Hellooo cupcake!

Just a cake I made for a darling little girl who's mom I want to throw MY parties!! She went with a cupcake theme, and I swear it was the CUTEST setup. She even had aprons for the party goers and her mom had made some YUMMY smelling food!!
Last night I was suffering with a stomach virus, so I got up this morning at 4 am to put together this little cutie! (well, not so little) Along with her cake,
Ms Kelsey had 40 cupcake shaped cookies with her K on them.

All and all, I think it came out pretty cute, I love to work with nice bright colors,
and love to get to use my airbrush.

So..here's my cupcake themed cake, for a cutie of a cupcake!

Cake inspired by Pink Cake Box

Happy Birthday Kelsey!!

Racers...start your engines!!

Oh...that's right, Derby cars can't have engines! Last night was Pinewood Derby for our Pack. I love these events with the boys. The boys build cars with their fathers, and then we all meet to race them.

The boys get to compete in two categories, "Show and Shine" and "Derby". This year, a wonderful volunteer built us a new track to use for our Pack. Thank you Mr Danny for your hard work, you are very much appreciated.
The event was great fun. Our boys did an awesome job building and racing their cars. A successful scouting event is not one where ONE person wins, but one where EVERYONE wins. Everyone wins by being a good sport, and doing their best - and our boys are very good at that.
I must proudly add, as his mom, that Gabe won 2nd place in the show and shine division. ALL of the cars were really wonderful though.

Gabe's buddy Max took first, and MAN was his car fast! Shows that sometimes, simple is the way to go, Max's car wasn't fancy, but it raced like lightening! Here's a photo of our three winners:

Max's is the black and green car..the shiny blue car took 2nd and the white 3rd. Sadly, I don't have a picture of the Show and Shine winners together,
but Gabe's is a firetruck (of course!!)
So...I leave you with just these pictures, AWESOME cars everyone! If you'd like to see more pictures, please visit our Pack website: www.pack602.com

Trouble, thy name is Molly

Just a funny picture..for those who don't know, Molly is our dog. Molly is a Jack Russell, and she defines many words...including rotten, comedian, and sometimes BAD.
Today's antic was to bury her bone IN the pile of burnt leaf remainings, dig it up and then beg me to come back inside and snuggle back up...
NOT TODAY CRAZY LADY!!
So..here's the picture, see how guilty she looks, and notice she's OUTSIDE the window until she cleans up some (it'll dry and fall right off of her coat).

Cakes...kids...and HORSES!

This weekend I started doing cakes again, for the first time since I lost my dads last year. WOW, don't take on three cakes when you haven't caked for a while is all I can say.
Cake #1 was for a lady having a 31st birthday party. She was using a fire theme, and asked for a recreation of one of my earlier cakes, with a little "pizazz" added. Buttercream icing, then airbrushed and some fondant flowers.


Then there was a cake for Olivia. I have made each of Olivia's cakes, including her shower cake..so I love doing cakes for her. I did a Minnie mouse theme for her...and hopefully her mommy loved it..her dad liked it (as much as guys like cake). Everything other than the ears on the hat are cake, and then buttercream icing with fondant accents.

Then a cake for Max...you've read about Max on my blog before. I just LOVE me some Max. He's Gabe's buddy, and his cake was his birthday present. Of course, he HAD to choose big ole toys and CHOCOLATE icing for it (we still love you Max). To make it tie in, I made a moon of white chocolate, and put the toys around it. That way my boy got what he wanted.


So..when I finished my cakes, it was time for the Highlands in barn show. Sarah has only been in one show before...and today makes two. She did awesome. She came home with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th ribbon. She even attempted a class that she was very unfamiliar with, which gives her more experience in just showing in general. She and Amelia shared Dibbs and did a great job keeping him calm and happy. In return, he treated them so well, and was SUCH a good boy for them.
At the beginning of the show, Elizabeth pointed out to Sarah that she had a ladybug on her shoulder, which is a sign of good luck!!

Dibbs and Sarah in their classes together! He wears his ribbons so proudly!







Micheala helped Sarah when we were getting ready! It's so great to have one of the older girls who know the ropes. The last picture is Alex and Appy. Normally, I wouldn't post other people's children, but Alex is SO sweet to Sarah and I just love this picture of her riding. She has the love of horses that just glows through her! She is ALSO Sarah's 4H Mentor.

In sad news, I mentioned in my last blog that Clyde, who Sarah loved so much, was feeling poorly. Sadly, Clyde passed to that great field in the sky this week. It's with much love that we wish him farewell and say a prayer to all the people who loved him. "Magic Man" as was his show name, but Clyde to those who knew him, was truly an awesome guy. He was "magic" alright, the sort of magic that is only between a horse and a little girl, the kind of magic that makes a child try harder - because she has the confidence he is giving her. Horses are magic to me anyway, but Clyde will always be remembered with love.

This quote comes to mind:

"The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and freedom."
Sharon Ralls Lemon

A triumph for Sarah!

Well, I've said it before..a BAD day at the barn is better than a good day doing most anything else...when you're a horse loving 9 year old. That being said, an AWESOME day at the barn is just stellar!!

Sarah loves to ride...which if you read my blog with regularity you know well. This summer and fall she rode Dibbs, and quite enjoyed him, till one day they had a falling out (which ended in her falling off). Well..she became scared of Dibbs, and he knew it, and she began riding Clyde (who is just God's gift to timid children riders). Clyde is a sweet boy, and she does great on him, and she loves him dearly...this is Clyde.

BUT..today, Clyde was feeling under the weather, and it was either go home, or ride Dibbs, so ride Dibbs she did. She had a great ride, and he was SUCH a super sweet stellar boy, I'm proud as peaches of them both. I also have to give kudos to Elizabeth, Sarah's riding instructor, who CONTINUES to tell Sarah that she can do it, even when the fear takes over the brain that God gave her plenty of!

Saturday she has a show, so I'll update then..but for know, just a few pictures of my horse loving girl and the horse that helped her gain her confidence back!