we must try this....

this is a wonderful blog that i visit daily - Soule Mama

Amanda made a terrific post today.....i'm not sure why i didn't think of this already, duh! but what a perfect idea for my littlest chef! corinn is always wanting to help, and sometimes it would be easier for mama if she had her own little dish to work on.....i'm definitely going to try this soon!


pure cuteness, right?! ;0)

growing up

i've just realized how nice it is that the kids are getting older and more independent.....usually, the thought of them getting older makes me sad.....the usual, my babies are growing up sulking......but lately, i'm figuring out that there are some pros to this getting older thing.....one being that they are enjoying play time a LOT more - they can go outside, to their rooms, on the front porch, etc. and just play for hours at a time - not needing an adult sitting right by them, keeping watch......of course, i'm looking down from my kitchen window when they're outside - mama hawk, with eyes on her young......it's so cool - my kids are becoming such responsible, independent BIG kids......here's 2 pics of them playing on a wall in the empty lot next door......there used to be a building there, but now there's just the foundation and the steps.....they must have spent 2 hours playing on/around/beside this wall last evening


another pro that i figured out a long time ago......no more diaper bags, sippy cups, strollers, etc. when we go out! this has to be the best pro of all!!!


these ladies (ESPECIALLY corinn!) are cooking fools! they jump at every chance to 'help' in the kitchen.....even if it's just to boil hot dogs.....here they are helping daddy make cornbread last night.....and corinn recently loading the dishwasher


lastly, some pics from the 'photo shoot' that gabby requested last evening.....we had just watched an old home movie from 2004.....gabrielle was 1 1/2 in the video and was such a ham already......she was insisting that her name was jaden "i jaden!" and not gabrielle.....she was singing her A,B,C's and twinkle, twinkle.....telling everyone "no, no!"......all the kids were cracking up! i think that put her in a silly mood...

Easter weekend

We had an amazing Easter weekend! Curtis & I both took off work for Good Friday and had a very relaxing long weekend with the kids. We spent all day Friday just hanging out and enjoying the warm weather. Saturday, we had our Easter dinner at my grandparent's home in WVA. Lots of food & lots of family! And of course, an Easter egg hunt! Then Sunday, we attended our church's very first sunrise service outside. It was cold, but very nice....plus, we had a pancake breakfast afterwards! ;0) Then home for a nap (for the kids...and the adults!), then to my parent's home for our Easter Sunday dinner there. Even more good food and family! And of course, another Easter egg hunt and some egg dying! ;0)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too and took time to not only enjoy your family, but to also remember the real reason for Easter - to celebrate Jesus' victory over death....giving us new life in Him!!!

last week's cakes...

last week, i had 2 children's birthdays & 3 adult birthdays - one being my mom's....she found out recently that she's borderline diabetic, so i had my first go at a sugar-free cake.....it wasn't half bad.....everything here is edible, except for the spiderman candle, the flag pole & the worm bucket

Happy Birthday Nana!

Yesterday, my mother turned 49. The whole family (well, except for our youngest brother who's away at VCU) got together for presents, cake & ice cream. I had to get a shot of Nana with all her grand babies. Either my siblings need to stop having kids (cause you know I'm done!), or mom needs to get a bigger chair! ~lol~ I love you mom! Here's to another year...

Weekend cakes...

busy, busy weekend with cakes! i had a total of 7 requests due thursday through sunday....some cupcakes & cake truffles for The Sweet Escape, some more truffles for a bridal shower, a couple repeat bday cakes and a few new ones.....everything here is edible!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

we're all wearing our green! (daddy stopped shaving his head long enough to snap the pic for us....he wasn't finished getting dressed yet)....and notice gabby's big cheese - trying to show off that missing tooth....too cute!

She finally lost it!

friday night, the kids were brushing their teeth for bed....gabby came to daddy with her mouth open wide, "what's this?"....daddy checked it out, "goodness girl, it's your grown up tooth trying to come in behind your loose tooth!"

gabby then came to me, "mommy look!"....i took a look in gabrielle's mouth too, "honey, we have to get that loose tooth out so the grown up tooth has room to grow in"

she thought about it for a second, and nodded her head slowly in agreement.....almost as if she thinking like me - what a great excuse to finally let mommy go for it! i had asked her several times since our first try, to let me try again - but she's been too scared.....flinching, if i even try to wiggle it

i ripped a papertowel off the roll and seized the opportunity before she had a chance to change her mind.....using my thumb, i pulled down the tooth in one swift motion.....pop! out it came, right into my hand

i immediately looked into her eyes, fully expecting to see tears.....instead, she asks "did you get it?!"

i laughed, "yep, here it is!"

she was so excited! what a big girl!!!

ps. the tooth fairy left $1

Bugz (pre-k thru 1st grade spring musical)

