a cake I made for my niece, Kylie, who turned one this month! I did the majority of the frosting with butter cream because fondant would not cause the classic gooey mess all over baby hands and cheeks (and hair and nose and arms and tummy and elbows, etc.) Happy b-day Kylie! How about some cupcakes now? I made some regular sized and some small for our ward Mom & Me playgroup last week. These are the small ones. The red color takes forever and uses tons of food coloring, and I was getting anxious to start creating, so I stopped before the fondant was truly red. It actually looks more like bubble gum color, but what the heck? It's still patriotic, right? Here are the regular-sized cupcakes. I had fun creating a different design for each of these, but it did take a little while. I figured from start--warming up the oven--to finish--putting the last clean dish back in the cupboard--I spent about 3 hours on these babies. But hey, I had fun, and all the moms/kids loved it. I decided to stay with the patriotic theme for a cake I made for a BBQ with our friends. I'll have to find some new creative inspiration for August since there's no good holiday idea and I still have one big frozen cake in the freezer! Miranda had a lot of fun with the fondant, too. It's like edible play-dough. Actually, it is pretty tasty. When I first was learning how to use fondant, I bought the Wilton brand at the store, thinking it would be the best quality. WRONG. It tasted gross and was so stiff. I couldn't even roll it out big enough to cover a cake half the size it was supposed to cover. (I had to have Jeremy pull out his 'big guns' to help me roll it out.) So, Jeremy and I experimented with recipes to make our own, and I think we found a pretty good one. It's actually surprisingly easy, too. Oh, yeah. And the cakes themselves tasted delicious, also. They had a cream cheese filling in a white cake mix, plus the butter cream frosting under the fondant. Mmmm. Who can think of a reason to eat cake?! Let's make more! Side Notes: Check out Miranda's cute French braids. She finally held still long enough for me to give her two braids one morning! AND, check out her cute apron. Mima made her a new one to coordinate with mine for Mother's Day. I'll have to post of pic of both of us in our aprons when I get some laundry done...

Too Early

Miranda is an early riser. She got Jeremy's tendency for being a morning person. And based on Brad's habit of 4 a.m. breakfast time, I think he is following suit. In fact, I'm the only one in the family that is a night person.
Miranda usually wakes up around 6:30, give or take half an hour depending on the week. When she started waking up earlier than 6, I had to tell her it was still night-time, and to go back to bed. None the less, one of her favorite phrases lately is "It's too early. Go back to bed." Anyway, I don't remember why I took this picture, but it was clearly too early. Would it kill ya to sleep in, people?

Gone Fishing

Jeremy is getting tons of fishing time in this year. I told him he can go as much as he wants this summer as long as he takes Miranda with him. He loves fishing with Miranda, and luckily she loves it, too. (Although it does scare her a little when the caught fish wiggle in the bag.) He has gone almost every week this summer, and even twice in the same week a few times. I love it, too. Brad and I have gone with them a few times, which is fun. I enjoy the summer weather and 'nature'. But I really enjoy having a few hours each week with just my baby Bradley, letting me get stuff crossed off my To-Do List or having fun 1:1 with him. Last week we went on a walk.