(almost) wordless Wednesday...Halloween recap...

carving pumpkins...

trunk-or-treat...& trick-or-treating at the Chimney's campground...

Haunted Ridge Trail with the whole fam...
(including my sis & her kiddos)

Fear Forest with my fellas...
(plus my sis)

weekend cakes...

happy November 1st!
can u believe it?
already?!

here are some cakes i created to celebrate the last week of October & 3 special birthday girls...

a creepy crawly cake for a birthday girl that LOVES everything Halloween! all yellow cake, filled & iced in buttercream, topped with fondant critters...

then, a cake for another Halloween birthday girl...but 6yo Nichole went for something much more colorful & cheery ;0) her cake was to match a piece of art she has hanging on her bedroom wall...one she adores

it was also yellow cake, filled & iced in buttercream...the flowers on top are fondant & buttercream...

& it's these kind of pictures that make me smile...doesn't get much better than this! ;0)

lastly, a cake for 13yo Mileyah...last year was a haunted castle, this year a witch...

her cake was also yellow cake, filled & iced in buttercream...i handmade the witch, cauldron & spiders from fondant...only the broomstick & spider legs are not edible...

thanks for looking...i hope you had a haunted Halloween! ;0)

{this moment} 1st grade reading book discovery

{this moment}

"Photos - no words - capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

inspired by SouleMama - a Friday ritual

wordless Wednesday...Pop's lil Redskins fan...

my road runners...

Saturday, the girls participated in a Blue Ridge Road Runners 1/2 mile cross country race...we signed them up a couple of weeks ago, & Curtis took time to train them a little leading up to the race...

& i took em out to the track to practice a few times too...

this was still their very 1st race ever...they were a little nervous & unsure about what to expect...but still excited!

stretching before their races...

they would race separately...first up were all kindergarteners & 1st graders together...
(Corinn is 6 & in the 1st grade)

Corinn got off to a great start & kept a steady pace...we could see her staying in the front the whole way - looking super tired & frustrated...but never giving up...

we were so excited when she crossed the finish line as the very 1st girl!
(she had about 4 or 5 boys ahead of her)

Gabby was up next...racing with all the 2nd & 3rd graders...
(she's almost 8 & in the 2nd grade)

right out of the gate, Gabby got shoved around quite a bit...it really was difficult, with all of the 40 some racers taking off at once - & then trying to follow one line/path...we saw her get very discouraged after the initial take-off, & we were afraid she'd give up...but she kept going, & finished somewhere in the middle...we were so proud!

it was tough having only 1 girl earn a medal...& yes, there were some tears of jealousy...but in the end, it was all good...Gabby was happy for her little sister - winning 1st place for the girls in the 1st grade division! & come on, Corinn only finished 5 seconds faster than Corinn* - they both did AWESOME!

here's Corinn with the boy winner...they got their pic taken for the local paper - can't wait to see if they make it in!

in the end, the girls were happy they raced...& they're excited about doing it again next year! they now know more of what to expect & how to train...& Gabby knows to watch her back & keep those elbows up at the starting line! ;0)

*Corinn finished 1st for the girls in the 1st grade division, with a time of 4:28...Gabrielle finished 7th in the girls 2nd grade division, with a time of 4:33

weekend cakes...

first up was a dirtbike cake for Keller...4yo Keller was getting a dirtbike as his birthday present this year, so his parents wanted him riding on his cake...his dad sent me pics of both Keller & his new bike & i created them out of fondant...the cake is fudge chip on the bottom layer & strawberry up top...all filled in regular buttercream & iced in chocolate buttercream...the little rocks are chocolates & the trees are sugar cones

here's a note from Keller's mom:
"Keller loved his cake! He thought it was really cool. All the kids wanted to eat the motorcycle and the trees. As usual you did a fabulous job!"

next was a special cheerleading cake for Alexis...she actually designed her own cake - & had her dad email me her sketch...i hope that i helped create what she envisioned...it was a really great design! Alexis parents might have a future cake artist on their hands! ;0)

it was all wedding white cake, filled & iced in buttercream...i made all the decorations from fondant & handpainted Alexis' cheerleading group's logo on the front fondant circle

the little cheerleaders on top had wire support inside, but were made of fondant as well...of course, the flyer was supposed to be Alexis herself ;0)

here's a comment i got from Alexis' mom on Facebook...
"Thank you so much for making her design come alive. She loved her cake!!"

last, came this fun cake for Gavin...Gavin's future aunt delivered this cake 2hrs to get it to his party! (thx Tammy!)

it was all fudge chip cake, filled & iced in buttercream...i made all the decoration & trains from fondant...the sun is rice krispie treats inside

thx for looking!

---------------------

& now, to announce the winner of this weekend's giveaway...
~lol~

well, since Jennifer was the ONLY one to enter, she's the big winner! congrats Jenn...we'll hook up & get those cupcakes to you soon ;0)

i guess i need to remember that just like me, folks can't check in every day...i should have left the comments open for a week or so to give everyone a chance...& i didn't announce this giveaway on my Facebook page, so that my regular blog readers would have a better chance to win (when i host a giveaway there, i have around 150 people enter)...plus i'm not all about blowing up my blog reader numbers - i like having my friends & family as readers...& i look at this blog as more of a journal, not really something i'm crazy about all my cake peeps reading...i guess maybe i need to get over that - sort of combine everything...because i'm also finding that since i update my FB pages & Twitter accounts often, i'm repeating a lot of stuff here - things my friends have already heard about somewhere else

anyway...regardless of the fact that this giveaway was a total bust, i still see my visitor numbers going up every day - so i know my regular folks keep coming back...& i thank u guys for that! :0)

20,000 visitors...

WOW!

i just noticed that my little site meter
----> scroll to the bottom of there
hit 20,000 visitors this week! how awesome is that?!?!

in celebration...let's have a giveaway!

comment here & tell me...
what is your favorite cake flavor?

i'll close comments at 9pm on Sunday, then select a winner randomly to receive
1 dozen free cupcakes!
(winner announced Monday in my 'weekend cakes' post)


you don't even need to be local to win...i think i've perfected a way to send cupcakes thru the mail! (un-iced - the buttercream is in a piping bag, & you get to decorate them when they arrive)

so good luck!
& happy weekending!