My Cake Adventures

Wedding cake tips

2012-01-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

By doing things wrong I have learned some valuable lessons I don't want to forget.
-I use crisco and flour to prepare my pans so the cakes won't stick. What is also helpful is to line the bottom of the pan with wax paper. This has saved many cakes for me.
-Freezing the cakes before filling and crumb coating is actually important. When the cakes are at room temperature they tend to slid around and not stay put. I covered them in two layers of plastic wrap to keep them moist.
-Cutting the cakes is easier after they have been chilled.
-The frosting used to make the dam needs to be very thick frosting, thicker then what I would use to frost the outside of the cake. If it is not thick enough it will spill out and show even after I have put my fondant on.
-Wait at least 12 hours after filling to put on the fondant. This gives it time to settle.
-Putting them then in the fridge in preparation for the fondant is also very helpful.
-After I had my fondant all rolled out I pulled the cakes out of the fridge and gave them a nice small mist of water using my spray bottle. This helped the fondant to stick to the hardened butter cream.
-Next time I need to make flowers make them more then a month in advance so that I am not overwhelmed. Also try to mix gum paste with a small amount of fondant. This way they might not be so hard. The flowers could have been used as ninja weapons.
-To attach the flowers and pearls I used a small paintbrush to apply the edible glue. Why I have not done that before is the beyond me. So much easier then what I have down in the past.

Remember that doing wedding cakes is more time consuming then I think and charge accordingly. Also remember to say no if I am not excited about the design. I was excited to try the flowers on this last cake since I had never done that before.

Another wedding cake

2012-01-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

I was really excited to do something a little more detailed for a wedding cake. I didn't however realize how time consuming this one would be.
My client is allergic to soy. Which means everything I usually use in my vegan cooking was out the window. I learned how to make the perfect fattening fluffy white cake. Lemon curd with real butter and fondant without using crisco.
I also learned how to make these beautiful flowers that took roughly 20 minutes a piece to make. I am sure if I did it more often I would become much more proficient. I was pleased with the outcome.
Next on my wedding want-to list is a colored cake with different shapes/colors for flowers. Anyone want to pay me to make that?

I have been making cakes... really, I have proof.

2012-01-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

I made this cake for a friend. I love when someone gives me complete creative license when they ask for a cake. Her little girl was having a pj party and she loves Princesses Snow White being her favorite. While making this cake I think I achieved Cake decorating Flow. That place where everything comes together and the creativity just comes. Making it was so rewarding. I think I love making things I have never made before.
The head and foot boards are cleft over cake I covered with fondant. I colored the fondant brown and then cut wood grain into it with a dull knife. I then painted on it with brown food coloring mixed lemon extract. That helped to give it the stained look.
The blanket is just fondant. The bird and mushrooms are also fondant.

Emma loves to help make her cakes and she is super artistic. This year I let her splatter paint her cake. SO easy and she had so much fun. I melted frosting in the microwave for maybe 10-20 seconds. Then with a spoon she literally splattered it.How happy and fun is that?

This is a little outdated now. I made candy corn cupcakes. Super easy!

Found a couple old cakes I had made

2012-01-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

Sarah wanted a high school musical 2 party a few years ago. If you have seen the movie then the cake will make sense. But I don't recomened going seeing the movie just to understand the cake. Of the three, this one was the lamest. But it did make for a great party theme! And really, that is all that matters.

Playing with cakes and a pie cookie

2011-09-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

I have done some playing around just for the fun of it baking. Usually on Sunday I feel the need to bake.

I wanted to try a fondant flower. This one is a little to fat so next time I will have to roll it out thinner.

Lemon meringue cookie? It was good, we liked it, we eat them all!
Just because I wanted to make it after seeing a how to on the internet.
Friends invited us over for dinner and I offered to bring dessert. I couldn't decide between chocolate or strawberry so I did both.

Pina Colada cupcakes

2011-09-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

I think these are my new favorite. So yummy, fluffy and light.
I found the recipe on Confessions of a Cookbook Queens blog. I altered it to make it vegan.

Ingredients:

1 box of Duncan Hines Pineapple supreme cake mix
20.25 oz can crushed pineapple
4 egg whites
1/2 cup vegan butter

Frosting

1/2 cup vegan butter
1/2 cup butter flavor Crisco
1/2 cup coconut milk (the kind used as a milk replacer)
1 tsp coconut extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar
Sweetened shredded coconut for garnish and added yummyness

Preheat oven to 350 and get your cupcake tins ready for goodness.

Strain pineapple pressing gently to get all the juice out. I was able to get exactly the 1 cup I needed from my can.

If you have a kitchen-aid, everyone should have a kitchen-aid, add cake mix, egg whites, butter, and pineapple juice. Beat on low speed until well combined, about 30 seconds. Turn up your speed to medium and mix another 2 minutes. Carefully fold in your pineapples. I forgot this step and had to add them to the cupcakes right before baking. Not recommended.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Place in the oven and wait for your nose to be sent into a heightened degree of pleasure. Unfortunatly you will have to wait 15-20 minutes before you will get to burn your tongue tasting their goodness. They are better with frosting but still delightful on their own.

Once they are cool add frosting either by pipping or spreading on with a knife. I choose pipping because I was eager to try them. Sprinkle with coconut shreds and enjoy. My oldest son does not like the texture of coconuts but likes the flavor. I left the coconut off the top of one for him.

Nephews train cake

2011-08-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I got this idea for a train cake. I had been looking at car cakes and train cakes and this is a collection of different ideas I saw out there. I love the way it came together. My house does not have air conditioning at it was extra hot that day. I learned how important a cool room is for frosting. The green kept sliding down the cake.

Do you think this sweet little boy cared? of course not!

I made the "3" train tracks out of fondant then placed his train on top.
The rocks and signs are made out of fondant as well. For the rocks I combined black and white fondant just enough to get that nice marble affect.

Cinnamon roll Cupcakes

2011-07-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

I found this awesome recipe here. I wanted to give something special to the teenagers I teach at church since I was no longer going to be teaching them. Here are some of the responses I got. I was told it was "crazy good" "I've never tasted a more amazing piece of culinary art in my life" "Amazing" Giving teenagers treats is the best! They are so lovely with their compliments. I could not eat them as they were very not vegan friendly but they looked delicious.
After I heard such great reviews, Thank you again Cookbook Queen, I had to figure out a vegan version.

I decided to make a small 6 inch cake instead.

Looks messy and gooey and yummy.

Here is my recipe I came up with. Next time I will try to figure out a more cream cheese-ish frosting.

For the Cake

Ingredients

1 cup (1/2 lb.) vegan butter, softened (I used earth balance)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 1/4 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups coconut milk (again the kind meant as a milk replacement)
1 cup brown sugar mixed with 1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow, 4 to 5 minutes. Add flax-seed mixture, and mix until well combined. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir (or beat at low speed) about a third of the flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in half the milk just until blended. Stir in another third of the flour mixture, then remaining milk, followed by remaining flour.
Pour 1/4 mixture into each greased and floured 6-inch round cake pans. I had leftover and made about 6 cupcakes. You could use 8 or 9 inch pans instead.
Put half of the brown sugar mixture on top of each pan.
With a sharp knife swirl the brown sugar mixture through the cake.
Add last 1/2 to the two pans, 1/4 to each pan.
Bake at 350° until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans for about 10 minutes before turning over.
Let it cool while you make the frosting and glaze

Vegan Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan butter (Again I used earth balance)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut milk (the kind that is meant as a milk replacement found with the other milk in a carton, not the kind found in a can)
8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Mix shortening, salt, coconut milk, vanilla extract, and half of the powdered sugar with a mixer for 5-10 minutes.

Add the rest of the powdered sugar and beat just enough to mix in.

Add additional coconut milk for desired consistency.

I used the frosting for the center of my cake and for the outside. Place in the fridge while you make the glaze.

Brown Sugar Glaze

1 stick(earth balance)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 & 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt all ingredients until mixed and pourable but not boiling. Pour over frosted cake and immediately place in the refrigerator to set.

We could not wait and we divided it into 8 pieces and devoured it in a very short amount of time! My stomach hurt I ate so much. Next time I will divide into 16th and only eat 1 piece.

The 6th Love Language

2011-06-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

I have decided that their should be a 6th love language. Food. I realize that I tend to love my family with food. When I celebrate them I ask them what I can make for them. I love to cook them yummy healthy food with a delicious dessert thrown in every so often. This is where I am conflicted. I want them to be healthy and learn to not over indulge and yet I find myself wanting to make desserts for them all the time! When they come home from school or from a friends, when they have had a rough day, to celebrate anything, when they have a sleepover. I find myself just wanting to express my love through food. And then through in that I am a vegan and yet I love desserts. Healthy meets not so healthy.