Last night was the spring musical at Jaden & Gabrielle's elementary school. The pre-k, kindergarten & 1st grade classes participated, so both my babies were in it! :0) Jaden was an army ant and even had a speaking part. Gabrielle was a firefly & got to wave a cool light around in the dark while singing one of their songs. I got a few pics, but the place was packed and we weren't sitting in a great spot for pics. Jaden took his part so seriously - one of the teachers was the commander ant and gave orders. Jaden was making the most serious face ever and really got into it! Gabrielle was a little nervous in front of all those people, but she did great too! She sang all the words and did all the motions. I'm so proud! :0) Even Jaden's kindergarten teacher from last year commented on how great he did. She said she couldn't believe how far he'd come. We would have never imagined he'd be able to not only memorize 4 lines, but recite them in front of such an audience! The cutest thing was when he first got up to the microphone - he cleared his throat before speaking, to make sure he got his lines just right. ;0)

my army ant...

my firefly...

Corinn being a good girl in the audience...

shouting back orders to the commander ant...

salute! seriously, check out that serious face!

singing 'going on a picnic' and making her bug wings....

a video of Jaden's part....his lines were...

Look at all this food, my friends.
Just see what we've discovered.
It must be almost time to eat,
since they've left it all uncovered.


LOVED it!

weekend cakes...

i've been asked several times how come i don't post my cake creations here.....well, i wanted to keep this blog about my family, and not my cake decorating side gig.....but because cake decorating is such a big part of my life, and because i'm proud of my work, i guess it should be included here.....i will however, not use this forum to sell/advertise/give how-to's/schedule orders/etc......if you have any cake requests/questions/advise/etc., please direct that to my website - www.sharoncakes.com

now, on to the creations.....every monday (or beginning of the week), i'll make a 'weekend cakes' post displaying the work i've done the previous week (most of my work is done on the weekends)....my mediums are of course cake, my homemade icings -butter cream/chocolate butter cream/cream cheese, my homemade fondant & dark chocolate fondant, gum paste, homemade rice krispie treats, chocolate, edible glitters/dusts....the list goes on and on

here's what i created this weekend.....everything you see is edible with the exception of the #30 - it's cardboard, covered in fondant......

true love...

taken last night at The Pub - thx for the date baby! ;0)

LOVE this blogger!

unfortunately, i missed the larry king show on autism that i mentioned a little while back (i don't have cable & i forgot to remind my mom to tape it for me)....apparently, it was more of the same....the "autism is caused by vaccinations" argument....please go visit this blogger.....The Joy of Autism blog is so informative and the author of this blog is also the founder of The Autism Acceptance Project.....her last 2 posts are regarding the vaccine argument and i found it super interesting....her header says it best...

get involved...

i came across this article on another blogger's post.....this is so sad!

i copied this straight from the ParentalRights.org site...

Sign the petition and become a Citizen Co-Sponsor of the Parental Rights Amendment. By doing this we tell Congress that we want to preserve the time tested parental rights doctrine of the U.S. Constitution and we reject the “best interest of the child” scam that really just undermines children.

DATE NIGHT!

~grinning ear to ear~

my baby & i are having a date night tonight! :0) we've kind of gotten away from making this a regular thing (you know, with our 2 jobs each, 5 kids & all), but are trying to get back into the habit.....tonight is comedy night at The Pub and the comics are coming down from DC (Curtis' hometown) so we're psyched! plus JMU is gone on spring break - that's definitely a plus!

i'm soooo excited!!! i love spending time with my kids, but of course some alone time with daddy is a special treat ;0)

frustrated...

this darn transmission is getting the best of me! i can't help but steam when i think about how much money we're dropping into the van right now! on top of replacing the transmission, there's a filter kit that had to be put in first & the labor for that, plus they found a "pin-hole leak" in our water hose, so that had to be replaced (plus more labor)....then they found out that the inners and outers need to be replaced (whatever the heck those are!).....of course everything took an hour or so longer than they had originally thought (labor, labor, labor).....how come every time we get a vehicle fixed, they find something else that no one knew was wrong.....and who are we to question them?.....i don't know jack about cars! but for real, these guys are legit - the guy that owns the place is good friends with my brother and no other repair places around here can beat their prices....but still!

soooooo, we're out about $1600 and i'm pissed! i know, i know, it has to be done....and it'll save us from larger/more expensive repairs in the future....but i think i'm allowed to be pissed for a lil while! i'll be cool in a minute....just needed to vent - thx for listening!

An oldie, but goodie...

I just got this email again today. It's been around for a while, I remember seeing this a year or so ago. I'm not sure who the author of this is, but it's so true.

"The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a Methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question.

'Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?'

I replied, I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.

I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flowerbeds and cocklebur's out of dad's fields.

I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place."

Lately, I've been thinking about today's children/teenagers.

