THE CAKE!!!

Hello to all! This is Mark. I wanted to tell everyone about our cake making experience. This cake started about 3 days ago. Amy, Paige and I got in the kitchen and started making the three colors of fondant that the cake required. We wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it set. We also started baking the cakes then as well. Yesterday(Saturday) was assembly day...D-Day!! Victoria's party was at 5:00 and the cake needed to be delivered to her dad's house by 4:00. Our compadre, Suzie Q, came over to help as well as Amy's mom. We had a BLAST!! I made bloody marys and we went to work. Amy had already made the head and torso out of gum-paste. We frosted the cakes with the butter cream frosting Amy made and we started stacking cakes. Amy installed the fondant while Mamu and I made the balls. We couldn't have done it so quickly without Suzy and Mamu. I am so proud of my wife and her talent. She has the ability to get a vision in her head and then produce that vision into a true work of art! We had a great day. Lots of love and laughter. During the cake making process I also started a batch of Birdshot's Ballistic Chili!!! When all was said and done with the cake, we retired to the music room. Our Neighbors, John and Deniece came over and played and sang with us too! He is the maker of Hickory Dick's BBQ Sauce and brought me TWO jars. I ran out of my original the other day and mentioned it to him. It's nice to have such wonderful people in our lives. We are truly blessed!!

Paige is 20!!!

We gave Paige a birthday dinner at our home last Friday. She requested shish-ka-bobs, with steak and chicken, pineapples..the WORKS! She also wanted shrimp cocktail, wild rice, and strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Her mom made the cutest mini-cheesecakes, and we had fresh whipped cream to serve on top. Mamu came over, and Ron came with Brenda, and we celebrated for awhile before Paige left with her friends to go dancing!!!

Victoria's 8th birthday cake!!!

Victoria's birthday party is fast approaching...she drew me a picture of her cake yesterday. She instructed me of all the colors, and told me to make sure I get it to her dad's house BEFORE the party starts!!! Can you imagine the cake I'm going to have to make for her wedding?!?! My friend, Susie, said we'll have to deliver it on a flat-bed trailer!!!

My 1st attempt at fondant...

Mark & I made this cake for his BFF, Clay, for his birthday yesterday. I wanted to make a fondant cake for practice on Victoria's cake I have to make next weekend. The fondant is made out of marshmallows, and it's SO cool!!! We sat around the table, drinking wine, and laughing, and playing with the fondant; it feels just like Play-Doh... so now I can sleep at night, and not be so worried about her cake... I think we did great for our first time... Mark is really good at making balls!!

Victoria's Head...

OMG!! I made the HUGE mistake of letting Victoria look at birthday cakes on the web...and of course, she picks out the most difficult one. But I'm adventurous, and know all about YouTube, so I've been watching gum paste figurines 'how-to' and this is what I came up with last night!! Not too horrible for my first try. The pics of the two cakes are the inspiration cakes V has picked out. We are going to be making a zebra stripes, cheetah spotted cake with a little 'V' popping out of the top!!! Her party is on the 30th, so that's why I'm starting now, practicing!!! What have I gotten my self into? I need a few days off work!!!

Music Night!

My Chiquita Bananas!!

'A' HONOR ROLL!!!

My sweet little sugar-muffin, Victoria ; STRAIGHT A's again!!! She is my smart little monkey! She reads better than both of her big sisters...and she's in the 2nd grade!~wink~wink~ but don't tell them I said that! I was able to be at the awards this morning before coming into work!

JiJi Crazy Bird...

Paige sent this to me today...my bird won't have much to do with me anymore...she has found a new love...Paige gets to play with her during the day, and these birds usually attach to one person, then they don't really have anything to do with anyone else... thinking about selling her now!! ~wnik~wink~

Christmas Joy...

We had Christmas dinner at our house this year; Mark & I had Thursday and Friday to start cooking and preparing for the dinner on Saturday. Thank goodness we planned it that day, otherwise the blizzard would have ruined our day... there was still 18 inches of snow mixed with some ice left on the ground , but almost everyone made it to our house for dinner! Mark and I did the turkey, and ham, which are pretty easy, but we also wanted to make some things from scratch. I made sour dough rolls that you have to start two days ahead, Mark did a loaf of frenchbread in the bread machine, and they both came out PERFECT! Also baked two banana nut breads, the first was gone in minutes, the second lasted a couple days...I went to Paula Deen's website and got her momma's recipe for egg-nog; it was DIVINE! The kids couldn't get enough. We also used her recipe for irish cream liquor, and it was gone in two days... and her cornbread dressing was the BEST I've ever had... also made her giblet gravy (without the giblets or liver-YUCK), and the cranberry sauce too, maybe I should've called our dinner 'A Paula Deen Christmas'... we just love her, (Mark actually has a crush on Paula)... Aunt Terry brought the sweet potatoes, and my cousin ,Sissi, brought a bean and corn salad that were both YUMMY!!! PawPaw Chris came, my Dad came, my Nanny came and brought banana pudding (my request), ALL the boys came, Paige was able to get off work early and be here...Mamu made her pea-salad (also my request), and it was just a FEAST fit for a king. We had a really great day. The next two days, Mark pulled the kids around on his home-made sled, behind the 4-wheeler, and the whole neighborhood could hear them screaming like they were on a rollercoaster. I don't think my girls have ever seen that much snow! We had the BIGGEST snowman in town.