How I am trying to come to grips with this is to teach them moderation in all things. I feed my kids all sorts of vegetables and for the most part they eat what I give them. They will eat all sorts of sea food, fruits, vegetables, sushi, and even drink my green smoothie. Joseph will even choose a salad if we go out to eat over hamburgers or chicken nuggets. My kids don't love fastfood and complain when we have to eat it. So I must be doing some things right. Right? Even if they love desserts as much as I do.

I am also trying to teach them that 1 or 2 cookies is good but more then that is not healthy. That a serving of any dessert tastes so good but to much causes a tummy ache. Really isn't the first bit usually the best anyway.

Wow that was a long tangent. My point? What was my point? Oh that's right that I love with food. We went to visit my family this last weekend and I wanted to make my dad a delicious cake for Fathers Day. My dad is the one who gave me my love for food. As a kid he would have me try all sorts of strange and unusual foods and for some reason I tried them all. From dried squid to snails. I would try most anything once.

I wanted to spoil my dad so I decided on a very chocolate cake. Dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache filling with a chocolate marshmallow frosting then covered with more dark chocolate ganache.

I am going to call it Chocolate Truffle Cake. It tasted like sees candy in a cake form. My only regret is that I did not save myself a bit for the next day.

Chocolate Truffle Cake
1 box duncan hines dark chocolate fudge cake mix
1 cup coconut milk (the kind meant as a milk replacer)
1/3 cup water
1/2 oil
5 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350

Combine all ingredients in a mixer and beat on medium until well combined, 1-2 minutes. pour into two 8 inch round prepared cake pans. I use the flour and shortening method. Let cook for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clear.

Let cool on cooling rack. While it cools make your ganache.

Dark Chocolate Vegan Ganache
3/4 Cup Coconut Milk (again the kind meant as a milk replacer)
1/4 Cup dairy free butter
12-14 oz Dark vegan chocolate

Melt all ingredients in the microwave on 70% power 30 seconds at a time. Stirring after each 30 seconds until nice and smooth. About 2 minutes.

Pour about 1/4 of the mixture over one of the layers. Add the second cake on top and stick in the fridge while you make the Frosting. Put the leftover ganache in an airtight container in fridge until the very last step.

Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
1 cup butter (vegan)
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBS coconut milk (the kind meant as a milk replacer)
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 bag marshmallows (melted in the microwave 20 seconds at a time until smooth)

Mix butter, vanilla and milk on medium low speed until smooth. In a separate bowl sift together sugar and cocoa powder. Add to mixer and beat until just smooth and fluffy. Add marshmallow cream and beat just until mixed on low speed.

Apply a nice crumb coat on the cake and then put it back into the fridge for an hour or so. Leave it on the counter until it comes to room temperature. Then add the second layer of frosting not being to concerned about smoothness.

Pull out your ganache and reheat it using the same method you used to cook it. This is the easy part. Simply pour over the cake letting the ganache drip down the sides. You can serve warm or let it harden and serve in a 1/2 hour or so.

Chocolate Chip Cookie brownie cupcakes with chocolate peanut butter buttercream frosting.

2011-06-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

I discovered something amazing this last week. Chocolate chip cookies with brownies, then through in some peanut butter, all in one amazing bite? Um yes please! When ever I look at the blog Confessions of a Cookbook Queen I drool and I want to make everything she makes. So yummy looking. She posted this and I knew I had to make it. But of course I made it vegan and I enjoyed every yummy bite. I may or may not have eaten one for breakfast. I am usually really good at eating just one when it comes to yummy desserts but this one I dreamed about.

The first time I made it I made it with chocolate marshmallow cream frosting. That was super good. But peanut butter makes everything better. I will share both frosting recipes because they are both very light and yummy!

Cookbook queen used store bought cookie dough and box brownie mix. Great idea for the non vegan who is not overly picky about cookie dough. I however love a perfect chocolate chip cookie dough and my MIL's is awesome. Granted she has 13 kids and the recipe is huge so I usually half it and it is still enough for this recipe plus extra.

Recipe Chocolate Chip Cookie brownie cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 and line 24 muffin tins or 48 mini muffin tins with cupcake wrappers.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
I use my kitchen aid and basically just threw it all in

Beat together on medium speed:
1 cup vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
1 cup sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
4 egg whites or egg substitute

Add on medium speed:
2 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
5 cups flour

Lower speed to stir and add:
Vegan mini chocolate chips 1/2 to 1 bag depending on what you like.

Fill muffin tins about 1/3 full with the cookie dough. Then mix up the brownie mix.

Brownie recipe made easy:
1 box super moist chocolate cake (did you know it has no dairy or eggs in it?)
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites or vegan egg substitute

Mix all ingredients in a mixer until just mixed.

Spoon brownie mix over the cookie dough about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 15 minutes. I think it took longer then that but you can start checking about then. I think it ended up being more like 20.

While you wait for the yummy smells to fill the air began making your frosting.

Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
1 cup butter (vegan)
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBS almond milk
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 bag marshmallows (melted in the microwave 20 seconds at a time until smooth)

Mix butter, vanilla and milk on medium low speed until smooth. In a separate bowl sift together sugar and cocoa powder. Add to mixer and beat until just smooth and fluffy. Add marshmallow cream and beat just until mixed on low speed.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Butter cream (say that 3 times, seriously, it's fun)
1/2 cup butter (vegan)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter. Make sure it is fresh good Peanut Butter. I used organic
2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp Vanilla
1-2 TBS almond milk
1/4 bag marshmallows (melted in microwave 20 seconds at a time until smooth)

Beat butter and peanut butter together in mixer until smooth. In separate bowl sift powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder together. Add sugar/cocoa to mix beating at a medium speed until fully combined. Add vanilla, almond milk and melted marshmallows and beat until light and fluffy. If the mixture is to creamy add more powder sugar and if not creamy enough add more almond milk. You know if it is to creamy when it won't stick to the spoon and you know it is to dry when the mixer is having trouble with it.

Wait for cupcakes to cool before you pipe on either of these yummy frosting's.

The one on the left is the marshmallow cream and the right is the Peanut butter. I added a little piece of a Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup so people could tell the difference.

Playable Angry Birds Cake Instructions

2011-06-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

When I saw this video on you-tube awhile back I just knew I had to make it. I figured it would be the perfect challenge for me since I have not worked to much with fondant characters. When I first watched the video I thought all the pieces were made from cake. That looked rather tricky. Then I was studying it real closely when I noticed they were chocolate covered wafers. I knew I could do that. Then I found his instructions here. I did things a little bit differently so I will explain my version.

I spent one day, maybe an hour, making and coloring fondant for the birds and pigs. If you have a kitchen aid Fondant is actually very easy to make. Store bought is softer and easier to work with but it always has a chemically smell and the taste is not the best.
My Recipe

Ingredients:

16 ounces white mini-marshmallows(use a good quality brand)
2 to 5 tablespoons water
2 pounds icing sugar
1/2 (Or so) cup Crisco shortening

Melt the marshmallows in the microwave for 30 seconds stir. Keep doing this until melted. The last time I made it I think it was about 90 seconds total. Grease liberally with shortening Then I stick the sugar, 2 TBS water, and melted marshmallows into my kitchen aid and let it mix for 5 minutes or so. If you notice it is sticking to much to the bowl add about a TBS of shortening. If it is to sticky add more sugar, if it is to dry add more water. When adding water be careful to add very small amounts at a time as a little will go a long way.

You want it to be a nice playdoh consistence. It should not break apart to easily when you pull it and it should not feel sticky. Roll the fondant into a ball and grease it with crisco. Wrap in plastic wrap then put it into an airtight container. You should wait 24 hour or so before using.

I made all of my fondant on a Friday. At this time I also colored the fondant. I made red, yellow, green, and blue. I had left over black I had bought for the superhero cake I had made. Black is so hard to get the right color I was ok using store bought. I used Satin Ice if you are wondering.

Then on Monday I made the birds and pigs bodies. I let them sit overnight. I had made a practice bird a few days earlier and found that the bodies would squish when I tried to add on the details. And squishy birds pre-flinging isn't really what I was going for.

Monday we also made the cake board. I say we because it required power tools and as of yet this is not one of my skills. Some day I will tackle that one and I will make amazing things like cupcake towers and cake pop stands. The board was one piece of fake wood flooring. You can get a sample from places that sell flooring for super cheap if not free. My Father-in-law happened to have one I could use.

Ryan made two holes using a super cool tool. He then shoved the pre-cut dowels in. I don't really know how big they were. I want to say half a foot. My husband is so awesome. I was just going to use one of Jared's slingshots but it was going to be way to powerful. So he made this one out of felt, iron-on backing and two hair rubber bands.

