New Beginnings

Wow!  I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged.  I have decided to try my hand at it one more time.  To start over, I thought I would give an update on my life.

The Lord is so gracious!  He has blessed my family more than I can even begin to describe.  Here is my feeble attempt.

In June the Lord moved us to Tupelo, Mississippi.  I got a job teaching 5th grade Grammar and Literature. Bret got a job chairing the Bible department, teaching 9th-11th grade Bible and some pre-law classes.  We were able to get a wonderful rental home.  It is truly wonderful.  After living in apartments, town homes and even basements - thanks Mom and Dad Hooten, you guys were so generous to let us stay with you - we had forgotten how nice houses really were. There is so much space!!!!

The school year has started.  I am enjoying my classes.  I have sixty students rotating throughout my room during the day.  I am also coaching the 5th & 6th grade cheerleaders.  My husband is really enjoying his classes and students.  My children are adjusting well.  My dear son came up to me on the first day and said, "Mom!!  I made a new friend!  We have so much in common.  We like Pokemon, Mario Brothers, Pikmin, and so much more.  But...(with a small look of anxiety) its a ...girl."  I laughed and told him it was okay for him to have a girl as a friend.

Later that week, my dear daughter commented on how nice everyone was at the school, from the librarian to the students.  She couldn't be more right.  Teachers have been so accepting and generous.  They have offered to help my family and me in any way they possibly can.

I am overjoyed that they are adjusting so well.  I am very happy that my transition back into the Grammar classroom has happened seamlessly.

I am even more excited that we have found a church home.  We joined this past Sunday.  I am still getting to know people and it is my prayer that I will find some good friends here.  I have been blessed with some amazing friends in Birmingham and I miss them terribly.

And I cannot post this without commenting on my wonderful husband.  Today marks our 13th year of marriage.  I stand in awe of how God put us together, teaches us so much about who He is through our relationship with each other and through raising our children.  Fifteen years together total.  I am very much in love with the man that God has given me as a best friend, father to my children and spiritual leader in our home.

So overall, I have a great church, job and home.  I know trials will come and life will not always be so calm and smooth.  But I have assurance in my Savior.  I have joy in my life because of Him.  I have what really matters most - salvation from the wretched sinner that I am.  The above may change.  I have been uprooted enough and have experienced plenty of heartache to know that life can get hard.  I have been in situations that were not so wonderful.  But the constant in my life is knowing that I have a God that is in control.  I am thankful.  I am blessed.

Millennium Falcon Tutorial

A friend of mine asked me to make a Millennium Falcon cake for her boyfriend. I agreed under the pretense that it was not going to look like the perfection of cake that she emailed me. Especially since she said he didn't want it covered in fondant. And to make it even harder, she wanted it iced in cream cheese icing. Covering a red velvet cake has always been hard for me, but I have been able to cover it in fondant. This was definitely going to be a challenge so I decided to document my journey.

First Step: I decided that I would bake the cake in two different cake pans. I believe I used an 8 inch round and a 6 inch square. Then I went online and found a template of the ship. I enlarged it the size I needed and printed it out.


Second step: I used the template to carve the cake. I trimmed down the round part of the cake, then used the excess to form the top of the ship.


Third step: I dirty iced the cake.


Fourth step: I put the cake in the fridge for about half a hour so it would harden the cream cheese icing a little. Then I iced it again to make sure you couldn't see red velvet crumbs.


Fifth step: I put the cake back in the fridge for another half hour. Then I used a soft paint roller and smoothed the icing. Using tip #2, I piped the details of the ship. I used gum paste to make the dish and gun. I air brushed the whole cake with black icing color accenting different areas to hopefully give it some depth.
Here is the finished product:

We started the morning off really early! Hannah was so excited about it being her birthday she could not stay in bed. She woke me up and proceeded to jump up and down with giddiness. Then she climbed in bed with me and Bret and waited until we could wake up! Once awake, we had Hannah's choice breakfast food - blueberry waffles.
We celebrated at Chuck E Cheese! She got a lot of great stuff: books, earrings, pool stuff, gift card, nintendo ds and ds extras and TONS of candy (thanks to all of her aunts and uncles)!

She enjoyed eating a nintendo ds cake and then enjoyed playing a real one.

She ended the day with a ton of tickets - all thanks to her wonderful aunts and uncles and friends that gave all their winnings to her since it was her birthday ( so sweet)! She danced and danced with Chuck E and played til it was time to go.

All in all, I say it was a pretty great day! I still cannot believe that I have a seven year old! But I am so thankful each and every day of those seven years and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for us in the future! Thank you Lord for such a wonderful gift! I treasure her so much!

