Happy Valentine's

Hope everyone had (or is still having) a nice Valentine's day. We had a lovely day (despite the ridiculous amount of rain and my horrible chest cold). My Valentine's actually started yesterday when Kyle surprised me with a card and some calla lilies, my favorite. He brought home a balloon too, but that was more for the kids, and it had a hole in it by bedtime. Anyway, I saved my card for today since the flowers were an early surprise. I returned the favor and made him some chocolate chip cookies.

This morning Sophia had preschool. We took Valentines for all her classmates. They had a fun little party at the end of class. Then we had a lunch date with her friend Isabella, who also does ballet with her. The kids had a nice little play session, then it was time for ballet. After ballet we headed home. Kyle got home early (well, 4:30 - but that's really early for him these days) and we all opened our gifts. I got the kids some new bath towels and few treats, Kyle got a big container of licorice and some sweet tarts, and I opened my card that went with my lovely flowers. I broiled some steaks and we watched Charlie Brown's Valentine special, and that was that. It was a long day, but very fun! Now I'm excited to watch some TV and have a little down time. Happy Valentine's Day, hope it was filled with love.

Lana Koopman Digital Design

Lana is one of the preschool moms that I visit with quite a bit. Her daughter is also in ballet with Sophia, so we have lots of visiting time. Today we got to chatting about cakes, parties, invitations, and such and she told me about her shop she started on Etsy. She is doing digital design and selling her "pages" on Etsy. They are really cute! Lana had mentioned a lack of sales, so I asked if I could advertise for her a little on my blog. Please check out her blog and her shop on Etsy to purchase and download any of her printable designs for your next crafty paper project. (And pass it along to your friends, too!) The picture below is a sample of her work!

Lana Koopman Digital Design Blog

Etsy Shop

Toy Story Cake

My friend's little boy is having his 2nd birthday party tomorrow and she asked if I would do a toy story cake. Originally I was thinking I would have to try to draw a picture of Buzz Lightyear (that's the little guy's favorite). And I had done Homer Simpson and Sponge Bob successfully in the past. But those are pretty simple characters - the more I looked at Buzz the more worried I became. So I changed my mind and went a different route.

Here is what I ended up with. Yellow cake with buttercream, nothing difficult. I focused the bottom layer on Buzz and then the top layer is the classic Toy Story look. I am really happy with how it turned out. The lettering isn't perfect. I tried my at hand at fondant for the lettering, thinking it would be a nice neat look, but the alphabet cutouts I have were not looking like the right font. So I mixed up a little colored frosting and piped it on. Maybe in the morning after the cake chills all night (and I am fresh) I would try to smooth out the yellow frosting on the lettering. I don't know. I'm kinda done with it, I think. ;o)

Bumble Bee Baby Shower

The weekend before we left for vacation, my best friend Sandy "hired" me to do a cake, invitations, and a banner for a baby shower she was co-hostessesing. I love doing anything crafty so I was excited to help out. It was a gender neutral shower so Sandy thought bumble bees would be a cute little theme.

I thought it would be fun to also include the chocolate dipped marshmallows!

Here is the gorgeous expectant mommy, Cara. She is the sweetest person ever.

She's due any day now!!

The little banner...

And I went a little nuts with the theme and matched my gift, too!

A Few More Hawaii Pictures

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from vacation.

The kids could have played in the sand all day for the whole week! We decided on our last full day to ride the Sugar Cane Train. It took us from Kanaapali to Lahaina. It was a lot of fun.

We had lunch in Lahaina at Bubba Gumps. Yummy shrimp!!

Sometimes it's just so hard to stay awake!

And then you wake up and you're on the train again!

Yahoo!

It was a great vacation. The kids did awesome on

the plane ride there and back. We want to go back already.

I have my pictures uploading to Kodak right now, so

the link will be over with the rest of the albums shortly.

Enjoy!

AloooooHa

We are having a great time here in Maui. The kids LOVE the sand. I would have posted sooner, but the internet wasn't working in our room. Our trip has gone by so quickly. I can't believe we fly out Sunday morning. The airplane ride went perfectly on the way here, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the way home. Both kids are such good little travelers and perfect little vacationers. I can't wait to get home and start planning our next excursion. More pictures to come after we're home. Aloha for now. :o)

A Little Visit to Alderbrook

We love Alderbrook! The kids enjoyed a day of swimming, followed by a few S'Mores to finish the night. Can't wait to go back again for my birthday.

Nutcracker and First Slumber Party!

Nutcracker 2010 - we love taking the girls to Studio West's production in Olympia. It's a great show. Sophia and Lauren were both so excited this year - and even more excited to have Lauren spend the night with us for the first time!

Griffin was in love with Lauren's hair.

I know he wanted to sleep right next to her!

It was a lot of fun, and Lauren had a great night with Sophia in their sleeping bags in the living room. I think they are both ready for another slumber party.

Calgon, Take Me Away...

It's not just this room, either!!! If only I could find my magic wand. Then Christmas would be perfect. :o)

Tree Decorating Story

Oh yes, I forgot to include the little story about our helper, Griffin. I was busy getting the lower branches clipped and getting the needles vacuumed up and the lights on while the rest of the family was busy ignoring all of my directions to stay out of the ornaments until I was ready to help unpack them. Kyle was letting the kids get into all the breakable ornaments and all of the sudden they came across the Huskies ornaments. Sophia was so excited and pulled a few out and then Griffin found a glass ball. Well what do little boys do best with something that looks like a baseball??? He threw it across the living room to his Daddy. Unfortunately it hit the step stool first and shattered! I rushed over to clean up the glass and was about to basically say "I told you so" to Kyle, but realized I didn't need to. It was his favorite Rose Bowl ornament... I figured that would help him remember that sometimes he should listen to the Mommy also. :o)

Oh Christmas Tree

And what a big one it is this year! Wow. I'm glad Nick and Kora were at the tree farm with us to help Kyle get it cut down and loaded up.

Griffin loved helping with the decorations.

Sophia did the lower half of the tree practically

by herself and did a great job!

The kids went up on the ladder much higher

than Daddy - he's not really one for heights. :o)

It is probably the prettiest tree we've had. But, we

will probably try to scale it back next year to save our backs, though!

Happy Birthday, Papa Dan!

I can't believe that my Dad turned 60 this year! I guess that means I'm getting pretty old, too! The kids helped me make a cake. Sophia is very good at cracking eggs. Griffin helped pour in water and oil. They both helped clean the beaters!

We just made a small cake (dark chocolate), so I had leftover batter for mini cupcakes that I topped with white frosting and sprinkled with candy cane.

Happy Birthday, Dad. We love you very much.