On one piece of felt he folded it in the middle to create a pull-type thing (my technical terms amaze even me) It had the iron on backing already on it so it would stick to itself when he ironed it. Then he stuck it to another piece using the stitch witchery (that's really what it is called) He then cut small slits in the sides and knotted the rubber bands on. It worked so perfectly.
Monday I also covered the board in green frosting. In hind sight I would have done this right before I put on the cake but it worked good enough. Any frosting recipe would work for this. I used a basic vegan butter cream cause I was out of shortening. I think this is my new go to recipe. I then tinted it green using Duff Goldman's food coloring. I love it the best and I can buy it at Micheal's. It is this stuff. You can use less food coloring and still get the desired color.

Vegan Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan butter (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup almond milk
8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Mix butter, salt, almond milk, vanilla extract, and half of the powdered sugar with a mixer for 5-10 minutes.
Add the rest of the powdered sugar and beat until mixed through.
Add additional almond milk for desired consistency.

I just slathered it all over the board. Then with my spatula I went over with an up and down motion lifting the frosting up. So much quicker then the original plan to frost it on using the hair/grass tip.

Tuesday morning I made a spice box cake because that is what Jared asked for. I had intended on frosting it with chocolate frosting but when it came out such a perfect dirt color I left it. Granted it was dry this way but the boys at the party were not interested in eating the actual cake part of the cake. If my son liked cake I would have made cupcakes for the party guests to eat instead of knocked down cake pieces.

Here are the awesome store bought finds that made this cake so easy to make. I didn't use many of the mint cookies because they ended up being an odd shape. The boys did devour the cookies. What I didn't use for the cake I had on a plate for them to enjoy. They were even eating the ones that had become angry birds casualties.

I really had no structure planned in my mind when I put this together. I have played the game a few times and every level is so different I don't really think it matters to much. As I built it I did keep in mind that I needed places to place the pigs. The angry birds ended up being easier then I thought. I would take one style at a time. I would design one and use it as my model. Then I would make each piece in sets. I made all the eyes first since that was the easiest. I used a decorating tip with a medium size circle I think it was a #10. But really just look around your house and see what you could use to get the size you want. a pencil could be traced or a pen cap. I then flattened it with my finger to get the size I wanted.

To attach the parts to the birds I used a paint brush and water. A little water goes a very long way. If you use to much it will smear the colors and cause them to bleed. I stuck my paint brush into the water then shook all the water off leaving a very small amount on the brush. That seemed to work best.

Then I would make the beaks. For this I did a typical play-doh move. I made snakes. As a child that was the only thing I was good at. Play-doh was not my thing. I could never come up with anything worth the time and effort to make that didn't end up looking like a sad sad blob. I guess I have come a long way. I digress. Snakes oh wait beaks. I would roll them out long then cut them the shape I wanted. Fold them over so that the top was longer then the bottom. Most of them were to thick at this point so I just cut off the excess to get it nice and thin.

The eyebrows were super easy as well. I rolled out the fondant into a squarish shape. With a sharp knife I cut them into the different rectangle sizes.

For the feathers on top of the red and blue birds I used a similar snake technique that I used for the beaks. But this time I left them thick. I cut them to shape and folded them in the center. If one piece was to long I would break it off with my finger and then roll the end with my finger tip to make it look nice.

Here they are without the eyes drawn on yet. The white parts of the eyes need a couple hours to dry before you can draw on the black dots. My Brother-in-law said they look like zombie birds.

I used a black edible marker. I went to buy it Tuesday afternoon from the local cake decorating store called RoZ's. They only sold them in a pack of 8 or so and they were a little pricy. When I showed her what I was using them for she gave me her old pens. She is really awesome like that. Much better right?
I was a little nervous to do the pigs for some reason. Then when I did them I realized they were easier then the birds. Less detail. I can't really give much tips for the ears. I just form a triangle like shape then use a spaghetti noodle to help mold the center. For the snouts I just molded the shapes with my fingers. Then I used a noodle to poke into the snouts for the nose holes. My girls made the crown and the birthday hat.

I cleaned off my island and then slathered it with frosting, but only the length and width of my board. The frosting worked so good as my glue. It stuck to the table and did not move when Jared was slinging the birds across the room.

I seriously enjoyed the whole process of making this cake. I think that is because I have never done anything like this. My vision for this cake was exactly what I wanted and that is huge for me. Usually I have an amazing picture in my head and it doesn't end up the awesomeness I desired. But with every step of this cake I was giddy because it truly was exactly what I wanted.

Sarah took this picture of me then laughed when she saw it. She says I look like I am really concentrating.

The finished product.

I think I put in about 5 hours worth of work into this cake. Jared teased me that this cake was not really for him but for me. I just smiled cause my son sure knows me well.

With that said He loved it and I knew he would! Look at his face. It was so fun to watch him demolish this cake. He was really into it and Jared said it was easier then he thought it would be. Which was awesome because that means it worked well!
After he had sufficiently demolished the cake he let his friends have a go. It was a big hit. literally. There were angry birds all over the floor.

Joshua's superhero cake

2011-06-10T15:37:00.001-07:00

My Joshua loves parties. I mean... a lot. He has been planning his party for several months. Picking the theme was easy, Superheros. The first thing he picked out was his cake. He would have me look online at cakes until he decided on just the right style. We ended up doing a mix of several cakes simply because I was not about to make a three tier b-day cake for a 5th birthday party.

I learned a lot doing this cake. Both good and bad. I wish I had taken more pictures of the bad but maybe documenting my mistakes will insure I don't make them again.

Look at this beautiful filling. When Josh said he wanted Strawberry cake for one of the layers I was thrilled to try a new recipe. I found online a recipe from sprinkle cupcakes. I tweaked it a little and it came out looking beautiful! Recipe to come.

Hear was mistake number one, to much filling. Did you know if you put to much filling you will create a nice bulge in the side of the cake that can not be fixed unless you take all the frosting off and start again? The lady at the local cake decorating store explained it to me like this. "When you have fat (excess) on your body their really is no way to cover it up. no matter how many layers you put on over the top of it". I think I tried smoothing it out 3 different times by adding more frosting but to no avail until I had to re-frost it.

Why did I have to re-frost it you ask? While I was at the gym my sweet 2 year old took a handful out of the cake. My husband was very cute about the whole thing. When he told me he said, "I have some news for you and you could take it as good or bad" He knew I was not pleased with the way the frosting had come out and this was I could start over. He helped out by cut a nice slice out of the cake and had it for breakfast. We turned it into a stage for the bad guy to have a place to stand.

So I guess that was a failure turned success.
I used the viva paper towel method again and I am such a believer now. I have learned that part of getting a cake really smooth is having a thick, but not to thick, frosting. That helps a ton. Store bought stuff on it's on is to soft and sticky and just doesn't seem to stay put. I have added powdered sugar to store bought to get the right consistency when I am in a hurry.

Another thing I learned was that when layering cakes you really always do need support. Even if it is a small cake. When I put the top layer on it was to heavy for the bottom layer and caused the cake to sink a bit in the back. I am not sure you can tell in this picture but I will always add support from now on.Those are comic book style buildings above and brick wall below. Turned out more like wood but it works. The brick wall was for Spiderman and the building for Batman. The clouds on the top layer were for Superman.

Joshua told me several times this was the best birthday cake ever. My mom says every cake is better with toys on it and I think Joshua could not agree more. He didn't even care that he couldn't play with his presents until after we ate the cake.

Memorial Day picnic

2011-05-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today we enjoyed family time with the extended family. I love getting together and visiting with this amazing family I married into. Today I was feeling a little tired so I sat and listened and watched everyone mingle. What I saw was a family full of love and adoration for each other. Many I really do feel blessed. I wish everyone enjoyed their spouses family the way I enjoy mine!

Of course I was thrilled to make the cakes. Ryan's cousin Jimmy will celebrate his Bday tomorrow so I made the big cake for him. He choose chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. Then Ryan asked that I make Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It was a last minute thing so I used cake mixes and they turned out so wonderful. Cake mixes really are easy and they always do turn out. I did make the vanilla frosting simply because I wanted to frost it good and smooth and you just can't do that with store bought.

I tried a few of the tricks I had recent posted about. I used the spaghetti noodles to test if the cake was done and I wondered why i had never heard of this trick sooner. If the cake is not done you just brake off the part of the noodle you used and try again in a couple of minutes. I also changed the tempurature to 325 instead of 350 and that worked great. My cake was almost level. Much better then having a big huge piece you have to cut off. Since I was in a hurry I didn't even level the cake and it turned out mostly level.

