The Greatest Show on Earth!

We went to the circus! I have been begging Kevin to go and he finally humored me! We were able to get great seats at an even greater price and had a great time with Karen, Mike, Kate, and little Dylan.

Favorite part: Watching the elephants...they are so amazing!

(photo taken from Karen's blog...thanks Karen!)

Least favorite part: Being reminded of Dumbo while watching the elephants

Happy Birthday Kate!

WARNING!! Avert your eyes if you are squeamish to Barbie nudity!

My adorable niece, Kate, turned 4 last month and Karen was nice enough to let us make her birthday cake. She was throwing a princess themed party and I was super excited about making a Princess and the Frog Tiana cake for her.

We bought the Wilton "Classic Wonder Mold" for the dress and put an extra 9in round underneath it to give it the necessary height for the barbie (usually you would use a fake doll pick but we wanted to use the actual Barbie and make it part of the gift...with those long legs Barbie's dress needs to be longer!).

Then we wrapped her legs up in saran wrap to protect them from the cake and frosting and stuck her in.

Next, we frosted her dress with a crumb layer (Wilton's recipe for buttercream icing with a little extra milk) to seal in the crumbs and make for easier decorative frosting later. She then went in the fridge to let the frosting harden a bit.

Next, we frosted the skirt in a pale green (I tried to make the frosting look like the folds in her skirt) and stuck her in the fridge again. (Don't judge my frosting abilities too harshly! I am ridiculously proud of how the cake turned out!)

For the skirt overlay, I used a large leaf tip in a darker green

We added a flower and that was it - voila!Here she is before getting eaten :)


I think Kate really liked her cake and her new Tiana Barbie!
A big thank you to my amazing husband who helped me throughout this entire process! He baked the cake (he is the better baker by far!) and made my frosting and I only did the decorating...it is so much fun collaborating on desserts with him! He is such a great partner in the kitchen. Can't wait until we can make cakes for our little guy! Baseball cakes, car cakes, and monster cakes here we come!

Tale As Old As Time

Several months ago, I found out that Beauty and the Beast would be playing at the new AT&T Performing Arts Center downtown and I immediately bought us tickets. The show was darling and we had a great time despite the annoying toddler sitting behind us (who brings their two year old to a play?) and the really loud and drunk women sitting beside me. If you ever have a chance to see this show (it was my second time) you should definitely go :) You'll love the extra songs and the big show stopping numbers like "Be Our Guest" and "Gaston" - so much fun!

This is me at 18 weeks...there is a bump there but it is harder to see from the front.

What Have We Been Up To? Rodeo Time!

About a month ago, we went to the Mesquite Rodeo with Karen, Mike, Kate, and baby Dylan.

Kate was not a fan of the loud noise, but we had a rip roarin' good time anyway!

For a much more interesting post on this activity, check out Karen's blog!

I can't wait for Christmas!

Kevin and I have been trying to have a baby for some time. We've been praying and working with specialists and do you know what? We are having a baby! FINALLY!! Baby Grady will make his grand entrance this Christmas and we can't wait! Considering we were told we may not be able to have any children, we feel extremely blessed and consider our little peanut to be quite a miracle. In fact, when the nurse told me that I was pregnant, she said that our baby was either going to be a president or a pope because it is so amazing!

I am 16 weeks along and am feeling good again (no more all day nausea!). My doctors are still keeping a close eye on me due to some complications, but things are looking really good. And do you know what the best part of a high risk pregnancy is? All the extra ultrasounds! I am due for another one (my 6th) in about 2 weeks, but let's just say that the 14 week one made it pretty obvious I would be decorating in blue!

Baby Grady - coming to our nursery Dec 26th!



PS - For those of you who have known of our struggles and have been praying for us, THANK YOU!! Yours and mine were answered! We love you!

Introducing Kevin and Jessica Chapman

It's not often that a girl actually waits for her missionary - but this girl did... and now all of the waiting is over and they are finally married! On June 3rd, my little brother Kevin married his sweetheart Jessica in the Newport Beach Temple surrounded by lots of family and friends.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kevin James Chapman

Of course, my Kevin attended the wedding in style!

