Happy Birthday Mom!

     Last weekend Mom came down to Scarborough to help get the nursery started and to celebrate her birthday.  On Saturday we worked on taking down the Noah's Ark border, which ended up being easier than expected.  I will put updated photos in a separate post.  Then we had some down time, so I worked on her birthday cake (using my newly learned decorating skills) and then played a few games.  That night we tried Famous Dave's BBQ restaurant for dinner and it ended up being worth the wait!  But, we were a little too full to enjoy the cake so we decided to wait until Sunday afternoon.

      Sunday morning I had the Scentsy party and brunch.  We had visitors stop by through out the day, so it ended up being pretty successful.  Then we had some cake and opened presents before Mom headed North.  So, here are a few pictures of the fully decorated birthday cake.  It actually worked out nicely, because I had parent teacher conferences on the Tuesday of the last cake decorating class, so this would have to count for my final project.  It was a vanilla cake with vanilla pudding in the middle and then the usual butter cream frosting.  

 Happy Birthday Mom - thanks for your help!

Vacation Day #3 and #4

     Wednesday was a pretty low key day.  I spent some time in the morning catching up on grading papers and picking up around the house.  Then Sarah came up and we visited for a bit, ran some errands and then went out to lunch in Portland.  I have to say that UNO's thin crust pizza was very disappointing!  Afterwards I hung out at the house, watched some TV and graded a little more until Mike came home.  

     On Thursday morning I went and had my haircut and then headed to Chuck E. Cheese.  I met Amanda W with Owen and Liam and Amanda B who had Kaedin and Kolton.  We were out numbered by the little ones, but we managed to keep track of all of them, because thankfully it was not too busy.  It was a lot of fun watching them play the different games and riding the rides.  Then we went to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays, which was interesting, but we all survived that experience as well.  Just a little glimpse of what it would be like to have more than one child - oh boy! 

      

     The boys were super cute and it is always fun to catch up with the girls!  But, afterwards I was EXHAUSTED and ended up taking a brief nap when I got home.  Then Mike cooked up some tacos, Jon came over for dinner.  We visited and played a game and then it was time for bed! 

     It is amazing how quickly vacation time goes by!  Still have much more planned for this weekend, so I am sure Monday will come WAY too quickly!

Cake Decorating Class 3: Cupcakes

Today we learned and then practiced many different techniques.  Hopefully, I can remember them all:
     * Star drop flower
     * Swirl drop flower (top right)
     * Shells
     * Rosette
     * Leaves (green)
     * Pompom flower (top left)
     * Shaggy mum (bottom right)

Then we went over how to fill cupcakes (I tried a raspberry flavored frosting).  After practicing how to frost the cupcakes, we spent the rest of class using the new techniques to decorate them.  Next week we will be decorating a double layered cake.

Vacation Day # 2

Sage and I enjoyed a nice relaxing morning.  We slept in and then caught up on some TV.  

Then I had some frosting and filling to finish up for cake decorating class.

Then we went on another walking adventure - this time we explored the woods behind the house.  It was nice to actually have the snowshoes today!

                                         

Then after lunch I worked on cutting out numbers in the neutral fabric for my next set of onesies.  I will worry about sewing them on once I actually receive another order!

I am really enjoying my daily walks with Sage and being productive through out the day.  We'll see what the rest of the week has to offer.  Hopefully, I can find the motivation to get some school work done!

Vacation Day # 1

     The first day of vacation was pretty productive.  I already spent most of the weekend cleaning the house from top to bottom.  In the morning I focused on baking.  I had cupcakes to make for cake decorating class tomorrow and then I finished off the leftover whoopie pie mix.  I still have a flavored filling to make and a batch of frosting, which I will finish tomorrow.  

     After lunch I decided to take Sage outside for a nice walk in the snow.  Unfortunately, the smaller set of snowshoes were in Mike's car, so we had to do without.  We managed quite nicely, because the snow was already packed down from other snowshoers.  Sage certainly enjoyed the freedom and was running around all over the place.  We just don't make it out to the trails very much in the winter time (too cold for me)!  Afterward I even found the motivation to get on the treadmill for a bit.  Then finished off some errands, enjoyed some dinner and now I am ready for bed!  

     Hopefully the rest of this week will be just as productive and I can get some school work accomplished!  We shall see...

Cake Decorating Class 2: Cake

     This week in class we worked on properly frosting the cake.  We did not have enough time to set the cake aside and then press with a paper towel or use decoration to smooth it out.  So, the actual frosted parts were a little rough.

     Then we learned how to use piping gel to get a design onto the cake.  Then we used some of our frosting tips and colors to create a dimensional design on the cake.  Hopefully you can tell that mine is a fish.  With a little more time (things are really rushed in class) it would probably be a little less sloppy and I could add some decoration around the sides and the top.  But, not bad for the first time - right?

     Next week we will learn how to fill cupcakes and then decorate them (flowers maybe?).

Cake Decorating Class 1: Cookies

     Tuesday I started a basic cake decorating class at AC Moore in South Portland.  The first class was a lot of lecture and listening in preparation for the next class, when we will actually decorate a cake.  We talked about how to mix and cook a level cake and how to prep it for frosting.  Then we looked at frosting recipes and how to get it to the right consistency for decorating.  My homework for today is to bake a cake, and prepare two consistencies of frosting for the next class.   

     During the last half of the class we learned how to prepare a bag of frosting  and we practiced making a star shape.  For this class though, we had to use canned frosting, so the cookies really did not taste very good.  My finished product (a little boring without color).  I am looking forward to the next class and hopefully incorporating a little color!

Snow Day!

  

     For the first time ever, school was canceled the night before the storm.  Everyone was home to enjoy a snow day today (although technically Jon was still working)!  Because of the storm our doctor's appointment was rescheduled.  So, no new baby photos until next week.  

     Mike was feeling quite motivated today: cleaned out the fridge and went outside to build an igloo.  I ventured outside briefly to take pictures of Sage and Mike.  I love watching Sage try to run full speed in the deep snow! 

      I was not quite that motivated today, but I did manage to get some scrapbooking done.  Other than that it was a pretty lazy day!  

Open For Business

     My Etsy shop is finally up and running.  I think it will take a little while to get people interested and for orders to come through.  On the first day I did have a message about receiving an order by February 10th.  Hopefully I will hear back from them and that order will go through!  I am also looking to make a set of just a few months like 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.  I will probably work on that tomorrow if there is a snow day! 

Here is the link to the shop if you want to check it out:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Shar5309

Also thank you to everyone on facebook who posted the link and helped get the word out!