My favorite trick which I will always use is viva paper towels! Life saver!! You crumb coat, let set, then give a nice smooth-as-you-can coat, let it set, then (this is the cool part) you use the paper towel to smooth the frosting. This video shows how I did it. It is kind of a long video but the lady shows it off real well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTRNkGpJMH8
You can skip the first 6 minutes if you just want to see the paper towel technique.

Look how smooth, almost like fondant. I am hoping the more I try it the smoother I can get it.

Then I made a bunch of cupcakes for the kids. Since today is national BBQ day, and we were not eating hamburgers, I decided to bring it into the cupcakes. These are mini nilla wafers with chocolate frosting for the patty and red and yellow writing frosting for ketchup and mustard.
Then my adorable husband came home and suggested adding fries. I was trying to finish up the cake before it was time to go so I told him he was more then welcome to make some. Didn't they turn out good? I told him we should open up a bakery together, then we both laughed.

Chocolate orange vegan cake recipe

2011-05-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Crème-filled Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

This rich, award-winning cupcake took top honors on Cupcake Wars, making vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli the first vegan to claim victory in a Food Network competition.

By Chloe Coscarelli
Makes 12 cupcakes
What you need:
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup orange juice
½ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon orange zest
Orange Buttercream Filling (See Recipe)
Chocolate Ganache (See Recipe)

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners. 2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 3. In a separate bowl, whisk together orange juice, canola oil, vanilla, and orange zest. Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. 4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners until each cup is 2/3 full. Bake for about 17 to 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. 5. Once cupcakes are completely cool, fill each cupcake with Orange Buttercream using a pastry bag with a narrow tip. Spread Chocolate Ganache evenly over each cupcake and top with 2 slices of Candied Orange Peel.

Chocolate Ganache

By Chloe Coscarelli
What you need:
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
3 tablespoons almond milk
1 tablespoon refined coconut oil at room temperature
What you do:
Using a double boiler or microwave, add almond milk and melt chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Whisk in coconut oil until smooth.

Orange Buttercream Filling

By Chloe Coscarelli
What you need:
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup refined coconut oil at room temperature
1 tablespoon orange zest
¼ cup orange juice
What you do:
In the bowl of a standard mixer, combine powdered sugar, coconut oil, and zest. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. With the mixer running, add 1 tablespoon of orange juice at a time, until the desired buttercream consistency is reached.

Strawberry cake failure- sort of

2011-05-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

This cake turned out the texture of spongy foam. During the cooking process it began to rise then fell and kept on falling

I took the failure and turned it into something super yummy. I added strawberry glaze to the indent and then put a touch of coconut frosting on top.
I will be searching further for the perfect vegan strawberry cake. Joshua wants it for his birthday cake that will be three layers. I have a couple weeks to figure it out.

Tips to try

2011-05-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

I have been reading cake blogs trying to learn all I can. I guess it's my way of going to school since school for me is not really an option with 6 kids. I joked with my older two the other day that I Graduated from the U, youtube univiersity that is. I love all that the internet has to offer.

Here are some things I want to try.
When baking cupcakes raise the temperature 400 when preheating then lower to 350 when you put the cupcakes in
When baking cakes lower temperature to 315-320 to help lower the dome affect.
If you put chocolate chips into cake, coat with flour first so they won't go straight to the bottom
Smores cupcakes with graham cracker crust and marshmallow frosting
viva paper towels to smooth buttercream frosting
floral wire to add pop
use spaghetti noodles to check doneness of cake
recipe replacer- 1 ounce of chocolate= 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
never frost a frozen cake- always let it come to room temperature first

88 is a number to celebrate

2011-05-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Grandma June loves lemon cake so it only seemed right to make her this lemon coconut cake filled with lemon curd then topped with lemon curd.

I wish this picture turned out better but isn't she just the cutest thing ever. I only hope I look that good at 88!
Happy birthday Grandma.

Comfort Birthday cake.

2011-05-24T09:29:00.001-07:00

Ryan's family is mourning the lose of a dear loved one. We were blessed to get together Saturday to comfort one another and also celebrate His Grandma's birthday.

So when I was trying to decide what kind of cake to make I thought rich chocolate mixed with light vanilla. Comfort foods.

I made my favorite chocolate cake but added in a cup of milk chocolate chips. Then I made a white cake ( I am still on a mission to find the best white cake) I put them together with a yummy chocolate frosting mixed with toffee bits. I obviously did not make it Vegan so I did not get to taste it but it got good reviews.

I was so pleased with the checker board effect on the inside. It looks so fancy but it is so easy. I posted how to do this here
Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (to make it vegan I either use flax seed or powdered eggs)
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (recipe follows)

Directions

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.

ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened I use earth balance to make it vegan
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1/3 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Don't knock it till you try it.

2011-05-24T09:01:00.001-07:00

Avocado and Cake? Ryan has served us avocado in a milkshake before and it is actually very good. I think that is the only reason I could see past the scariness of this recipe.

I served this to two different groups this week. Here is what I found. The chocolate avocado cake when served with other frosting was well received. No one could tell it had avocado in it. The avocado actually made it very moist and I will use this recipe often.

Now the frosting was a very different story. Jared thought it was the best frosting ever. Most people actually really enjoyed it if they did not know it was avocado making it green. Once some of the kids knew- they were grossed out and wouldn't touch it. The adults seemed to either love it not care for it.

My opinion? I thought it was not as sweet as most frosting's, which I enjoyed. It had a very light taste and I did like that as well. It does not go under the most-favorite-want-to-make-it-everyday category though. But I will make it again.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado

makes 2 8-inch rounds or 2 thinner 9-inch rounds

3 cups all-purpose flour

6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch rounds. Set aside.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Set that aside too.

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.

Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.

Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting with avocado buttercream.

Avocado Buttercream Frosting

from Alton Brown

8 ounces of avocado meat, about 2 small to medium, very ripe avocados

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peel and pit the soft avocados. It’s important to use the ripest avocados you can get your hands on. If the avocados have brown spots in the meat, avoid those spots when you scoop the meat into the bowl.

Place the avocado meat into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Add lemon juice and whisk the avocado on medium speed, until slightly lightened in color and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat. Add vanilla extract until combined. If not using right away, store in the refrigerator. Don’t worry. It won’t turn brown!

Vegan lemon coconut flower cake

2011-05-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to make this cake. I love the way the whole thing turned out. Here is the top.I was going to leave it like this but I ran out of the yellow frosting to add one more layer to make the sides really smooth.

So then I decided to make these cute little yo-yo flowers all over.So Springy looking I think. Is Springy a word? Let's rephrase that. It looks like Spring. The only problem is trying to convince the family, and myself, not to get into it. I'll post pictures of the vertical layering once we cut into it. Recipe is found here.

The best cake I have ever eaten let alone made

2011-05-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have a birthday luncheon in two days and I offered to bring the cake. I always love a reason to try something new. I got this crazy idea from a new cake blog I found. She combines 2 flavors of cake into to one amazing combo. I think she did vanilla and red velvet.

Around my house lemon is a favorite and with summer coming it seemed like a wonderful idea to start there. When I was looking up good recipes I saw coconut out there and realized I had to combine the two into one great cake of awesomeness.

I will give you a little picture tutorial and then recipes to follow.

First off bake an 8 inch vegan lemon cake and an 8 inch coconut cake. While they are baking make your lemon curd and your coconut frosting.

Then take an 8 inch cake board and draw a 6 inch circle and then a 4 inch circle. Then cut them out.

Lay them on top of your 8 inch cooled cake and with a good serrated knife cut out the shapes. See how I cut a straight line to get to the next circle?
Do this for both the lemon and the coconut cakes.
I wish I had a picture of this next part but you carefully separate each circle and lay them off to the side. I put mine on a cookie sheet I believe.

Now is the fun part. You will put the cakes back together but in an alternating pattern like this.

See how pretty that looks? You will have two cakes with the opposite pattern.

Now you will use the coconut frosting to pipe a well around your cake. This is so that your lemon curd will not leak.

Then with a spoon simply spoon on the curd until you have a nice layer that looks like this.
Place your second circle cake on top of your newly filled layer. It should look like this.

I guess I put a little to much lemon curd because it did spill over just a touch. No worries though. I simply ran my finger along the edge sealing in the curd as I filled in the holes with the excess frosting. I also used extra frosting to fill in line I had made to get to each inner circle.

I put on a nice crumb coat and stuck it into the fridge to finish tomorrow.

But because I did not want to torture my family with the yummy smells I made a mini version. I only had excess cake mix for a 6 inch round . I cut that in half and filled the same I showed you above. I then put the leftover lemon curd on the top because dinner had only a minute or so left until it was time to eat. This is what it looked like.
My husband kept saying, "This is vegan?" Yeah it is and it really is that good. My kids were licking their fingers and licking the plate. The baby called it a donut I think because the curd tastes like jelly filling and the frosting was so donut frosting like.

