Austin people

We are back from Austin.

It was a great weekend and I feel like a true, authentic Austonian now, or at least that is what I like to tell myself.

I did place third at the cake show in one of my divisions. I will share more about that and lots of pictures later this week.

Tonight we are really tired so I'm not going to share pictures tonight.

I'll just tell you that Saturday we hit up all the local Austin hot spots and so I am a true Austonian. I was never taken for a tourist, even with the mom jeans and huge camera around my neck. Everyone probably thought I was just another cool college kid.... Young hip college kids have three kids hanging around their necks at all times right?

I have a busy week planned that starts tomorrow with crawling out from under the piles of suitcases, laundry, cakes, and empty goldfish boxes. It's so busy this week that I even have to turn a year older. I better get to sleep. My young hip days are ending soon, really soon,.... on tuesday.

You think...

Earlier tonight I was thinking about how wonderful it is that I will be done with all my cakes tonight and in bed before the stroke of midnight. Usually I'm up until crazy hours of the morning and then work again the next day until we walk out of the door to go to Austin. I thought too soon.

In my haste and cockiness, I added too much water to my icing and I was out of powdered sugar so it all just melted into itself. Agh. So long story short, I just got back from my ghetto fabulous grocery store where I purchased powdered sugar and then feared for my life in the dark parking lot. Do you think it helps when the security guard stands inside the store talking to a shady looking character? Not only that but it tells you how ghetto fabulous this store is that they had to hire a security guard for the parking lot after two different women were abducted from there a few months ago. But he stood inside and I wet my pants as I walked back to the car. Don't worry, I've been pregnant three times now so I know what wetting your pants as an adult feels like. For you younger women out there, this happens whenever you cough or sneeze while pregnant. It's those nice details they don't tell you until you are pregnant. Start telling that in some sex ed. classes and the world would be a lot less populated.

Can you tell I'm tired and rambling?

So in the morning I will finish the cake and then pack myself and the car... all before lunch when we're scheduled to leave for Austin.

Did I tell you that this weather is making me sick and I feel like I have an elephant permanently lodged in my nostrils?

How many misspelled words are there? First correct guess gets a hug... or a high five.. or just a nod if you're a germaphobe. Really, gotta go to bed now.

Anyone that knows me personally knows that adoption has been on my heart since I was a child. Are we going to adopt one day for sure? I can't tell you that. This life is not on my time table but on Gods. That is what I do know. I also know that I want to take my voice and help spread the message of adoption. Most importantly, I want to support those who are currently adopting or in the process of it.

Last week we had friends that finalized their adoption with their precious baby girl. This afternoon, our pastor and his wife, who I love dearly, are finalizing their adoption of a beautiful girl who was born to be part of this family. Not to mention that I almost scared this girls former foster parents to death because of my big mouth and impatience when it comes to my genius ideas, but that's another story for another time.

There are so many links out there to blogs that tell their adoption story and are currently raising funds for adoption. I can't even start to process them all. However, there are a few that I want to highlight....

So stick with me!

Last week everyone at church asked me where I got this shirt....

Not my picture, I wish my butt was that small.. Picture from Momentswithlove.blogspot.com

You can buy that shirt and several other designs from Moments with Love: I love this blog and I read it a lot. She's a baby wearing, nursing, believing, adopting mama... It's like me but skinner and actually adopting already.  Plus if I would have heard her name before I named Princess Newbie she might have had a different name! Check it out and buy a shirt. By the way, my birthday is next week and the blue tree shirt is great....

This site... My Crazy Adoption... Has two great shirts. One is specifically for men... loves it!

This site has my heart... They manufacture shirts and sale them wholesale to families trying to raise money for their adoption. They don't do it for profit.. just to help with adoption.  I also have one of the Ugandan paper bead necklaces you can buy from their website and it is gorgeous!

147 Million Orphans - Pick Me

There are so many more people out there that sale items to raise money for their personal adoption or tell their adoption story if you just look. You'd be amazed!

