Stamp - N - Wrap

Today is Corden and Kyler's friend Trace's birthday party. Instead of just doing plain old boring wrapping paper, they thought it would be more fun to make their own personalized wrapping paper. They picked out the stamps that they wanted to use and this is the finished product. I think they did a really great job! And had so much fun doing it too. All you need is brown butcher paper or a brown paper bag. (And of course stamping stuff.) Then just let them go to town and decorate it however they want.

For the bag I showed them where to punch the holes and then I tied the ribbon on. So I guess I did help just a little. They chose this striped ribbon because they thought it looked like racing stripes. I was thinking that the dot ribbon would have looked really cute but I think that they thought the dots were a little too girlie so they chose "racing stripes." Gotta make this crafty project look as rugged as possible I guess!

Party Party Party!

Birthday Party at Leo's Place! There was a new train up at Leo's. It went back and forth on the wall.

Ryker loved that!

Food * Family * Fun * what more could you ask for!

Daisy Cake for My Mom

We're celebrating my mom's birthday tonight. I said that I would make the cake so this is what I decided to do. My mom's favorite flowers are daisies so I wanted to make a cake that looked like one. I think it turned out really cute. With the exception of the sides! Don't look too close. Remember, this is my first attempt at actually decorating a cake by myself. Usually I just cook a 9x13 cake and slap some store bought frosting on it. (I actually made this frosting from scratch!!)

Did you notice the ceter of the flower? That's right, it's totally 3-D. How cool is that?!!

I put lemon filling in between two 8" round cakes and a little circle cake for the center. Even though the sides don't look very pretty, I think it's incredible! I can't believe I actually pulled it off. You can totally tell what it is even!

Candy Crystals

Kyler and Corden have been waiting for this day to come for two weeks! That's how long it takes to form the perfect candy crystals. (They didn't want to smile because they were tough ninjas.) This is what happens when you boil sugar in water, put it in a jar, and hang weighted strings in it for two weeks. They are actually very pretty. These pictures don't do them justice.
And this is what happens when you cover the flash with your finger while taking a picture of candy crystals. Kyler told me I had to put this picture on here.

When we started this project, Kyler and Corden just couldn't wait until they were ready so that they could eat them. Now that they're done though, they don't want to eat them because they're too pretty and they want to take them to school for show and tell tomorrow. The boys had so much fun checking the progress every day. This was a really fun and interesting project and SUPER EASY too! Everyone should do this with their kids. You will love watching their faces and hearing their excitement as the crystals start forming more and more.

Dress Up

You would think that they all dressed up to play something. Not today. They just dressed up to watch Ninja Turtles! Looks like Corden (Ninja) got it right, but Ryker (a knight), and Kyler (a wise man)? Do those have anything to do with Ninja turtles? These three crack me up!

The BIG week is here!

So the Jr. Miss program is going to be on Friday and this will probably be one of the busiest weeks I've had in a long time! (the evenings anyways) Tonight was the first full dress rehearsal. Tomorrow is the pizza party for Jr. Miss girls and the board members followed by rehearsal. Wednesday, more rehearsal. Thursday, Formal awards dinner with the girls, their parents, and board members. Friday, The BIG Night! Stan is going to have to do the evening routine without me to help him all week! I am so glad that he is being so supportive of me while being the secretary for this program. It has been a big job but it has been so fun. I love this man!

Mom, Bonita, Brandi and Danielle, I'm ready- are you?

Mom, Bonita, Brandi, and Danielle,

Do you remember this girls weekend trip? (Sorry again for breaking the dish you'd just barely purchased Bonita!) Well I don't know about you guys, but I am so ready for another weekend as fun as this one was. I say it's time to start making plans.

And this time I'll try really hard not to break anything.

Love you guys!