Our neighbor has 2 teens (the girl is about 13 and the boy about 15) - he's a single father and I give him props for doing it on his own, but I wonder what the world is coming to when I see these 2 rarely going to school, hanging out with their friends on the porch smoking cigarettes and talking on their cell phones, cursing at their father when he does try to discipline them, vandalizing the cars in the lot across the street, skateboarding on neighboring private property, etc.

I'm just using this family as an example. I see too many kids with cell phones these days, too many kids allowed to roam & do as they please, too many parents overlooking this behavior with a "kids will be kids" attitude. I hear reports about drugs being found in the lockers at a local middle school, and juveniles being arrested for unimaginable crimes. I see reports on TV about fights happening inside the schools - and the other kids video taping the heinous act with their cell phones, instead of stepping in to help.

I'm scared to death to see what the world will be like in 7 or 8 years when Jaden starts high school. I'm so thankful that my parents brought us up in the right way - we were taught to keep God first in our lives, to respect others, to work hard to EARN what we wanted/needed, that life didn't always go the way you wanted, to go out of our way to help others, that we are responsible for our own actions and that actions always have consequences (good or bad). Curtis was brought up with the same values/beliefs and we try hard to instill these in our children. I pray that we are succeeding and that our children will grow up to be the hard working, respectful adults that our parents raised.

kids say the darndest things!

i've been getting a few interesting questions/statements from my kids lately and i wanted to get them down before they are forgotten.....sometimes the 20 questions game gets kinda old, but i know i'll miss these days when they're older and think they have the whole world figured out

corinn: "mama, when i get big....i think i want a boy baby. is there a boy baby machine too?"
(i guess she means in addition to the girl baby machine that she knows already exists?)
me: "no hun, God creates the babies and puts them in the mommy's belly, remember?"
corinn: "oh yeah, well can i pray to him that i want a boy baby?"

gabrielle: "mommy, did God make himself?"
(what a question!)

jaden: "ma, everyone else has a pet but us."
(jaden has been asking for a dog for YEARS - but until we own a home, instead of rent, and he's old enough to take care of it himself - no dogs)
me: "jaden, we have a pet turtle - remember socks?"
jaden: "no ma, not him - i mean a real pet!"
(i guess this is just the beginning of all the "but all my friends are doing it" arguments i'll get to have)

corinn: "banember (this is how she says remember) when i was a baby and you changed my diaper? it stunk pretty bad, huh?"
(~lmao~ it sure did sometimes honey!)

the other word that i hope corinn NEVER figures out how to say correctly is M&M's....she calls them M-A-Lim's.....LOVE it!

Corinn's 4th Birthday Party

Yesterday was Corinn's 4th birthday party and we had a great time! We had a baking themed party - everyone painted their own apron, and colored a chef's hat, then we decorated cupcakes to take home. We had a Dora pinata and lots of yummy snacks - and of course cake & ice cream! Corinn wanted more of the Dora cupcakes that I had made for her daycare on her actual birthday. She also asked, "Can you make some Diego heads too?". So that's what I did - we had lots of Dora & Diego cupcakes (enough that everyone got to take one of these home too), and I made a "cupcake" smash cake for Corinn - you know to go along with the whole baking theme. ;0) The poor thing didn't even stop long enough to eat cake at her party. She was so busy with presents and playing, that it wasn't until we got home and had eaten dinner last evening, that she said, "Can I eat my big cupcake now?". ~lol~ I had just assumed she had eaten one of the Dora/Diego heads at the party instead.

Now, I'm trying to get this 4 year old to understand why she can't immediately start school. Up until now, she's been told that she'll go to pre-k when she's 4. Well, she's 4 now - why isn't she in school yet?! ~lol~

Being a Father - by Jaden Skates

This was classwork for Jaden - he's in 1st grade. You may need to click on the pic to enlarge it and read the questions.

This cracks me up. You wouldn't know he's a math whiz looking at his answer to the 2nd question. And I love his teacher's remark at the bottom (to his last answer). I wonder why that was the 1st rule he thought of. ~lol~ And by the way, Jaden's bed time is 8:30pm - now I know what he wishes it was. ;0)

"i need to wiggle it more"

this is what gabrielle has been saying over and over to us lately....we found out at last week's dentist appointment that my baby girl's 2 bottom/front teeth are loose....one significantly more than the other....well, ever since then, all we hear from this girl is "i need to wiggle it more"....saturday night, she finally let me take a yank at it - i swear to you, it's totally ready....u can practically lay it down, it's so loose....well, i thought for sure that i could get it out with one good yank....but i kinda chickened out - i know how sensitive gabrielle is (like her mother) and how easy it is to really upset her....i didn't want to traumatize the child, so i just gave it a strong little tug.....it started bleeding and loosened it up some more....but needless to say, she wasn't anxious to let me try again....since then, she's just going to wiggle it more :0)