i heart motherhood

Allison

2012-02-17T20:07:00.002-07:00

Cornflower blue wedding cake with charcoal swirls.
Flavors are: Carrot cake with cream cheese filling
White vanilla cake with lemon filling
Dark chocolate cake with raspberry filling

I liked piping the detail on top of the ribbon. It was the first time I had tried it. I used royal icing because it doesn't contain any fat. So it doesn't make grease spread through the satin ribbon.

A really pretty cake for a gorgeous bride!
I hope they loved it, I enjoyed making it!

SORRY

2012-02-12T10:17:00.002-07:00

It appears my blog has become so popular that I no longer qualify for the free version of Photobucket I was using for all my pictures.
I am buying the pro version now. So I hope all my pictures get restored shortly. Come back and see everything soon!

Thank you!!!

pixar cars cake

2012-02-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

This was such a cool cake to make! Every detail was just so fun. The road border on the bottom, the tires, road signs, cute banner bunting on the top.
The top tier is Banana Cake with cream cheese filling and frosting, can I just say that its one of my favorite flavors! So yummy! Similar to banana bread but more sweet and lighter in color.
Bottom tier is Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake with Ganache Filling. Also one of my best flavors. The birthday boys mom picks really well! I hope little Brayton had a great 2nd birthday!

megan - White Chocolate Curl Wedding Cake

2012-02-09T14:54:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I made this White Chocolate Curl Wedding Cake. I learned the technique of curling chocolate for it. It was easy when it worked for me. But I had a lot of failures curling the chocolate yesterday too. I will be doing a tutorial on it soon!

Here is the chocolate curl cake before the flowers had arrived to be put on. The inside of the cake was french vanilla cake with raspberry filling. Then covered in vanilla buttercream and white chocolate curls.

Here is the pic my hubby took of me doing some finishing touches. A few of the curls fell off during travel. Glad I brought extra!

It was a very pretty cake. And eating the chocolate curls was divine!!! They melted in your mouth and were excellent. I got the highest quality white chocolate available and LOVED it. I'm not normally a white chocolate fan at all.
It was fun to overhear people talking about this cake as I was working on it. Everyone couldn't wait to eat those chocolate curls and some were planning on stealing some off the back as soon as I left. The bride and her family were so nice. I really loved making this cake and working with them.

purple ruffle cake

2012-02-04T19:10:00.002-07:00

I really like how this ruffle cake turned out. It was very dramatic in person. Covered in pretty purple ruffles in a gradient. It was a very tall cake standing about 8 inches tall!

It was a birthday cake for 24 year old gorgeous twin girls. I hope they liked it!

Here is the cake stacked and ready to be frosted. 5 layers of French Vanilla Cake filled with Raspberry and Bavarian Cream Filling, alternating in between each layer.

Covered in Whipped Vanilla Bean frosting. It was seriously yummy stuff! Ready to be covered with pretty ruffles!

This cake is probably one of my favorites. I hope to do more ruffle cakes soon!

I have had lots of requests, so I will be doing a tutorial on this really soon!

italian buttercream wedding cake

2012-01-02T14:50:00.002-07:00

I really loved how this cake turned out. It was so classic, elegant and romantic.

3 tiered cake covered in Italian Meringue Buttercream. Piped with a swirled design and buttercream pearls around the bottom of each layer.

The flavors of this cake starting at the top:
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Filling
Devils Food Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling

Covered in lots of pretty purple flowers. My personal favorite. :)
I really enjoyed this cake and especially liked working with such a nice family!

teresa

2012-01-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

I loved making another snowflake cake. This one is a buttercream cake covered in lots of sparkly ribbon. The whole side of the cake is wrapped with sheer sparkley glitter ribbon. Then a royal blue sparkle ribbon on the bottom of each tier. The the ribbon tied in a bow on top and draping down the sides.
With my handmade sugar snowflakes on top and down the front. Every square inch of this cake was so glittery! It was very pretty. The bride designed the cake herself, and had a special request for the inside.

BLUE!!! The inside was Creamy Vanilla Cake colored royal blue!!! It was really dramatic!

christmas sugar cookies

2012-01-02T13:00:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I had an awesome time decorating these cookies.
I bought the sugar cookies with my bountiful basket before christmas. The cookie pack comes with premade cookies and containers of icing. I piped the fun trees, bells, snowman and stockings on the cookies with the icing. Then sprinkled with edible gold glitter dust.

pretty pink birthday cake and cupcakes

2011-12-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

A pretty pink birthday cake and cupcakes.

I made this birthday cake and cupcakes for my grandma. She was turning "29" It was a fun party, I think we ended up singing happy birthday to her like 5 times because she loved it so much.
The top of the cake is covered in gumpaste flowers.

The cake and cupcakes were chocolate marble cake, filled with red raspberry filling. Topped with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream. Each cupcake had a rice paper butterfly on them. These would be soo pretty for a babyshower or girls birthday.
These were by far the most adorable cupcakes I have ever made. I hope I can do this design again soon.

200+ cupcakes

2011-12-12T16:50:00.002-07:00

I was in charge of the food at my ward's Christmas party. Since our budget was not excessive I figured out it was cheaper for me to make the cupcakes than buying sheet cake or cookies. Tastier too!
I have never attempted making so many cupcakes by myself before. I baked them all the night before. And in the morning filled and frosted them. And turned out to be pretty fun! It took probably 6-7 hours in total. Because I could only bake 24 at a time. I dream of the day I have double ovens. Or better yet, a commercial kitchen where I can bake 500 cupcakes in 10 minutes! *sigh*

These are my Vanilla Red Raspberry Cream Cupcakes. They are a white vanilla cream cake filled with red raspberry filling. Topped off with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream.

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes. These were the first to fly from the buffet.

I wanted to make cute little signs to stick in one of each flavor cupcake. To let everyone know what all the flavors were. But I didn't get time to do it. These I would have called "Fa La La La Lemon"
They were Lemon Cake filled with Lemon Curd Filling topped with Lemon Buttercream.

These bad boys were my favorite. Chocolate Peppermint Cupcake.
Chocolate Cake topped with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream. And then filled with a Chocolate Peppermint Ganache Truffle.

I really enjoyed the whole thing. We served Spiral Ham, cheesy "funeral" potatoes, green beans, a garden salad, rolls and cupcakes. It was surprisingly a lot of fun! I'm glad it went down without any problems too.
I will do a post later on serving a lot of people on a budget and tell all that I learned!

teri

2011-12-10T12:19:00.001-07:00

I loved making this snowflake wedding cake for one of my bestest friends. Her reception was very pretty. Tons of pretty snowflakes hanging from the ceiling with lots of twinkly lights. The colors were blue and silver with some pink accents. It was really gorgeous.
My photos are not the greatest quality, I am hoping to get more from the professional photographer. Also, the cake had a cake topper, which hadn't arrive yet when I delivered the cake. So it's kinda bald in these pictures. :)

I wish it showed in the picture. But this cake is covered in edible shimmer and glitter. It was very sparkly! The snowflakes on the front of the ribbon I made and are edible.
Flavors are Triple Threat Chocolate Cake and Lemon.

Congrats Teri! You were a GORGEOUS bride!

elmo cake and cupcakes

2011-11-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

I had a ton of fun making a little Elmo cake and Elmo cupcakes. We are big fans of the fuzzy red monster around here!

The flavor inside was chocolate marble. And very yummy, one of my new favorite flavors!

The cake was for the most adorable little 2 year old of one of my friends. They had the birthday party at a one of those Indoor inflatable jump places. It looked seriously fun!!

yellow, black and grey wedding cake

2011-11-19T22:55:00.004-07:00

This was a grand wedding cake. It stood 6 feet tall on top of the table.
The reception was decorated amazing! Yellow flowers everywhere. With accents of black and grey. It was such an elegant, gorgeous wedding.
The flowers on top are made of sugar/gumpaste. They are so delicate and feel like porcelain. I love that they can last forever.
The cake piped with a lacy flower design. With a black and silver ribbon bow and broach on front.

Flavors are (starting at the top) Red Velvet, Boston Cream Pie, Chocolate Eclair, and White with Raspberry Cream Filling.

I hope they enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun creating it.

in your arms

2011-11-07T13:01:00.002-07:00

This music video “In Your Arms” by Kina Grannis is a stop-motion animation done with jelly beans. It took 22 months, 1,357 hours, 30 people, and 288,000 jelly beans and NO green screen.

The making of video here.

icecream sandwich cake

2011-11-05T21:25:00.000-06:00

My dad LOVES icecream. The last few years I have been making him an icecream cake for his birthday. We totally love this recipe for an icecream sandwich cake. It's a fun recipe to alter. Try it with your favorite candy or nuts in the layers. This year we did a couple layers of Mint Oreo Icecream. And then topped the cake off with Dark Chocolate Ganache. YUM!!!

halloween costumes

2011-11-01T20:55:00.000-06:00

This Halloween George dressed up as a Ninja. And Jack was a Jack-O-Lantern.

We are planning on torturing him and all his costumes will be themed "Jack".
Examples: Jack-O-Lantern, Jack the Ripper, Jack Skeleton, A Flap Jack, Jack Sparrow, Jack Hammer, JackJack from The Incredibles etc. Seriously, we could go on and on with ideas. Poor Child...

Here is an adorable kissing picture. Because making him dress up as "Jack" themed costumes doesn't do it. We have to torture them some how. HELLO THERAPY!

The Ninja costume was from my friend Heidi. Thanks again!!!
George LOVED karate chopping and saying "Hi-yah" all day long.

