The birthday cake!

I promised you all that I would show you the AWESOME cake that I had made for my friend Julie's 40th surprise birthday party! Here it is! Couldn't be any cuter, right?? If you are in Central Florida, Prudence is our Fondant Queen! www.glassslippercakery.com

Here we are walking up to Dexter's when she realized the patio is filled with all her friends and they yelled "Surprise!" So fun! Here are a few pictures from our fun evening!

What a fun party!! She had a great night and I so enjoyed being able to help her celebrate!

Birthday Cake!

Well it's a good thing I don't tell many people I have this blog as I'm about to babble about a cake I'm having made for one of my BFFs! Since I post a lot on my work blog, not many people come here except family or someone who finds the link lost on my facebook page and randomly comes to see if I've added something this month! Or when I send out a link like after the infamous dryer incident. She could come here, but I'm going to count on the fact that she's crazy busy and travels all the time and doesn't have the creative patience to listen to me babble about what I like about each of these cakes anyway so I think I'm safe! I need to show the fabulous confectionery artist what I'm thinking and also can't waste these adorable cake pictures without saving somewhere so why not blog?

So, I had a few generic ideas--shoe, purse, martinis, wine. None were in my head as complete and I am home all day because James is sick and am horrified to say that I have neglected all the things I could be doing, and should be doing, in lieu of getting lost on the internet, looking at amazing cakes.

I started looking at shoe ideas but it was the boxes that kept catching my eye. I soon decided that I was stuck on the shoe as I can't decide on a color or style and then, does it have a brand?--just too many things that seem too specific for a friend who is very classic and the whole obsessive name brand thing being turned into a cake is just not either of us. So, I'm stuck on the fun cakes and all these jumped out at me for some reason.

Love the polka dots and we are totally monogram kind of girls! Butterflies, no and all these whimsical cakes seem to be the cute lopsided look which is cute but not necessary.

These big fat beads for the trim I LOVE LOVE LOVE and ties into my 'big idea', which is coming. She and I both LOVE harlequin anything so I love this top tier. LOVE all the things shooting off this, though not stars. Don't love the insane colors or orange or bow but this is about 70% matching what I'm drawn to.

straight version which makes more sense and those dots at the trim again! But WHAT is with all this orange? I don't mind a tiny splash of orange but geez . . .

Love the dots as the sprays too! This cake in the top left is closer to the colors. Not neon but not pastel, more classic. Again with the pearly dot trim and the harlequin is way better on this one where they use the dots on the harlequin as well!!! Wish I could see more of this because it looks like the closest as far as color and style, minus bows and flowers. But again, doesn't have to be this crooked stacked look . . .
Okay, so I'm horrified to say that my BIG IDEA is Betty Boop inspired but yes, it IS. But I am making an infused vodka martini that is her favorite so I was trying to figure out a martini theme and what you don't know is that this cake artist can make people! It's so cool!!!!! She's a Fondant Sculptor!!! That may not be a real job or artist description but that's her! :) Her blog is here (I have no clue how to make links)

http://www.glassslippercakery.blogspot.com/ . So I am about sure she can make my friend and make these fondant bubbles and put her on the cake in a martini glass! How cute would that be??? With more bubbles shooting off the cake!


Now, if she thinks I'm nuts, the other thing I found that I would love is her popping out of the cake. Though my friend would NEVER show this amount of cleavage! Ha! Isn't she cute?

Okay, here's just some other things that I loved that started my cake investigation that I've left behind but still was impressed with and had to share . . .

See how searching for shoes made me find boxes I loved? Love the tone on tone stripes!

Oh, my friend and I met at The Gap and she and her husband forced my now husband to come into The Gap to meet me and then he proposed in The Gap as well so the jeans would get a HUGE laugh! Do you love how I'm not saying her name as if finding this and knowing her bday is next weekend and she loves Stoli Dolis and then this wouldn't tip her off? Ha! She's busy and isn't an internet girl like me, I know I'm safe . . . (praying . . . )

This has NOTHING to do with this but WOW!

