The Crazy Cake Lady

Today the Thomas the tank engine cake got picked up. I was sad to see it go, we had some good times together, haha, like staying up till 2am working on it. In my defense I couldn't do it with the kids awake since Ariel would want to help and Xander would want his train back and I needed it as my model. By the time I finished cleaning up the kitchen it was that awful hour and it took awhile for me to finally fall asleep. I seem to recall waking at 4am and thinking, hmm need to get up soon.

I was super happy how this turned out. It took longer in mixing up all the colors of fondant I needed to use, which is probably what took most of my time. The actual building of the trains was actually easy. I look forward to making another one of these one day, if Xander has anything to say about it he will have one for himself. Haha.

Tonight I was filling in forms, as it is the big day on Tuesday. I have to submit our request for the school we want Ariel to go to for Kindergarten. Chances are I am over worrying about getting her in, but the part of me that stresses (over 80% haha) is. I was rambling on to Ken about what if we don't get in, what do we do etc. He was all calm as usual about it, so I just need to go early to get the form in as they are done by time stamp and first come first serve. I will still need to register her at her catchment school later this month, and hopefully we will hear good news before the summer that we got in to our choice school. Pray it goes the way we hope it will... or I might have to go begging and baking a bribe cake, lol.

Friday night I had my book club ladies over as I was hosting. It was a HOOT to say the least and Ken said all he heard was cackling which made him totally think we were all batty. I am so happy to be in a group with such a lively and fun bunch of ladies.

This coming weekend my sweet hubby celebrates his 36th birthday. We have babysitting set and we are going out to the theater to see Avenue Q!!! I am so excited as is he, since we would have loved to have seen this back when in New York when we were there in the summer. Then we have a dinner date with friends after the show. Woohoo! We will do the family dessert night later in the month, but for now we are excited to enjoy some time out together without the kids.

Soooooooooo I will keep you posted on how the week goes... another cake order this week, this time for Ariel's friend's birthday party, so that will be special. Also, we enter February... crazy!

My Girl, Miss Determination

Today I witnessed again my daughter, who is so determined to succeed take on a new challenge - skating! Last time her class went we didn't go since I had something booked and couldn't go with her. I actually thought it wouldn't interest her but the moment she heard the class was going again she was non-stop talking about it.

I honestly was dreading it, more so because I can't really skate that well. Thankfully we were allowed to bring the strollers on the ice for the babies so I really had no reason not to go, and I had something to cling to, haha. All morning Ariel practiced turns and pretend skating on the kitchen floor with her slippers on. I felt a little worried that she would be discouraged since I knew the falling would come fast. I kept preparing her on the drive over, its not like slippers, its tricky, the ice is slippery etc.

We arrived early and got ready and she enjoyed watching the teens playing hockey. She managed to walk on the skates, so far that was a positive sign, haha. Xander was all bundled up and had his helmet on ready to go.

Ok, they are just darn cute together... although Ariel had to sneak into the picture because Xander only wanted himself in the shot... lol.

The class started and we made out way out... SPLAT on her butt she went. I started to feel somewhat bad, thinking this was going to be a VERY long morning. Trying to hold on to Xander and haul her up. Well she decided she was going to get up herself... and she did, over and over. Finally she got a skating bar and she struggled to get her feet moving. Again more falls, legs going every which way but every time she fell she laughed. Not one look of embarrassment or tears.

It wasn't long till the falling was less and less and the gliding was more and more. In fact there were times when she seemed to 'dance' on the ice as her teacher called it.

The other parents commented on her 'first time' as a success and that she had real determination. One mom pulled me aside and said she thinks she will go far in life with that attitude. I couldn't agree more and I found myself bursting with that 'parent pride'. Xander even clapped when she went by us, so cute. Then she did something crazy and skated several times with no bar! I just stood there stunned... yay Ariel!!!

We were one of the last to leave the ice, mainly because Ariel insisted on 'practicing more'. She just warmed my heart and then as we packed up she asked if they had classes like swimming. I guess we may look into that sometime. For now I am claiming this day as a memory I will treasure when Ariel is off taking the world by storm and fulfilling her dreams... my sweet girl, you continue to amaze me and inspire me to be the best I can be too. Thank you.

