Sleep Talking

The common phrase for people joking about their own short attention span used to be something along the lines of "Look, there goes something shiny!" (or bright, if the jokester is a male.) Disney/Pixar updated that phrase with the advent of their movie, Up. All you have to do is watch the commercials to see the lovable dog interrupting himself by yelling "Squirrel" every time he saw one of the rodents to burst out laughing. Turns out that golden retrievers aren't the only ones to induce laughter through such a comical utterance.

Ryan was waking up the boys to get ready for church this morning and started with Nathan. Landon started mulbling in his sleep. Suddenly, still asleep, Landon called out, "Squirrel!" After Ryan finished laughing, he asked Landon if he was calling himself a squirrel like Daddy does. The reply came back in the negative; evidentally our son indicated that he was trying to catch a squirrel. And the funny part of it all is that we haven't watched "Up" recently. Maybe he's been hanging out with a golden retriever? :)

Cakes by Katherine

This post is for the progression of my cake decorating skills. I am fortunate to have an extremely talented mother-in-law who was willing last year to teach me a little bit. I still have tons more to learn, but it's so much fun! Now I don't have to go to Walmart to get fun birthday cakes for my boys!!! :)

I figured 30 candles on a cake would pose a serious fire hazard, so I brought out the fire extinguisher as well. He didn't laugh nearly as hard as I did... :)

So yes, this cake was for the surprise "funeral" that I threw for a 30th birthday party for my husband. The hardest part was getting him out of the house while I made, decorated, hid the cake, and then cleaned the kitchen. The second-hardest part was getting the kids to keep a secret.

The grass turned out to be problematic as the green icing coloring was somewhat clumpy and wouldn't 100% blend in, so the grass tip kept getting clogged. Very time consuming to clean! I wanted more of a marbled look for the tombstone, but overall I am pleased with the results.

One of my OT's at work was a little disappointed when another co-worker found another job. The day before the birthday was also Staci's last day at work, so I was asked to contribute to the going away party. And no, I did NOT come up with the idea, it was all Heather's!!! Not my favorite cake that I've made, but definitely has gotten the most comments. We had people from all over the facility coming in to check it out, take pictures, and debate over whether they really wanted a piece of it. Despite the looks, it was very tasty.

My darling hubby helped me design the camouflage initially, but when I asked him to help me, he decided the patterns he had drawn were way too small! Our hands were cramped by the time we finished all those little stars, but it was fun to add the texture. I was also happy to be able to add in the A-10, which is what my brother flies.

My boys like their boy toys!

Thomas the Train. I used a train that we already had and copied the pattern off the internet. I love google images for ideas!

I think my favorite part are the fluffy clouds. Partially because I think they're cute and definitely because they were extremely easy... After doing all that grass with an icing bag that was breaking, my hand was definitely crying for a rest.

To be added later: the Clifford cake that my MIL helped me extensively with. I think that pic is on the external hard drive...