Jessica is one of 8 children and Kevin is one of 5...add spouses and you get one heck of a large bridal party! All the girls in cute H&M dresses and shrugs/jewelry from Nordstroms.

All the "Chapman" girls (minus Jessica, who was a little busy!). Left to right: Stacie (my sister), me, Shana (my brother Mark's wife), and Tracy (my brother Steve's wife) is behind us. I LOVE these girls!

Stacie's long time boyfriend Mitch looking cool with Kevin

My brother Mark and his wife Shana (married last summer)

Best looking couple (minus the bride and groom, of course!)

All the men...see how my brother Kevin has his hand in his pocket? Always the little model! Another Chapman girl shot :)

The reception was held outside at the Fullerton Arboretum and it was a beautiful night! We had pasta, salad, yummy bread, and all the red velvet cupcakes you could stuff in your mouth!

The first dance

My nephew Cody chasing the girls on the dance floor!

Cody kept doing push ups on the dance floor (something he learned from his military daddy!) and so the groom and Cody's daddy Steve joined him!

Congrats to the new couple! Best wishes! We love you!

A Day at Scarborough Faire

Every year, the quiet town of Waxahachie, Texas (about a half an hour south of Dallas) is flooded with visitors for the annual Scarborough Renaissance Faire (the "e" at the end of "faire" is very important to give any renaissance faire legitimacy!). The fair runs for 8 weeks and this little nerd really wanted to go.

I posed the idea to my dear husband who instantly thought back to horrible days spent at the Cedar City Renaissance Faire in the blazing heat staring at people speaking in fake accents and ridiculous costumes trying to sell him crafts in a park without shade, and he basically turned me down (worse - he used the "I may have to work that weekend!" excuse). Well, when Kevin's parents were visiting to help Karen and Mike move in to their new place, I convinced everyone how fun it would be to go despite their pre-conceived notions and bad past experiences, and I am glad to say that we all had a really fun time.

There were so many exhibits, booths, shows, yummy food options, and while it was super hot outside, there was plenty of shade to keep cool. And yes, lots of risque costumes and cleavage on display!

Our first stop was the glassblowing demonstration. We didn't get to see the final product because we really wanted to catch the jousting!

Kevin with one of the "knight's" horses

The stands were divided in half to cheer for the knights ("I charge you to cheer for your section's knight").
This was the rival knight - BOO!

Our knight demonstrating his awesome feats of strength by lancing(?) a 4in ring...he, of course, was the better knight and got to compete in the joust against the "green knight"

The green knight met lots of "boos" from our section!

Our knight prevails!

("Dost thus have thou a mug of ale for me and me mate? He has been pitched in battle for a fortnight and has a king's thirst for the frosty brew thus thou might have for thus"…Cable Guy anyone?)

What is going to the Renaissance Faire without getting a huge turkey leg?

Over half of the attendees and all of the workers/exhibitors/performers were in "period" (a very loose term!) costumes that ranged from heavy armor (keep in mind it was in the 90's and there were attendees in FULL ARMOR and wool capes...I don't know how they didn't all die of heat stroke!), to Tarzan style loin cloths, to Lord of the Rings elfish costumes for the men and wenches in every variety and "exposure" level to fairies (a la A Midsummer's Night Dream perhaps?) and royal ladies for the women. It was so interesting to see what everyone interpreted as appropriate for a RENAISSANCE faire. It was seriously like Prom for the Dungeons & Dragons crowd!

Musketeers

Belly dancers

Funny story - so we went to the belly dancing show thinking it would be fun and exotic...well, apparently the standard for Renaissance Faire belly dancers is FAR below what it should be because there were some LARGE, unattractive, "troll-like" (in Kevin's words) women shaking their beer-infused "bowl full of jelly". I am all about being large and beautiful, but when you are large and scantily clad and shaking "what your mamma gave you" I have to say STOP! Please! Have some dignity and put some clothes on!

One of many fairies!

Apparently there were elephant rides during the Renaissance!

Poor baby Dylan (Karen and Mike's little guy) at the end of the day. He was so hot and sweaty that we had to strip him down and soak one of his blankets in cold water to cool him down! He was such a trooper!

Next year we'll plan on going in April when it is cooler!