Yay For Friday!

So I am sitting here feeling rather giddy and excited... I booked 2 wedding cakes today! Yes the sisters I mentioned awhile back came by today to meet with me and we had a consultation here at my place. Thankfully I was able to get my living room pulled together and kept the kids from destroying, haha. The girls each had an idea what they wanted and it was actually great I had my newest cake on hand for them to see in person, so that was great.

Speaking of that cake, here it is, yay!

This morning was a bit crazy first off dropping Ariel off at school. We drove because it was dumping rain and sooooooooooo cold. Brrrr. Then Xander and I went to sportsball class. It was an activity I signed us up for before Christmas in hopes of meeting some more boys his age and getting more social. For the most part it was kinda a bomb. Haha. Xander was mad when they put the balls away for story-time. Then the coach said we were going to play the popcorn game. Well Xander stopped his screaming when hearing the word 'popcorn' thinking there was food, lol. Seeing just tennis balls didn't please him and he gave me a look of 'why did he say popcorn if there was no popcorn.' (You might remember his love for the food from the last post)

Xander did warm up enough to play later but we have a long way to go... but its still fun spending time with my little man. Hee. (Kara had her camera and we got the following pictures from her, yay!)

Then we picked up a few things from the store before it was time to get Ariel from school. We then dashed off to Stella's as we were helping assemble Kara's wedding invitations! Yay! Stella had a yummy soup and bun lunch for us, along amazing pumpkin muffins, drool. We also got to try on Xander's ring bearer outfit... one word CUTE!!!! He and James are going to be adorable!!!

We also decided Kara was not bridezilla because she let Ariel help glue invitations! Yes, and surprisingly she did did well, haha. Got Mommy's crafting gene perhaps? Of course Jenny was a help to her and I give her big points for doing so well with a 4 year old. Jenny is one of the bridesmaids so its nice Ariel is getting to know her too. Sounds like Kara has made a decision on how Ariel's flower girl dress will be so that is exciting too.

I am looking forward to relaxing this weekend. Ken is doing an open house at the school so we will be keeping ourselves entertained. Yay!

Killing Time

I am waiting till Parenthood starts, so I figure I blog since Ken is animating (yes again, another last minute shot for another short film), Ariel is in bed and Xander is playing happily with the old cel phone. Twas a big day here with completing a order for a friend from church. She had asked for a cake to reveal the gender of their new baby. I had seen this before on tv before so it was so fun to be apart of. Since the party was going to be the same day as them finding out, there wasn't alot of time so I made both a pink and blue cake and decorated them the same. Turns out they bought both cakes from me since they could use more cake for the party. Woot! So I got the exciting call and then the hubby came to get the cakes at dinner time. Of course I had to make sure he was clear which one to cut, haha. That be a bad oops! Oh I just got the news the cake was cut... and its a girl!!! Yay, congrats!

Today was a nasty cold and rainy day. I dropped Ariel off at ballet and went by the local consignment shop with one of the other moms to hang out till class was over. Picked up princess and we all drove out to T-town to get copies of Ariel's immunization record... why? Next month is KINDERGARTEN registration! GACK!!! Part of me just fainted I think, when did this happen? My baby going to kindergarten... sniff.

Speaking of school, we are busy working on Ariel's valentines for her friends at school. We picked the final picture and got them printed up, but this was another cute one I thought I share since I can't show the one we picked yet.

I hope to do an Ariel themed post soon, maybe on her half birthday next month, have lots of funny stuff to share.

Xander loves popcorn... he comes running when he hears the popper. Haha.

Other news, I did some redecorating in our living room. Ever since we got the family portrait done I wanted to change up everything else. So I took down some of my needlepoint pictures and put up some photos. My favorite add was this one by our dining area, I blew up some of the letters from my photo alphabet and turned them sepia to match better. So each of our first letters of our names, so fun!

Well its almost time for my show now. I'll be back later in the week, have another order to get together so its going to be busy. Whee!

The One With Puke

Wow, I didn't blog at all this week, oh well. I am sitting here watching The Social Network with Ken while Xander plays with his cars. Ariel is fast to sleep already, busy day with school and a McDonalds date with Grandpa, fun times!

