Birthday Cakes of Josie's Past

When I was little, my mom made our birthday cakes each year.  I remember having a Rainbow Bright cake, a Gummi Bears cake, and a New Kids on the Block cake.  It's a tradition that I wanted to carry on with my own kids.  So, each year so far I have made Josie's birthday cake.  Since we just celebrated her 4th birthday, I was thinking of all the cakes of the past years and wanted to put pictures of them all together.  By no means am I anywhere near Cake Boss employment, but I'm still pretty proud of these creations.  More importantly--it was something that I got to do for my little girl to make her feel special.   I have spent HOURS on each one, but I really have enjoyed making these and look forward to making more special memories in the future.  I think it will be neat one day to be able to look back at the pictures and all the past memories that go with it.  This is what I've done so far....

1st Birthday: Butterfly Party
(this one's my personal favorite)
I made this cake at my in-law's house.  We had moved to Houston that spring and soon thereafter learned that Lane's sister, Mary Anne had breast cancer.  We traveled back to TN for her surgery and had Josie's birthday party while we were there. 

She also had her own personal heart-shaped cake, 

which she enjoyed digging in while yelling "cake!!!"

 2nd Birthday:  WonderPets Party

I made this cake at my parents' house.  Lane was on a mission trip to China, and while he was gone Josie and I went to AL for one weekend.  It really was a "wonder" that we finally got pics of this cake with all the pieces still on it!  It was so hot and humid that day, the icing was literally melting off of the cake faster than I could get it on there!  Poor Lenny, Tuck, and Ming Ming, too kept sliding off!  

 I'd rate this one as the most frustrating.

3rd Birthday:  Tea Party

This was my first true "Cake Boss" type attempt and my first cake to make in my own kitchen!  I stepped outside the "pan" and made the cake for the teapot and teacups from bowls.  I also fancied up some of the icing by adding some chocolate raspberry coffee to the chocolate icing.  This was also my first time to work with fondant, of which I was not a fan. 

 4th Birthday:  Watermelon Party

I prayed over this cake the night before the party.  I was so afraid I was going to get up party morning and find the watermelon "wedges" had split and fallen apart.  God heard my pleas and although slouching, 

the wedges held it together (and so did I!).  

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!!!

We've had a wonderful day today. We started this morning by checking out Josie's basket to see what the Easter Bunny left for her. She got several treats---bubbles, a CD, stickers, a notebook, jewelry, M&Ms, Goldfish, and a new Dora jumprope! Then we went to church where Lane delivered a wonderful message on how the empty tomb transforms our lives. After worship, we headed to Lebanon to have lunch and an egg hunt with Lane's family. It's been a great day...we are so blessed to be surrounded by friends and family to share such a special day. But the greatest blessing of all is that our Savior conquered death for us when He rose from the dead. We sang "In Christ Alone" this morning, and these words have been resonating in my heart all day:

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain.

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sins's curse has lost it's grip on me.

For I am His, and He is mine....

Bought with the precious blood of Christ!

Eggs!

Our Easter eggs this year.....

I bought this kit at Target for $5. Super cute!! Josie and I had a great time dying and putting stickers on the eggs to make our jungle scene. Throughout the process, she kept begging to eat an egg. I really don't know what she was expecting and knew she wouldn't like it. She loves scrambled eggs, but we don't make hard-boiled eggs very often. After tediously having to wait to decorate the eggs first before getting to eat one, she (obviously!) did not care for it. Oh well....they're too cute to eat anyway! My favorite is the giraffe....

Spring has Sprung!

It's officially Spring and we've been busy doing Spring-time things!

A few weeks ago, I made this wreath to hang on our front door. I had seen one like it at JoAnn's and LOVED it, but was unwilling to spend $30 on it. So....I spent $10 and made this one.
Josie and I have already started making Easter treats. I had seen several cute ideas on Pinterest that I wanted to try....

Bunny Bark

(Golden Oreos, pretzels, & M&Ms in candy coating)

Bunny Bait (my favorite!)

(popcorn, pretzels, M&Ms mixed together in white chocolate)

Bunny Bread

Yesterday we had our church Egg Hunt. One of our elders and his wife host the egg hunt each year in their BEAUTIFUL back yard (complete with an awesome playground!). We had fantastic weather and everyone had a great time. Josie got to look for eggs out in the grass with the "big kids" this year.

After several minutes, she became less interested in finding more eggs and more interested in finding out what was in the eggs that she had. Which was......

Melted chocolate!!!

Josie and big friend Morgan on the swing.

Bunny Hunt

We have a big, brown bunny living in our yard! One day last week as I was walking up the ramp to our back door, a huge rabbit ran out from under our deck and into the bushes across the yard. It scared me at first, but once I realized what it was I couldn't wait to tell Josie about it. I honestly thought we'd probably never see it again.

Well....apparently he's pretty comfortable with us. Later that afternoon, Josie and I stood at the back door and watched him munch on clover. Later that night, he laid out in the grass as Josie tip-toed outside to tell him "night-night". We didn't see him for several days and I worried that maybe something happened to him (or her! maybe we'll have baby bunnies soon!). But I saw him again last night. So this morning, Josie and I threw some carrots out in the yard. Then this afternoon, Josie and I actually went outside and stood on the porch and watched him for several minutes. I took these pictures with my phone.

It's just so fun to have a bunny....especially at this time of the year!

Spirited Art

Several weeks ago, my mom, sister, Josie, and I started making plans for a "girls" weekend. For one of our activities, my sister Leah suggested we go to a paint class at Spirited Art. We had a similar studio close to our house in Houston, but I never had the opportunity to try it. So, I was super excited about going! It's basically a painting class, where they walk you through a painting, step-by-step. You can bring in any food or drinks you want (we took Starbucks). This particular class was PACKED with people. There were probably 40 or so people in there....both men and women. Our painting for the evening was "Water Lilies" by Monet. We had a really good time and are very proud of our finished products! This is definitely something I want to do again.....just need to find a place in Nashville.