Fashion Show

Hallie was accepted into pre-school last month.  This was very exciting news to all members of the household, but I think Hallie and I are most excited (and for very different reasons).  I'm just happy to see that Hallie will have a chance to have daily interaction with other kids her age.  Heaven knows she needs it.  To celebrate our building anticipation, we went school shopping this past week.  Hallie obliged in putting on a fashion show, and I thought I would share the final product of her photo shoot.

Here we have Hallie sporting the ever-feminine butterfly-print dress.  Simple, but flirty.

 Next we have our Back-to-School staple, the denim dress.  The belt is a purple floral and the shoes a white Mary Jane.  Hallie wears it with attitude and style, just how her momma raised her.

Next in the line-up is the fantastic T-shirt dress.  This dress says comfy, casual, and oh-so-trendy.  Hallie's ready to hit the books... while the boys take a look.

Finally, we give you the black ruffle tank with sequins. Hallie wears this with white laced leggings.  Not every 3-year-old can pull this off, but Hallie's definitely got the legs for it.

*This fashion show was brought to you by H&M Las Vegas, where the majority of these clothes were purchased.

GRIPE SESSION - $120 for parking at church = sad face

So, we often go to my parents after church for a lovely Sunday meal.  And I often go to church separately and when we go to my folks, we just leave my car there.

Well, upon retrieving my car a month ago, I got a lovely little pink slip with a nasty orange sticker (uber-sticky...we're talking goo-gone) attaching it to my windshield (what ever happened to using the wipers?).

Any who, sure, I broke the law, it's a misdemeanor [criminal!], I can't say that I had ever seen the parking sign, in fact, I had to go back and look to see where it was, and especially since people have parked on that road since the beginning of time.

In my mind, 'No parking zones' are placed to increase public safety...in my case, I think the parking sign was placed for public annoyance.  I'll let you be the judge, but unless we are allowing lizards and katydids to be U.S. citizens, I doubt any of our citizens safety has been blessed by the fortuitous placement of this no parking zone which happens to be essentially in the middle of the desert far from any type of residential property or narrow roads with limited visibility (not bitter).

WhipperWhat?

All right, I've posted it all over Facebook and now I'm doing a shout-out on my personal blog about my newest adventure.  I have partnered up with my friend Heather to be a part of WhipperBerry!  Basically, the site is for all things creative.  We go a little into design, photography, cooking, dessert tables, weddings, fashion, DIY and who knows where else.  We've got Heather, who makes GREAT car seat canopies and other baby basics.  She's also an amazing photographer and put the whole site together herself.  Then there's me, the dessert table girl.  Heather is my main partner in crime on this, and things are going well in that area.  After October, I'll be done making cakes (although Adam thinks I should just keep it and jack up the prices, what do you think??) and I will just do the dessert tables.  There's also Erin, who owns a wedding/reception center and has had a pretty exciting life running that business.  She's a crack-up, and definitely adds a lot of spunk to our group.  We hope to be adding another WhipperChick or two in the near future, so stay tuned.  If you haven't already, become a fan on facebook (by clicking Like on the Left hand side) or follow our blog.  We post 5-6 times a week, and like I said before, the photography is amazing, so you won't want to miss the posts!

www.whipperberry.com

Vacate

We're back from our trip to Idaho!  We had such a wonderful time.  Between going to Jackson, going boating at Whiptail, watching fireworks from the curb while snuggling in a blanket in 40 degree weather, I started feeling a little jealous Idaho.  I came home to the HOT, brown, dirt laden land of Nevada and wished for the green fields of wheat that I had just left.  Oh well, I suppose I'm never too jealous of Idaho in the winter (although a little snow around Christmas would be nice).

I am happy to be home though.  My sister came home with me and we did what we love to do.  We went shopping at J.Crew, admired the Jean Phillipe Bakery at the Bellagio, and planned her wedding while listening to Jazz at Borders (no, Kelsey isn't even engaged, but she WILL have an amazing wedding).

We've been having fun all summer long

Here in Vegas, summer ends with June.  Then our own personal season, HOT AS HADES (all caps required) hits in July and August.  So here's to summer, we shall miss you.  We're really not looking forward to outrageous electric bills and frying eggs on our sidewalk, but I still think I'll take the heat over the cold... even if my winter clothes are cuter. 
We've been swimming at least 3 times every week, going hiking and watching plays, playing with friends and watching basketball.  Hallie just loves to GO all the time ("Where are we going today, Mommy?" are frequently the first words I hear in the morning) and Ashton just wants to eat... always.
 Here's some photos of our latest happenings.