This week has been a blur of illness again... yes again. On Monday night around dinner time when Ken got home from work Xander puked... and then did it again... and again... and again. It was so strange though because between pukes, he didn't act sick at all, he was playing, smiling and laughing... then stops pukes and moves on. He had no fever and frankly it was somewhat disturbing and we started wondering if he swallowed something. After calling the nurse line and hearing that if he got down to bile that we should take him in to the ER. It got to that point so off I went.

We arrived at our local hospital to no wait, thank heavens. We saw the doctor on call and he too was puzzled with Xander's well behavior but still puking (yes he was still going). He called Richmond hospital, then came back and told me to take him to see the on call peds doctor and that she was expecting us. He was concerned since it didn't act like a normal virus and might be an issue with the intestine. So called my Dad to go watch Ariel who was already in bed at this point so Ken could come with me to the hospital.

Took almost 2 hours to finally get through the stages to see the doctor who was expecting us, sigh. Oh well... but when we were finally getting seen I started to feel strange.... yep, I started tossing my cookies too. Gosh that was embarrassing, but yet it was an answer to prayer because it confirmed Xander was sick with most likely a bug as I had it within hours of him and it was not anything worse. Still we were baffled by his lack of 'acting sick' but whatever, rather have a happy sick boy than a sad one.

They gave him some pedialyte, and a little dis-solvable thing to help him go to sleep. They hoped that would keep him from puking anymore and that it would get him to pee since he hadn't in hours. Sure enough he was out by the time we walked in the door and he slept soundly through the night and didn't puke again... me, that was another story. Every hour I was up sick... I would wake up from a dead sleep and bolt to the bathroom. Sigh... made for a rough morning wake up call from Ariel who reminded me of her ballet class, crap.

Ariel got dressed herself while I called Stella to ask if she could take Ariel to class. Thankfully she could so Xander and I got to sleep more. Ariel came home and was eager to tell me about class and Xander finally woke up bouncing up and down like he never had been puking the night before. I however was feeling terrible. So the kids played in our room while I laid there like a lump...

Next morning I managed to drag myself out of bed to get Ariel to school. My body was aching and sore and when I hopped on the scale I dropped 8lb. Gack! Xander seemed to act slightly clingy that day, perhaps he was sore too, it just hurt to walk, sit etc. However it had snowed and I wasn't going to drive in it and decided walking would be easier... maybe for a person not getting over such a nasty bug but oh well. Ariel was a so cute and it helped make the painful walk fun.

She loves snow, she was giddy all the way to school.

Thursday was a more enjoyable day, packed up the kids and went to the mall for some walking in warmth and non slushy sidewalks. I wanted to get some yoga pants that were on sale at Old Navy and had my gymbucks to spend and Xander was in desperate need of socks. We ended up staying for several hours walking, laughing and having a small lunch treat of tacos, Ariel's lunch of choice when we go to the mall. We even got to see my friend Ann and see her new fancy engagement ring. Can't wait for her wedding this spring, yay!

That afternoon I had gotten an email from a friend from church asking if I could bring my camera and lend my skills over at her place for some photos as they were doing a shoot for the company Jolica, which is a fair trade company that sells jewelry. I didn't really know what I was walking into but I ended up taking photos along with another lady that will be used for the new catalog. It was stressful at times due to lighting, wall color and just space to move around in since the shots had to be staged like one of their jewelry home show parties. However I was having a blast and hope they like the shots I got. I got to organize lots of ladies, pose them with the product and basically stage situations... whee! Not only did I gain such experience and photos to have for my portfolio, I got to help out an awesome organization and got a sweet little shopping spree of the catalog for my work, woot!

Well, Xander has fallen asleep during the course of writing this but has woken up in tears, that last molar is fighting its way through and its been rough. Looking forward to the weekend, as its the calm before the upcoming cake storm! Lots of orders coming up and stuff happening to keep us all busy. Hope the sick bugs are all behind us now.

The One Where I Conform...Ha!