Okay, as I said, I had started with purses and shoes so enjoy these, though I'm over it! Yes friends, from here to the end, these are all CAKES!

Once the party is over, I'll show you what the final cake looks like!!!

I want this!

Okay, so check this out! I saw this during the storms this summer. It's a couple miles from my house. I mentioned back in that post that there are 16 or 18 houses that have access to this little air strip and planes just come and go all the time! It's so fun to watch them! They have these crazy small planes with lots of color and I'm sure they aren't safe! Some look almost like a futuristic lawn mower with wings! So they all have these air hangers. Many have air hangers that are nicer than their homes! This one was recently built and I saw it once before with the door closed and though it was a unique garage with a front porch. But I didn't notice the HINGE! Here it is with the door open! How cool is this? I have not posted because I wanted to get a picture with the top down but I don't know when I'm going to remember to do that so I thought I'd just post this. Do you get it? Imagine the door down--it's a great front porch and you'd never know it is a garage door!!! There is a small entry in the center with a regular front door so if it's down, you just open the door. LOVE IT!

Wine for me!

I just told you about how my son Carter likes to make me coffee. Oh, James does too but the coffee story was Carter! So he also like to pour wine for me. Well check out this pour! This isn't even a wine glass but he can reach these water goblets. So, I just had to photograph this glass of wine and share! He's too cute! So when I say, "I only had 1 glass", know that this doesn't mean it wasn't too much!

Maybe 7 year olds shouldn't mix the coffee!

So, here's the story. I LOVE coffee. My kids know it and they are so sweet to offer to 'make' me coffee. Now I make the coffee, what they mean is they will pour it and mix it for me. They know that I add DaVinci sugar free syrup which is sitting right there, in that fun caddy. Then I add cream and that's it!

So the kids sometimes make this for me. This little guy, Carter, is SO smart but sometimes he does loopy things! He doesn't listen as he has a busy brain but he also always tries to be creative and do things just a little bit different. Can't just follow the norm, has to take it to the next step. Which is cute but sometimes causes trouble! So, back to the coffee. He makes it for me and I take a drink and it is the WORST coffee I have ever tasted. It had this bitter rotten taste to it and I couldn't imagine what on earth was wrong with it. So I ask him to tell me how he made it. He says I put in the cream and the syrup stuff! I ask him to show me. He gets the cream out of the fridge, along with this bottle of wine! Ick! It was horrible! He just decided that the 'syrup' in the same size bottle in the fridge was the same thing but oh boy is it not!

I'm having a blogging issue!

Here's my issue!

I don't know where to blog!

This blog is where Kim and I blog, however, Kim is pregnant with TWINS so she has kinda disappeared! Understandably! Want an update? She is doing great and is almost 22 weeks and is having TWO girls!!! Wow! I know! She is worn out and has no energy.

So, back to me, I'm the only one really blogging here! And I have a work blog which is where I try to blog as often as I can! I just blogged about a baby shower that I hosted for our sister-in-law, Renee. And I want to blog about it here too! BUT I refuse to do what I have done in scrapbooks which is put the same info in different books so that the 'family' book has a Christmas or Birthday page but I also put the same type of page in the kid's books too! It's a bit much but it's how I started so it's 'what I do'. But I'm NOT doing it here!

SO, what I think I'm going to do is put personal stuff here and the decorative stuff on my work blog. SO, the shower info there is all the decorations and the info here will be family pictures! Of which I didn't get many since I was busy co-hosting! But anyway, you get the point!

I don't plan to ever link from that blog to this one as that is for work so not all people who go there do I necessarily want to come here but I will put a link here to that one if a blog isn't complete here because I have stuff there, okay? I know this is crucial information for you all. Ha! But I just felt I needed to explain what I'm going to do with myself!