Adoption is not for everyone and I know this. But everyone can help is some way to bring a child to their forever home. Buy a shirt, say a prayer, buy a cookbook, go to a concert, or just ask a family in the process of adopting if there is anything you can do for them.

And don't forget.. March 2nd.. birthday.. shirt.. hint, hint. I'm making it easy for you sweetie...

one down

I totally finished one entry for the cake show tonight. I feel so relieved. Tomorrow I just have to add ribbon to one cake board and I'll be done with that one. Then I have about two more hours of work on my last cake and I'll be totally done. I can't believe I'm going to be finished on time this year. No going to be at 2 am every night like last year.

The most important thing is that I love love love the entry I finished tonight. I think it is fabulous and I'm really loving the feeling that I've already won. If I don't come home with any medals I will be a little crushed because I have worked so hard. Honestly though I feel like these are the best cakes I have done ever and I love the new techniques I have taught myself. So, I've already won.

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately and actual blogging.... I'm just trying to make this all work right now.

The Proof is in the Pudding....

I had pink hair for a year or so while I was in college. I was young and it was fun! Apparently I took Rhyming 101.

I have told a few of you in the past about my pink hair but not everyone believed. Then His Royal Highness downloaded some old photos off of floppy disks (teenagers, google it.) and I found all these old pictures!

So here you go... It's pink! My dad hated it, my mom pretended to love it, and my grandparents knew it was just a phase. Or was it? Where can you buy pink hair dye now?

extension.

I'm a pretty humble person, I never brag, but I have to this time!

There is a very hard technique in cake decorating called extension work that I have been wanting to try for a long time. Well, I did it tonight! and it is gorgeous!

Not only did I do it but I did it while holding a crying teething baby. Then I went back and added little dots called Hail Spots. I love this cake just because of that accomplishment. It's already won in my eyes, I don't care if I win with it at the cake show.

It looks like I'll just be taking two cakes to the cake show. I had hoped to take 3 or 4 but it is a lot harder to work on things with a six month old baby who happens to be getting her third tooth right now.

I'll update more later. I'm tired.

Happy Birthday Old Turkey

Happy birthday to my Knight in Shining Armor... the one who came along to save the princess who was in a sticky spot in her life.

God made you for me... knowing that one day I would need someone to make me laugh, roll my eyes, have children with, rap with, go through growing pains with, teach me how to drive in Houston traffic, fight with, make up with, love.... and grow really really old with. Like needing to be back in diapers old.

It's a circle of life... and there's no one that I would rather spend it with.

Happy birthday. I hope you've had a great day.

This is the first picture I ever saw of him... before we ever met

Challah

I make homemade bread occasionally. It's usually  big all day kinda thing because that's what bread is.... time consuming. My bread weakness lies with Challah, which is egg bread. It's soooo good. Add any soft creamy cheese and it gets better. Last year I made this bread following a recipe from Smitten Kitchen and it took hours and hours and hours. Actually I started making it at a friends house and about 6 hours later I had to take the bread dough home to finish it. There is nothing quick about making bread.

Then the other day I was reading a post on Ivory Hut about bread she had made using the book, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day.  Seriously, I thought the writers must have been smoking some Ivory because bread in 5 minutes a day is ca-raaaazy. Then the other day Ivory Hut posted a Challah recipe from the same book. There's my weakness and I couldn't take it so today I tried the recipe.

It was so easy it's impossible. No joke. I mixed all the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid heavy duty mixer but it's a very moist dough so you could easily do it by hand if you don't have a mixer. Not only that but it did take only about five minutes to mix it all, no kneading required. Then you let it sit... on the counter.. or in the fridge, wherever.. .doesn't matter.. until you're ready to cook it. How hard is that?

One recipe makes 4 different 1 lb loaves. Let's just say that two adults and two small children ate two lbs. of bread tonight and could have gone for three if I hadn't wrapped it up and placed it in a safe place. Did I take a picture? of course not! We were too busy eating! We know our priorities. Food over cameras any day.