Well, the day finally came... after years of doing something against the grain of society, I finally conformed... the toilet paper is now coming over the front rather than behind. Yes I am one of those freaks that always did it the other way. I honestly have no reason why, I seem to recall it was like that in our downstairs bathroom growing up because it kept the roll from falling off. Either way, it messed my way of thinking and I actually -gasp- preferred it that way. Then today, I put on a new roll and did it the 'normal' way. I stared at it ... meh. So there, if you come to my house, I have entered the world of adulthood.

So today was another full day of Ken being home. He isn't feeling great, sore throat etc. I have told the other members of the family they are not allowed to get it. I think though it was brought on by too many late nights in trying to finish his animation on deadline. It did confused the kids a bit since they just got use to him back at work. Oh well.

Yesterday was a nasty day of rain rain rain. We stayed in and I made good headway on a sewing project I was asked to do by a friend. I need to finish and have it in the mail asap so I hope to finish tonight. I also got a call from sisters, they are both getting married this summer and both need wedding cakes! So I will be meeting with them next week sometime for a consultation. Thankfully one is in May the other in July. Crazy stuff!

Today was a big occasion in the house, as young Xander had his first FULL ON hair cut. He has had trims by me, his bangs snipped by a pro but nothing major. So I took him in this morning to my stylist since he needed to see someone who knew what they were doing since he has 'adult hair'. I brought the mini dvd player and that was perfect to keep his attention and head still. Sooo here is the before...

...and the after! Yes, still lots of hair, but thinned out quite a bit, much like what we have to do with Ken's hair. Its hard not seeing that mop of hair, but its growing on me. I know its lighter for him and we didn't want him mistaken for a girl so it was time.

Lots of fun mail today, we got some belated Christmas gifts. First the kids and I got our gifts from Uncle Dan and then Ariel got her gift from friend Kailey. So it was fun to get to open more goodies and Ariel was thrilled. I got a super cute bento lunch making book from Dan, awesome! Can't wait to try some of the recipes out. Hee. Kailey gave Ariel some cute jammies (which she wore to bed), a fun fairy cookbook, Tangled cup and a Rapunzel doll (which also went to bed with her). She was pretty excited to get a lovely gift from her friend! Mail is fun!

Some of the other mail fell more into the interesting pile, got a notice today from Ariel's swim lessons that she got a class credit. This is what it said on it...

Account adjustment, one class credit for Sea Turtle due to class disruption because of very large group and a vomit in the pool.

EWE! I figured that day something happened in the pool since it was taped off, but did they need to tell me it was vomit? Yuck!

Then this afternoon the delivery man came by with our boxing day purchase (finally - that free shipping is darn slow!) It was the new dance games for our Wii and Ariel was very excited... and surprisingly so was Xander. Mommy will admit they are fun, and will be a good workout in the morning (they have a 'sweat' level for workouts, yay). So I took some video of them playing, although Ariel wasn't too pleased since she wasn't 'good' yet, a little perfectionist indeed. I managed to convince her she was just learning so it was ok, haha. Xander's dancing cracks me up.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

No Snow...

So it was suppose to snow... it didn't. I for one am not disappointed, haha. I had to take our car to air care and I didn't want to put it off and get too busy, so while Ariel was back at school finally today, Xander and I went off to deal with the car. I always get nervous taking our car in, even though it just was at the mechanic for an oil change and they gave it 2 thumbs for everything. Blah, so I was a nervous mess and just couldn't wait to be out of their. Thankfully we passed, yay, another year till we have to worry about it again, ha. The funny part came when the tester laughed saying he had no idea Xander was in the car until they did the test and he said 'YEAH!' He thought it was pretty funny, and my little man was enjoying all the car stuff up close.

So afterwards we hit the insurance place and managed to score a lower rate for the year, woot! Pretty much after that it was time to pick up Ariel, so that was a fast morning. It was nice to see the other moms again and share fun Christmas stories. Ariel was so happy to be back at school again with her friends and even earned a special helper sticker for cleaning up!