1.  Hanging out in mom's "get ready for vacation" tanning chair  2. Dressing up at Sydney's house 3. Running at the park 4. Getting the face painted before Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Basically, we've been pretty spoiled with fun :) 
I've been taking a break from cake decorating and won't start up again until September so that I can update and totally re-vamp my website and just have a great time with the kiddos. I'd really LOVE to do a party inspired by these shoes...

I can just see the whole butterfly, summer colors party now.  Anyone need a birthday party planned for their little girl?? :)  It would be so amazingly CUTE.
Have a fabulous summer and drink lots of lemonade!  I'll be back after we get home from Idaho.
In the meantime, check out the new things I've added to my website, give me any input, and vote on my poll there.  Thanks!
www.whitneyscakes.com

Dessert Table for Baby-to-be!

The baby shower I mentioned in my last post happened just this past Wednesday!  We had a wonderful time, and I loved putting it all together.  I totally felt like I was in my element the whole time.  Even when we had a slight catastrophe right before the shower started, I really felt like I handled it okay and thanks to some wonderful friends who totally saved the day, we pulled it off!  Here's some pictures of the event...

My dear friend Kristin introduced me to Amy Atlas about 9 months ago, and ever since the day she introduced me, I knew I just HAD to try a dessert table.  I would tell you to go visit Amy's site, but her tables make mine look pitiful, but if you must visit, I understand :)
I was so glad that I got to do this table for such an awesome person, and I'm really really grateful for EVERYONE that helped out.  Thanks so much!!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I know I haven't blogged in a little while, and I really don't have time to blog now, as I've been busy getting ready for my friend's baby shower.  There will be plenty of pictures of the event though, so tune in later next week!
As for now, enjoy this AMAZING time lapse video of artist James Mylne.  He does his most famous artwork in ballpoint pen alone.  I've always loved art, and it's even more amazing to me when I see people use such common household mediums to create masterpieces.

All Done!

I know I promised this post last week, but we didn't have this all finished until yesterday... which was mostly my fault.  I got lazy about painting and so it basically took all week to get me motivated enough to finish it.  But it's done!

Now I just need a little storage thing for that bare spot by the sink, kind of like this one...

They have one at Home Goods here, and the baskets are actually closed instead of open, an absolute must for anyone who has 2 small children and doesn't want to see the clutter.  Of course, the majority of our budget is still governed by necessity instead of desires, so it may be a while. 

If you have the decorating bug BAD like I do, here's some fun sites:

theletteredcottage.net

hookedonhouses.net

smallplacestyle.blogspot.com

brilliantyasylum.blogspot.com

and some of my most favoritest stores (well, besides PB)

ballarddesigns.com

my-sparrow.com 

anthropologie.com

mainecottage.com

Another year of heartbreak (at least I'm used to it by being a BYU fan!)

(Disclaimer:  I am a huge Cleveland Cavaliers/LeBron James fan.  If you don't care for basketball or sports in general, don't bother reading on :)  I understand that many don't understand my passion for the God-given sport of basketball.)

It's time for my annual post on the Cavaliers.  I really don't know WHAT to say.  I'm confused, sad, mad, and mostly just confused.  LeBron just FELL apart these last 2 games.  Adam and I have been talking about it quite a bit.  Was he hurt with the elbow or his leg and just trying not to say anything and make a scene? That's what I thought at first, but now I'm not so sure.  LeBron just kind of sauntered around tonight, not driving like he usually does or running in from nowhere for the block.  Now, I know he had a triple double, but he almost had a quadruple double with 9 turnovers, and that's not the kind of quadruple double you want.  He almost acted like he was trying to prove a point, just like a few years ago in our good friend Kobe...... (or not.  I have quite a lot of Sports Hate for Kobe).  Maybe he was trying to say, "why would I stay here?  I get a TRIPLE DOUBLE, and the rest of my team still can't win."  And I can't blame him too much, he shouldn't have to carry such a load.
Whatever the reason, I would be surprised at this point if LeBron returns to the Cavs next year.  At the beginning of the season, I would have said there was NO WAY he was leaving.  The Cavs were looking so good, I know LeBron loves being the hometown boy, all his friends are there in the A-K-rowdy (aka Akron) so I thought he was there to stay.  But like he's said over and over this year, he's in the NBA to win games, and unless some major changes are made, I think LeBron's going elsewhere.  Perhaps you think I'm wrong?  I hope so.  Let me know if you do.  I love any words of encouragement :)
If LeBron does leave, will I change "favorite teams"?  Adam thinks he'll be loyal to wherever LeBron is.  I think I'll always love the Cavs, they're just my team.  I'll always support LeBron and I'll probably even like his new team second best, but I think my heart will ultimately lie with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
At any rate, I will always love the game of basketball.