The recipe for challah can be found on Ivory Hut's blog here

The book's website can be found here

Now for you gluten free friends who just think that this whole entire blog entry is a cruel joke.... The writers of the book also have a new book out, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and guess what? It has gluten free recipes.  Because of the struggles I've seen my dad have in trying to live a life with Celiac's disease (gluten allergy) and because one of my friends that means the worlds to me is having to adapt to this lifestyle right now, any one that thinks of those with gluten intolerence, has my utmost respect. Yes, I know that sentence was a huge run on but I'm trying to hurry and get done because there is a screaming baby in the next room and a daddy callin' my name! I'm not proof reading or spell checking! I'm just running to feed her!

Ring Pop Glory

I try to be a positive person but some days I fail. Today was one of those days.

It started poorly when I was woken up by a kid that just couldn't stop coughing. It wasn't an emergency but I was sickly too and just wanted a little more sleep. Instead I got a beautiful princess curled up in the middle of our bed who coughed every 5 seconds. Really, I counted.  It was an early start and everyone was grumpy because of  the early start.

We did go to lunch with His Royal Highness which was nice but eventually it started going downhill again. After lunch I headed down hwy 59 into the scary part of Houston to stop at a cake supply store. There is a group here in this area that drives me insane! Or it's not really any one group anymore, it's several. They all stand on the street corners and ask for money for their christian group. They walk amongst the cars when the light is red and knock on your windows to try and get you to give money. I've looked into one of the groups and it's extremely shady. It's even listed on the IRS's website as not legally allowed to take money as a charity. They are everywhere! I see them at least once a day. Well today one of these guys knocked on my window and told me to roll down the window. I politely answered, "no thank you" and turned away. The guy knocked again and then started yelling at me. He was yelling at me! I pulled up a little to where he was behind our van but he started following, still yelling. I was scared and looking for my phone to call the police but the light turned green and I got out of there as fast as I could.

I finally got to the cake store and accomplished my task for the day but leaving was a problem once again. There was a seat belt issue with Princess Goofy and I had to pull over in a pawn shop parking lot to fix it. Once again, I was in a very scary part of town. If you see a news crew there, run. Without having to do a long explanation, I moved one of the seats in the van to fix her seatbelt and the seat did not lock back in place but I didn't know this. I got back in the van and was going start / stop in heavy road construction traffic. Princess Newbie had been fussy since we left the cake store but every time I braked the seat would go sliding forward and make a loud banging noise. Every time I accelerated the seat would go sliding backwards and make a loud bang. Needless to say, with every bang, Princess Newbie cried louder and louder. I finally got the seat fixed and proceeded home with a fussy baby.

Then when I was in front of the Houston Galleria someone decided to change lanes without looking. Yeah, it was my lane that he forgot to look at. It was the closest I have come to a wreck in a long time. Someone is definitely watching out for me today. Well that and my stylin' driving skills. Just kidding.

Finally with more wailing and tears, mine and Princess Newbie's, we reached home. A place of solitude and rest or on days like today, a place where the dogs had torn into the trash bags in the garage. This mainly happened because our neighbors stole our large plastic trash bin awhile back. It's not smart to steal your neighbor's trash bin. Hello! we see it out there every single trash day, we know it was you! Not to mention the fact that I was wearing a flowy top and realized that while I was picking up the trash in the garage with the garage door open, the neighbors that have security cameras aimed at our house were getting a full view of nursing bra utopia. Enough said.  These are not the neighbors that stole our trash bin, different neighbors, still wacky.

This day could have ended poorly like it had started. I admit I let my attitude go downhill. But the best news is that seven years ago, I found a handsome prince. His Royal Highness took the time to spend with me and encourage me tonight.  My night was instantly better. But I'm not going to tell you what he said because that is for me to know and you just to wish you knew.