But taking pictures of Ninjas with swords is a little dangerous.

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween!!

halloween sugar cookies

2011-10-26T18:58:00.002-06:00

These are the premade, ready to decorate Halloween sugar cookies I ordered in my Bountiful Baskets this last week. You get a container full of baked delicious sugar cookies. And 4 containers of icing. They were super fun and easy to decorate!

But black icing sure is messy!

For those of you who do bountiful baskets and wanted to make them the same way. I take a spoon and stir the containers of icing REALLY well until they are super smooth. Then I put them in cake decorating piping bags. I actually didn't use tips because I'm lazy. If you want to use tips, I would use a very small round tip. I just cut a tiny bit of the end after I rubber band the top of the piping bag so it wont leak everywhere out the top.
Say I am doing the pumpkin cookies. I draw a line of icing all around the outside edge of the pumpkin cookie, leaving a quarter inch or so of cookie border. This creates a damn of icing to keep everything contained because its so liguidy. Then I start filling in the whole center of the cookie. Once its all filled in and orange, you can lightly shake the cookie back and forth to make the liquid icing to fill in perfectly smooth. Then take the black for the face and pipe the details on. It will sink right into the orange pumpkin. Leaving a perfectly smooth icing job. Hope that makes sense! Happy Cookie-ing!!!

powdered milk disaster

2011-10-20T14:26:00.003-06:00

We ran out of milk. The powdered milk was brought up from storage so we could have breakfast this morning. After breakfast, the lid was not placed on tight enough. So, while I was tending to baby in his room. George had some fun.....LOTS of fun.

Spreading a few pounds of the powdered milk around the kitchen. And creating a giant dust cloud. My lungs still burn from inhaling so much while sweeping.

You can't really tell in the picture. But he was COVERED in the stuff. He looked like a ghost he was so white from the powder.

Raise your hand if you will be deep cleaning every crack of your kitchen this week!?......oh wait, just me. Dang.

Every family has some great messy stories! What did you, your sibling or child do to require some serious cleanup?
I can't wait to hear everyone's stories. It will hopefully make me feel better...

boys having fun

2011-10-18T16:43:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of George pushing Jake and Jack around the house on the plasma car.
Watch around a minute in, Max the poodle starts chasing them. And then 20 seconds later starts licking Jack's face like crazy.

Please don't judge the house is a wreck, because it is still dismantled from the birthday party the night before.

Please don't judge our hairy dogs either. They are in desperate need of a haircut. And are twice their normal size because of all the hair. Stupid groomers has been booked solid for months. grr..

Ok, finally, that's all my disclaimers.
Enjoy the video....

jack turns one!

2011-10-16T21:05:00.002-06:00

This adorable guy turned ONE!!
I remember a year ago, when we worried we might never even take him home from the hospital.
He is such a happy little boy. He adds so much laughter to our family.
We planned a big party for him. But then a funeral came that same weekend. So, it got rescheduled for the next week. Well, a day before that big party we all got super sick. Finally, three weeks later, we ended up having Jack's Birthday Party. By that time we lost half of the guest list. Which we were sad about, but we ended up still having fun!

Here is the horizontal rainbow striped caked I made. I didn't have much fondant, so I rolled out the fondant super thin for stripes. It took about half as much to cover the cake as normal. My favorite parts of this cake are the edible Gold Sparkle stripe. And the inside of the cake.

It's made with 5 layers of cake. Alternating Devil's Food Chocolate and White Vanilla. The filling is Marshmallow Buttercream, and the outside frosting is Dark Chocolate Cherry Frosting. Then covered with Marshmallow Fondant.

I didn't have any money for the party. We grilled hot dogs and everything else was just potluck. We used inexpensive pieces of fabric I had to decorate the tables. And a pack of dollar balloons for a balloon garland.

I wanted more on the tables, so I took some pipe cleaners I had from previous cake decorations. And put them in mason jars on the table like funky bouquets. My family is very creative and it seemed to be pretty fun for people to make funny things with them during the party.

Here is George playing with a dinosaur and a horse someone had made.

And these are my favorite. My brother made Tigger and Piglet.

George helping JackJack open his presents. Look at Jack's face, I'm not sure he wants to share.

Happy Birthday JackJack!
You are amazing kid! We sure love you!

iPhone Cake

2011-10-12T18:55:00.000-06:00

I had a blast making this iPhone cake. It was for my cousin's hubby. Who LOVES all things Apple.

The sides have all the buttons and plug holes. But don't look too closely at it iPhone lovers. I'm sure I didn't get the design 100% proportional and correct. I don't own a iPhone to reference.

It's a chocolate marble cake with cherry filling. And covered in buttercream and Chocolate marshmallow fondant.

wheel of fortune cake

2011-10-04T19:44:00.000-06:00

WHEEL OF FORTUNE! I love watching that show, so this was a very fun cake to make. The wheel on the cake even spins so they can play with it.

The cake is two different flavors, the left half of the cake is Chocolate Eclair Cake. And on the right, White with Raspberry Filling. All covered in Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

halloween cupcakes

2011-10-03T14:42:00.000-06:00

I had a blast making these Halloween cupcakes. I only had a dozen cupcakes to decorate. I really wanted a couple more dozen to make into fun monsters and ghouls. It was a lot of fun.

These two monster cupcakes were by far my favorite to make. I would LOVE to make a few dozen funny monster cupcakes! Anyone have a little boy birthday party coming up?!?

I'm making halloween themed cake pops next! Stay tuned!

Lady Bug Cake

2011-09-25T18:50:00.000-06:00

Isn't this ladybug cake adorable!?
I made it this weekend for a little girl that was turning 2 years old.

The bottom layer is White Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Filling and Whipped Vanilla Buttercream Frosting .
The top layer is a White Chocolate Blondie Cake, that is similar to a blondie brownie. It's got a moist thick crumb to it. And has chunks of white chocolate throughout. Filled with a rich cream cheese filling. And covered with Cream Cheese Frosting.
And both tiers are covered in Marshmallow Fondant.
The lady bug on top is made out of rice crispy treats.

It was so fun to make! I love making birthday cakes. I hope the little girl and her family liked it.

unpack or bust

2011-09-12T23:21:00.002-06:00

This is my motto on my fridge in magnet alphabet letters. It's been little over a week since the move and I am still drowning in boxes. The boys just don't let me unpack properly. The house isn't very baby proof yet so I spend my days following them and getting virtually nothing done. I have also pulled my back out twice. I was quite attractive looking today with my neck frozen in a weird position. My head looked like it was almost glued to my right shoulder. Hopefully I can get my neck turning and moving again soon.
Two nights I have fed my mom and brother yummy food in exchange for help unpacking. We have finished 3/4 of the kitchen boxes. I'm guessing I had around 25 boxes for the kitchen. And only 3 of those were food. Ya think I have enough dishes? That doesn't even include any of my cake decorating pans or supplies.
Anyways I'm thankful for their help. Or probably only 2 boxes in the whole house would be unpacked by now.
I currently don't have a computer desk, hence the no blogging lately. I'm on my phone. But tomorrow I am buying a used desk off the classifieds. I'm so excited! I have wanted this desk from ikea for years now. I will show it to you soon once I get it all set up.

Good night!
-Lindsay

moving

2011-08-31T21:28:00.002-06:00

We have T minus 2 days till take off.
The moving truck will be picked up early Saturday morning. I have so many emotions it's hard to even know how to take it all in.
I'm very excited for our new adventure. But very nervous to leave this condo where we are living.
See, it's a very fancy condo to live in. We have gorgeous dark wood cabinets in the kitchen. Along with Granite countertops, which is also in the laundry room and bathrooms. The appliances are fancy. It has gorgeous walls, doors and molding. We are able to keep our AC at 70 degrees and we hardly have a utility bill. I have a walk in closet that is just a foot smaller that the boys bedrooms. And I had just made a really amazing friend that lives in our building.
Oh sheesh, after typing all that, I'm not sure I will be able to move!
But, I feel like I'm stuck in a cage. We are on the bottom floor and people glance in our window while they are out walking their dogs. And the kids that live above us drive me insane. I have stooped to being the cranky neighbor who bangs on the ceiling with a broom stick from time to time. And let's not even get me started on how tired I am on picking up dog poop outside. Never again!

The new house will bring more space in the house and our own yard! I also might have my own office/art room. So I will be able to start blogging more. And working on more cakes, painting and quilting. So I am excited.
I just need to come to grips with leaving this cushy condo behind.
An adventure lies ahead!!

These funny pictures are of George. He found a piece of box that had two holes in it. So he was wearing it as a mask trying to scare us and saying monster. So I drew some quite freaky monster faces on the boxes for him and he has loved it.
He has been great at helping pack boxes. He has a little song he sings, "we're moving, we're moving, la la la la etc... Sometimes I can hear him singing "packing a box, up so tight". He has packed all the toys in the entire house by himself. We ended up with a total of 7 big boxes full. And that's not including the toys that wont fit inside boxes.
For sure we will be having a garage sale in a few weeks. Seriously where does all the stuff come from!?

Wish me luck on this move. We only have a tenth of this place packed up. The next couple days will be nuts.

Toodles!

moving and ugly chairs

2011-08-04T22:01:00.001-06:00

So big news for those of you who haven't heard yet. We are moving!!
We are moving over a couple cites. It will be good, because we will be closer to work and closer to family.
I can't express how happy I will be to not have people living above me. No more running, balls bouncing and dining room chairs screeching all day.
But, I will miss being here. I just recently made a great friend in my condo complex and it will be hard not to be so close.