And now... GO SUNS
:)

Busy Busy

I didn't die of pneumonia, don't worry.  I know I haven't blogged in a while (for me, anyway), but that's just because I've been CRAZY busy.  After I had my bout of sickness, the kids and I packed up and went to the wintery land of Rexburg to visit my family so that Adam could study for his next CPA test.  It was nice to see the family, the weather was freezing, and Ashton was bullied to death by Hallie, but we had a good time :)  The kids were actually great on the plane, the part I was most nervous about.  We got home on the 29th and I had 3 cakes to make by May 1.  So I had roughly 36-40 hours to get 3 cakes done.  One was a BabyCake, not too stressful, so I got it out of the way first.  Then I made this beauty...

 And finally, I made a book cake.  I was given this picture...

and was asked to do the top 3 books. Now, I was in a HUGE rush to get this delivered on time for a surprise birthday, and I only got 3 hours of sleep in a 30 hour time span, so I wasn't mentally all together.  Anyway, I FORGOT to take a picture of the cake!!  I've tried contacting the people I did it for, but I still haven't heard from them.  I think the cake ended up looking REALLY close to the picture above, so I'll just have to let you look at this one.
The 30th was my birthday, and I just worked on cake all day long.  Adam and I celebrated on Saturday evening by going to one of my favorite restaurants in town (Grimaldi's) and watching the Cavs beat the Celtics (yaaaay)! 
Adam studied like crazy the next week while I tried to do some deep cleaning.  He took his test on Friday and then we decided to do the paneling in the bathroom on Saturday after my friend's shower.  It started out looking really boring when we moved into it.  Kind of like this bathroom...

Same mirror, same sink, different floor though... but ya know, just boring.  So I painted it, until it looked like this...

Replaced the mirror with a MUCH better one from Home Goods, painted it blue, and switched out the lights.  All that was done a while ago.  Then last week, I ripped out the baseboard...

And Adam and I went to work!  It's not all done, we still have to caulk, spackle, put in some corner pieces, and paint it (obviously), but I think it's looking good!

I wanted something that looked more custom than just a sheet of beadboard.  So I copied the paneling in my mom's house :)  It actually looks exactly like this in her bathroom, so I'm WAY excited for how it will turn out once it's all painted.  I'll post the big reveal later on this week!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there.  I would post more on the subject, but I think I've gone on long enough :)

Four weeks and counting

For the past month (ever since my parents left town on the 13th of March), I've been sick.  The first bout of sickness came from lack of sleep, and after about a week, I started feeling better.  So instead of trying to take it easy until I fully recovered, I took on more than I could handle with my cakes, all while Adam has been working super late during tax season.  So I started getting more sick... and more sick... and so sick that finally yesterday I caved and went to see a doctor.  Why didn't I go in earlier?  Because our health insurance isn't very good, and I'm the budgeter of the family :)  But it was starting to become apparent that I was NOT getting any better.  So after 4 hours in Quick Care, followed by another 4 in the ER, I found out I have PNEUMONIA in my lower left lung (right side of the x-ray).  Lovely.  So I'll be sitting in bed for the next few days, trying to finally fully recover.  Thank goodness for a wonderful mother-and-father-in-law that completely took care of me and my kids yesterday and who is still taking care of the kids today (thanks, Julie!).  I'd probably just be getting worse without them (or Adam would have had to have worked for 72 hours straight and then we would both have pneumonia). I'm also soooo grateful that Adam and the kids haven't gotten it.  The doctor said some forms can be contagious, so either I got the good non-contagious kind, or I've just been really lucky :)  Either way, the doctor gave me some of his cool masks to wear around the kids and hubby.

I did it (almost) ALL by myself!

Adam introduced me to this fabulous blog last week and I decided if Ana could do it, I could do it.  So I thought it would be fun to make a picnic bench for the kids for Easter.  I went and bought some wood, screws, a little paint and glue... borrowed a saw from a friend and took on my first carpentry job!  It took a little while, but I finished it and I learned A LOT.  Adam only helped with the top of the picnic table, and I did all the cuts for the whole table, and the screwing and painting for the rest of the table.  The kids LOVE it, and I'm definitely going to be making our bed frame from one of Ana's other plans.

The Great Debate

Ok, everyone.  I need your vote.  Are my cakes art or craft?  Adam's giving me a hard time about it, and I definitely have my own opinion on the subject.  So I'm leaving it up to you.  What's it gonna be, ART or CRAFT?

Family!

