Ladybug Cake

My baby girl just turned ONE!! Can you believe it? I CANT!! =)

I started planning her party months ago (more on that later!) and knew I wanted a ladybug cake for her "smash cake". I researched online some and then asked my good friend, JoDee, if she could help me! I asked a couple bakery's how much they would charge but there's just something special about making the cake yourself! I LOVED making Keaton's CARS cake when he turned 2 so I really was up for the challenge of the ladybug!

JoDee came over 2 days before the party and we got started. Thank God for Baby Einstein...

Are those kids not the cutest? They were such GOOD babies! We worked on the cake for hours and they were little angels!!

It started with 2 small circle cakes...

and a yummy batch of homemade butter-cream icing! YUM!

Then we worked some black and red coloring into the fondant. That is some sticky stuff!!

Next we cut shaped the cake.

Then iced it with buttercream and made it smooth by patting it with a papertowel.

Laid black fondant on the head and trimmed it to fit.

Same with the red!!

Next came cutting the dots and other small details...

Adding eyes, a smile, and blushed cheeks!

Hard at work on the eyelashes!

One side of lashes done.

Our masterpiece and the birthday girl!!

The day of the party I stuck some antennas in that JoDee had formed so nicely and also colored some coconut green for grass!! It turned out just like I had imagined and although very time consuming it was really easy!! Thank you so much JoDee!!! You are so talented and I couldn't have done it without your help! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! =)

The only problem was Karter hated the cake, haha! Granted she was exhausted at her party so just cried and cried when we brought it to her but I figured after a nap she would come out ready to get dirty but NO! She still wanted nothing to do with the giant ladybug. Oh well it was great decoration and her brother Keaton enjoyed eating it! =)

Happy Birthday Karter Lynn!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

This has started a fun little hobby for me! I can't wait to make my next cake! =) JoDee????

Some of Keaton's Firsts

Keaton had 2 firsts this month! His firsts day of Preschool and his first Astros game!!

School is going GREAT! He loves his teachers, has made lots of friends and just looks forward to it whenever he goes! I'm so proud of him! It's also been really nice for me to spend quality time with Karter or just have a little extra time to get chores done because I forgot how easy it is with just one kid around instead of two! =)

Keaton's new nap mat that he loves!!

Getting ready for his first day!!

So excited!!

Keaton and his BFF!

He was sound asleep when I came to pick him up!

The Astros game was a blast! We ate dinner first and then headed to the game where we got ice cream and just had a wonderful family time together!! =)

10 Year Reunion

OK so this is a jumbled up post because blogger is really giving me a hard time with pictures today so here's some pics first, then a reunion summary then more pics...it's just going to have to be out of order because I don't want to deal with moving everything around, blogger could DEF make picture placement easier...GRRR!!

Remembering the cheering days...Tigers on the loose, o-on the loose! =)

Me with 3 of my besties from then and still today! LOVE!!

Me and Jackie!! So many memories with this girl!

August 14th we had our Class of 2000 Reunion and it was so much fun!! I loved High School! Cheering at the pep rallies on Friday and loading up the bus to go win another football game at Rhodes, the Astrodome, Alamodome, or wherever we were playing that particular week, going to dances, having parties...those were some fun times! =)

I always wondered where I would be in my life when I went to my 10 year reunion. I remember thinking that I would probably be married with 2 kids or 1 kid and another on the way. I'd say I was right on! Does that mean my life is boring and predictable or that I'm right where I want to be?? Hummm?? Maybe I should shake things up a bit! =)

The reunion started with a fajita luncheon at the high school. It was crazy to sit in that old gym with the same people I used to eat with 1o years ago, only now our kids were with us which was so fun! Kyle and I met in that very lunch room so it was neat to be there holding our kids together now! It was really great to see everyone and I enjoyed visiting with friends I haven't seen in years. We also walked around the school and went to my old locker and cheer gym...ahhh, the memories!!

The real fun didn't start until that evening. First we went to Soma for some yummy sushi with a big group of friends. Some of the friends we went with I talk to weekly and have seen recently and then others I hadn't seen in YEARS but of course you just pick right back up where you left off and it was like no time had passed at all. We had so much fun visting and catching up over yummy food and drinks!!

Then we drove over to the bar for the reunion and saw so many wonderful faces! I saw people that I've grown up with since preschool, my jr. high best friend, all my cheer friends, old party buddies, and also familiar friendly faces that I used to see in the hall or during class...SO FUN!! I feel so blessed to have grown up with such amazing people! I love that our class was and still is so close to this day! I honestly had a smile glued to my face the whole week after because I was so happy! It was so great to see everyone!

Me and Julie

Our family in the room where it all began! =)

Norm, Nikki, April, Kyle, and I at Soma.

April, Jessica, Meggie, Caroline, and me

Me and KyleMe and Apes with Darren in the back! =)Us Girls!

Me and Kendall

Me and Meghan

Me and Heather

A Dose of Karter

Karter will be walking any day now, this video was actually taken last week and since then she's started to walk twice as far as she is here. If she would stop laughing long enough she'd probably really take off, haha!! It cracks me up because Keaton was the same way when he started to walk, he would just laugh so hard!! =)

Can you say Frankenstein!! =) Only MUCH cuter!

She also LOVES her teddy bear. She calls it her baby and it's so cute! I can already tell she's going to be a "motherly" girl who loves playing with dolls, babysitting, and all that fun stuff! =) This video isn't as long as the other one! =)

Breakin' In The Camper!

WE LOVE CAMPING!!

When we moved to Colorado we bought a used Keystone Sprinter because we knew we would be doing lots of camping so that we could really explore the beautiful state while we were living there. We used it a lot and made some great memories!! Now with our family expanding we decided to sell Kyle's boat and trade in the Sprinter for a more family friendly trailer that has a room separate just for the kids. The new layout makes it perfect for nap-time, etc! So last weekend we took it out for the first time to beautiful Huntsville State Park.

We had such an amazing time! We rode bikes the majority of the day, saw baby gators, rented paddle boats, played Memory and Candyland with Keaton, and just relaxed together. I'm always happy when I'm with my hubby and kids and I'm so excited to start making memories in our new camper!

Keaton helping Daddy cook breakfast.

Our campsite.

Keaton and a baby gator.

Bike ridin'

snack time!

Love how they LOVE eachother! =)

Gig Em' Ags!

So pretty!

My Baby Girl!