A 6 inch cake was just the perfect size for my family of 8. If there had been more we would have grown gluttonous and not have been able to enjoy our outing to the park that came afterwards.

I am excited to decorate this cake and have it look pretty as well as taste good.

The lemon cake came straight from the internet. The other recipes I adapted to my vegan needs and the flavors that I wanted.

Vegan Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

1 large lemon (juice and rind)

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

6 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vinegar (Yep, vinegar, but I promise you, you won’t taste it.)

1 tsp. vanilla

Water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Sift flour, sugar and baking soda into a mixing bowl. Mix them together fairly well.

Then grate all your lemon rind into a measuring cup.

Then, take your already sorely abused lemon, cut it in half and squeeze the juice from both halves into your measuring cup.

Next add water to your rind and lemon juice until you have filled one cup.

Pour your lemon juice mixture into your bowl of dry ingredients.

Add oil, vanilla, vinegar.

Mix well.

Mixture will foam.

Pour into an ungreased 8 inch cake pan. Bake 25 minutes, or until cake bounces back a bit when you touch its center.

Vegan Lemon Curd

Ingredients:
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup cold water
1 3/4 cups white sugar
4 Tblsp. cornstarch
3 Tblsp. thinly grated lemon zest (I used 3 large lemons to get this amount), divided
2 Tblsp. Earth Balance margarine (or other vegan alternative)

6 Tblsp coconut milk (the kind that is meant as a milk replacement found with the other milk in a carton, not the kind found in a can)

Directions:

Combine the lemon juice, water, sugar, cornstarch, and 1 Tablespoon of the lemon zest in a blender. Blend for a few seconds until mixed well.

Pour mixture into a saucepan and add the rest of the lemon zest. Whisk quickly while pot is over medium heat. You want to make sure you are stirring constantly until it comes to a full boil.
Stop stirring and let the lemony liquid boil on its own for 1 minute. It should thicken and turn somewhat clear.

Add coconut milk and Earth Balance, and stir in well with the whisk.
Remove pot from heat. Cool the curd in room temperature air, then you can refrigerate it in a covered container until you want to use it.
It will continue thickening as it cools. This should last about 2 weeks while refrigerated and covered.

Vegan Coconut Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup coconut milk (the kind that is meant as a milk replacement found with the other milk in a carton, not the kind found in a can)
8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Mix shortening, salt, coconut milk, vanilla, coconut, and almond extract, and half of the powdered sugar with a mixer for 5-10 minutes. (it's very important to mix this long)

Add the rest of the powdered sugar and beat just enough to mix in.

Add additional coconut milk for desired consistency.

Vegan Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
7 egg whites or Energ Egg Replacer equivalent of 5 eggs prepare per package instructions (energ egg replacer is a vegan substitute for eggs)
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup coconut milk (again the kind that is meant as a milk replacement found with the other milk in a carton, not the kind found in a can)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or spray) a 8 inch and a 6 inch round. Sift then mix flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time; beat well. Mix in coconut flavoring. Add flour mixture alternately with coconut milk, mixing well with each addition. Fold in coconut. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

I made that.

2011-05-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

I made a rose on my first try and I love the way it turned out. I had leftover frosting from the wonder woman cake so I was trying some new things. I wish I would have taken a picture of my hydrangea failure but the rose, I love it. I love it so much I am going to try to cover the top of an entire 8 inch tomorrow with that design. Wish me luck.

Failure

2011-05-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

It's only truly a failure if I don't learn from it. I put fondant on my cake right after pulling my crumb coated cake from the freezer. Now I know this can cause fondant to buckle and become over all not so pretty. The night I made the cake it looked so pretty and smooth. But then when they sent me this picture form the party I was sad to see what it had become. Lesson learned. Let my cake sit at room temperature over night before I attempt to put fondant on.

Mothers Day

2011-05-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

My MIL has 13 children and over 20 grandchildren. She really is amazing so Ryan and I made this for her for Mothers Day. I think she deserves a little wonder in her life.

Cakes that have turned out and I actually am proud of.

2011-05-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

I made this one for my birthday just a couple weeks ago. My first attempt at making a 3 dimensional character. This cake was so yummy too. I found the recipe here.
I did not use the chocolate ganache for my cake but I made this recipe the other night and I believe it was a big hit. I didn't taste it sense it was not vegan.

The blue butter cream is the smoothest I have ever done and it gives me hope that I am really getting better. Isn't this cake adorable?
This cake took me about 10 minutes to frost. I did not crumb coat it so that helped. This cake was an after thought and I love it! I think it would be so cute as a wedding cake.

This counts as a cake right? One of the yummiest summer treats around. Strawberry trifle.

I made this just for because. It was Christmas time and I just wanted to make it. Very elegant I think.

My favorite cake Ever!

2011-05-16T21:58:00.001-07:00

Jacob LOVES toy story 3 so I had to make him this cake. I think once I made this I started to remember how much I love making cakes. I also realized there is a whole new world of designs I have yet to discover.

Kid creations

2011-05-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Teacher appreciation week was last week and the kids wanted to make something cute for their teachers. I did not think they could do the apples on their own but look how good they did? Can you see in the back Emma even made a little eraser?

My 10 year old sister in law and my niece were over the other day when I was playing with frosting and I let them have at it. I love watching children create.
Jared made this one for scouts. I made the candy lava but he did the rest.

More old school cakes

2011-05-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

This girl loved her Dora

This cake makes me laugh. Jared wanted a Lord of the Rings/Star wars cake. I think that is supposed to be the hobbits home? He thought it was so awesome. That is why I like to do my children's bday cakes. They are easily pleased.

This was for Joseph's first birthday. It is supposed to be a bath tub.

Do I need to clarify?

Megaphone for a neighbor. It seems so plan and kinda boring.
For a cub scout meeting.

Joseph was really into cars so naturally he needed a car cake. I forgot I made this cake. It is super cute. I wonder if I still have the pan?
Pirate cake for Jared. I guess not all his cakes were bad.
Not wowed by this cake but soemtimes good enough really is good enough.
Super easy campfire cake. This is another anyone could do cakes.

Not so amazing birtdhay cakes and super easy, anyone could make cakes.

2011-05-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

This falls under the super easy category. I was making a bigger cake for Emma's bday this last year so for the family party she helped me throw this together last minute. I believe Emma made the paintbrush. It was made from fondant.

I believe this was right after Joseph was born and putting figures on a cake was all I could do that year. Sarah thought it was great.

Joseph wanted this simple cake for his bday party with his friends. I had made him a more complicated cake for his family party. Easiest cake I ever made. I didn't have to frost the sides or anything. Yes please.

Wow. When I look at that cake I am reminded of what a tough year that was and especially that 2 weeks surrounding Jared's birthday. The week before was when Joshua had put a pencil through his skull just missing his eye and not into the brain cavity. We had only been home for a couple days after a week in the hospital when we celebrated Jared's 9th bday. I was so tired. Then the next day Josh had complications with the meds that caused him to stop breathing and again we were back in the hospital.
So I don't excuse the ugly cake. I embrace that Joshua is doing just great almost 4 years later.

Again I think this one was due to pregnancy. The funny part to me is that it looks like I was almost trying.

I wasn't feeling this one for some reason and I decided to let Emma finish decorating it.

I don't really have an excuse for this one. This year his cake is going to rock. He seems to always get the crappy cakes.

And we will end with a costco cake with a toy added to help with the theme of the party. We had just moved into our new house and this was all the energy I could muster.

Some of my earlier cakes.

2011-05-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

All of these ideas came off of the internet. I think mostly from familyfun's website.
Oops we ate it before I remembered to take a picture.
My little Sarah is 11 now. Time flies way to fast.

Wedding cakes

2011-05-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have only done 4 wedding cakes, ever. They still kind of stress me out. How did I ever get involved in making a wedding cake? My MIL told me she would pay for me to take a fondant class so I could make a wedding cake for Ryan's brother Tory. I think I was a little naive and that made the experience less stressful to some degree. I realized that I believed cake decorating was really something anyone could do if they tried. So I figured why not?

Side note: That fondant 2 hour class is the only class I have ever taken. I think if I can ever take more classes I won't have so many "learning" on the job mishaps.

Here is that cake. Pretty basic but I was/am so proud of myself.

This one was my first paying cake and the check bounced. She moved away right as they got married so I never did get paid for that, I guess it wasn't really a paying job after all. I worked really hard on that cake. It was bigger then I have ever even baked and I was so proud of it when it was all done.

This was for my SIL and I was excited to do something a little more fun. This was my creation and I enjoyed being creative license. Chocolate fondant tastes kind of like tootsie rolls.

