Happenings of March

March has been a whirlwind of changes and busy schedules. I can't say that I am sorry to see March leave - it was good, but I am looking forward to possibly a quieter April. I like quiet. I miss evenings at home. I'm ready to stop running around like a chicken with my head cut off. 

Monday night, Lavonne and I finished our last cake decorating class for level one. Yes, we graduated to the next level - we have the certificate to prove it!

 The last cake we made was the bouquet of roses. I'm not a fan of the roses, but I think I finally got the gist of how to make them. The style of the cakes we have made have not been my first choice - they kinda seem like granny cakes - not my style, but nonetheless, it was a helpful class to take in order to get technique for making icings. Plus, doing it with a good friend just makes it that much more enjoyable. Next class begins in May - "Fondant and Tiered Cakes". I can't wait!

March has brought with it some gorgeous temperatures. We really can't complain. In fact, my mom, Dominika and I decided the beautiful temperatures were something to celebrate, so the 3 of us took our first evening walk to go and get ice cream from Sweet Tops. Mmmmm mint oreo twisters.

*note - the camera shifted on the garbage can I set it up on, so our heads unfortunately got slightly cut off, but I thought it was a good picture regardless.

 Due to some childcare changes, Sabrina needed some help during the last 2 weeks with childcare for Gavin. There was no hesitation on my end to help her out. A day with my favorite little man = priceless.

Yesterday we made our way over the Children's Museum. Note to self: avoid the Children's Museum at all costs during the week of spring break. I completely forgot what week it was. We survived though and even had some fun!

I'm crazy about this kid!

I love this last picture. I told Gavin that sitting on the letters might start to hurt after awhile. Sure enough, a few seconds later I got this face and a little voice informing me that his bum hurt. haha. I couldn't help but giggle.

So that concludes March. Bring on April, sunny skies, warm temperatures, weekends away with my girls to Grand Forks, exciting changes (stay tuned for more details on this one) and a slower pace of life. I can't wait!!!

Class 3

Here are the results of our 3rd cake class. The clown cake turned out better than I thought it would, but I'm still not a huge fan of the clowns.

 Now the question is, what do I do with a clown cake?

Cake Decorating 101

Lavonne and I have just finished week 2 of our cake decorating course. So far it has been a blast (even showing up a week early for the course has made this adventure just a little bit more fun).

Class 1 started with learning about icing consistencies and some other essential, but slightly boring things such as bagging your icing, etc. 

Class 2 was last night and it was the first class where we actually got to decorate our cakes. Time was a little rushed (from start to finish the class is only 2 hrs - my cakes all take me far more than 2 hours to create) as we got everything set up. By the time we actually started decorating our individual cakes it was already 8pm - the class ends at 8:30pm. Thankfully the instructor said we could stay until 8:45 if we wanted to finish our cakes. I cannot leave a project unfinished, so Lavonne and took advantage of the extra time and we were able to finish icing our cakes. The job was a little more rushed than I would have liked - not my best icing job, but I'm ok with that considering I only had 45 min to complete the cake. 

Next week we make the scary clown cake:

Stay tuned for next week....

Norah turns 2

I can't believe that this girl is 2 already. I am continually amazed at how fast time seems to pass by. Wasn't it just yesterday when I got a phone call from Kristy in Fargo saying that she was in labor? The events and the timing surrounding Norah's arrival will be hard to forget. On Saturday we had a birthday party to celebrate Norah. It was a full house - 10 adults and 8 children 2 and under.

 

The Birthday Girl

The kids

Some of the adults

I love this "cheese" face.

I love this picture because it says so much. It begins with Gavin and Ayla sitting on my lap to read a story. Norah becomes intrigued and wants to join in on the fun, so she proceeds to sit right on Gavin's lap. Gavin isn't so sure he likes her sitting on him, Ayla's thinking that these kids beside her are a little crazy, all the while, I continue to read the story. Haha. It makes me laugh. What a crazy bunch we are!

Finally a nice picture.

Norah I love that you love life. I love your adventurous spirit - I have no doubt that will serve you well in life. I can only imagine all the great adventures you will find yourself on. I love that you love all things kitty's, Elmo and music. I love your laughter - you bring so much joy to my life and I am sooooo lucky that I get to be an "auntie" to you. I love you very very much!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY NORAH!!!!!