So, do you like these hideously ugly chairs? There is one not pictured on the end (so, 6 in total). I bought them at a garage sale the other day. They need a ton of TLC! But they were a bargain price and are so sturdy and comfortable. They sure don't make them like they used to!
I am still in the process of figuring out what color/colors to paint them. The chairs on our current table have keeled over and died.
I know I want to cover the upholstery with the new fancy oil cloth they have available. With the boys, it will make cleaning magical. So, I'm on the hunt for some of that. If you have any favorite stores in Utah, or online stores for oilcloth. Let me know!
Oh, and any ideas on chair colors?
I'm thinking muted jewel tones. My mother thinks I'm crazy...am I?
She says black. Which I think is bold too, so I'm open to it. Anything fun, eclectic, and casual is my style. What do you think I should do with the chairs?
All different colors? Black? White? Cream? Maybe all one color?

peanut butter brownies

2011-07-21T15:07:00.001-06:00

I had a brilliant plan to make a dessert my husband would love. He really likes Resse's peanut butter cups. So my plan was to make a brownie with peanut butter cookie dough on top.

It turned out great!
I made the brownie batter just like the box directions and spread it out in my greased pan. Then I made the cookie dough just like the box directions. Pressed it out in my hands and laid it all over the top of the batter. Don't fuss over this too much. Remember cookies expand quite a bit, so all the overlapping and cracks wont matter once it bakes.
Then I sprinkled it with chocolate chips and pressed them in the dough a little.

Now it didn't work out perfectly. Because I didn't bake it quite long enough. I did the baking time for the brownies 9 x 13. I should of increased it a little because its thicker than just the brownies alone. The brownies didn't cook all the way and are extra gooey, which is good too. But for easy serving I would look at the brownie box and pick a longer cooking time.
They are super delicious and very rich! I would for sure take this to my next pot luck party. It's a winner folks! I can't wait for my hubby to try them!

the best chocolate buttercream frosting ever

2011-07-19T10:57:00.002-06:00

Are you ready? For me to give away one of my greatest recipe secrets!? For the creamiest, richest, best chocolate frosting EVER.
Here goes.....

Chocolate Mousse Buttercream Frosting

4 sticks (2 cups) of softened butter (i prefer salted)
3 cups powdered sugar (sometimes I add a tiny bit more, depends on your cocoa powder)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup whipping cream/heavy cream

Cream the butter until fluffy. Which takes at least a few minutes.
Then add the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time. To avoid it from flying everyone and creating a sugar dust cloud in you kitchen.
Add vanilla
Add 1 cup cocoa powder, mix well, scrape down sides as needed.
Then add the cream. Beat for a couple more minutes till its fluffy and beautiful.

Taste to see if it is sweet enough.
I find that these measurements pair perfectly with a Devils Food Chocolate cake. It's a little darker than milk chocolate.
You can also half this recipe easily for less frosting. But I think this much frosting is perfect for 2 dozen cupcakes or a layered cake.
This really is my favorite chocolate frosting. It has taken a LONG time for me to get this recipe right. I have gone through countless batches of frosting. And most I have just had to throw away they were so gross. I don't know why finding a good chocolate frosting has been so hard. But I am glad I have found it. I LOVE IT!

It is a fantastic frosting for anything! Cupcakes, Cakes, Fillings, Brownies, etc..
or just eating straight.
not that I've tried that.....

I will post my Vanilla version soon!
ENJOY!!

bethany

2011-07-17T17:14:00.000-06:00

This weekend I made a lace ivory wedding cake.
Ivory fondant with piped and handpainted flower lace design. Then embellished with tiny edible pearls.

With a elegant bow and brooch on the front.

The top is covered in handmade ivory gumpaste flowers. Then I painted them with shimmery luster dust. With edible pearls in the middles.

The top layer is a vanilla raspberry marble cake, with raspberry filling and almond buttercream.
The middle layer is vanilla cake with bavarian cream and raspberry filling.
And the bottom layer is dark chocolate cake with chocolate mousse buttercream filling.

*Hopefully I can get some better pictures from the photographer at the wedding. I forgot my camera. Biggest mistake EVER!

missionary cake

2011-07-13T23:23:00.000-06:00

My brother in law is off to a mission to Ecuador! I couldn't resist making him a cake for his farewell party.
The top tier was Lemon Cake with lemon curd and Lemon buttercream. The bottom tier dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate buttercream. And everything covered in marshmallow fondant.

I put "we love you" on the back of the cake.

I made a figurine of him out of gumpaste. The Ecuador flag is also made of gumpaste. And then I painted the flag detail on with food colorings and luster dust.

Here is the cute Missionary next to his cake. Have a great time in Ecuador and work hard!!

fourth of july cupcakes

2011-07-04T17:12:00.000-06:00

We are going to a BBQ tonight. So I made some patriotic red, white and blue cupcakes.
Chocolate cupcakes dipped in dark chocolate ganache. And then piped with red, white and blue Buttercream frosting. This frosting is to DIE for! I will post the instructions and recipe sometime soon. When I'm not busy eating awesome food and lighting fireworks!

Happy Independence Day!!!

flag pie

2011-07-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

I made this flag pie last year in July. It was awesome! And incredibly simple. You need to try it!

Last night we ate this scrumptious Flag Pie. I was happy with how adorable it turned out. I was in a hurry and used roll out store bought pie crust, and canned fruit. I need to make the real deal with homemade crust and fresh fruit.

To make the separation of berries use cardboard or a thick paper.
I just cut pieces from the dough box. Made an angle on them, similar to the sides of the pie. And had my brother hold them up dividing off a quarter of the pie. While I filled it up with the fruit. It was super easy!

Now go make a flag pie. You will love it!
Happy 4th of July!!!

4th of july cookies

2011-07-03T21:20:00.004-06:00

I got these premade sugar cookies as an extra on my bountiful basket. The sugar cookies come with 4 containers of icing. I put the icing in piping bags and decorated them. A few of the liberty bells and a star I dusted with edible gold dust on the white icing.
They were tons of fun to decorate, and eat!
Happy Independence Day everyone!

macy

2011-06-26T21:11:00.004-06:00

Fun baby shower cake for sweet baby girl Macy.

Top Layer is Yellow Butter Cake with Strawberry Filling.
Bottom layer is Devil's Food cake with a Creamy Chocolate Filling.
Covered with buttercream and marshmallow fondant. And then hand painted with pink flowers.

gardening

2011-06-21T11:56:00.002-06:00

The last few years I have been planting a garden. Since I live in an apartment. I plant the garden in my parents yard. It's been surprisingly enjoyable to plant and watch everything grow. I just need to work on my weeding skills....ok maybe lack of motivation to actually weed.

Here are some shots of things growing. My favorite thing to grow has been lettuce. But my favorite to eat is the Tomatoes, onions and peppers. I am addicted to fresh garden salsa.

So far we have only had herbs and lettuce to eat. Here's the list of all the stuff in our garden. I think we are little in over our heads.

Herbs (parsley, oregano, basil, dill, chives, thyme, garlic, sage, cilantro, marjoram)
Carrots,
Beets,
Eggplant,
Radishes,
Onions (red, yellow and white)
Bell Peppers (green, yellow, orange, purple and red)
Habanero, jalapeno, chili Peppers,
Cucumbers,
Zucchini (green and yellow)
Squash (acorn, and butternut)
Beans (pole and bush)
Peas,
Lettuces (red, spring mix, buttercrunch, iceburg)
Spinach,
Tomatoes (heirlooms, dx, lemon, roma, beefmaster, early girl, pear, cherry, grape, etc.. )
Tomatillos,
Leeks,
Watermelon,
Cantaloupe,
Nasturtiums,
Flowers,
Pumpkins
Gourds

*PHEW*
Tired yet! And I don't even know if I remembered it all.
Now do you understand my lack of motivation to weed. It hard enough just to list it all off!

What's your favorite thing to grow or eat in your gardens?

artwork

2011-06-15T17:42:00.002-06:00

When I was pregnant with George I had a very strong desire to paint. All these drawings and paintings were done during my pregnancy with him in 2008.

This drawing of iris's was done while I had extreme morning sickness with George the first couple months of the pregnancy. I was so sick for awhile it was a miracle to make it out of bed. My mom would come check on me and sit and watch cable while I tried to hold down food. One day she was sick of me not doing anything. So she brought me some paper and a box of crayons and said, "Draw me something" So this is what I drew her with the crayons while we watched House hunters...

This rabbit drawing is done on suede mat board with pastels. Sorry my shadow is in the shot.

During my second trimester with George I had a horrible urge to paint with oil paints. (In college I had taken a beginning oil painting class.) But because of the toxic smells, oil paints are not allowed while you are pregnant. So I decided to take a stab at acrylics. I had hard time not working with wet paint. The acrylics dry too fast for my taste. This sunflower painting went through a lot of background changes before it ended here. And I was still never quite happy with it. But it's fun anyways!

Here is another one of my attempts at acrylic. I don't feel like it's finished yet. It is a huge painting. I think it's about 4 feet across in length.

It's been so long since I drew or painted a picture. I draw coloring books almost everyday for work. But there is something about doing a painting that's different to me. Hopefully this summer I can start again...

sad jack

2011-06-13T22:43:00.001-06:00

Jack is in a clingy phase. This is what happens when I leave the room....

It's sad...but too cute not to document.
Thanks Jake for taking these!

Grumpy old man look...

