Ain't 8 GREAT...continued a couple of days late.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Ok, ok...Imma couple days late doing the 2nd part of Jayla's birthday post. But in my own defense, we had Jayla's birthday party on Friday night and by the time we got home, I was BEAT! Then yesterday, we were at a soccer tournament all day and my daddy left to head back home. And again, I was tired.

SO...here I am today. Better late than never, I always say ;).

Alrighty, now back to the reason for this post. GUESS what I did? I made Jayla's birthday cake this year. I know, that's not that big a deal. But Jayla "requested" that I make it. Originally, she asked for a 2 or 3 TIERED cake. However, once I convinced her that she was turning 8 and not getting MARRIED, I was able to change her mind a bit. Anyway, her request wasn't simply that I make her cake. She wanted the layers to be 2 separate flavors (one devils food and the other white with confetti) and wanted me to cover those layers in...you ready for this? She wanted ME to cover the cake in fondant. Now this child can often be found in front of the TV watching the Food Network as well as other cooking channels. But her favorite shows are, the Food Network "Challenges", "Ace of Cakes, & "Cake Boss". So that's where she got the wild idea for *ME* to use fondant.

I'm up for a challenge! Let's do it!!  This year we didn't really have a "theme"...we had more of a "pattern". Jayla is on this polka dot kick, so that's what we went with. Here's the front of the invitation that I made. The details of the party are on a striped background...similar to the Thank You card, pictured below.

The Thank You card.

Ok, here's how things progressed with the cake. First, there's no picture to prove it, but the 10" layers came out PERFECTLY!!

#1 "Dirty iced".

#2 Big ball of Fondant.

#3 Fondant rolled out. (Note, for quite a few weeks, I priced all the items I'd need to make this special cake. And a fondant icing roller was one of those items. The cheapest I found this special roller was $20! So I decided against that purchase...especially since I don't plan on using Fondant again any time soon.  Then I read on line that a piece of PVC pipe would do the trick just as well. So after spending $2.13 at Home Depot, I had my own version of the "special fondant roller"! It worked PERFECTLY!)

#4 Fondant draped over the pre-iced cake.

#5 Smoothed fondant covered cake. (I was REALLY proud of this part) :-)

#6 Beginnings of the decorations.

#7 Taa-Daa...The finished cake!

#8 All lit up at the party.

#9 Inside :-).

Well, what do you think?

I have to say, I was really pleased with how this cake turned out. One, because it's been a LONG time since I've made a cake larger than 9" round. And two, because I've never used Fondant before. As I may have mentioned, I use to be a cake decorator at Kroger many, MANY moons ago. But we never used fondant. And another interesting thing came about with regards to this cake. As I was lighting the candles and we were singing happy birthday to Jayla, this lady, who was with another party came to our table and started taking pictures of the cake. Then she asked Mister M, where we got such a beautiful cake from. He told her that I made it. She then asked me if I made them for other people. I don't, but I gave her my contact card anyway. Who knows, I may get an order one day :-).

So this was an experience for me. Although my forearms are STILL sore from rolling out that hard mound of icing.

Oh, and one last picture....

Some of you may remember me telling you what a "funny man" my dad is? Well, as we were leaving the place where we had Jayla's party, I had my hands full with the left over cake and a couple other items. My dad walks up and asks if I need him to help me carry anything. As I'm about to answer, he takes the cake topper from me and sashays towards the door, LOL.  Of ALL the things he could've taken from me, he takes the lightest thing. And he holds it up in front of himself, as pictured, and walks out the door. You should've seen how  people were looking at him. He's a NUT!! :-)

ANYWAY, I think that's it for today. But before I go, tell me about something new YOU made or created, that you were really pleased with the turn out.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Ain't 8 GREAT?!?!?

In 2001, on this very day...actually, it was a Tuesday...but you get the idea :-) this sweet little baby girl was born into this world!!

 And today, in 2009. she's a BEAUTIFUL, funloving, vibrant, full of life 8 year old!

