Cakes and More...

The week following the Super Bowl was a very busy week for me! I needed to practice some cake decorating techniques for Hannah's birthday cake and petite fours for a baby shower. For Hannah's cake I wanted to do gum paste flowers. The easiest of these seemed to be daisy's. Since her cake theme is Hello Kitty, I thought daisy's would be a perfect match. I loved working with gum paste! It was like working with play-dough but dried harder than fondant.

I made a multi-tone daisy to match the colors Hannah wanted on her cake, pink, purple and white. I thought they turned out cute. I had to let them dry for few days. I was going to put a purple middle on them, but decided it was too much work and just left them like this! I'm lazy sometimes! :)

I also worked on different ways to cover/ice petite fours for a baby shower I am co-hosting in a couple of weeks. I have my general idea of the completed look but getting there was somewhat frustrating! I finally managed a way to get them to work. As the week started to end, my kitchen looked like a bakery had thrown up on it! DJ came home one night after I cleaned it and stated that we do have a real kitchen instead of a bakery! I will post pictures of the petite fours in a couple of weeks when they are finished. Stay tuned!

We found out Trey had an ear infection this last Saturday, just in the beginning stages. With all his cold symptom and off and on fever he was exhausted. Most days he would sleep in a late as possible and take a very extended nap. This was after removing him from the car without him stirring once!

Now I know what your thinking! Here's the scoop: He has an older sister and older female cousin who love to play dress up when I watch Iva. It was inevitable that I would find him like this at some point. So when it finally happened I had to take a picture. The girls finally let him in Hannah's room to play with them. This was the result! I now will need to invest in some boy dress up costumes so he can play with them but without the wings and skirts!



Super Bowl Sunday & Happy Birthday Taylor

Our Super Bowl Sunday (an unofficial holiday at our house) turned out to be another great fellowship night. Every year we host our Sunday School class for he big game. This year was once again a success! Here are a few pictures:

 

 While cleaning that morning, I noticed Lexi sitting by the window. I just love to catch her like this, wanting so bad to go out and play with the neighborhood kids and sometimes other dogs.

We like to cater with Whole Hog Cafe for the night. We just love their BBQ and it is so easy to grab and serve. Stress Free! Everyone brought either a yummy appetizer or dessert. I love food!

As usual, we had an great turnout. I think the layout of our new house was just perfect. There were only a few times I felt claustrophobic but the openness really helped.

Trey and Hannah really had a great time playing with all the other kids. For the most part, they stayed in their rooms so the guys could enjoy the game kid-free. Towards the end though they started to dance around in the living room too. Not sure why Trey had the pillow with him!

In addition to the game, my youngest brother Taylor turned 19. Since we had already planned the fellowship with our SS, we didn't go to my dad's for the birthday/Super Bowl party. But I did make him a red velvet cake (from scratch) and take it over there before our party. I was able to spend some time with the family and nibble on some good BBQ my dad and Taylor made.

Happy 19th Birthday Taylor ~ Love ya!

Hunter Coltelee Dobbs

Hunter Coltelee Dobbs

January 28, 2012 

6 lbs. 15 oz. ~ 20 inches

My brother Matt and his wife, Elizabeth, welcomed their first child Saturday, Jan. 28th. They went in to be induced Friday morning at 5:30am. She slowly dilated all day and through the evening. Around midnight she stopped dilating at a 9. Elizabeth is a tiny woman and Hunter was a big boy for her size. So the doctors recommended a c-section. Elizabeth really didn't want to go this route without trying to push first. So, about an hour later she started to push. I was lucky enough to be a part of this along with my sister-in-law Shawna and my mother Pam. We were the only ones, besides Matt that was allowed to be in the delivery room while she was pushing. It was really neat to help Elizabeth and to be on the "other" side of delivering a baby. I mostly got to help with holding a leg. Anyway, for two hours, Elizabeth pushed with all her might. In the end, Hunter's heart rate started to get high and Elizabeth started to run a fever. The doctors were getting worried about their health and insisted on a c-section. Elizabeth and Matt agreed and just after 4 am Hunter was delivered.

Mom and Hunter are both doing great now. Hunter had to stay in the NICU for 3 days while the doctors monitored him for a possible infection from the delivery and he needed antibiotics. Elizabeth has started to recover from the surgery. At first there was a lot of pain, but it seems to be getting better. All three of them are staying at her foster parent's house for about a week. So I haven't really seen them since the 30th. I spent all day Saturday (after leaving the hospital at 5 am) sleeping! I was exhausted! But I can only imagine how the new parents feel!

