Working at the Auto Show Kid's Fair

Hannah and Ian came to the Auto Show Kid's Fair to see me and the rest of the family. They had so much going down the big inflatable slide. I got some really good pictures of them. Here are just a few.

Everyone was thrilled to see Big Al. David especially. He is Alabama's number one fan!!

And we couldn't help, but act goofy in our spare time. The object of this game was to knock down the fat cats. Your job is to find the one that doesn't belong!

Towards the end of the fair, I had to go under cover! My kids were shocked when they found out that Sponge Bob was their mom!

Sometimes it is okay to mess up...

As you know, Ian's birthday was this week. I wanted to make him something special on his actual birthday, but I didn't want to make a huge cake since I was going to make one for his party a few days after. So I began my search.

I love searching the internet for cake ideas. I have found some blogs that I ritually return to for ideas and inspiration. Bakerella is one of my favorites. (Thank you Karen for telling me about this blog). She posted a blog about cupcake bites. I wanted to give them a try because lets be honest, little bites of cake with icing mixed in and then coated in chocolate...who wouldn't want to eat that?

So I get all of the ingredients and go at it. Things are going along fine because I am following the directions exactly. But when I go back and look at the pictures of what my little balls of yum are supposed look like-small cake-like cupcakes- and then look at what mine actually do look like-soggy little brownie-like cupcakes, I think all is lost.

But I don't give up. I continue on and this is what I ended up with. They look pretty good on the outside. I should have used less icing when I mixed it up and coated them in a lighter brown chocolate. I couldn't put M&M's on top because my little man is allergic to peanuts.

To see what bakerella's look like: Go to her site: http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html

This is what mine look like on the inside:

Even though mine were a little too moist, my family loved them. I am going to try them again soon, but I think I will try to make them into cake pops, make them round and put less icing in the cake. I can't wait to get started again! You know what they say, practice makes perfect!

My baby is 5 years old!

I can't believe Ian is now five. The years are going to by too quickly. My sweet cooing little baby that loved to cuddle and sleep on my chest is now a rambucious little guy that loves to dress up as super heros. He is still sweet, but he has is mischevious side as well. I can't get over how big he is and much fun he is to be around. Here are some of my favorite things about him.

1. He has the best memory. He can memorize any song and jingle he hears AND he loves to sing!!!

Here are a few funnies: The four of us are in the car and as we pass a Title Max sign, my little man starts singing, "Get your title back with Title max." Bret and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. He did that every time we drove by the place.

One of my favorite shows is The Office. The eposide where Andy woos Angela by singing to her is one of my favorite songs now and I have it as my ring tone. Well, my sweet boy knows all the words now (all the words to the song that my cell phones sings, anyway). Here is the song if you haven't heard it...I will have to record Ian singing it for you.

So back to the point, Bret and I are watching The Office one night and Ian sits up (he is supposed to be sleeping) and starts singing the song. SO Funny!!!

2. When he is acting a part: He puts everything into it!!

At Halloween this year he dressed up as The Hulk! Bret told him to say "Hulk wants candy!" instead of "Trick or Treat." You can believe that he stayed in character ALL night. Every door he went to heard "Hulk wants candy!" in Ian's very best Hulk voice.

3. Ian so expressive.

The one reason Bret and I were looking forward to his birthday is because we knew we would see the best expressions on his face. Here are a few of our favorites!!