The tears are welling up. So Adorable!

There goes the tear... Starting to forget what upset him...

And then we have happy Jack again!
We learn so much from this kid everyday.
May your upsets only last 15 seconds like they do for Happy Jack!

cake competition

2011-06-10T23:37:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I was in a cake competition.
We were allowed to show up with 2 tiers of cake, covered in plain fondant or buttercream.
It had to be under 2 feet tall and wide.
We stacked and decorated the cakes there, so the audience could watch.
And the theme was "Living the Sweet Life".
I chose to make a bee/honey themed cake, so I did a beehive on top of a bed of gumpaste flowers.

I like how my cake turned out, but it didn't turn out quite like I wanted. A few things went wrong and I was kinda rushed. I got to the competition 2 hours late, so didn't have as much time as I wanted, oh well....my fault.
I patterned the design of this cake after the Tamera cake. I wanted to stick to something I kinda knew for a competition.

I love this picture, Jake took it. All the window's blinds were closed in the whole big room we were in, except for one window. And it happened to light up my whole cake.When the sun was going down it was beaming on the flowers of my cake and made this funky shadowing.

Sticking with my bee theme, the inside is a honey cake. With a honey cream cheese frosting and then covered with marshmallow fondant. When they judged the cakes, we had to stand on the opposite end of the big room. But I still tried to see what they thought of my cake from 50 feet away. The judges REALLY loved my Honey Cake. We had slices of cake out for them to taste. And they only took one bite of everyone's cake. But...After the judging was over one of the judges came over and finished her piece of honey cake. She also asked to eat one of my gumpaste flowers and tried the pearls too! It was awesome!

The pattern I piped on the second tier of cake.

The bottom tier has gumpaste flowers covering it, painted with luster dust and edible pearls in the flowers. The flowers are VERY shimmery in real life, I wish the picture showed that...
The second tier is piped and painted with a royal icing flower design.
The topper is a beehive made out of rice crispy treats, covered in fondant and painted with gold and silver luster dust. Then there is 2 little bee's made from marzipan and painted gold.

Here are the other entries in the contest. A LOT of awesome cakes! I really loved all of them!
And hated they were my competition...

This cake won third prize. Picnic cake.

I overheard the guy who did this cake owns a bakery, and is moving to NYC next week, awesome! You can charge a lot more money there than Utah...smart man! La Vie Douce Chocolatiers Cake. Covered in beautiful chocolates. I wonder if he made all of them?

The Prada cake won the People's choice awards!

Candy Land Cake

Another Beehive cake, we think alike. Actually it was my mom who came up with the idea/design for my cake. Thanks MOM!!!!!!

Island and Beach paradise Cake.

This was the trunk of a car. With all the things she loved about Springville. I overheard this lady has a TV show where she teaches cake decorating.

Fun Square Topsy Turvy cake

Humming Bird Cake on a log cake stand. I loved this cake. The humming birds are awesome. And the gumpaste work was perfect.

Sweet Candy Cake. This was the 1st prize cake! She won a cricut cake machine. Totally awesome!

And me?
Well I won SECOND PLACE!!!!! I was so happy and surprised!! I won a 6 tier cake stand, a plaque and a pillow pan set. I learned so much from the whole thing. And will be back next year and be more prepared!!!

Thanks for all the family and friends that came and saw me decorate!
And EXTRA thanks to Jake, Mom and Dad for helping me with everything. YOU ROCK!!!!!

hello again

2011-06-03T21:46:00.001-06:00

So did you miss me? I kinda fell off the planet there for awhile. I have been taking a little break. My ulcers are trying to kill me off.
Here are a few things that happened...

Jack learned how to officially crawl, not just scoot. He also can pull himself up on things. The French doors are his favorite spot. He loves looking outside.

George is getting ganged up on by the dogs and Jack. They want his slice of bread.

I made cake pops. YUMMY! The recipe for cake pops is here.

This is what happens lately if I tell George to smile.

And then this...just imagine how he will be when he is a teenager...

Finally, that's more like it!

I decorated some cookies. Used the same technique and royal icing I did here.

I saw a giant turtle when I was at the local greenhouse buying plants. Random I know...But he was like over 3 feet long!

George likes to feed Jack now.

Opps I told him to smile again. Stubborn kid...

There's another good one!

This one is cute. George is playing in an empty box. And showing Jack his little toys. And I own the most attractive garbage can...

Made a strawberry lemon cake for my mom's birthday. Lemon curd in between every layer with whipped cream and strawberries on top! So good!!!

Jack got his first tooth!

Everyone say it with me....."Awwwwwwwwwwwww"
He is just too cute with that little tooth.

Tired after all 17 of those pictures? We sure are...
It's good to be back. That break was too long.

lauren

2011-05-22T07:00:00.008-06:00

This is the gorgeous Red and Black Wedding Cake I made this weekend.

The cake is red velvet and covered in vanilla buttercream and then white marshmallow fondant. With a swirl design done in royal icing with little pearls.

Check out the diamond on the intial "L".....BLING!!!

Black Satin Ribbon on the bottom of each layer.

With Beautiful Red Roses in-between.

I loved making this cake. The roses made it so romantic and classic.

mindy

2011-05-18T14:37:00.003-06:00

I feel like my blog is turning into a cake blog. My life seriously isn't just cake. But I have gotten lots more orders in the last week. So I wanted to share some of my past cakes. To give the brides more ideas.

This was my second wedding cake. And the very first cake I ever stacked. This cake was huge! Standing around 5 foot 9 inches on the table. Made for one of my bestest friends.
Mindy, if you are reading this.....I miss you!!! I can't wait till you visit in July!
It is covered in buttercream and has various designs piped in buttercream. I believe the cake flavors were from top to bottom: Dark Chocolate Cake with Bavarian Creme Filling, Spice Cake with Apple Filling, Lemon Cake with Lemon Filling and White Cake with Raspberry Filling. And I heard they followed the tradition of saving and freezing the top layer of the cake for the first anniversary and it was still delicious!

Funny story about this cake. I did this one years ago. Back when they were getting rid of trans fat in everything. Well little did I know that they had just taken the trans fat out of shortening that month. The bride's mom wanted the frosting as pure white as possible. So that required making the frosting out of pure shortening instead of using some tasty butter. I frosted all the cakes the morning of the wedding. And then a couple hours later the frosting starts peeling off all of the cakes!!! I freaked out. I went online and looked at some wedding cake forums and they were all having the same problem! Apparently the lack of transfat, or the new recipe for the crisco. Made it so the frosting wouldn't stick properly to the cake. I rushed down to walmart and bought the generic brand which luckily still had the trans fat and remade all 20 pounds of frosting. Scraped off the old frosting job and re did all the cakes. It was quite an experience. Now all frosting recipes contain at least half butter for that very reason.

topsy turvy cake

2011-05-17T13:38:00.002-06:00

I was looking through some old photos today and found this photo. This was the first cake I ever covered in fondant. It was actually one of my first cakes ever...probably the third or fourth cake I had ever decorated.
When I made it, I was having one of those thought processes...if your doing something Lindsay, you might as well over do it.
Yeah...I tend to have those a lot. Especially when making cakes. I think everytime I decorate a cake, I try and do something new I haven't tried. Which is good because I learn. But it's usually someone's wedding cake. So being new and risky probably shouldn't be on my business card to give to brides wanting to hire me.
Luckily no cakes have fallen over....knock on wood...

GO BOLD OR GO HOME!
or
Anything worth doing, is worth overdoing.

Those seem to be the mottos I tend to have running through my head as I decorate.
Hopefully it will continue to push me to my limits and make awesome creations, and not backfire on me someday...knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood!!!!

happy jack

2011-05-15T22:37:00.006-06:00

When I go into Jack's room in the morning. This is what I find on a typical morning...
Happiest Boy ever! He usually lets out a squeal or a laugh when I open the door. This little man is always in a good mood. He only gets a little fussy when hungry and sleepy. Other wise he is all smiles all day.
Oh, and Dad dressed him in this super awesome striped combo. In case you were wondering who was the genius behind it....

Then enters George, and he too wakes up in a fantastic mood every morning. I can't say the same about his nap times...

"AH, Aaaah, Ne, Ah" translation: "Look Jack, I have your hippo"

"Ah, Ah, HAT, HAT, Ah, Baby" translation: Jack is wearing a hippo hat!
by the way, all of this is said with a english accent....thank you Wallace and Gromit...

Mmmm, I haven't had breakfast yet. Don't mind if I do...

"AHHHHHHHHH" translation: Mom, Jack bit my finger!!!!

And that is a typical morning happening at our house.

-Lindsay

P.S. Thanks for all the kind words on the blog and on facebook about the last wedding cake. I can't thank you enough! I feel so blessed that the cake turned out so well, and that everyone loved it. Thank you!

tamera

2011-05-13T11:01:00.003-06:00

Here is the gorgeous ivory wedding cake I made for a wedding yesterday. The wedding had a fun vintage feel to it. She had ivory lace on the tables. And antiques incorporated in her decor. It was so pretty.

The Cake was covered in ivory fondant. I piped the lace like flowers on the cake with royal icing. I loved how they look sort of like porcelain.

The cake was sitting on this massive antique scale. The cake weighed in around 58 pounds.

It was a beautiful outdoor reception next to the mountain. The smell of flowers was everywhere and some confused bees landed on the flowers of the cake when we first set it up.

The flowers were made of gumpaste. Which is a sugar dough that when it dries, it gets hard and keeps it's shape. All hand made and painted with luster dust. With large candy pearls in the centers.