Catch-Up in Pictures

Life has been ridiculously busy. It's amazing how the day flies by. I have become one of those people that makes lists for everything that I need to get done in the day. There are literally lists everywhere. It's a little ridiculous, but necessary. My evenings and days at home have been few and far between as I find myself running from work to meetings, to coffee dates, to chiro appointments to errands, etc. The list goes on. 

There have been wedding showers for Dominika. The wedding day is quickly approaching and there are still a few more showers coming up in the next few weeks. This was a shower Dominika's bridesmaids threw for her back in January. It was a good afternoon of laughing and eating very yummy food.

 It is not uncommon for Dominika to shed a few tears over a thoughtful gift, card or gesture. These are very happy tears.

 

Dominika's bridesmaids - Her maid of honor is currently living in Victoria, BC, so she skyped in for part of the shower.

 Me and my Sister-in-Law to be

 

 The whole group.

The last weekend in February we had Kevin and Dominika's wedding social. The theme was a Throwback to the 70's, 80's and 90's. I was impressed at how many people showed up with costumes. I learned that socials are a TON of work. I know for a fact, when the day comes, I will not be putting a wedding social on for myself. Talk about stress. That being said, it was an evening filled with awesome music, tons of dancing and lots of laughter.

 The Bride and Groom

 

 The wedding party - such an attractive bunch.

 

 

 Courtney had by far the most stellar outfit of them all. 

 my brother Derek was the dirtiest looking character at the social. Truth be told, I didn't even recognize him when he walked into the community centre. 

 What an attractive looking family I have. Wow. In the end Derek and Courtney won for the best dressed costumes. We unfortunately forgot to take a picture of my parents - they had pretty awesome costumes themselves...my mom in a poodle skirt and my dad dressed as the fonze. Imagine that family picture!

Due to life being as busy as it has been, I have very much missed afternoons with my girls. It has been a long time since the 5 of us girls had a proper hang out. Thankfully we have an upcoming Girls Weekend to Grand Forks in the works the weekend after Easter. I can't wait.

That being said, last week I finally had an afternoon with Aimee and Hayley. Aimee and I enjoyed a good chat over Chai tea and Timbits while Hayley napped. When Hayley eventually woke up, she must of felt a little left out because the first thing she reached for was an empty Starbucks cup. A girl after my own heart!

 

 

 

 My goodness what a sweetheart!

Hayley's "I am still hungry mom. Where are my puffs?" look.

 "oh there they are"

Life is good again.

 Priceless.

I have been neglegent in the camera/picture taking department over the last few months. I am hoping that picks up in the weeks ahead. Here's hoping that more consistant blog posting is in the near future.

A Funny Story

This past Monday my friend Lavonne and I started our first cake decorating course. We thought it might be fun to start off the evening by going to Joey's for a very yummy dinner - it happened to be Bellini special night, so already the evening was off to a good start. After dinner we headed over to Michaels for our class and walked into the classroom. Immediately the 8 or so people already in the room, stopped what they were doing and just stared at us. They truly gave the once over. It was like we were back in high school. I was thinking "what the heck are these people's problems?" Lavonne was thinking to herself "why do all these people have cakes? Were we supposed to bake a cake for the first class?"

This is how the rest of the conversation went:

Instructor - Are you ladies lost?

Us - Is this cake decorating?

Instructor - yes (I'm already feeling quite insulted that this lady doesn't think that we are supposed to be in this class. Who does she think we are - would people just show up for a class they didn't sign up to take?)

Us - no, we are not lost then.

Instructor - what cake decorating class are you looking for?

Us - cake decorating 101

Instructor - well, this is cake decorating 3, fondant and gumpaste. The 101 class starts next week.

Us - Are you sure?

Instructor - yes. I will be teaching it (at this point we are thinking, great, now the whole class will know that we came a week early - we won't live this one down).

Lavonne and I look at each other and immediately start busting a gut laughing. We think this is pretty funny. Everyone in the class is still staring at us and don't think we are nearly as funny was we think we are. We tell the instructor that we will be back next week. Lavonne and I continue to laugh all the way through Michaels - I still find myself chuckling when I think of Monday night. 

We were slightly disappointed that we didn't actually start our class on Monday, but I suppose it is better to be a week early than a week late. We spent the remainder of the evening browsing the aisles of Costco, which was almost as fun as cake decorating.

Can't wait until next Monday when we actually get to take part in the class!