Happy, Happy, HAPPY birthday to my sweet little Jaylabear! I love you, baby!!

~~~

Stay tuned everyone...HOPEFULLY, another post will follow later on today. If all turns out well, I have something else birthday related that I need to share with you.

But before I go...guess what? THIS is my 500th post!  And what a day for it to be on...my baby's 8th birthday. How cool is that??? I'm thinking about doing some sort of fun drawing for you guys to celebrate my 500th post. Stay tuned for that!

Enjoy your day!

Now serving #43 (and a day)

Hey ya'll!!!

You're not gonna believe this, but I have logged onto Blogger about 3 - 4 times within the past couple of days. All with the intentions of doing a new post. Hopefully, that gives you an idea of how CRAZY busy life has been lately. AGAIN, I'm not complaining...just making conversation :-).

Anyhoo...I don't really  have time right NOW to be posting either, but I'm MAKING time because I miss all my blogland friends. AND there are a few things I'd like to share with you. But I think, to make sure I get out EVERYthing I want to tell you...I'd better take little steps.

First things first...Jayla and the rest of the Brasil soccer team are finally done with their season. And what a season it was. Sadly, they only won one game. But it was the last game of the season. So at least they ended on a high note :-). Boy, I sure wish you guys could see Jayla play. I can't even put into words how good she is. And I'm not saying that just because she's my daughter. She REALLY is good!! And of the 12 girls on her team, she, and maybe one other little girl, are the only ones who play the ENTIRE game. Which usually lasts about an hour. Jayla never wants to come out for a break. Nor is scoring at the top of her "to do" list anymore. That girl simply wants to be the last line of defense and keep the other team from scoring. Of course, some get by her, but it's not without a fight :-). Anyway, our #17 has got it on LOCK! :-)

Secondly, guess who showed at my house on Monday? (those of you who have kept up with me over the years, probably already know the answer to this)...but it was my dad!  My dad lives in New York! And from what he's told me, he flew to Tampa, Fl over the weekend to visit with a friend, then rented a car to come surprise me and Jayla for our birthdays. He'll be here all week. He's such a cool daddy!

My surprise visit from my dad leads me to my 3rd "nugget" of information. Since my last post, I have gotten a little older. Yesterday (17th) was my 43rd birthday! (Now my post title makes sense, huh?) I am now on my 2nd day of serving in my 43rd year of life :-).   And I just want you to know, that I am TRULY blessed. You would not BELIEVE all the amazing birthday wishes I received from friends & family on my Facebook account.  And then, my local friends are just as sweet as they can be! My friend Jacki and my friend Stacey must have gotten together and decided on a what to get me. (actually, I know they didn't...because they don't know eachother) But check this out...

LOL!

Jacki and I had plans to meet for lunch on my birthday, she was even gonna treat me. But then my dad showed up, came to lunch with us and treated BOTH of us...how cool is that? Stacey also got me a cutest coffee mug from this little coffee shop we frequent.  So now next time we go there...which will be tomorrow night, I get free coffee! (from then on, every time I bring my mug in, I only have to pay $1 for a "refill".) SWEET!!

So about 45 minutes ago, my dad and I were walking downstairs and I see this van pull up in front of my house. And I say, "Hmmm, I wonder who that is in front of my house?" My dad answers, "Well, I dunno, but whoever it is has a big ole box of Dr. Pepper!"  So he opens the door and ANOTHER one of my friends, Lynnetta, says, "Happy Birthday Dawn! Sorry I'm a day late!" You guys she went to Costco and bought me a HUGE case of Dr. Pepper!  And I don't mean a case of 12 or 24...it's a case of 30!

Are ya'll seeing a trend here?

Do you think my friends know me pretty well? :-)

As far as the (combined) 5 tubes of lip balm/lip gloss that I received, I don't know if I should be offended or not. Did they get this for me because they know I love ANYTHING Dr. Pepper? Or because I have a dry lip problem? LOL

Thank you guys! Ya'll are the best.

Ok, I'm gonna end right here for now. Because there are a few things I should be doing :-). But I WILL be back to post soon, as there's yet another milestone event coming up at the end of this week...Stay Tuned!

Ya'll have a great week and I'll talk to you soon! Love ya!

Halloween 2009

Happy November 1st everyone!

I don't know about you, but I'm STILL trying to figure out what happen to the last 10 months!  My goodness, 2010 will be here in just a minute :-).

So, what did you all do for Halloween last night? Was it as cold and rainy where you are? It was pretty darn cool here and not really RAINY...well, not for long anyway. After the 10+- minute rain we had, it was just a heavy mist the rest of the evening. Talk about a bad hair halloween :-).

Anyway, the kids still had fun. Here are a few pix from our annual neighborhood hayride.

Here's the pretty little, Dr. Jayla.

And of course we can't take pictures of Jayla without the famous "head tilt" shot :-).

Here's the doctor and her cute little friends, Briah and sisters, Madison & Macy.

The doc again, with her cute little witchy friend, Briah :-).

And...the crew!  We did have the hayride this year, but due to the rain, just the smaller kids road on the covered hayride. The older kids and all the parents just walked the neighborhood. In fact, Dr. Jayla said she enjoyed the, in her words, "Old school" way of trick or treating, lol. What does she know about "old school"? :-).

Of course we couldn't have a night of trick or treating without some Father/Son bonding :-).  Nothing like a Pimp and his gangter son. Just warms my heart :-).

It was so funny...one of the other kids asked this dad what he was dressed up as. And without missing a beat, Greg answered, "I'm a...SUPERVISOR!" lol...Good save, Dad!

I didn't dress up for Halloween. But at my weekly GNO, we did have a bit of halloween get together. Check us out.

Ok, I decided to follow in my daughters footsteps and be a nurse. I'll tell ya, these scrubs are comfy :-).  It took some coaxing for my boss, Dr. Jayla, to let me borrow her "heart listener" and blood pressure thingy. What can I say? I've gotta pay my dues in this (medical) business :-)..

Here's my good friend (and personal photographer), Cynthia, the SuperGirl!

Ya'll remember my good friend, Stacey, right? Well, this is what she looks like when she doesn't put make-up on, brush her teeth or do her hair :-).  I think the picture in the background fits this moment, don't you? lol (The "red eyes" worked great for this shot, huh?)

Here's the lovely witch again!

Has anyone seen my good friend, Mandy's puppy?

Ohhh, there's the puppy! You see him? LOL Poor thing!

My good friend, the Grecian Goddess, Lisa F.

My other good photographer friend...Lisa S. ,the sister of Super Girl Cynthia.

Do ya'll remember hearing the story about the little boy, Falcon, who was thought to be floating away in a box that was attached to a giant milar balloon? Well, he was really a girl, my good friend Lynnetta. LOL!

Here's the whole gang.  I just love all these guys! Who better to spend my Wednesday nights with?

Oh well, that's all I've got for today.  It's a lazy day around here today. So I'm gonna go chill out with my family.  Ya'll enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great Sunday!!