It was such a fun cake to decorate. I really love how the lace flower design turned out. I am anxious to make another cake with the same design. And to try out gumpaste flowers more. This was my first time, and it was a lot of fun.
What a beautiful wedding, I was so thrilled to be a part of it!

temple square

2011-05-03T22:00:00.002-06:00

We went to temple square in Salt Lake today. I had to go buy lots of cake supplies at my favorite cake shop sorta near by. So we walked around the temple grounds. It was soo gorgeous.
It's especially special to us there, because that's where we got married 4 years ago.
Flowers and Blossoms everywhere. The flowers smelled amazing. I could have just spent all day there.
And yeah, I was a total idiot and didn't bring my camera. But I snapped a few on my cell phone.

I am super busy lately. I have a lot of cakes due this month.
I need to make 300+ gumpaste flowers for a cake next week.

I promise I will show you how to make gum paste flowers once the may cake madness ends. I hear they are easier than they look. Guess I will find out! Wish me luck!

Toodles!

vanilla buttercream frosting

2011-05-01T13:58:00.006-06:00

Buttercream Frosting (vanilla)

Ingredients

1 cup softened Butter (2 sticks, salted kind)
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 teaspoons Vanilla (clear or regular, depending on what color you want the end result)
1/2 teaspoon Artificial Butter Flavor (this can be omitted if not on hand)
8 cups sifted powdered sugar (2lb bag) (I am usually lazy and do not sift mine)
4 Tablespoons Milk

In electric Mixer cream Butter and shortening. Add Vanilla and Butter Flavorings. Mix in Powdered Sugar gradually, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl often. Once all the sugar is mixed in, frosting will be stiff and dry. Mix in milk gradually and then beat at Medium - Medium High Speed till Fluffy. Add Food coloring at the same time as the milk if you are coloring the frosting.

I find this to be the perfect consistency for piping onto cupcakes. For spreading onto cakes I sometimes need to add 2-4 Tablespoons of Milk or Light Cornsyrup to make it a little more spreadable.
It's also about the right amount for frosting a large 2-3 layered cake nice and thick. Or plenty for 24 cupcakes thickly piped.
This is about as much frosting my kitchen aid bowl can make in one batch.
You can half this recipe easily if you want less frosting.

You can also make whatever flavor you like, by adding different extracts. Almond or raspberry would be yummy. And here is my version of this frosting in Lemon.

ulcer, ulcer, go away

2011-04-29T22:11:00.000-06:00

Warning:I complain a lot in this post.

Lately (since February) I have been having a really hard time.
A hard time keeping up with life.
I feel like I can't do it.
The dishes are piled up, I feel tired, sick, and in pain.
Well, I found out all this was being caused by an Ulcer.
I have been taking antibiotics the last 20 days, and took my last one today.
I really thought it was going away. But more extreme pain today...
I am much better than I was before. At least I am enjoying being with the boys and doing stuff now.
But I just want to feel 100% better! I seriously hate this.

Does anyone of you know if ulcers are a long term thing? Even after I complete the treatment. Like will I never be able to eat fresh pineapple, or pico de gallo again?

Well to end on a good note. Here are a couple cute pictures of JackJack.

Have a great weekend!

glasses

2011-04-28T06:00:00.002-06:00

I got 2 pairs of glasses. You can see my wild purple/rhinestone ones in the picture of me to the right.
George has been jealous, very jealous. Asking to wear them all the time.
Nothing a pair of tin foil glasses can't fix....

He loves them!

death by chocolate cake

2011-04-27T08:44:00.003-06:00

I made this cake for my mom and brother's birthday. It was.....well, the most chocolaty cake I have ever had.

It was devils food cake with mini chocolate chips inside.
With chocolate mousse in between every layer and on top.
With ganache poured over the cake.
Oh, and dont forget the mini chocolate chips on top too.
Yeah...this cake has A LOT of chocolate.
It was sooooo moist and amazing. I will definitely be making this again, hopefully soon, I want to post in more detail how to make it.
All you chocolate lovers will love it!
We ate it with Dreyers Black Raspberry Icecream, which turned out to be awesome paired with the cake. It was a perfect break from all that rich chocolate.

happy easter

2011-04-24T13:00:00.006-06:00

This weekend we got cookies as an extra with our Bountiful Basket order.
They came pre-made in the shape of eggs and bunnies. And include little containers of frosting ready to go.
This was the first time I have ever tried icing on sugar cookies. It was a lot of fun!
Thanks bountiful baskets for making it easy!

I hope everyone has had a great Easter weekend!
Here are a couple Easter videos I love...

Perfect Hard boiled egg

2011-04-22T10:32:00.004-06:00

Today I have to hard boil eggs for an easter egg hunt tomorrow. Sadly, I have never done this before. I was sick the day at culinary school where they spent 4 hours mastering every way to cook eggs. And I am not a huge fan of deviled eggs, so I have never conquered the boiling of an egg on my own time.

BUT! I have found someone who has perfected cooking hard boiled eggs.
Read over at Sandy Coughlin's blog, The Reluctant Entertainer. Where she teaches you how to make the perfect hard boiled eggs for her Bush's Beans Tex-Mex Deviled eggs.

I can't wait to try her method and dye eggs with Georgie this afternoon.
Wish me luck!

Tomorrow we are doing lunch, games (egg toss, cake walk etc...) and an easter egg hunt.
Then Sunday will be church and Easter dinner. (well technically only Jake gets to go to church. The rest of us are still on lockdown. I've got serious cabin fever going on!)

What are your plans for Easter weekend?

Photo by Care_SMC.

epic slide hair

2011-04-15T20:58:00.004-06:00

It was a gorgeous warm spring day today!

Finally, we were getting really anxious for winter to let go.

George had a great time sliding down the slide on our playground... many, many times.

And to think I was going to cut his hair last week.

So glad I have let it get long and unruly.

What an awesome kid. With some dang cool Hair!

P.S. These pics were taken on my cell phone! Crazy huh! (Unpaid endorsement for a Samsung Galaxy S Fasinate.) :)

Enjoy your weekend!

spring is here...finally!

2011-04-11T10:28:00.000-06:00

armadillo cake

2011-04-09T20:54:00.005-06:00

Have you ever seen the movie Steel Magnolias? Well this cake is like the armadillo cake from Steel Magnolias.
In the movie it's the disgraceful grooms cake the groom orders. They are embarrassed to have at the wedding because it's an armadillo. So they serve it in the carport.

I made this for a bridal shower themed after the movie.
I hear the shower's decor looked "like it's been hosed down with Pepto-Bismol." Because the colors were "blush and bashful" (pink and pink)
I watched the movie as I decorated the armadillo. The movie was a riot!

Best part of this cake is the armadillo is made out of red velvet cake. I sure wish I could have seen this guy when he got cut up.

birthday denial

2011-04-05T11:33:00.004-06:00

As you might have known I turned 24 last month. I am having mixed feelings about it. Mostly I am in denial because I didn't get my to-do list before I turned 24 done. I got a bunch finished. But not as many as I would have liked.

~~1. Have a yard sale~~(Made 150 bucks on our junk)
2. Lose 50 pounds (I ended up loosing 30)
3. Paint a picture (Can't believe I didn't do this one, kicking myself!)
4. Find the best frosting recipe (found a bunch that claim to be the best, tried them and I don't think they are...the hunt continues)
5. Paint my piano (I think red!) (totally didn't do this one. Mainly because I have to move the piano from my parents house to mine, ugh, lots of work. And I still cant decide on a color)
6. Get a chemical peel (bought a groupon for this, so it's paid for, I just have to go!)
~~7. Have more than my mother read my blog on a daily basis~~ (thanks everyone, for making this one possible!)
~~8. Find a dozen amazing recipes~~
~~9. Start a Cake Website~~
10. Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover (didn't finish)
11. Have a big Fall Party (couldn't do this one, because jack was in the NICU, and then was on lockdown)
~~12. See the Grand Canyon~~ with my mom
~~13. Learn how to airbrush~~
14. Unpack all the moving boxes (can't believe I didn't finish this one. I think there are still 5 boxes left)
~~15. Plant a garden~~
~~16. Have a giveaway on my blog~~
~~17. Make at least 12 wonderful cakes~~
18. Start blogging (or a blog) about my birds (I'm making a section on my new blog, does that count?)
~~19. Make 2 quilts or baby blankets~~
20. Furnish and decorate each room in the house. (Only 3/4 made it through some of the rooms, I guess this one is gonna take another year to finish)
21. Go Swimming (haven't been in 10 years) (Our condos clubhouse just opened the pool this month. Now I just need to go buy a swimming suit)
22. Don't eat ANY fast food! (except salads and subway) (did this for a month, then failed MISERABLY)
23. Send 5 surprise gifts (really really wanted to do this one, I think I ended up sending 2)
And the unofficial #24. Blog about each goal!!!! (yeah, failed at this one too, blogged about some)

Crappy feeling when I only fully completed half of them. Ugh...
Working on next years list.
I blame me doing so poorly on being pregnant. And taking care of a baby on oxygen.
And maybe a dash of laziness thrown in there.

general conference

2011-04-03T13:55:00.003-06:00

This weekend I have been watching General Conference. For you that don't know what that is. It's where members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints gather to listen to prophets and apostles speak. It has been an amazing weekend. The talks have been wonderful. The music has been incredible.

If you missed it. Or want to re-watch certain talks. Go Here.
Modern technology is soo awesome.

