weekend cakes...

it was a fudge chip kinda weekend...Saturday actually...all 3 were due Saturday...& each cake was fudge chip!

i started out with a Dan Marino jersey cake for a surprise 40th birthday party...of course, fudge chip...iced in buttercream & decorated with fondant numbers & stripes

next, came this English cottage...for another surprise party! this birthday girls loves murder mysteries...so her family hosted one - complete with a murder mystery cake

fudge chip again...iced in buttercream & topped with a rice krispie treat cottage (covered in fondant & decorated with buttercream vines)...see the murder victim in the hedges?

last, came this fun cake for 14yo Valerie...not a surprise party this time - but her cake was a surprise!

Valerie's mom ordered fudge chip because Valerie is a chocolate fiend! she loves bright blue & zebra stripes too...i'm not sure what the pickle symbolized - but it sounded like it was something perfectly fitting for the birthday girl...the white is buttercream - everything else is fondant...the #14 topper is not completely edible

here's an email i got from Valerie's mom right after the party...
"Your cake was a HIT!! My daughter is STILL talking about it. All her friends took photos of it and posted it on their Facebook. I had just about every woman in the party room ask who made it! Thank you, I am forever grateful to you."

thx for looking!

{this moment} a walk with my son, the gentleman

{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

Thanksgiving picture marathon...

Thanksgiving day at Grandma & Pop's...of course, LOTS of food!

meeting their newest cousin
(Jaden with Curt's brother's new son, Xavier)

playing Wii with more cousins

& making memories with fabulous grandparents!

Saturday...celebrating Gabby's 8th birthday

a 2nd Thanksgiving meal with my dad's side of the family (which is HUGE - so tons more food!)...unfortunately, i was too busy chatting to remember to take pics

then, visiting my Papaw while he's in town
(my mom's father)

then, having company on Sunday...my BFF, Misty, & her fam were in from NC

the kiddos played & played & played some more!

so well, that Willow actually cried when it was time for them to head home :0(

it was a BUSY extended weekend...full of lots of food, fun, family & friends...pretty darn perfect! :0)

cornrows...

they only lasted about 3 days, before starting to frizz out too much...then Jaden asked me to take em out...

& they hurt like hell going in...

but he LOVED his hair this way!!!

& of course Aunt Faye had to hook the girls up too...

she does every time we drive up to visit Curt's parent's place & she's there...
(this was Thanksgiving day)

why do they sit so perfectly still & actually enjoy getting their hair done by someone else? but they'll hardly let me near it any more!

that's ok...i'm sure getting their hair done on holidays is a memory the kiddos will carry with them forever...thx Aunt Faye! ♥

Baby Soft...

do you remember Love's Baby Soft?
i sure do!

i bought my girls some last year for Valentine's day...saw it in the store & thought, WOW - i remember that! i hoped my girls would enjoy wearing it as much as i did as a young lady

then today, i totally ran out of my own perfume...so i checked the kiddos' bathroom & discovered the girls still had some Baby Soft left...i figured why not & decided to give it a try...again - after all these years

so today at work, i keep catching a whiff...i'm totally taken back to middle school days...to 8th grade dances when we kept the boys at arms length & made our robotic circles to the music...to getting ready for basketball games with the other cheerleaders...to sleepovers where we stayed up super late making up dance routines, playing with hair & make-up, & talking about the boys we wanted to dance with at arms length ;0)

i decided to Google Baby Soft...wondering just how long it's been around (btw, Love's began in 1969, but Baby Soft was launched in 74)...& i was shocked to see some of the advertising from back in the day!


what the?!?!

i understand that it was a different time...but damn!

this can't be happening...

8 years ago (this past Saturday), this little one became a part of our lives...she was the runt out of my 3 kiddos, weighing in under 8lbs ;0) & that head full of hair was simply amazing to me!

she came RUSHING into this world...not even giving us the chance to travel to the hospital where i was registered...we ended up at a different hospital, giving birth only 9 minutes after pulling up to the Emergency Room

but even with such an eventful arrival, Gabrielle was the most easy going & content baby...a thumb sucker, which in my book, is the CUTEST thing on Earth!!! she was giggly & cuddly...Mama's little girl...& pretty sweet on her Daddy & big brother too ;0)

she definitely has some of the classic "middle child" issues...but she's also the leader of the pack...my most responsible child - always looking out for her brother & sister...jumping in to help Mama keep order

her birthday celebration always falls on/around Thanksgiving (even born the day of), so it kind of takes 2nd fiddle to whatever everyone else has going on...not only do we have to squeeze in her party, during all the holiday hoopla...but she also has to hurry & bring in cupcakes for her class to celebrate before they let out on Thanksgiving break...this year, she chose to make all the fondant decorations herself!

she wanted bright colored flowers with different layers...so i set her up with colored fondant & some cutters (& her little sis playing/creating right beside her)...

she went to town & created enough beautiful flowers to decorate 20 cupcakes...

she did everything on her own - rolling, cutting, assembling, dusting (with edible glitter) & placing on the cupcakes that Mama made for her...fudge chip, with cream cheese icing - her fav!

she was so proud! but not as proud as me...it made my heart soar to see her enjoy creating these! i might just have my first employee already lined up for when i finally open my shop ;0)

the morning of her birthday, we woke her with a cupcake & singing Happy Birthday...like we always do for the kiddos on their special day

she also assisted me in creating her cake this year...she'd picked out a design we'd found in a magazine...we tweaked it a little to make it our own & then got busy...she mostly helped with assembling the daisies & cutting out stripes

when we were done, she said that her cake was "perfect"...it was fudge chip on the bottom, & strawberry up top...all iced in buttercream & decorated with fondant stripes & daisies

we had a small celebration at home with family & one of Gabby's good friends...

she got the exact gifts she'd asked for, & announced that it had been an AWESOME day

i just can't believe that my baby girl is already 8 years old...that little runt! ;0)

this can't be happening...