The best part of the night though was when Princess Newbie went missing. I knew I had left her in the living room while I was picking up in the kitchen but I couldn't find her when I came back in to check on her. Then I saw these little toes peeking out from under the coffee table... I bent down to see what she was doing and she was sitting under the coffee table eating a Ring Pop! I don't know what made my heart beat faster. The fact that she was small enough to fit under the coffee table or the fact that she had stolen a Ring Pop and hid under the coffee table. I love this girl!

I promise tomorrow not to let my attitude defeat my day. I also promise to stay away from all intersections that may have scary men... in fact, I'll just stay home and maybe I'll even steal our trash bin back!

Crafting withdrawls

I still can't get that blog I wrote last night to post. Who knows when you'll find out the wonderful gifts that His Royal Highness gave me for Valentines Day. Alright, alright.... since you begged me to tell you I will just rewrite it tonight and let you know.

1. A jigsaw. Not the puzzle, the power tool. Oh yeah... I feel like grunting ala Tim the Tool Man Taylor. They say that if you give a girl a credit card, she can shop for furniture for a day. But give her a power tool and she can make furniture that will last for years. I feel the power and I am pumped. So in a few weeks after this cake frenzy is over, I'll be making lots and lots of stuff from this blog...

If case you haven't seen it before, it is amazing! and inspiring! Why put up with cheap furniture that you pay a huge mark up on? Make your own! This is perfect for the super frugal women, such as myself.  I really am excited about this.

2. He also gave me Sweet Leaf Tea, lots of it. It is my favorite beverage, especially the Mint and Honey tea. My awesome husband went to five different stores looking for a month's worth of Mint and Honey tea but I guess someone else's husband had the same idea because they were all sold out!  So he got me a mix of Mint and Honey and regular sweet tea. Love it!  I might have to admit that all the Mint and Honey teas are gone already. I am sick tonight and I'm drinking the last one right now. It's the best medicine.

But for now I am still working on cakes. I really miss doing other crafts. I have a list of sewing projects that I can't wait to conquer after the cake show in a few weeks. Then who knows what else I will come up with?

Alright so tonight while watching the girls in the bath, I typed out this long blog on my phone using blogger for Iphone Then I pressed send and nothing happened. I tried again and again to send it but no luck. Then I tried to copy and paste it right into blogger online but it's not compatible with my phone that way. Oh joy. Finally I decided to paste it all into an email and send it to myself and then post it to blogger from our laptop. Now my phone won't send mail. Seriously?

I've had a really long day and an even longer night last night. It was a good day but I give up! So when my phone stops being the world's largest butthead, I will post the blog I wrote. Until then, I leave you with something to crack you up....

My favorite christian hormonal comedian.. Chonda Pierce. Her momma like chevy and her dad had a honda. Chonda.. haha.

Wordless

Call the NY Times... I really don't have anything to say.

It's a muracle, known to those outside of Pastor Lee-ism's as a Miracle.

I'll just leave you with three pictures that I took the other day while I was trying to learn how to use my camera on manual settings. They're not the best but we all have to start somewhere.

P.S.   I know the dog needs his nails clipped. Volunteers welcome.  Also, I did not do anything to edit the Princess Girly Girl's eyes. They really are that gorgeous.  I love my girls

Adventures in Webcams

My laptop is dead, gone, hasta la vista baby... So now I have a different one... one with a webcam.

Should I really be trusted with a webcam? Let's take a look at the evidence.

It snowed in Dallas today and now I see flakes in Houston....

Baa Baa White Sheep... have you any cake?

Lord of the Rings, Elfen style... I think His Royal Highness might love me more now

This is as scary as I get. I'm a puppy dog.. in wolves clothes

That's it.. I'm moving to Paris and changing my name to Coco

Broadway? no. I don't think so

interesting

The Botox twins

Maybe I should stay away from the webcam.

Valentines, Smalentines

Did anyone else just realize that Valentines is this week? hahaha... hum... yeah. I'm not really on the ball. A friend laughed at me last week because I didn't know it was Thursday, do you think she would laugh if I told her I'm barely realizing that it's February?