Kiersten

I'm heading to NYC this week!

I am so excited to go to New York City this week with my friend Julie! This trip began because we wanted to see Wicked. The show came to Orlando but the tickets were very over priced for the Bob Carr Theater and we decided if we were going to spend too much money on this show, we should spend it on travel to see the Broadway show!

We decided we might as well see as many shows as we can so we started looking at other shows. Rent is closing this Sunday after 12 years on Broadway so we decided we had to see that since we will be there just a few days before their last curtain.

We bought tickets to these shows since they do sell out but we will go to the TKTS booth and get tickets to another show as well.

Both the music of Wicked and Rent are amazing and I know I am going to enjoy both shows immensely!

Kiersten

First Day of School!

I am thrilled that school is back in session! I thrive in stability and needed a set schedule to resume! Here are the boys on their first day! I, of course, have many pictures of them just standing and posing but one is smirking or squinting or frowning or looking away. For some reason, the only time they appear to both be happy is when they are messing around. Yes, welcome to my life. This is how they always are! So stability resumes only to have what happen? School was canceled day #2, #3 and #5 of the first week! And day #4 should have been canceled instead of those three but I won't get started on that . . . We were in the midst of Fay, the wild storm that sat near us for what felt like forever! I plan to take some pictures of our area later today. We are thankfully not in a 'devestated' area but just one that got tons of rain, probably some flooding for a few folks and just a MAJOR storm for this area.

So as I type this on the Friday of the first week of school, my kids are watching TV and just hanging out! There's always next week . . .

Kiersten

Autism is a myth

This is my son James and he is on the autistic spectrum. It's just something that "is" and isn't much discussed. Well, until this morning when I heard my boys fighting. James was yelling at Carter. Carter was speaking calming but he was obviously annoying James. So I called them downstairs to discuss what was going on and James begins yelling "Carter says autism isn't real". Carter interrupts and says no, "I said autism is a myth. I just don't believe in it". I asked why and he then explained how you can't see it and it's not on tv so it's not real. Oh boy. So then I started listing other medical terms that they will grow up learning about and asked if they are real like heart disease and lung cancer and diabetes. My point was for them to say they weren't sure so that I could say 'they are real and just because they aren't on your tv shows doesn't make them not real' but diabetes caught me since they apparently know all about this from a Jonas Brother? Anyway, I explained to Carter that this is something that James was born with and it's part of his brain and you can't see it. They both wanted to know how to make it go away. Good question. I guess I'll need to provide some more information for Carter and it's no wonder James struggles with his friends at school when his own brother doubts this confusing 'thing' that you can't see.

James is the sweetest 9 year old ever and had so much fun making a gingerbread house at Aunt Kim's last December. I don't remember this little girl's name but she is one of Kim's friend's daughters and she was SO sweet and friendly to let James help with her house. There is nothing I think parents can instill more in their children that the ability to accept other kids for what they are and be a friend regardless and this little girl was a prefect example of that!

It's a Pirate Party!

While I'm talking about parties and a treasure themed PTA event, how can I not show you my treasure cake for my son's Pirate Party! Again, this is a while ago, I think 4 years ago. FIRST, you must realize which twin is typing here. Kim is the baker/caterer/master of all things food. I'm the crafty girl who sews! I have my talents but it's not in the kitchen. Designing a kitchen, that's me, using it's appliances and tools, not so much. Oh, here, I'll show you this. This is my hood in my kitchen--doesn't this tell you I don't cook??



It says "Kiersten's Kitchen, -chef wanted".


Okay, so now that I've prepared you correctly that you should not have any expectation from me in the kitchen, I hope you will appreciate the only birthday cake I have ever made! Here is my treasure cake!



See the crack through the treasure chest? I hope you think it was meant to be there. But it wasn't. I had a friend over through the entire assembly and she had to take over a few times as I couldn't even spread the frosting without getting crumbs in it. But the vision was all mine! I am GOOD for a vision but BAD for actually executing anything that has to do with an oven!