My soul feels so full and good.
God is amazing.
This church makes me feel so whole and wonderful.
I am soo blessed and grateful to be apart of it.

taste for tools

2011-03-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

I laughed a bunch today when I noticed George had given Jack another one of his play tools.
Remember a couple weeks ago when George gave Jack his toy wrench to play with?
I sure love my boys.

Butterfly craft

2011-03-30T12:23:00.003-06:00

George and I made butterflies yesterday. I got the idea here.
Go check it out because they are way cuter than ours.
We had to modify ours a little bit so a two year old could make them.

First I had George color on some scrap card stock with crayons.
While he colored I cut out shapes for the butterflies.
Then I folded his scraps in half and cut out butterfly wings.
We then attached the shapes on the butterflies.
This was an AWESOME way for George to practice recognizing and saying his colors and shapes!

They are hung on the front door. George still is constantly going over and pointing out all the colors and shapes.
My favorites he says are "Urcle" (circle) and "Urple" (purple)
And he still is convinced butterlies are really "Eeetles!" (beetles)

Doodling

2011-03-29T08:43:00.009-06:00

After the boys went to bed last night I decided to draw a little. My goal was to draw some backgrounds and things for my new blog. But...I got sidetracked and started drawing little birdies. I feel like I will never get the new blog up and running. I have soo many plans for it I am a bit overwhelmed, it's very easy for me to get distracted. Categories, Buttons, navigation bar, links, backgrounds, fonts, colors, pages etc.. Fancy Blogs are hard work. Maybe I should settle for something simpler...

Here are some more cell phone pics.

P.S. I'm still needing a night out. Anybody want to hang out? My offer still is desperately needed to be taken!

-Linds

best buds II

2011-03-28T14:42:00.002-06:00

There are sure a lot of great pictures I have found on my cell phone. These are back from February.
The boys are sporting matching outfits.
(yes, I do love torturing them)

Jack had his 6 month doctors visit. The kid is 21 pounds and 28 inches long.
That puts him in the 95% for weight and 93% of height.
Currently he is wearing mostly 18 month clothes.
We still can't get him to eat solids or take a bottle.
So, I feed the chubs every couple hours and we pretty much NEVER get to leave the house, doctors orders.
The day RSV ends this season we will be having a PARTY!!!
I think I will complete the process of going insane before the week is done.
I very much need a break!
Anyone want to take me away?? Dinner? Shopping? Movie? Anything?
Please don't make me wear a straight jacket....

best buds

2011-03-25T13:22:00.000-06:00

Here are some cute pics I took with my cell phone.
I've been busy with life and every extra second (which isn't very much) is spent working on the new blog. That's why I have been neglecting this one.
I wish I could stop time and get my mile long to do list done. Don't you? There is never enough time!

Toodles,
Lindsay

manly rattle

2011-03-15T11:34:00.003-06:00

Jack is too cute playing with the toy wrench. George handed it to him and Jack played with it for hours. Such a manly little guy.

So, it was my birthday last weekend.....
Happy Birthday to Me!!!
I turned 2 dozen years old.
It was the best birthday I have ever had.
I will tell you what I did, and show you what I got soon.

Have you gotten used to Day Light Savings time yet?
I have a confession....
I never changed my clock on the wall.....LAST day light savings time.
So...now it's correct. :)
Have a fantastic Tuesday!

pi day

2011-03-14T13:20:00.007-06:00

March 14th......3/14........3.14
Pi Day!!!

My mom on her facebook today asked everyone to write her a Pi-ku.
Instead of the traditional 5,7,5 syllables of a Haiku try 3,1,4 to celebrate Pi!
An example would be:
Spring has come
sun
finally warmth

Mine to her is:

My Mother
is
Very Awesome

or!
very crazy....
both work. ;)

Here is another one

Blog Readers
I
Heart you sooo much!!!!

What is your Pi-ku?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since it's Pi Day and since St. Patricks Day is coming up may I recommend a lime pie I tried last year and loved.

Lucky Lime Pie

Ingredients:

1 package (3 oz) lime flavored Jello
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (2-3 fresh limes)
1 tablespoon fresh lime zest
1 can (14 oz) fat-free sweetened cond. milk (not evaporated)
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (good with fat-free kind)
1 cup whipping cream
1 9-inch graham cracker crust*

Method:

Dissolve Jello in 1/2 cup boiling water; stir until sugar is completely dissolved in Jello. Add 1/2 cup cold water to Jello, then remove 3/4 cup and set aside. Stir lime juice and zest into remaining Jello and set aside to cool and thicken, but do not allow it to set.

Pour the 3/4 cup reserved Jello into a flat, non-stick 9-inch cake pan, cover and refrigerate. This Jello may be used as a garnish later.

Beat softened cream cheese until smooth; add sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) and stir to blend.

Whip cream until stiff peaks form.

Beat together cream cheese mixture and Jello-lime-juice-zest mixture (product should be thick and light - but not setup). Fold in whipped cream; spoon filling into prepared graham cracker crust. Refrigerate until set (2-3 hours).

Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

*To use extra jello as a garnish, use a small cookie cutter to cut shamrock or other fun shapes from set Jello and carefully place shapes on each slice of pie.

HAPPY PI DAY!!!!!

freezing fresh green beans

2011-03-09T14:33:00.004-07:00

1-Start with fresh green beans. Rinse them in cold water.

2-Cut the tips off the green beans. Then cut them to whatever length you prefer.
I kept them their natural lengths.

3-Put the green beans in boiling water. Cover the pot and cook for 3 minutes.
The water can be re-used 3-5 times. Just make sure its brought back up to a rolling boil.

4-Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the green beans from the boiling water and immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Keep them in the ice water for 3 minutes.

5-Drain them well.

6-Put them in freezer bags and make sure to get out all the extra air you can to prevent freezer burn. If you have a FoodSaver, that would work awesome for this.

And that's how it's done. It was very simple and not as time consuming as I imagined!
Now go enjoy some frozen fresh green beans!

-Linz

freezing fresh green beans

2011-03-08T10:25:00.005-07:00

Today my crazy project is freezing 28 pounds of fresh green beans.
Yes you read that right....Twenty-eight pounds....
and yes, I understand we will be eating these everynight for a year....

Here is the process:

1-Rinse
2-Cut off tips
3-Put in boiling water for 3 minutes
4-Take out and put in a ice bath for a few minutes
5-Strain/Dry off the beans
6-Freeze in bags

I will document the process as I do this today. I have never attempted this before, so we will see how it goes.
Talk to you later, when I probably will never want to handle green beans again.
-Linz

Here is the post where I freeze 28 pounds of green beans.

not much to say today

2011-03-07T16:16:00.006-07:00

It's been raining and raining. I am in a very gloomy mood because of it, and a few other things...
So I won't waste your time with very many words today. Because I don't want to get everyone down.
Here are a few pictures of my gorgeous boys.
Jack fell asleep after his bath.

I think I might edit more pictures of these happy guys and listen to my playlist.
That is bound to lift my spirits...
-Lindsay

P.S. Tomorrow I am going to be crazy and take on a huge project. Come back to see....

sofia

2011-03-05T17:36:00.003-07:00

Pink and Purple Butterfly Cake for a little baby Sofia.

It was for a baby shower, and I think it turned out darling!

The flowers are made of fondant. And I brushed them with sparkle/luster dust.

The butterflies are made from rice paper and are edible.
I purchased them here.
They also sell more realistic butterflies from a great shop here.

I started baking and decorating late Friday night and worked all night long. It was peaceful to do it while the boys were sleeping. And I didn't have to worry about them grabbing at everything.

Jake made the fondant and stayed up much of the night with me.
Around 2 am he turns to me and says,
"You're like the Jack Bauer of Cakes"
I'm still laughing about it...

i heart blogging

2011-03-01T06:00:00.008-07:00

I have been blogging for well over a year now.
And....I really love it!
Some of you might have noticed lately I have been taking small breaks from posting. Well some of that is because I have been scouting out new blog platforms.
See, I love blogging, but me and blogspot/blogger just haven't been getting along as well as I would like.
And if I'm going to be spending everyday getting chummy with a platform. I want to love it.
So the last few months I have been distracted trying to find a new place to post my life.
Please don't judge if you are a techy-know-it-all (Because I know you love wordpress).
After looking and testing out all of the options. I have chosen....drum roll!
Typepad!
I got a seriously killer lifelong deal on it. And it's everything I wanted it to be and more!
I am VERY excited

My url will be changing. I have chosen something more broad that I feel like I can expand more into whatever I would like. So stay tuned!
I am being extremely distracted with this new blog. I hope to get it up and running soon!

-Lindsay

P.S. I am proud that I restrained my perfectionist ways and didn't edit these photos. They were taken on my cell phone.

*I wonder if anyone can find my new blog without me telling the address.... :)

4 years

2011-02-28T12:58:00.002-07:00

My hunky husband and I have now been married for 4 years.

I met him when I was 19....He was 21.

He worked at the same place as me. He would always walk by my office, look in the door and give me a huge grin as he walked by....always. I suddenly loooved coming to work.

Months of smiling went by before we finally spoke a word to eachother.
The suspense nearly killed me.

I will tell you more of our love story later... give you a little suspense. ;)

Congrats to us!
4 years down. Now, to infinity and beyond!!!!

Pictures by the talented Marie Leslie.
Flowers by the amazing Leslie Flores.

jacks baby blessing

2011-02-24T10:25:00.002-07:00

This Sunday was Jack's baby blessing. A tradition where Jake gives the little cutie a name and a blessing with a special prayer.