Kinda bummed the only picture I have of this is with my phone. I loved the design and loved that I got to do a little more then plain fondant, not much but a little. Slowly I am getting more comfortable with decorating.

My very first fondant cakes

2011-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

I was surprised at how easy fondant really is. Since I am not amazing at making a cake perfectly smooth fondant seems like the only way to go. This was so long ago I don't even remember how to make the little rose I did here.

I wanted to play with my new found skill so I made this just to practice.
What I learned in that class was so helpful. She had us buy plastic, the heavy kind you use to cover furniture with. We would roll the fondant out on that and then lift it up, turn it upside down, and lay it over the cake. It would stick while upside down until you gently pulled it off. Great trick for fondant.

It's a boy thing I think.

2010-12-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

Jared got two new air-soft guns from Santa for Christmas. Ryan and Jared had a grand time in the backyard giving each other welts. The decided the winner by who had less.

Breakfast at the cabin

2010-12-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

I don't ever buy the kids sugar cereal except on vacations. The kids loved it and ate it all gone!. Why does food taste better when you are on vacation? Today we enjoyed a slow start and then a nice drive home. We stopped off at Red Robin on the way. It was a nice relaxing day.

Snowman

2010-12-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

The kids were so excited to be able to build a snowman. We didn't realize how hard it was to make it look nice. How do people do it? Today was filled with sledding, snow ball fights, snowman building, hot chocolate, board games and talent shows. A perfect day!

Cabin here we come!

2010-12-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

When I looked up the weather report on the way to big bear we were all so excited to find out it was supposed to snow the night we got there!!! what we didn't realize is that the road we were planning on taking up there was closed. Ryan with his quick thinking and great techno skills found the back way up and we were in. We enjoyed a leaisurly evening eating a pasta dinner and watching tv. So excited for the morning when we can all play in the snow!

The day after Christmas

2010-12-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to the big Family gift exchange on Ryan's side. It was a little crazy and hectic but still fun. I forgot my camera at home so I snapped this picture of Joshua putting together the puzzle he got. The biggest excitment from my kids as far as presents go was the gift for Jared. His Aunt Hope got him a scouting bag complete with a sling shot and machete amongst other things.

EmmaLee's art work

2010-11-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

Emma got a big art set for her birthday and she has been making wonderful pictures like these for everyone she knows. I love her big heart!

Boys

2010-11-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Jared invited his friends over for an air soft gun war behind our house. They had the best time. No major wounds. A cut from a thorn bush and a few hits to the neck. I love being a mom to boys. I really do. Having all these boys over and listening to their conversations. It cracks me up. At one point a boy got a message on his phone from a girl they all know. She was giggling. They didn't even really discuss it. Just a mention in passing. If a boy were to call a girl while they were with their friends they would have discussed in detail what that could have possibly been all about and what does that mean for the future. Oh I look forward to those days with my girls as well but for today I am enjoying the simplicity and humor these kids bring into my home.

Happy Birthday Beautiful girl!

2010-11-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

My little girl is 9 today. She is caring and nurturing towards her little brothers and her puppy. She is very smart and doing so good in school. She is very social but never gets in trouble for it. She is kind. She loves when people are happy and does everything she can to help other people. She makes me smile with her beautiful smile. She helps me want to be a better person.
I admire her and I want to be more like her. I feel like she was sent to our family to teach me how to be more loving and more kind. Thank you for sharing who you are with us EmmaLee!

I am grateful!

2010-11-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

For

1my husband
2my children
3my parents
4my sister and brothers but mostly my sister
5all my in-laws
6my house
7my bed (I love the comfort and the look)
8my friends that make me smile
9a chance to be better today then yesterday
10my computer
11my camera
12healthy days
13a young body
14a young mind
15where we live
16the opportunity to grow
17lazy snuggle days
18productivity
19a good book you can't put down
20a good cry
21an amazing lesson
22blogging
23pictures that make me cry
24movies that make me want to be better
25a good laugh
26childrens laughter
27a clean house
28fresh smelling laundry
29improvement
30the word becoming
31church
32a new lens I don't know I am getting for christmas
33rainy days
34sunshine
35my car that takes me the millions of places children need to go
36my phone
37late night chats with Ryan
38family time in the living room when we don't accomplish anything but love
39teaching moments where my children teach me
40the ability to keep trying and eventually figuring it out
41knowledge gained and yet to be obtained
42I saved the best for last -My Savior

I was going to write 32 for the 32 years I have been alive but I was on a roll

My life is full of wonderful things!

Party planning

2010-11-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

Emma is going to have an art party soon and I thought I would get started right away with the planning. I have always wanted a reason to make one of these and I finally have it. It was so easy and I think it turn out super cute. Can't wait for her actual party!

I think we have watched to much Toy Story 3

2010-11-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

Can you see it? Joshua made Mr Potato Head when he was Mr. Tortilla Head.

Annual Ginger bread house making

2010-11-22T21:30:00.000-08:00

Every year we make these cute store bought ready to make ginger bread houses. They taste gross but are so fun to make. This year I found a mini village and there were 5 mini houses. The kids all got to make their own instead of all working together on one. I love watching the different way they all go about the same tasks. Slow and thoughtful to quick lets eat it! I love these little people! I guess they are not all so little anymore but I can keep saying it until they are bigger then me.

Sunday School questions

2010-11-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

One of the boys in my youth Sunday school class asked me today where our religion fit in with the other Christian religions. So here is my findings.

This is what we do when Dad is gone.

2010-11-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

Play on his bed.

No school and no husband

2010-11-11T20:37:00.000-08:00

The kids have off school today and tomorrow. They also get off school Monday. For whatever reason I thought it would be fun to go to a thrift store with the kids. The one by us had no toys or kids book??? So they said they wanted to go to the swap meet instead. The only swap meet we have gone to with the kids is in Orange county. This was not the OC. It was sketchy and a little scary and I felt like I was in a different country. The kids did not seem to notice and they had a great time spending there hard earned $5. Here Joshua is showing off his new sword.

Laundry

2010-11-10T20:33:00.000-08:00

I has taken longer then I liked to get back to basic household jobs after the surgery. I am finally tackling it. I have been doing laundry for two days non stop. I washed all of my towels and they were sitting on my chair waiting to be folded. I don't remember why They all got throw on top of Jacob but he loved it and laid they for some time just smiling. Funny lovable kid.

Just because

2010-11-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

This picture makes me smile. Joshua is in a wonderful music class called lets play music. He is supposed to practice his bells at least once a week. Jacob tend to hijack them and Joshua does not love this. So here he is consenting to the fact that he can not play the way he wants to. He really is a good big brother.

I think birthday should be a week long

2010-11-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

One day is just not enough to celebrate the ones we love. Ryan got some of his presents Wednesday before he left, then we got to spend his actual day together, then today we celebrated as a family. He opened his presents from the kids and we ate cake. IWe all feel blessed to have this man in our lives. Love you Mister!!!

I felt so swagger in this place

2010-11-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Over looking the harbor. Ryan has been here since Wednesday and I enjoyed being able to spend the night with him and wake up to this view. He had to get right to work but I took my time coming home and enjoyed a little downtown San Diego shopping. I think I love the container store and wonder why I have not been there sooner.
After I got home and had a good long chat with Lauren I took the kids out to dinner at Bj's Loved it by the way. Then we walked around the mall for a bit. I am not sure why my kids ask to go to the mall. They never seem thrilled by it? But they ask to go all the time. I just usually don't want to take them. 6 kids 1 mom, I am very out numbered.

This man is so amazingly good looking!

2010-11-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

I really do think he gets better looking with time. Today is his birthday and he had to spend all day at his business seminar. I am not sure why he planned it on his birthday?? But I came up around 5 and took him away to dinner at a wonderful Brazilian BBQ place. Then we went to the movies to see Megamind. He really did want to see that. It was just a really pleasant evening spent with no worries. We enjoyed one anothers company and smiled at each other a lot. I sure do love this man!

Cake boss and an appendectomy

2010-11-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

What do those two things have in common? While I was in bed resting after my surgery I watched every episode of cake boss. While watching it I wondered what I could do with fondant. I am by no means a pro and I have only done very simple cake decorating but they make it look so easy. So I set out to make Ryan an Iphone cake. Here the apps are in the making. It was so much fun and much less stressful then frosting decorating. If I messed up I could easily fix it. I wonder what else I could do?

Playing rough

2010-11-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

On Halloween Joseph was playing with his cousins and he got knocked in the face. Such a good looking bruise. It is great when a boy get hurts and the way you console them is by telling them how great a bruise it's gonna be. He is a tough kid and handled himself really well.