Some cakes just don't make the cut!

I enjoyed making this cake, but it can't make the cake blog! Transportation was a little rough on it and the front cracked. I think it was the weight of the "diaper bag." I am still learning a lot about cakes and transporting the heavy ones is a lesson I need to take real soon! I think it turned out pretty well. There are of course some things I would do differently. That happens with any cake that I make for the first time. I need to keep a book with instructions on how I made it and suggestions to make them better the next time.

My Son the Photographer!!

I normally don't just post pictures of me, but when my son comes up to me and says, "Mommy, Mommy...can I please take your picture?" Well, how do you say no to such a sweet request. I let him and these are what he came up with. I think he did a pretty good job for a five year old! I think his Aunt Emily should give him some lessons. We could have a pro on our hands! =o)

Atlanta Fun!!!

We started the day off by going to Trader Joe's. What never heard of it? Just ask my mother-in-law all about it!! She loves this grocery store. Well, I had to see what all the fuss was about. It was a really cute store, very trendy, but I have to say, it was just a store! Cynthia is at a loss for words because I didn't go bonkers over it. But to each his own, right? Don't get me started on any store that has an amazing organizing section! =o)

We then went to the Science Museum and looked around for a while. The kids had fun and I don't have any pictures because I did a very bad thing. I forgot my camera in the car!!! How? I don't know! I seem to do that a lot though!

Well, on the way to the Braves game, we had an interesting time. Our car started over heating. We really thought that we were going to be stranded in Atlanta. Luckily, my handy man husband got it fixed well enough for us to keep on going!

We parked the car and took a leisurely stroll to the stadium. Hannah and Ian were fascinated by the big city! They even wanted to walk through the cross walk tunnel. They thought it was so neat that cars were driving on the road right above us! This picture is of Bret telling the kids that the crack in the top was going to cause the road to cave in! They are so use to him telling tall tales that they just look to me for verification or nullification! I was laughing and shaking my head no so they knew they were safe.

The kids played in the play area for a good little while before they finally got hungry. We grabbed a bite to eat and watched all the fun right before the game. Hannah and Ian even participated a little. They played limbo.

They each got a T-shirt!
And they really wanted a "hammer" as Ian called it.
So they spent their hard earned money a tomahawk.

After the game, we drove home. The kids slept and we enjoyed the peace and quiet!
All in all, it was a good day!

St. Patrick's Day

I know I am a little late with this post, but we had so much fun that I had to share it. It all started when my husband spotted these pajama bottoms at the store. He needed some new ones so I caved and bought them. Well, the day before St. Patrick's Day, Bret tells me that he wants a day of green. So we started plotting and planning.

Here are the pants that start all the fun.

We start the day off with pancakes. I don't know if you can tell, but they are green. And yes, I did try to make them into shamrocks. After trying about six times, I gave up and the rest were all traditionally round! I did have to make my daughter's second helping into the shamrocks...she asked with the puppy dog eyes and she didn't care if they were not exactly right!

We ate breakfast so late that it was really brunch. Well, that threw my plans off a bit. We were supposed to make shamrock cookies after lunch, but that would have put us too close to dinner. So we nixed that idea.

For dinner, we had Shepherd's Pie. I had never made it before so I was excited to give it try. Everyone really liked it except for my two. Hannah and Ian dislike anything remotely tasty.

Here is my adorable husband in all of his St. Patty's glory!!
He is so proud of his outfit. He actually wore his pajamas all day long!

My father-in-law showing a little St. Patty's spirit! Business man during the day, Shamrock party animal at night!!!

Then to top it all off, we enjoyed with some lime sherbet. Libby pointed out that it
is not pronounced "sherbert" because there is no "r" in the second syllable. I did not believe her
but there really is not. All these years I have been pronouncing it incorrectly.

I am so glad that my husband came up with this idea.

The day ended without me getting pinched and we enjoyed many things green and Irish.

Twilight - DVD Release Party!!!

The day that the dvd was released, I went to the best party. A group of fun women, good food, and vampires!!! The pictures say it all!! Amy, thank you so much for hosting such an awesome party. I really had so much fun!

Could this sign be any truer??

We couldn't drink this wine. It was just too cool. Perfect occasion to bring out the vampire wine!!!

I wanted to bring something super cute to the party. This is what I came up with. They were so much fun to make!!!!

Does Amy know how to throw a party or what???
The food was fantastic and the decorations....

were awesome!!!

All in all, I had a great night. It was so much fun watching the movie with everyone. The commentaries were my favorite!!!