catch up cakes...take 2...

a Hello Kitty cake, designed by the birthday girl herself! Juana came by & we drew out her design...she was specific about the colors & shapes...& was thrilled with how the finished product came out...

100% edible...rainbow cake, iced in buttercream...the kitty head is rice krispie treats...everything is decorated/covered in regular & dark chocolate fondant (no black coloring used on this cake!)

the best part was the inside...love the rainbow effect!

i also had some pooh cupcakes to make for a baby shower...

yellow cupcakes, iced in pink buttercream...then topped with fondant pooh faces & bees...

make that 2 baby showers that day...the next was for my cousin's wife...they're expecting a lil girl on Valentine's Day - so went with that whole color scheme...

Aryn's cake & matching cupcakes were all white cake, iced in a light pink icing...

the buttons & bow topper are made from fondant

i recently was honored to donate a cake & cupcakes to a local lady that's battling stage 4 brain cancer...her 28th birthday isn't until April, but her doctors aren't expecting her to make it until then...her best friend threw her a special party to celebrate Rachel's life & asked for a sunflower themed cake & cupcakes...

they were fudge chip & iced in buttercream...accented with fondant sunflowers

i helped a friend surprise her husband on his birthday, which is also their anniversary...he used to drive a derby car, so his wife had me make a replica of it for his cake...it was red velvet cake, iced in buttercream...topped with a rice krispie treat car - meant to look beat up & dirty...

& lastly, came this planes, trains & automobiles cake for 3yo Branson...it's one of my new favs!

the bottom tier was fudge chip & the top tier strawberry...all iced in buttercream...the buildings, & all modes of transportation are handmade from fondant...another 100% edible cake!

here's a message i got from Branson's aunt about how much he loved his cake...

"Branson LOVED his cake! I would pick him up and he'd say I want to go look at my cake...and he'd say airplane, school bus, choo choo! Then, 5 minutes later...I want to go look at my cake! So we just stood there staring at his cake. Then i uploaded the pics and he said THATS MY CAKE! It was precious! Aimee (Branson's mom) said it was the best one you've done yet!"

thx for looking!

xoxo,
sharon

ringing in the New Year...

with my favorite people...the only place i wanna be!

a holiday picture marathon...

a lot happened over our holiday break...we had a great time, & sucked up every little minute we could together...it seems like the break passes more & more quickly every year!

we got our first real snow of the year...& the first real snow since adopting Rocket...

sledding before it disappeared...

watching movies together, & passing out on the sofa...

a visit with Curt's parents on Christmas Eve Eve...

our annual Christmas Eve dinner with my dad's family...

hot cocoa & opening their Christmas Eve gift...

new PJs!

snug in their beds...time for the big guy to pay a visit...

we woke up to a light dusting, & the snow was still coming down...it was a pretty magical Christmas morning!

then the fun began!

we started a new tradition this year...usually, we leave the big meals for our other family get-togethers, & do something fun/easy on Christmas day at home...but this year we decided to go all out! the girls helped me make a ham, sweet potato casserole, cornbread stuffing, greens, rolls & a pumpkin pie! it was so much fun cooking together all day...& really special to sit down to our own fancy dinner on Christmas day!

of course, we did a lot of chilling & playing that day too...

& later, we took a family walk to work off our big dinner...u can see the snow was nearly gone by the end of the day...it was fun while it lasted tho
(also note - PJs all damn day! ~wink~)

the day after Christmas, we got to meet Corey's new little buddy - Marley!

he's SO cute (only 4mos old) & Corey is such a good puppy daddy! i was pretty impressed to see how well he looked after Marley...& of course Corinn couldn't leave him alone!

as if we hadn't celebrated enough...then came time for Christmas with my family...

& lastly, Gabby had a friend over for a sleepover before our holiday break ended...

i hope u guys had an awesome holiday break too...i can't believe a month has already flown by since then! is it really almost February?!?!