Party Time

2010-10-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here the kids are all lined up to get started with the festivities. We divided them into groups so that everyone would not be at one station all at the same time.
1.Candy leis for the soldiers with the left over candy
2.A pumpkin craft
3.Owl cupcakes
4.A gratitude chain
I love these people and it was so nice to sit and visit with them all after being cooped up for almost a week and a half. Everyone seemed to have a good time and the party stations all went really well. My favorite costumes of the night were by two of my BIL's. One was Waldo from Wheres Waldo. The other was an 80's work out guy complete with sweat marks. My house smelled so good from the food everyone prepared!!

Happy Halloween a day early

2010-10-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Jared is a member of the mafia, Sarah is Hermione from Harry Potter, Emma is a cowgirl, Joseph is a ghost, Joshua is a prince, and Jacob is Woody from toy story. Jacob really hated his costume and I had to trick him to get him in it. I told him I was going to put it on Joshua and he screamed no and came right over and sat down for me to put it on. Haha 1 point for mom.

I love trunk or treating that our church puts on every year. We drove over to the parking lot and I sat in the back of my car. They were each given glow sticks and some good scary punch. It felt great to get out of the house but it took a lot out of me. I got to see all the kids from church in their adorable costumes. My kids got so much candy in such a short amount of time. They were completely satisfied. Even Betty had a good time being loved by all the people.

Buzz...Woody!!

2010-10-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Jacob absolutely loves Toy Story! This is an understatement. I was online shopping for Christmas the other day and searched for toy story toys. Jacob came over and for at least 10 minutes he was super excited at each new toy we looked at. I think he would have looked longer but we ran out of toys to look at. Silly boy.
So naturally I thought he would love his costume. He does not. I happened to get him into for about 2 minutes before he was taking it off. Oh well. He sure looks cute though.

I'm still here.

2010-10-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

And don't I look thrilled. This picture makes me laugh cause I can tell I am trying to put on a happy face but it just came out looking silly. I get that need to make silly faces at the camera from my dad. I am getting rather excited to feel better and I appreciate my imperfect body even more now. Sometimes I get frustrated with my health problems. But then I am reminded that it really is not that big of a deal. A friend of mine was just diagnosed with cancer and she lost her foot because of it. I keep thinking to myself. AT least I have my feet. I guess it all comes down to perspective and sometimes I need a slight perspective shift.

Sticker mania

2010-10-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

Since all I can do is hang out on the couch Jacob finds ways to entertain me. Today he spent time putting stickers on then taking them off my leg. Its the simple moments like these that I cherish. The time we are just enjoying being together. I am still his world. He thinks I am the best thing around. I know it won't always be that way. I now have a child that tells me I am not always right in his mind. I am no longer the only opinion that matters. It helps me love the simplicity of these every day moments even more when I realize how fast they are gone.

Halloween is Coming

2010-10-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Joseph got to wear his costume to his music class today. I just love his costumes choices. Very old school and he really pulls it off well. Once I put the make up on him he had to look at him self. He was so pleased to see that he looked scary. Love this silly boy!

This is a view I could get used to.

2010-10-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

After the family got home from church today they came and spent time with me in my bed. I'm feeling a little better now that I stopped taking the pain pills. I discovered they were the reason I was feeling so so sick. Pain is better then sick.
Hanging out with them made me happy today.

Oh Joshua, how you entertain me.

2010-10-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Since I am still stuck to my bed like glue Ryan thoughtfully took the kids to the mall (so I could rest) to buy soap. A simple thing? Not with this family.
The first thing they do when they get there is run into a friend of ours who just found out her cancer has spread. He is trying to visit while Joseph is trying to tell him he doesn't feel well and wants to wait in the car. Moments later Ryan smells throw up and looks down to discover he has throw up all over him, and the ground, and covering Joseph as well.
He moves the kids next to a kiosk while trying to figure out how he is going to clean this up. Then comes even more throw up. But this time it is all over Joshua. He starts to scream and he is rather upset. Rightfully so.
Why does this entertain me? Two reasons.
1. I am on some serious happy pills to curb the pain
2. The way the two boys come home and tell their sides of the story.

Joshua tells me that when Jospeh threw up on him it made him go "Huwwwlllaaa" As he makes the most realistic dry heaving sound and facial expressions ever. I could not stop laughing.
As Joseph is telling me his side of the story he has a smile creeping up on his face getting bigger and more dimply the farther he gets into his story. Kinda funny to him that he threw up on his dad. Really funny to him that he threw up on his little brother and made him scream with horror. It hurt to laugh because of the stitches but I just couldn't stop.
I am so grateful for boys. They help me not take life to seriously.

What would I do with out a good book?

2010-10-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today I felt the pain of a mild appendicitis. Lucky for me they found it before it became a very painful appendicitis. I went to the Dr's at 2:30pm. I hung out at the Er until after 10pm when they finally told me that yes it was what they thought and that yes I would need an appendectomy right away.
I did not mind waiting that whole time because of Nicholas Sparks. Thank you Nick!
I did get very scared for all of 5 minutes. I cried because I do not like drs and I do not like the idea of surgery. But then things happened so fast I really didn't have to much time to think. and I would not be writing this unless things turned out fine.

My hero

2010-10-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

I still have boxes in my garage. I think it is less then ten now so that is exciting for me. I opened most of them in the garage and then brought in what I needed to . But this one box I knew it all belonged with my craft so I brought it in and put it on the table right next to where the kids were doing homework.

Bad idea number 1. 2 mice run out of the box and I learn Sarah is a screamer. All the kids jump into action. Some to run and hide others to get the mice. We lift and move furniture, move the fridge, stand as barricades. Then one runs over my foot and I scream. I am not usually a scream, in fact this was the first time for me. But I screamed like a little girl.

Thanks to Jared he caught them both and threw them over our back fence. (we do not have a house behind ours)

Bad idea number 2. I open the box while it is still on the table only to have 2 more jump out. Jared got them quickly and again over the fence.

Bad idea number 3. I continue to go through the box while still on the table. I believe we found 2-3 more inside the box. It was a mommy and all her babies.

Joshua, Sarah, and I wanted nothing to do with them. Emma and Jared were heading up the witch hunt. Joseph was more of a watcher. The dog who is supposed to be a rodent killer was no help at all.

At one point I told Joseph if he could stop sucking his thumb I would let him get a pet. He wanted a rat or mouse. He said to me after this was all over. "I guess you won't let me get a mouse any more?" I asked him why he thought that. He then said "Cause you are afraid of them" I had to laugh at that. i guess no mice as pets for me.

Cousin Torch

2010-10-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

Joshua to Jared were all invited to their cousin Torchs Bday party. They came home just thrilled with the party, the pinata, the goodie bags. Having family near by is the best!

Box car racing

2010-10-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

The youth program in our church is amazing. The men in charge of Jareds group are just big kids and they make it so fun for Jared. For two weeks now they have been working on these box cars. When Jared came home tonight he was so excited and Just had so many wonderful things to say about the night. I am so grateful for good leaders.

Little Stinker!

2010-10-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

This cute little guy decided that he wanted to see what was in my purse and drop it on the ground with my camera in it. I heard a crack and tried really hard not to cry. As it turns out it was just my lens. I am grateful for that but sad to part with my every day lens. Maybe Santa will bring me an upgrade???

Oh to be 12 and have no fears.

2010-10-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

He ate the whole thing in one bite. Their was not enough water to quench his thirst after that. I love having boys around the house to spice things up every now and then.

When did my baby stop being a baby?

2010-10-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Jacob talks so much now and seems so independent. He is not a little baby any more in fact he is not a baby at all. He runs and tackles and loves and squishes. He chatters and explains and laughs. Such a bitter sweet.

1st gread wonder

2010-10-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

When Joseph first started school this year his teacher was concerned that he was a little behind. He tested in the 40 word club which means he know by site the first forty words kids need to know. She wants the kids to be up to the 200 club by the end of semester. This little man has worked so hard at improving he is now at the 180 club after only two months. I am so proud of him.
Here he is at his flag ceremony at school where he was recognized for meeting his reading goals.
I love you JoJo!

Lydia

2010-10-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Only the prettiest baby I have ever taken pictures of. Isn't she a doll?

Betty

2010-10-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

For awhile there I was not sure why we thought it was a good idea to bring a puppy into the house. But now she is so loving and mellow and just plain good. The kids love her and she loves them. She mostly does what she is told and she has calmed down a ton. We do like our Betty girl!

Daily walk in Thanksgiving

2010-10-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight for FHE we discussed gratitude and all that we have to be grateful for. The kids each wrote out all the things they are grateful for and we put it into our cornucopia.

