We’ve been up to…

SO MUCH!   (Seriously…this may be our longest post yet!)

There is the general cuteness that we get to experience every day:


TRYING to make caramel, but failing miserably.  This version looked like crystallized motor oil…



And this version turned out as a hard (but tasty) sugar rock…



Other than the failed caramel, I’ve been baking like a rock star.  By the way – if you want to instantly feel like a professional baker, just put two Kitchen Aid mixers next to each other and feel good about yourself.  You probably don’t even need to use them – it instantly looks like you know exactly what you’re doing!  :)




Unfortunately, we said good-bye to some good friends, Ben and Erica.  They were one of the first couples we met at Woodcrest (our church) in our small group.  Ben was also our youth pastor and they left to go to Phoenix to plant a church.  Erica’s been a great friend and we’ve been able to have countless play dates, mall-walking times and sometimes even get togethers without our children along to just hang out.  We we SO sad to see them go, but so excited to see what’s in store for them!  You can check out their blog here – there’s a link to their new church and ministry if you’re interested in checking it out.

 

I made these two cakes for their good-bye party – one for Ben and one for Erica (can you guess which is which?!).  Erica asked simply for pink, and she gave me a hint to Ben’s fav cake flavors.

 

The botched caramel attempts were for the chocolate cake.  Luckily, I finally found a caramel butter cream recipe that didn’t make me want to scream and tasted super yummy.  Selfishly, as I baked them part of me was wishing there wasn’t a reason for the party, but I can be supportive when I want to be, so I happily did it anyway in the name of a good send off.  Good luck guys!



What else is new?  Um…my girly girl just keeps getting more and more girly.  She loves to do her make-up and her hair while I get ready.  She REQUIRES a mirror and seems to actually have an idea of what she’s doing.  

This is her set-up.  I kept a sample brush I got a while back and gave her that as well as an empty make-up container and she happily puts on her make-up.  Sometimes, even Daddy gets a make-over.  Poor Dan!  Just wait until there are two of them – I think he’s going to attend his share of tea parties…

I don’t think he’ll mind.  He’s pretty thrilled with this sweet girl and we’re both very excited about having another!  



I finally got a chance to start on some sewing projects.  I finished the top of the quilt for Sophia’s babies, a tutu for dress-up time and a pillow for her toddler bed.



The pillow almost ended up in the trash.  I used every pin I own, had it all ready to go and realized I had pinned the trim on the wrong side of the fabric.  Once it was finally right and ready to go, I broke a needle on the machine.  Grr!   It’s not perfect, but it’s going to be for a 2-year-old, who won’t know, or care about, the imperfections.  And so it stays!


We’re reading a lot of “magazines” lately.  Really, they’re just catalogs, but she’s a girl after my own heart – her favorite is to sit with me on the couch and read Pottery Barn Kids together!  Love it!
 

I also painted Sophia’s toes for the first time this weekend.  They started out messy, but ended up looking okay.  She’s always stopping to look at her pretty toes, and tells me that my toes are pretty too!

Was that enough for you?  I wasn’t sure I could fit that many random photos into one blog post, but I did it and now I’m all caught up.  What next?