Okay, three posts in one day! I'm so proud!!!

Kiersten

PTA Welcome Back Teacher Breakfast

So I'm in crazy mode right now with my first event for PTA this year. I'm such a sucker with volunteering that not only did I agree to take on this very busy position for the 2nd year but someone else really really wanted to do it and I, along with my partner Kay, put our claim on it and insisted we do it! We are a little crazy like that.


So next week is my first event for the year. It is a tough one because it is before school starts and I have to juggle my kiddos while cooking, decorating, setting up and cleaning up! We do our first event around the school's theme which is "Wild about Reading" this year. There are many directions that you can take the theme "Wild" but the school is going with the Camo/wild outdoors theme since we live in a rural area. I'm having fun with that theme and will show you that once it's over and I have pictures!


Last year, the theme was "Reading for Treasure" and here are a few pictures of our set up. The treasure boxes are from my son's bedroom and the map I made in front of the TV with some ink pads and a marker. The boat belongs to the school's past principal who passed away from a long fight with cancer the year before. It meant a lot to the staff that it was worked in to the start of their first year without her and it was a nice touch.
Here's another view of that area showing the oars. The flowers were in black plastic as they had been in the boat but we had to take some out. Kay grabbed paper towels from the bathroom and wrapped them--talk about quick improvising!

We set up a coffee bar elsewhere but the rest of the drinks were at one end with the hot food at the other. Here is the entire table. The little boat by the drinks is filled with tea and cocoa packets and topped with a tray of mini marshmallows.


Each table was reserved for a grade level or a group within the school as this breakfast is a meeting as well. We couldn't do a treasure theme without giving each teacher and staff member a little something so I made 70 of these tags. Making one was easy but I was regretting it by the end of this project-it took me hours! They loved them though so it was worth it!

I'm excited that next week is my last year of serving breakfast so early the week before school starts but am also looking forward to a fun year with this position. Kay is awesome and we work great together and it's a great school so it is worth it!!

So perhaps instead of writing about this event, I should be working on it? I work great under pressure so I'm sure I'll keep blogging!


Kiersten

When Does a Quarter=$615??

We have had ongoing dryer issues for a few months now. It is a good dryer; here is the type we have because others that own this should know all about this too!! Though anyone can have this issue.

Here's the run down of events:

The ‘power failure’ (shows PF on our machine) warning came on in April. The service company that we called said it was electrical, not the machine—paid him $145.

The electrician came and moved the machine around, checked the plug, tweaked the electrical panel and moved the machine back and viola, it worked—paid him $85.

Fast forward to July and it happened again. This time we started with the electrician first. Seemed obvious right? Well, he’d tweaked all he could and found nothing wrong so sorry but I don’t know what it is—paid him $85.

So then we called the service company again. He at first said it must be the electrical but when we argued about the electrician already coming and looking at it, he said he’d investigate further. Well, he opened up the inside of the machine and laughed. He then proceeds to show me all the money in the mechanisms of my machine. Like 9 coins!!!! Two coins were lodged in with the electrical connectors and one quarter in particular was the issue. Well, wait, lets back up, the ISSUE is really a husband who can’t take his change and screws and business cards out of his pockets! Okay, so the repair man takes the quarter out of the electrical connector and look at this quarter!! Who knew a quarter could burn????? He handed it to me and said “here’s your expensive souvenir”. Yikes.

So he takes the money out but surprise! It still doesn’t work. The surges from the coin and shock to the system have crashed the main power board. So he replaced it and now it works—paid him $300!!!!!!

He said this was probably the same issue back in April but our moving the machine around jiggled it enough to let it work for a while. $615 and ALL of this for a quarter! So I figured out the start of the joke “When does a quarter=$615?” But I don’t know the actual punch line. Regardless, it’s not really funny now is it?