I love good food

2010-10-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

I made Indian food for dinner tonight. It was so wonderful and we all enjoyed it. With it being conference I felt like I could spend a little more time in my kitchen making a more complicated recipe. I wish I had the time to cook like this more often. A wondeful feast to go along with our spiritual feast we have had over the last two days

How we keep our busy 4 year old quiet...

2010-10-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

... during conference so we can listen. Ryan draws pictures on his hands, and fingers, and feet. Hey it works!

Joseph is very clever

2010-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

And is always coming up with different projects. A duct tape airplane? Easy for Joseph.

Think Bright, Vote Right Jared for..

2010-09-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

..secretary. JAred is known at his school for his bright shoes so what better slogan? Then on the day of his speech and election he (I) made these duct tape pants to wear. He won!

Pumpkin pancakes?

2010-09-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

I think yes!

Fall, I love it!

2010-09-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

I love when the weather changes to slightly cooler, I love the smell of homemade goodness, I love quiet days snuggled with my boys, I love when my kids walk into the door and tell me all about school. I don't really decorate for fall except for my table. It is just a touch of lovely fall and I love it!

Missionaries

2010-09-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

We try to feed the Elders at least once a month. Usually they try to give us a lesson and I try to get my kids to listen. Well these two went all out and all the kids were all ears. It was so wonderful to see and I really appreciated their effort! Its simple things like this that mean so much to me.

Wonder pets

2010-09-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Joshua has transformed into a secret animal super hero called wonderpets! He was very excited to put this on after cutting it out of his coloring book. I love childrens imaginations.

Do you think he likes camping?

2010-09-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

So grateful for good YM's leaders who take this boy out camping. He just loves it so much and I don't even know if I like it cause I have yet to take our family.

Saturday is a special day

2010-09-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

Its the day we get ready for Sunday. Usually Saturday morning is spent doing some deeper cleaning. Joshua even got into the cleaning spirit today and offered to vacuum. I lopve his serious face here. SO cute!

I feel so loved!

2010-09-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

My parents sent me flowers and they came at the perfect time. I felt so encouraged and so loved. I hope I am loved by my children the way I love my parents.

It's good to have a curious artistic child

2010-09-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

At least most of the time. Thank you Joshua for helping make my time a little more colorful while on the computer.

Gunny man

2010-09-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

At the retreat I got the idea to invite the gunny man into our house. For FHE we decorated him and I told the kids that anything they leave down and out of place the gunny man can come and take it away. The idea is that they become more aware of takeing care of their personal things. Will see how it works.

Our first and probably only trip to Legoland

2010-09-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and wanted to do something out of the ordinary. So off to Legoland Jared, Joshua, Jacob, and I go. The boys had fun. The rides all seemed geared toward a younger crowd and we could go on almost all of them. It was a nice change of pace kind of day.

Treat number two

2010-09-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my second experimental treat. This was so easy and so yummy. Carmel popcorn with toffee bits. Then drizzled with white and milk chocolate. and the kids loved it!

Trying to find the perfect treat.

2010-09-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

I want to give these women the best experience possible at our retreat in a little over a week. What better way then to feed them amazing treats? Here is attempt number one. Carmel apples.

Trip to Vegas

2010-09-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

With our car now dead we have two choices to make. Buy one or rent one. We decided to look to buy today. We knew it was coming so we not. Jacob here seems to show his enthusiasm for the idea. I love his messy bead head. So adorable.

Back to school

2010-08-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

Such a sad and peaceful day with out my little people all home. Sarah has been so nervous and I think that has rubbed off on Emma a little bit. Joseph has been calm and collective and so excited even. We walked to school with their friends and everything seemed to be going so well. When we got there Sarah took off with her friedn from church and she seemed so great. Then I walk Emma to where she needs to line up and it all becomes to real. She clings to me and is fighting back tears. I talk her instead to go met her teacher and that seems to help a ton.

I then go to take Joseph to line up (the bell has rung) Emma is now excited and leaves me to go get in her line. I decide to take a picture of Joseph and I try to pull away from him only to realize he is having a melt down. The very sad quiet kind of cry. His teacher comes and together we walk to his classroom. When we get there another little boy starts to seriously wail and cling to his mom. She can not seem to pry him off and it is becoming a scene. This is just what Joseph needed because he is so intrigued with this kids outrageous antics he forgets his own sorrow. To that little boys mom, "I am so sorry you had to go through that but I think you were an answer to prayers."

Now I sit quietly waiting for the time to go pick them up. Today was peaceful and sad all at the same time. Josh and I played legos, went to the mall, and enjoyed a nice quiet lunch at home. This is going to take some getting used to.

More beach days

2010-08-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

This summer has been a hard one for me. With getting strep twice and the kids all taking turns to get it. Jareds broken foot. Some personal issues that were difficult for me to work through. Just over all a hard summer for us. So today, before the kids head off to school on Monday we decided to head to the beach. Just us. It was so wonderful and relaxing and exactly what this family of 8 needed.

Goodbye to Summer

2010-08-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Last minute we decided to have a back to school party. We invited some friends over and made some simple school supply crafts. I think the kids thought it was fun and the kids enjoyed one last summer shindig.

Pumpkins

2010-08-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Have I ever stated publicly how much I loath folding socks? I put them in a basket and the kids have to search to find their own matches until I finally can't stand it any more and I try to fold them all. Today was that day.

Cory

2010-08-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

Ryan's Aunt called me earlier today and asked if I could take pictures of our cousin. He will be leaving on a mission in Oct. He is such a good kid and very easy going. Senior pictures are so easy and satisfying.

Bonfire at the beach

2010-08-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

This month as a whole family we have been discussing Champions and what it means to be one. I came up with this idea with my SIL Sarah on our way home from the June Power of Moms retreat. I wanted to have a family song and motto. So my family and I came up with this
We are tenacious Champions.
And our song is from the We Are the Champions song modified like this
We are the Chapmans my family
and we'll endure all things to the end
pray, read, and temple
that makes a champion
and Chapmans are champions ETERNALLY!

Through out the month we discussed different heroes and what made them champions. We then
made a long list of their traits. And with Jared's help we realized tenacious sums it all up so perfectly.

te·na·cious/təˈnāSHəs/Adjective

Not easily dispelled or discouraged; persisting in existence or in a course of action.

So tonight all of Ryan's family got together to share a champion and why we believe them to be one. I feel blessed to have such a great family.

Day 3 San Fran

2010-08-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

Today was a little mellow and it was nice to take things a little slower. We started off with a huge breakfast then headed to a civil war reenactment in Fort something I can't remember right now. It was at the base of the Golden Gate bridge and very fascinating but Very Very cold. We didn't last as long as we might have liked because of the cold.

Then we drove over the bridge to Sausilito which I am in love with and we be content to leave out my dieing days there. So beautiful and relaxing. We enjoy some more awesome food and walking along the cute streets.

We also drove down Lombard street. Which was fun since we watched Myth busters the night before where they tried to drive a truck down that street and got stuck.

We went back to Union Square and did a little more shopping and ate some dessert I had been craving since I saw it the day before. Then to the airport and on our way home. I love my home and my children. I missed them both so very much!

Day 2 San Fran

2010-08-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

We fit so much into today I am surprised we didn't pass out sooner. We started out with breakfast then headed to the Golden Gate Park. The Natural History Museum ended up being one of my favorite things! (Even if I did fall asleep during the planetarium movie)

We then went down to Union Square and walked around some more. This was Jareds favorite part. Want to know why? The two story apple store and the Farrier store. His two favorite things right now. Technology and cars. Did I mention he is 12?

We continued our walking and ended up in China town. Also a highlight for me. I enjoyed looking at all the interesting culture. We ate at a most wonderful whole in the wall and I loved the experience. At this point Ryan's feet were killing him so he went and got the car while Jared and I finished up our shopping and souvenir buying. Then again we passed out! So tired

San Fran day one

2010-08-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

We woke up so crazy early because we wanted to have the most time possible while on vacay. Our flight left around 6 and we were so tired but excited too. We drove around town a little bit when we first got there and then headed straight to pier 39 and fisherman's wharf. First off we ate the yummiest food and enjoyed walking around enjoying each others company. Then we took a quick power nap and then walked about a mile to the best Brazilian food ever. Jared was wiped out at this point. After dropping him off at the hotel we went and got massages and then we too went to bed. A wonderful day! I love this kid!

Beach days with the cousins

2010-08-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

Our summer started late with Jared's broken foot making it difficult to do the pool and beach so we are now finally enjoying it! All of my kids love the water, No healthy fear from them. Jacob will just walk right it without a care in the world. He does that at the pool too and I have to watch him so closely. He has actually jumped in more then once. Luckily I was always right there. Same with the beach. I love it though cause I really am a water girl.