For Her Birthday

I think I want to be everyone else in my little family. They get birthday celebrations that last a week long or longer. Last year was the first time that happened to me…

But anyway, enough about me… So baby girl loves Unicorns these days. Obviously. We had a Unicorn themed birthday party complete with unicorn cake, unicorn macarons, and unicorn cupcakes (but don’t forget the Ultimate Birthday Cake too!). Plus unicorn toys, including the one above. That is a Barbie with a Unicorn. I should mention, she also likes Barbie!

Let’s not forget that she also got a bicycle. We held some of her birthday presents from her party just for her to open on her birthday. She also got a sewing machine and a Unicorn Blowup pool toy.

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#BlogJune 2018

I do have thing to say. I am worried sometimes to write them/publish them. So some days I keep quiet. Other days I don’t. Guess we’ll never know what I keep quiet and what I don’t… lol.

But here we are at the end of another month. Man, this year is just flying by, but it usually does. I can’t believe my baby just turned 4. 4-years-old… Holy cow! Wasn’t I just wadling around in the heat complaining that I now know what it’s like to have cankles instead of ankles? By the way, I did get my ankles back :).

I heard that having ankles is good and bad. Bad because they could potentially break/sprain easier. But that’s more useless information that I heard once upon a time that you probably don’t care about so let’s look at the results from this past month instead. You’re welcome 🙂 (more…)

The Ultimate Birthday Cake

It seems like a lifetime ago, but I took cake decorating classes. They were the Wilton ones through Michael’s Craft Stores. And I loved them all at the same time they felt overwhelming. Almost to the point, I really didn’t do cakes for a long time. Every now and then, the special occasion I could be talked into it, but for the most part, I avoided it like the plague.

A year ago, I got convinced to do a birthday cake for a friend’s friend. Gosh, I was so stressed out I thought I was going to cry. Then… something changed. I can’t explain it, but I made my dad a birthday cake with the help of my girls. Then we made my mom a birthday cake. Then Abug and I made my aunt a birthday cake. And slowly cakes started coming back into my life.

And then one day in May, I decided I was going to make birthday cakes to take to the lake for Memorial Day Weekend. Somehow, somewhere I got hooked on a blog called Liv for Cake. Her cakes really and truly impressed me. And that passion, that desire to decorate cakes just came back. Sure, I can buy icing in a jar (although I don’t) and a box cake mix and make a cake. But there was something about her website that drew me in. It was nuts!

I knew there would be a lot of kids at the lake, so I was afraid that they may not like the Chocolate Dulce de Leche, and that’s when I also found a funfetti cake recipe to try… but I was all the sudden hooked. Even with the few mishaps that happened.

And lately, my husband has been feeding this “addiction” for lack of better word. I upgrade my cake turntable to the above picture. I got some 6″ cake pans along with a few more 9″ and bam, I’m cooking up a storm, mistakes included. (more…)

Unicorn Cupcakes

At our house, it seems like birthdays just go on and on. That is no different for the Abug. She had her birthday party, we took birthday cupcakes to the lake (here), and then she got to go out to lunch and dinner on her birthday. And since you need a birthday cake on your birthday, she got one of those too.

We learned early on that going to the lake with birthday cake, cupcakes are easier. You don’t have to have a knife and plates to cut up and serve birthday goodies. Now… earlier this year, we actually had cake at the lake (Funfetti & Chocolate Dulce de Leche), but for her birthday it’s a little different. Why? Well, usually we are celebrating it at the lake during the Underwater Safari Hunt. That is just a crazy day anyway, so cupcakes are definitely the way to go.

Initially, I wanted to do the horse/unicorn head cupcake I saw on Facebook earlier this year for our cupcake, but since I decorated on Friday, I was afraid that heading to the lake with it already decorated, they could potentially move and that would be sad. Then I ran across Cupcake Jemma’s YouTube video on Unicorn cupcakes and I was sold on that idea. I already had some fondant at the house for the Unicorn Cake horn and ears that needed to be used up. Easy Peasy! (more…)

Dinosaur Sugar Cookies

A couple weeks ago Abug had to have some dental work done. Either while I was sitting there waiting or just after I got a text from my mom asking if I had any dinosaur sugar cookies. I told her no and that we’d probably have to go on Amazon to find them. She mentioned a kitchen supply store there in town and asked if they’d have them. Truthfully, I figured the answer was no.