His middle name is a combination of my brothers middle name, Colte, and a family name from Elizabeth's family, Lee. They both wanted it in his name and instead of having four names, I suggested they combine the name into one. I really like it, it's unique! Sorry the above pictures are a little dark, Hunter didn't like the flash very much! I will post some more pictures of them when I see them again. Hopefully that will be soon!

Vacuum Sealer Anonymous

It's official, I'm in love with my vacuum sealer! I'm addicted to it. I will vacuum seal our left overs. I make extra meals to freeze for later ease. I seal things to keep them fresh longer.  I would vacuum seal my kids if I knew it would help keep them fresh and in a state of perfection. Ha! I'm just kidding. Please don't call child services!

But in all truth, it is my most prized kitchen item right now. I used to think my dad was crazy. See, he has been using a vacuum sealer for several years now. Most of the steaks I have eaten at his house have been cooked, sealed, frozen, reheated and eaten like they just came off the grill! I love his "sealed" food. We used to joke he would vacuum seal his wife is only she fit in the bag! But now I know what joy it is to have and use one. It really makes my life around dinner time easier (and my freezer full).

On a more serious thought, wouldn't it be nice if we could apply this food saving concept to our personal life as Christians? When we are first saved, we are on fire for the Lord! We are white as snow and freed from our bondage of sin. Now, just vacuum seal our life right here and we can stay frozen in this time. Right? Wrong, sin is never going to let us stay sealed. Thankfully we have an ultimate tool! Jesus! He is our life saving, seal in the freshness kind-of tool. Thank you God, Thank you Jesus for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus' blood on the cross so that I may be saved for a rotting life and eternity in hell!

Happy Birthday DJ!

Yesterday was DJ's 32nd birthday. It's getting to the point where I can't remember how old he is. I have to really think about it sometimes. I guess having kids (and getting older) really did a number on my memory. It has effected my memory of names too. I used to remember every one's name, their husbands, kids, pets, etc. Now I just have to think about it and sometimes it will come to me. Especially if I haven't been around them in a while or just met them.

Anyway, yesterday was pretty much a normal day for everyone. I made DJ's requested meal for him. He was able to be home in time to eat it with us. Betsy and Iva were here too. He wanted my chicken and rice casserole, baked beans and blueberry muffins. Instead of a traditional cake he wanted no-bake cheesecake. This was a meal I wouldn't normally put together. But it was what he asked for so I made it. And it was pretty easy if you ask me!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life! :)

Hannah's Journal and Homework

Hannah has started writing in school this year. Her teacher had mentioned getting her a journal so she can practice writing more. It has been about 9 weeks ago when she mentioned it and I am just now getting around to buying her one. I know, terrible mom! However, she has been practicing off and on just not in a special journal. Tonight we rectified this! I bought her a journal and tonight she made her first entry:

"I plae in sinrs."
Translation: "I play in centers."

Then she drew a picture of all the centers she plays at school. I am really impressed with her writing sentences. I'm not sure if this was normal when I was in Kindergarten. I can't remember writing much, but I do remember learning to read small words. The idea for her is to write a sentence, making sure to capitalize the first letter in the sentence, put spaces in between each word and use punctuation. The spelling is suppose to be phonetically and I'm not allowed to help her with it. This was hard for me at first! But I have improved my non-interfering and she is improving with learning the phonetics of the words she wants to write.

Some nights she is not interested in homework at all and on those nights we will just do the minimum required for "homework". On the nights she is interested I try to do different sorts of things. I usually let her decide what she wants to do other than the required.

I love to see her read too! She brings home books they make in school and reads them to me. Last year we were just learning the letters in the alphabet and learning to "write" her name. Now she is writing sentences and reading! She has come a long way and I am so proud of her!

Arkansas Wins!

Although I didn't watch the game much, I do know the Arkansas Razorbacks won the Cotton Bowl. I just wasn't interested in the game really. So I visited with my friend Ellen most of the time. I was able to snap a few photos of our kids playing! They all seemed to have a good time.

Hannah, Iva and Ellen's youngest daughter playing together in Trey's room. They all hit it off pretty well!



Ellen's two sons and Trey all took turns on the iPad. I just love this photo!