Last night while Ken was busy animating (can't wait till he is done and we can see him again in the evenings) I worked on my photo book. While doing my 365 project Ken insisted I get it printed in a book, so I finished it up and uploaded it to print. I can't wait to see it, totally different holding it rather than just online eh? I have the link here so you can see what it is going to look like when it arrives... eek! Click here to see the book! I loved looking at the preview and the pictures from earlier in the year... I highly encourage anyone to try this sometime, its challenging but so rewarding!

Tonight I got to go have my hair done, oh it was nice! I got my color touched up and a cut, which can help any Mommy relax! It was so cute when I got home that Xander started whining the moment he heard me come in the door. He came running and bouncing to hold him, so cute. So we took a picture... this can be his before shot as he is booked on Friday for a haircut too!

Speaking of Xander, he is so adorable these days with his new 'tricks'. He sneaks up when you are at the computer, pulls up the hem of your shirt and tickles your side. He laughs and loves to see you squirm, haha. He also loves going up and down the stairs, but first turns, waves and says bye bye. However, he love for the camera is MY fav, hee. He smiles the cutest, cheesy smile he can, then comes over to see it on the camera. Just cracks me up every time.

Not much else to report tonight. Gonna do some sewing tomorrow as my calendar is starting to fill up with orders. I designed some business cards today to get printed and added a booking calendar to my website for clients to see when I am available. Yay!


Some other fun stuff coming up too, but will share about it when we get closer. Until then, I am gonna clean up and go to bed. Yawn...

Happy 2011!

The first post in a year without a starter photo, weird!!!!!! Still getting use to the idea of not having to blog daily... so even though I wanted to post yesterday, I didn't just to get use to the notion of not needing to. Haha.

We had a wonderful new years, hanging with our good friends for a fabulous fondue party. Yes we went crazy with a cheese, oil then 2 different chocolates and a berry pot of pure goodness for dessert. I didn't take many pictures since I was giddy playing with our friend's fancy new camera... drool! They got a great shot of Ken and I so I will post it when I get it from them.

With the amount of eating that happens at a party such as this, the time goes by quickly and before we knew it the midnight hour was minutes away. The kids all had fun banging pots and pans, although Xander was a tad freaked by the whole thing. He snuggled in and went to sleep shortly after midnight, while Ariel continued to party until we left close to 2am. Yes we are party animals, haha.

The next morning we all slept in till past 10am... woot! Ken then spent the day animating and I packed up the Christmas stuff and organized. I managed to collect a garbage bag filled with decorations we didn't need anymore or that were broken to discard or donate. Also hit a very empty London Drugs and picked up a bin for Ariel's new princesses to live in, a pouch for her new felts and a folding file folder for my paper work for my business. I am finding with things picking up so much I really need to keep things organized with my receipts and what not.

Looking back prior to new years, we had fun visiting with friends during the week following Christmas. Had a great visit with Darrel, Maureen and their kids. Its hard to believe they are teen/pre-teens now. When Ken and I were first married they were our kids age! Wacky! Then we had dinner with Pat and Phil along with with Michelle, Jug and Kaelyn. Finally after 2 cancelled dinners we had well kids, haha.

Its been super sunny which is awesome but its soooooooooooooo cold! Every time I take the kids out we have to bundle them up in everything. The new scarfs, hats and mittens from Grammy were perfect... and cute!

What we refer to as the 'dino' hat. Haha.

Today was church, a chat with Grammy and now slowly preparing for routine returning. Xander and I are doing a mommy and me class at the pool, Ariel's ballet starts in a few weeks, and preschool is back in full swing tomorrow. Ken is back to work and yet still has a tight deadline for finishing some freelance animation by the 10th. Its looking so good and I wish I could share more but its top secret till its done. Me, well I have a sewing project to do, got a few bookings already and the regular daily stuff to do.

Now for our exciting news! On new years eve our family decided that we wanted to take on a special project together, so we decided to sponsor child from the Dalit Freedom Network. Ken had brought it up after our church supports the Dalits and he discovered that we could sponsor a child for schooling. Get this, she loves to draw too! How perfect is that? Ariel is excited to send her drawings and this little girl who is only a year older than her. We look forward to hearing from her in the coming year and what this teaches Ariel about giving and helping people far away.

Thus ends another Christmas holiday... hope yours was just as special as ours. Blessings!