A couple of weeks ago, my dear family came out for a visit.  My dad went to the MWC tournament and we girls basically just shopped like crazy for 3 days.  It was a blast. I haven't been shopping like that since before my kids were born :)  Saturday night we went to go see Phantom at the Venetian and were lucky enough to be sitting right under the chandalier.  Hallie made great friends with Grandpa that weekend and is super excited to go visit them again in April.

Here's a nice poor-quality picture of all of us (except Greg).

Sunday Afternoons and Static

Most Sundays, after church, we head over to Adam's parents and enjoy a delicious dinner (that we never get at home because I still don't buy expensive meat) and good company.  The past couple of times we've gone, the weather has been lovely.  The kids are so excited to jump on the trampoline and play basketball with their dad.  Ashton is starting to really like the sport and we hope his enthusiasm will only multiply (preferably exponentially, although we would never push him to do what WE want, unless it's what HE wants :)). 

Hallie likes to play, too... but she pretty much likes to do anything physical.  She's so energetic she makes me tired just watching her.
Adam also decided to give the kids their first lesson on electrons and static electricity.  The kids thought it was great.  Now he just needs to think of ways to make calculus interesting and our children will be geniuses.

New Blog

Ok, everyone...  I just put up my first post on my cake blog!  It still needs quite a bit of editing... we're going to change the banner so that it doesn't look exactly like my website, I don't want it to be too confusing.  Do you have a button for your etsy shop or other business?  I'd love to add it to the blog!  Feel free to add the blog to your blog lists, I hope to update it at least a couple times a week with new cake ideas or tips.  If you have any suggestions or questions on cake decorating, let me know!  I'd love to put a post up about it.

whitscakes.blogspot.com

Rube Goldberg

For your enjoyment or amazement =]

ihatemyspacebar

So, a couple weeks ago, one of the kids knocked Whitney's lappy off the counter and onto the floor...much to the chagrin of my wife, and to her 250GB harddrive, and to her excel Budget file that was corrupted.  So, geekery to the rescue (almost).  I had an extra laptop harddrive, so I copied everything over (the old harddrive still worked, just at 1/20th of the speed...not exaggerating), and reinstalled her operating system.

Well, not even a day later, Ashton got his paws on Whitney's laptop, and thought it would be a barrel-full-of-monkeys amount of fun to take rip off some of the keys off her keyboard...I couldn't completely come to the rescue there.  With one exception, you can still use every key on her keyboard (with the key off), you just have to depress the little rubber nub on the circuit board.  But, for the spacebar, you actually have to press the little metal square (where the rubber nub used to be), it is quite the exercise, and takes much mastery.

Haha, this is where the fun begins, at least for me it was.  I'm at work today and Whitney started to chat with me [excerpt]:

(17:16:25) LOVEY hallie's eaten about 1 full cup of sour cream in the past 5 minutes
(17:17:32) meetloaf13@hotmail.com hahaha
(17:17:39) meetloaf13@hotmail.com you are what you eat right?
(17:21:13) meetloaf13@hotmail.com did your keyboard come?
(17:27:06) LOVEY notatthedoor
(17:27:16) LOVEY sorryihatemyspacebar:)
(17:27:20) LOVEY ha
(17:27:25) meetloaf13@hotmail.com lolz
(17:27:27) meetloaf13@hotmail.com hahahaha
(17:27:34) LOVEY itmightbeinthemailbox

(18:06:44) LOVEY sometimebeforethursday,willyoupickupsomemoreshampooatcostco?
(18:06:50) LOVEY ha
(18:06:55) meetloaf13@hotmail.com lolololol
(18:07:08) LOVEY awwww
(18:07:13) LOVEY poorme:)

I got a pretty good kick out of it.  But don't think that Whitney is a lemonsucker...ihatemyspacebar.blogspot.com is now taken, and may have it's debut post very very soon.

=D

Y  a  y    f  o  r    s  p  a  c  e  b  a  r  s  !

Hallie

Hallie's been super cute this past week.  She's on this kick of telling stories that ramble on and on, but they're so cute in her little voice.  She's also hit the "why?" stage, where everything i tell her is followed up by asking "why?" at least 12 times.  I'm trying not to be that mom that just ignores their child after the first 3 whys? but it can get a little exasperating at times :)  If we could just get her to get along with Ashton and not be so possessive, she'd be near angelic! I can't really complain too much though, you've gotta have something to work on, right?
Also, in the next week or two I'll be adding a blog link to my website where I'll post different places where I've found inspiration or just tips on cake decorating.  Unfortunately, this also means that I'll probably be posting a little less here and a little more there, but I'll still be around, whether here or there.

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!