Here are things I learned about this issue as well as some washer issues:

-Many dryers let money get out of the drum and into the mechanisms but these frontloaders allow it to happen more often—it just slips right through the filter and the electrical is right below. SO, avoid all coins and also don’t let your filter get too full. I started a fire in another dryer by washing a dry clean only rug that just broke apart into lint years ago so I can speak on this too. Ha! As in, flames and extinguisher kind of fire. Yup. My husband was as amused with me then as I am with him right now.

-Screws and nails can fall through the holes in the washer, which is something that my husband also leaves in his pocket, and then as the drums spin, it will slice electrical lines and slash the outer drum in the washer that holds the water. Uuummmmm, that sounds expensive.

-Who gets a musty smell in their washer? I do! I thought I’d bug him with questions while he was working and he said that all front loading machines get some odor but some can be worse if your water isn’t great. I have a well so there ya go. Because of the high efficiency and low water levels, the machine gets a build up and never really rinses off. They sell tablets that you can use but that hasn’t worked long for me. Not only are they expensive but I have also ordered them online since they are hard to find. That’s time consuming on top of costly. So here’s his tip: Once a month put cascade dishwashing powder in the machine and run it on whitest whites or your longest wash. He said it doesn’t sud so no problem. It cuts grease and breaks down the lime build up and removes the issue! I will try that soon. Once I’m done catching up on all my laundry that is!

I always thought that the problem with coins in pockets is that it is ANNOYING to listen to, I had NO idea it was a risk to the machine and an obvious safety hazard! Show this to your husbands!

Kiersten

Builder Jim

Have I introduced you to my husband? We'll call him Builder Jim. He's a residential contractor and he works very hard. And he also plays very hard. This is a white shirt. What else can I say? I stay inside and drink wine when he's acting like this but even I, who avoid all things dirty and boyish, have to venture outside to get a photograph of this. This was many weeks ago. I just did laundry today and saw that this guy actually washed this shirt. I assume he's worn it again too because it was in the clean laundry today. That's ridiculous. We can afford a new tshirt, no problem. I threw it away. Don't tell him. I'm sure he's proud of how stained it is. I can find lots of pristine, dressed up pictures of my husband but if we are going to be real on this blog and speak of our real lives , then here it is--my husband at his happiest!

I don't like it, but I do like him happy so I deal. The next time he puts on a golf shirt and gets a manicure, I'll photograph that too . . . but don't hold your breath.

Kiersten

Oops, I guess I've been neglectful.

Okay, I'm here! Yes, a few weeks later. See, I had to recover from all the kiddos at my house! While Kim was pointing out what a slacker I am, I was doing this! I kind of love how the two in the back of the cart are in a seatbelt while the others are just sitting in a trailer. We refused to let them get off their bottoms though, we're cautious like that.

This is how we play here in Rural Florida! See, Kim is in Augusta (home of The Masters) and this is so NOT how they use golf carts there. And the brand of this cart is also an issue as it is not their cart of choice, but it belongs to my friends. We went there to play and do a bit of yard work. In neighborhoods, you help others plant flowers on porches and talk about if someone's tree is dropping leaves in someone else's yard or whisper about the person who never edges at the sidewalk. In rural areas, we talk about things like when it might work out for us to come over and help with our Bobcat or the best way to catch moles or how many deer will come through your yard soon or the lastest lost pets that roamed through your front yard.

It was 7 am and the boys just woke up for school and this is what they saw in the front yard! How fun is he?? Within the hour, the owners came and got him. Yes, he is someone's pet! We have lived in our rural area for a year and we've had lost horses and lots of wild cats roaming our property, along with deer. But he was the most fun! Yesterday, there were chickens here! We don't even own a dog, truth be told, so this is quite amusing to us! You know you are in a rural area when instead of seeing signs that say "Lost dog", you see "Lost goat"!

So, I promise to blog more! I'm the bad twin but I will do better I swear . . . . .

Kiersten