We couldn't do it at our church because Jack still is on house lockdown. So we had the immediate family over at our house.

Afterwards we ate dinner. I made my pork barbacoa. It was yummy!

It was so good to be with all of our family! Especially the ones that live far away.

jack turned 5 months

2011-02-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

jackjack turned 5 months old.

I sure love this little chubba-wub.

we tried out food with him. he didn't like it at all!

we won't try it for at least another week. poor guy...

busy busy busy

2011-02-19T10:27:00.002-07:00

I turned around while we were driving to be shocked by the two year old Georgie covered in brown _______ in his car seat.
Terror!!!
Until I realized we had given him a fun size snickers bar earlier.
*PHEW*

More terror as my inlaws are coming for the weekend.
Don't get me wrong...I love my inlaws, they really are great.
I just wish things were ultra clean when they get here. Because they aren't as messy of people as me.
So I have been busy busy busy trying to get all the spots out of my carpets.
And do insane things like washing behind the kid's ears....just kidding.
But I will be very OCD in the next few hours till they get here.

This weekend we are blessing Jack. I wish ALL the family could come. But Jack is still on lockdown. So we are having a small little blessing with our immediate family.

Ok...time to stop procrastinating and scrub the chocolate covered child and the rest of the house!

sick

2011-02-16T07:33:00.003-07:00

Jack and most of the family has been on lock-down since October. Obviously we aren't doing a good job at it. Because we still managed to get sick. George and I have it right now, I believe its a cold. A very very nasty cold. I have a pile of tissues next to me already in the 3 minutes I have been sitting here.

Poor Georgie woke up a couple hours early today with a fever. We laid him on the couch and he asked for Wallace and Gromit. Those are his favorite movies. Just recently he has stopped having an English accent. I miss being called Mummy.

When I was little and very sick. My mom would always put on Little Mermaid for me. I watched that movie so much I wore out the VHS and they had to get a new one.
What was your movie of choice when you were sick?

kindle

2011-02-15T14:11:00.002-07:00

That's right, I gave Jake a Kindle for Valentines Day. It's also a dual present for our anniversary coming up this month. He was VERY happy.

So guess what he surprised me with?
It was pretty funny when I started opening it. And realized what we had done....

We BOTH got each other Kindles!!!
Great minds think alike I guess. Too funny!

I am excited to read all the free books with him now.
The kindles are 50 times cooler than I imagined.
Now if you will excuse me I am going to go read now. Before the boys wake up from naps.

Hope you all had a fantastic day with your loved ones.

happy valentines day

2011-02-14T12:34:00.004-07:00

We don't normally do much on valentines. Just small little things. But this year I decided to get Jake something cool. (Yes Jake, now is the time to panic. Better run out and find something equally as awesome. No pressure....)
I will share what I gave my sweetie later, after he opens it.

Have a Lovely Day!

Original Photo from riptheskull. See all his other vintage valentines here.

i'm back

2011-02-12T16:48:00.002-07:00

I didn't get taken by aliens.

I didn't die.

I just took a little break. Or a "blog-cation"

Actually I really didn't mean to leave ya hanging for a week.
We have just been super busy. Also I couldn't blog for a little bit.
Our power went out.
And came back on,
and out,
and on,
and out,
and on,
and out agian....
Then came back on for a full minute....then went out. AGAIN!
After a few hours of being in completely darkness with only one flash light...
It came back on. Well at least at some point it did. We gave up on being in the complete darkness with a 2 year old and baby after an hour.
We were hungry and the only thing we had to eat that didn't need to be cooked was apples and oranges. So we headed over to my mom's house and she made us sloppy joe's. They were great!
Anyways, the meaning of the story is. With all that power flickering on and off. It fried our router for the internet. So I couldn't blog.
I considered posting from my phone. But that would be a disaster. So, I hope you enjoyed the break from me.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder right?
Ok, let's be honest, in the blog world you just loose readers.
Well I'm glad you are still here.
You Are Awesome!!!

I have a big Valentines Planned on Monday. See ya then!

take a vacation

2011-02-04T11:33:00.004-07:00

Last night we had Chinese food. My fortune cookie was,

take a vacation.

Vacation.....
Vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation.
That word has been repeating over and over in my head all morning.
Not the best word to have in your head when you are trying to be a good attentive parent.
Try staying calm during your two year old's tantrums. When all you can think about is...
I can't remember my last vacation.
My honeymoon? Before the kids?
Maybe I will go lay on a 80 degree beach somewhere.
Oh how wonderful a vacation would be...
Then I promptly got a phone call, it was the hospital billing office.
That snapped me back to reality.
I have years before we can afford a vacation.
Maybe I should plan a "stay-cation"

Dang you fortune cookie!

Photo by Maza34

new years resolution...what is that again?

2011-02-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

Ok it's February Second. How many of you are still doing great with your New Years Resolutions.....Anyone?....
Yeah, I haven't done so hot. The only thing I have done great on so far in the healthy category, is eating more fruits and veggies. And I have been drinking more water.
I really need to kick it up a notch.

My next step in this very hard weight loss battle.
I'm saying goodbye to carbs (white, delicious kinds). I am making a new goal for myself. I cannot eat carbs unless I go jogging.
Hoping that will be good motivation, because I love me some noodles, bread, baked potatoes...Oh gosh. I think I will go sob in a corner now.
So it's mostly only fruits and veggies for me! With protein and some whole grains.
I think I will chart more of my progress on here too. Maybe you all can remind me and guilt trip me whenever I'm working on a cake, ok?

Also special shout out to little Maxy Waxy. He turns 4 today.
Happy birthday you perfect little fluff ball!

photo editing

2011-02-01T06:00:00.004-07:00

I am addicted to adobe photoshop. Every picture on this blog has been edited. I don't think it would be even physically possible for me to post a picture on here without editing it first. Editing photos is soo relaxing to me and I could do it for hours, and I do.
Ok, to the point...I decided to play around with photobucket's editing tools. Because they are free. Now, it's no photoshop. But I still had some fun.
Jake, this is what happens when you work too late and the boys are in bed...

Yeah, very bored. And the tools to make people freaky are almost identical to fancy photoshop. Apparently it doesn't cost anything to look this crazy.
Oh and just so you don't forget that I have a normal looking child...Here is the picture of George before I messed with it.

Have a great Tuesday! And if you want to have fun with your own pictures on photobucket go here.
Also, I recommend using an online photo editing program called Picnik if you don't have photoshop.

be where your feet are

2011-01-31T10:22:00.006-07:00

Cassandra Barney, an artist in Utah, painted this gorgeous painting. It's called be where your feet are. I really love its message. Don't get distracted thinking about the future or the past. Enjoy the present, where your feet are.
I really relate to Cassandra, I am a stay at home mom and artist. My days are filled with drawing for my work while I keep up with my kids. I have learned very well how to hold a baby in one hand and draw with the other hand. While keeping one eye focused on the 2 year old. She even has a cute parrot like me!
"Be where your feet are" is exactly what I needed to hear to refocus myself. Jack's NICU bills are that of a small house...Lately we have been so worried about money and finishing school. Our future and where we can afford to live. It's hard not to get wrapped up in that and how we are going to keep our heads above water.

My new goal, which I doodled and taped on the side of my monitor.
Be where your feet are! Be here in the present, with my kids and wonderful husband. And I will try to stop constantly being distracted, worrying about the future and what has happened in the past.
Here is the video of Cassandra that inspired me. Here.

maxy waxy

2011-01-28T10:50:00.002-07:00

After embarrassing Max the other day posting a picture of him after he ate a diaper. He has been extra cute lately and convinced me to clear his name.

Maxy is the cutest dog on the planet. Sweet and cuddly. This is him as a little pup.

He loves balls. He goes bonkers with them. Give him 2 or 3 and he will loose his mind. He wants to pick them all up at once and always goes mad trying.

He also thinks anything round like a ball is fun. Here he is playing fetch with a walnut. Crazy nut...I mean crazy Mutt..

Actually Max isn't a mutt. He is a purebred poodle. Weighs 3.5 pounds and is about to turn 4 on February 2nd.

He is George's best buddy. Always putting up with the occasional tail pull. He is very loyal to his Georgie.

Playing in the toy box with George.

He loves to cook....ok maybe not. But he loves to eat!

Well that's enough of the little fluffy love pup for one day. Is that better Maxy Waxy? You can stop giving weird glares now that your name is cleared...

barbara

2011-01-27T11:11:00.003-07:00

I did this cake last year. It's actually a fake cake made of Styrofoam. So if anyone needs a cheap alternative to a wedding cake, let me know. You can have this gorgeous cake out on display and serve sheet cake. No one will ever know!

one of those days....

2011-01-26T14:24:00.003-07:00

It's been one of those days everything seemed to go wrong, all at once.

George found a tasty treat on the counter while I was nursing the baby in the other room. Oh boy...

And behind him you can see he also dumped out all the clean laundry that was ready to be folded.

Then smeared the Peanut Butter in the carpet...yummmm

And while I was nursing and George was causing chaos. Max tipped over the little diaper pail (with a lid) by the front door and worked on a mess of his own....soooo gross. Anyone want a free diaper eating poodle?

Next time I'm feeding the baby. Everyone is getting locked into the room with us. It's only 3:00...Save me!

fun in the snow

2011-01-25T06:00:00.003-07:00

George and I went and played in the snow. Since Baby Jack is on lockdown, we have not left the house much since October.

Sadly, this was George's first time playing in the snow this winter. And I promise it wont be the last. We had too much fun.