Abug did so well during her dental work and didn’t have any pain/issues afterward, that we decided to go to the store and see if we could find a dinosaur cookie cutter. They were getting ready for customer appreciation days the next day so they had them set up in the back. One of the workers helped me look for a dinosaur and Abug found it almost immediately.

I let my mom know we found one and she said great. Guys, I think I paid $1.50 for it… maybe… Amazon’s weren’t that cheap. Although I love Amazon and they had a lot of different dinosaurs than this one. (more…)

The Birthday Party

This sweet little girl is 4 today. 4. How did that happen? I seriously don’t know. It seems like just 4 years went by in the blink of an eye. I’m sooooo proud of how she’s turned out and some days she leaves me shaking my head wondering how her mind got where it got!

Only having her sister around certain times and with trying to plan a birthday party around our hectic at times schedule, we actually wound up celebrating her birthday 2 weeks early. Hey, a girl is allowed to celebrate her birthday for a month, right? I think so!!

The Birthday Party

I knew the theme was going to be Unicorn’s since sometime last fall. It’s random. It’s so totally her! I did some research online looking for party decorations. I started to order offline but then went to town to Party City to see what they had. They had everything I wanted and I could walk away with it in hand so I went ahead and changed up the unicorn pattern a little and bam, we were set! (more…)

NCHA Hall of Fame

Oh goodness, this month has flown by! Gosh! We’re already at the end of the month and now I’m going to tell you something that happened the first weekend of this month. That was 20 some days ago… But sometimes I get to play catch up and this is one of those things I want on this blog, so that’s what you get… playing catch up.

My uncle has had a goal his whole cutting horse showing career of making the NCHA Hall of Fame. I’m pleased to announce he finally made his goal come true! Woot woot! One of the criteria is for you to win $ 500,000-lifetime earnings. Let’s just say, he made it! And this year he was inducted into the NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame.

The awards banquet was held in Grapevine, Texas, the first weekend of June during the NCHA Convention. We loaded up first thing Saturday morning and hit the road for a long 6 hour trip to Grapevine which is just outside of Dallas. We pulled in around 3 pm or so because we actually got on the road earlier than we planned on. What? 6 of us and we got on the road earlier than normal. That’s totally unheard of! Especially for my family… not going to lie. Usually, we get on the road later than planned. (more…)

From a Paris Balcony Book Cover by Ella Carey

From a Paris Balcony {Book Review}

From a Paris Balcony Book Cover by Ella Carey

I didn’t realize it but I’m on book 11 of my 12 challenge. That’s nuts! Seriously, last I knew I was on book 6 or something. It’s crazy. I’ve read…

  1. Just One Year – Gale Forman
  2. Just One Day – Gale Forman
  3. Just One Night – Gale Forman
  4. Fearless Fourteen – Janet Evanovich
  5. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen – Janet Evanovich
  6. The Time of My Life – Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi
  7. My Life in France – Julia Child
  8. Royal Date – Sariah Wilson
  9. Royal Chase – Sariah Wilson
  10. Royal Games – Sariah Wilson
  11. From a Paris Balcony – Ella Carey

Now… Just One Night was a Novella so maybe I should do another one that makes 13 to make 12. Just a thought. Earlier this year I got a Kindle Fire. I’ve mentioned before I love love love real books, but I kind of love love love my Kindle Fire too. Can you have it both ways? (more…)

The Unicorn Cake

AKA… the Cake that Tried to Kill Me…..

Before we get started on the cake that tried to kill me… Can I tell you a little side story? I couldn’t sleep last night. When I have things to do the next day, you know, a to-do list… I have nightmares about it. My brain won’t shut down and I lie awake wondering a) if I’ll get it all done and b) should I get up now and do it so I’m not wasting my time since I’m just laying here staring at the ceiling?

Although… sometimes food haunts me I think. After I watched Julie and Julia for the first time, I couldn’t sleep. All I thought about was food that night. Learning how to be like Julia. I think I have problems :). But last night all I could think about were the cupcakes that I needed to get done today. The icing, the decorating, the icing. Oy! For over an hour. Then I was hot, but my knees were cold… something weird with me… It can be 110˚ in the shade and my knees will feel like they just came out of the freezer. It hurts like hell! Pardon my language.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out, we’ll call it confessions, let’s look at the cake that tried to kill me… btw I didn’t dream about this cake. Maybe that was my problem… (more…)