Cake Class

I took a decorating basics class at Michael's and tonight was graduation.  I learned how to bake, level, torte, and layer a cake.  How to make the best buttercream frosting for decorating, how to make a cake really smooth and that frosting can fix almost any mistake!  I learned how to make several types of flowers and even a ribbon rose.  I did not do well with lettering so I don't think I will be doing much of that.  In fact I didn't even attempt it on my final project.  I've already signed up for the next 4 weeks of classes where I will learn about fondant and gum paste.  I'll keep you posted as to how that works out.  Here's my final project.  I was originally going to have just a few vines and leaves to accent the flowers but it was so fun making the squiggly lines that I went crazy with it.  Fortunately I stopped before my cake turned into a gloppy mess.

Easter 2012

I'm finally getting out my Easter pictures.  That weekend was pretty eventful and chock full of egg-hunty goodness!  On the first, we went to William's school for a church/community egg hunt.  There were crafts inside and a cute little puppet show to teach the kids about the real Easter story and how eggs, bunnies, and candy factor it.  Little Charlotte was not walking just yet so I had a heck of a time trying to wrangle her in and not let her crawl into the street.

Then the Saturday before Easter, we all went to Wegmans for breakfast with the Easter Bunny.  They had some coloring pages and William decorated a couple of cookies while we enjoyed their breakfast buffet.  Charlotte is a HUGE fan of characters.  That is, anyone costume (ie. Geoffry the Giraffe at Toys R Us, Muno and Brobee from Yo Gabba, Gabba! etc.)   She did not care for Santa, but I think if he were in a Santa mask, she would have been more friendly.  Anyway, she couldn't get enough of the Bunny.  She wanted to pet him, wave at him, hold his hand, anything to be near him.  She got pretty upset when it was time to leave and let other kids have a turn.

 After breakfast, we headed out to another egg hunt.  This one was awesome!  We met in a large church where they had baby goats and huge bunnies to pet, crafts and a magic show.  There were so many eggs to be found!  Charlotte was getting better at toddling by now so she had her own basket.

 Easter morning!  William woke to find that the Easter Bunny had left a trail of eggs from his bedroom, downstairs to the family room where his Easter basket had been filled.  We have morning church this year so we couldn't do much but get ready for church.  Charlotte had her first day in Nursery and did just fine.  While we were away, the Easter Bunny snuck back to our house and hid a bunch of eggs out in the back yard.  It was such a beautiful day!

Relief Society 170th Birthday

We just had our Relief Society 170th Birthday Celebration.  It was wonderful!  I got to plan,  decorate and serve fancy food.  I was in heaven!  The theme was "Open the Gift" based on the message of the Relief Society General President, Julie B. Beck.  She says we should "open the gift" and read the book "Daughters in my Kingdom."  It was a great message and we ran with the "gift" theme, with a bookmark gift to each sister. We started at 6:30pm with hors d'oeuvres and punch.  I purposely made not enough for everyone so we would run out in about 15 minutes.  That way we could make it an incentive for everyone to come on time in the future.  I'm sick of starting 20 minutes late!  Anyway, we had lovely event.  We served chicken salad sandwiches, scalloped potatoes, salad with feta, cranberries, and almonds, and assorted fruits.  Our program was great and very moving.  We had three speakers and a couple of musical numbers.  All were fabulous!  Then we ended with some birthday cakes (red velvet, carrot, and cheesecake with cherries).  I believe everyone had a great time.  I look forward to the next activity.  I love having an event project to work on!

Easter Tree

The fabulous Spring weather has prompted me to get out the Easter decor.  I found I have a TON of Easter ornaments.  I used to fill lanterns or vases with them.  Even hang a few from some flowering branches in a vase.  But after I tried (and loved!) my Halloween tree, I figured I'd try my luck at an Easter tree.  I dragged out the white tree (which was WAY in the back of the storage closet with the Halloween stuff) and set it up again.  I didn't realize I had so many ornaments.  I filled that thing in minutes.  I saw a feather boa used as a garland in a tree in the Fall, so I tried it out for the Spring.  Love it!  I didn't have a tree topper for a while until I saw Charlotte dragging around some bunny ears.  Perfect!  Now I'm thinking about other holidays I can fill this tree up for, Valentine's Day?  Independence Day?  Birthdays?  I think this tree might just stay up year round!

William's Video

I sent William on a photo scavenger hunt around the house.  He used Sean's old phone for a camera and a list that I made up for him to take pictures of.  Most of the stuff he could photograph inside, such as toes, a dinosaur, a pillow, a belly button, etc.  But when he asked if he could go take a picture of a tree, he went above and beyond.  The video is a very shaky, and partially covered and he whispers a lot, basically difficult to watch, but it made me laugh.