He quickly realized throwing snow at Mommy was the funniest thing ever. Mommy would squeal and jump out of the way.

Here he is running at me with snow filling his hands.

Mommy trying to dodge the fistfuls of snow...resulting in blurry pictures. Wait..why do I keep referring to myself in the third person? I'm not Elmo or Yoda...

Note to all mom's out there. Gloves take 15 minutes to get on 2 year olds, invest in mittens!

carrot cake

2011-01-24T08:45:00.005-07:00

I highly recommend this carrot cake recipe. My best friend Holly and I made this cake for her mom's birthday. The frosting is even more amazing!!!

Carrot Cake

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Tips from me:

*Substituting some of the oil for applesauce would be great in this cake. It's a little greasy for just an any day dessert.

**Grate carrots on the big side of the cheese grater.

***I didn't include any of the pecans and it was great without!

****If you need to take the cake out of the pan to decorate. Make sure you do this a few minutes after the cake comes out of the oven. If you wait till its almost cooled it WILL be glued to the pan...Learned that the hard way.

zebra cake

2011-01-22T20:25:00.005-07:00

Fun zebra cake I made last night!
Top tier was lemon with lemon filling. Second tier Devils Food with Raspberry.
Made for my best friend Holly's 24th Birthday Party/Farewell party. She is leaving next week for basic training in for the Air Force! You are awesome Holly!

dinner: a la improvise...

2011-01-20T06:00:00.003-07:00

Last night I threw together a dinner and it turned out great. It's always so fun that you can just throw together ingredients and get a great meal without a recipe.

Here is what I did:
For the chicken I used a tip I saw on my friends blog, Secrets of Mom .
She posted a video about marinating meat.
I bought a bulk pack of chicken breasts.
When I got home I put them in Ziploc bags, dividing them up for meals.
When I did this I squirted in some Italian salad dressing.
And then froze for later, marinated perfectly!
When I baked it for dinner I defrosted the chicken, put in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper, and baked it at 350, till fully cooked. It was wonderful!

The asparagus I cut off the hard ends. Then threw in the pan with half a sliced onion, tossed lightly in olive oil and salt and pepper. Baked that at 350-400. About 20 minutes. It was awesome, I'm not normally a asparagas fan.

For the pasta:
Cook whatever good noodles you have. I think mine were Radiatori.
Then I took the second half of my onion, diced it. Sweated it in a pan with olive oil. Then I put in a can of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Added garlic powder, salt and pepper, and Italian seasoning. Then I thinly sliced a zucchini and threw that in too. Cooked at a slight simmer till the zucchini was soft and cooked. I mixed with the noodles and tossed with fresh chopped parsley.

It was one of those meals that every little bit was eaten. Even by the 2 year old! Success!!!

my men

2011-01-19T16:46:00.003-07:00

I Love these guys...check out Jack's bubbles.

Going in for a kiss.

Being upset never was soo adorable.

I just can't get enough of them.

orange ya glad

2011-01-18T22:11:00.004-07:00

George loves oranges. There is always orange juice and pulp getting on everything. He eats at least one a day. These photos remind me of this time last year when he was eating oranges. Although he has mastered eating them now. Look how different and the same he looked a year ago. Here.

chicken fajitas

2011-01-17T15:10:00.003-07:00

Chicken Fajitas

3 Chicken breasts cut into small strips
4 Bell peppers
1 Large onion

Marinade

1/3 cup water
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1 teaspoon salt

Mix all the marinade ingredients together. Marinade the chicken in a bowl or Ziploc bag for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Preferably over night.
After Marinading drain extra liquid and cook in a skillet. Once done, take out. Add bell pepper and onion that are cut into strips. Cook until tender. Then add chicken to the onion and bell peppers. Serve in tortillas with all your favorite garnishments (cheese, sour cream, guacamole etc...) Enjoy!!!
It serves 4 hungry adults.

Cool Song

2011-01-09T21:21:00.002-07:00

Not in the mood to write much today. Been kinda a BLAH last few days. Enjoy this great song. If my mom were to start a singing group with her sister.
They would sound like this...

more jackjack

2011-01-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ok. I know I should be posting recipes, art projects, decorating and all that fun stuff on my list of things to do. I only have 2 more months and I'm falling behind.

But can you blame me. I have two adorable boys to play with all day!

too cute

2011-01-06T06:00:00.001-07:00

I just can't get enough of this guy.

Everyday I feel so blessed to have him with me. I just can't get enough of pinching and hugging him.

And to put his cuteness over the top. He is the perfect baby.
Never cries, just quietly complains.
Sleeps a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, during Georgie's nap.
And he sleeps a full night too. Yeah, I'm just bragging now!
A Sweet piece of baby cake.

blue crayon

2011-01-03T08:00:00.001-07:00

Yes, that is blue crayon...
Did you gasp? Or maybe burst out in laughter?

Or maybe you're shaking your finger at the computer screen...
Yes, I know. I should watch my child.
Bad mommy moment today. In all defense I was nursing JackJack and George ran off to eat this tasty snack.
As I type and George is looking at his picture on the computer screen he is saying. "Uh-Oh, icky, icky"

happy holidays

2010-12-31T06:00:00.001-07:00

Did you all have a good holiday? I am just holding on to my seat as time blows past. Where did December go? Where did this last year go?

Kissing the Cute baby JackJack

"oh mom please save me"

Go ahead. And reach out and pinch those cheeks. You know you want to...

Thanks for sharing 2010 with me. See ya next year!
-Linz

jack now...

2010-12-30T06:00:00.004-07:00

Read the beginning of the story here.

The NICU felt like 3 years.
Seeing your baby hooked up to machines is a frightening thing.

To only be able to touch your baby with gloves for days.
How can they get better without feeling love, and being held.
I had such a hard time understanding it all.

The worse thing about it is they wouldn't ever tell us he was coming home. Ever.
When we would ask questions they couldn't answer most of them.
It was so hard not knowing when we could hold him next...
When he would get off the machines...
When he could come home...
So many questions were unanswered.
We had to turn to the lord in for what we needed.
Prayer helped tremendously. It was such a comfort and got us through it all.

It was 3 days before I could hold my baby.
And this may sound crazy to you. But when they put him in my arms.
It was like a group hug.
Someone was there helping him. And also comforting me.

It was all like a bad dream.
I'm so glad I woke up from it.

Slowly the cords disappeared...
The antibiotics fought off the pneumonia...
His lungs got stronger...

After 12 VERY long days. We got to bring JackJack home.

Here is a couple cute videos of Georgie meeting Jack for the first time.
He was very excited to meet the baby. And also to see there were dinosaurs on Jack's clothes and carseat.

Video 1

Video 2

And here is Jack now that he is home...

More of this gorgeous baby and other things tomorrow...

Love, Linz

how to open a pomegrante

2010-12-22T10:37:00.006-07:00

I have always opened my pomegranates by submerging them in a bowl of water and deseeding them. Preventing the juice from splashing everywhere.
But I just saw a life changing video of Martha Stewart doing it a much better way.
She scores the peel with a knife. Opens up the pomegranate. Then holds it in her hand, seeds facing down. Then hits the peel with a good heavy wooden spoon. Which then knocks all the seeds out of the pomegranate.

Check it out here. Because my explanation is probably confusing.

happy birthday jake

2010-12-20T06:00:00.001-07:00

26 years ago God sent the world Jake.
One of the best decision I think God has ever made...
He knew this world would need someone like Jake.
Someone patient.
Someone who can play the piano for days without ever seeing a sheet of music.
Someone who can enjoy endless amounts of Chicken Alfredo.
Someone kind.
Someone who would smile at me when I was 19 and change my life forever.

Someone everyone can count on.
Someone who never minds Hop on Pop, however violent it may get.
Someone who is the fountain of knowledge, all things Android.
Someone who's biggest goal in life isn't a hot shot career. It's making his family happy and being there for them.

Someone with a bounce in his step.
Someone that you never get sick of and you would love to be around every second of everyday till the rest of eternity.
God is very smart. Thank you so much for creating the perfect man.
Happy Birthday Jake!!

bountiful baskets

2010-12-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

After a few of my friends suggested Bountiful baskets.
(Thank you Heather and Glenda!)
I finally decided it was time to give it a try. Bountiful Baskets is a big food co-op. They have the buying power to get produce at extremely good prices.
You pay 15 dollars (+1.50 fee) for a basket. You buy them on Monday/Tuesday and you pick them up Saturday morning.

This is what I got this last Saturday.
11 bananas
12 apples
4 yellow squash
8 roma tomatoes
10 oranges
3 pomegrantes
4 Anaheim peppers
1 Butternut squash
1 Honeydew Melon
1 Romaine lettuce
9 small Sweet potatoes
11 red potatoes

All for 16.50!! It's awesome!!!
Every week the baskets are a little different. The variety is fun because you get to try new things. You can buy up to 3 baskets each week. If you can't use up a whole basket in a week you can always split with family or friends. They also offer other things you can buy, for example: bread, rolls, tortillas, boxes of just citrus, apples, blackberries, tomatoes etc. The extras available are always changing each week too.

Here are a few pictures of the location where I pick up. Some locations are large, others are at volunteers homes. Depends on where you are located. You bring your own laundry basket and take 2 of these little baskets that are in the picture. One if full of the veggies the other is fruits.

Bountiful baskets are in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. If you have any questions, ask away! I've only done it 2 weeks now. I was very hesitant at first. It took me over a year to finally get the guts to try this out. I wish I had sooner!