To get in the Valentines spirit, I made a felt heart chain. I must have really liked the idea because I made about 45 feet of it. Not joking... there's a lot of felt hearts at my house. His Royal Highness made a comment about how I must love Valentines more than Christmas because I decorated more for Valentines. No, not really.. I just made 45 feet of felt hearts because I was on a roll. I had my camera out downstairs today and never thought to take a picture.

The blog, Skip To My Lou, has a really cute pencil topper heart lollipop gift idea if you need a gift for your child's class for valentines. I want to make these this year but I'm swamped with cake stuff and baby droll right now.

photo from Skiptomylou.org

Cute right? The topper is actually a lollipop!

The real dilemma is that His Royal Highness told me tonight that he already knows what he's getting me for valentines.

I have NO idea what to get him. Not only that but his birthday is five days after valentines and I bombed with his christmas gift.... so I need to do something major. Help me! What is a good idea?

Any and all suggestions welcome.... anything... really.. anything.

Cakes and things

You thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, didn't you?

Well the good news is that I did not fall off the face of the earth because the earth is round. Kinda like my bottom half.

It's that time of year again, cake time! I'm once again preparing for the sugar arts show in Austin and I am busy! busy.. busy.. busy... I am 75% of the way done with my first cake and have at least two more to go. I might throw one more in there when I get closer to the show. Who knows. I don't.

I always have these perfect cakes in my mind, planned and ready to be made. However I always change my mind on the design at the last minute and come up with something totally different. I don't try to do funny kitchsy cakes because I can do that anytime. I love the older more formal styles that you don't see that much anymore and so I challenge myself to learn those techniques for the show. They say you shouldn't use new techniques on a show cake but apparently they don't know me.

Princess Newbie has also been up a lot the past few nights. She has a doctor's appointment in the morning so we can get her ears checked for an ear infection. Princess Goofy also has a doctor's appointment because she keeps telling us that her ears are talking to her. The other day I asked her what her ears say to her and she replied, "iiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg."  Then I asked what it sounded like and she told me it sounded like a mommy, not like a daddy. Since I speak Princess Goofy's natural language of Goof Troop-ology, I will interpret. Basically her ears are making high pitched ringing noises.  We're going to discuss this with the doctor in the morning.

Since I got around 3 hours of sleep last night, please ignore all spelling mistakes. I could not even find spell check right now if I wanted too. As soon as the Super Bowl is over and His Royal Highness stops hooting and hollering like a barn owl, I am going to bed.

If you have any snazzy cake ideas, post a comment below! If you just want to say hi, post a comment. If you want a million dollars, post a comment. Not saying I can provide that money, just saying let me know. haha. I'm delirious from sleep deprivation.

Here's the Post that I wrote last year showing the cakes from the Sugar Arts Show:  Cake Show 2009
Go take a look!

Winner

Have you ever wanted to scream at the techonology around you?

My laptop is taking a little break from the world right now. I'm hoping I'll find someone to fix it soon. Someone? anyone? Maybe someone that I'm married to that happens to be a computer tech? Hmm.... A girl can dream.

The other night while I was working on my laptop I received a message that I had a virus that would enable the person sending the message to have all my passwords. Further investigation proved that the virus I had is mainly for people to break into your emails and resend ads through your email. Why do people do this? why?

So I had to reset all my passwords and we found out the next morning that someone had been attempting repeatedly to break into my email.

Long story short, my phone is now not recognizing my new email password and I want to throw it across the room. It won't even post to my blog for me right now like it used to because the entire network of the thing is jammed up. It's very fustrating to figure this out after you have already wrote your blog entry on your phone twice. UGH!

Even longer story short... I know I never posted the winner of the book giveaway. I have a picture of that person's name to announce the winner but I can't get the picture uploaded because of my techonology problems. UGH again.

So.... the winner is....

Kimberly!

Congrats, you have won a copy of Amanda Ruiz's book, So Big. I will contact you soon about getting the book to you.

If you didn't win and you are interested in buying the book you can find it online at Barnes and Nobles.

Now I have a crying baby and kids that should be in bed.