Wahoo SPRING!!!

I love those Saturdays when you wake up to the birds singing outside your window, the sun is shining, and your little girl wakes up with a smile! Today was one of those days!! We woke up and had a lazy morning, went and picked up a breakfast burrito and then we got to work.

My first project was to weed the front flower beds. I figured this would only take me, oh...45 minutes tops. HA! 3 hours later the front flower beds were weeded, the bush trimmed, the grass dug out from around the tree and all the dirt was blown off the front porch and sidewalk. I didn't plant any flowers yet though. Partially because my mom warned that it might get cold again (BOO!!) and partially because I am fresh out of blow money!! Here is a picture of the finished product:



Then Ava and I went inside and ate some lunch and played a little bit. I love that girl. She melts me. When my dad showed up to help me with my next project, Ava sidetracked him and asked to "bock-a-bye" (rock-a-bye). When it comes to my Ava, my dad (and most everyone else) is a sucker. So dad spent some time bock-a-bying Miss Ava Claire and I worked on breaking up the dirt on this mess:



When we moved into this house, there was a huge pond. But with me being pregnant, which ends in a child :) we didn't want a pond for that child to fall into. So we got rid of it and filled it with some dirt. Two years later, it is still just dirt and weeds. So this year we are planting some grass and we are going to get that ugly spot looking gorgeous by this summer.

When Ava laid down for her afternoon nap my dad and I got to work. We were going to modify the deck that was here before we moved in. The owners before us enclosed the back patio to make it this nice little nook. The problem was that I couldn't see Ava while she played "shide" (outside). So we took it from nook to this:





The patio set was mine and Jayson's gift to each other for our birthdays (June 1&3) and mother's/father's day. We decided to get it now so that we could enjoy it longer. We are kind of known for doing gifts way before the the actual day they are supposed to be given. It drives my mom nuts :). But it's how we roll, it works for us.

My next project is this:



And finishing the dirt pile and staining the fence to match the patio. You probably noticed that the fence is ugly, you are right! Surprisingly, I am actually looking forward to it!! Maybe I am turning into my mom after all! I could think of worse things to happen ;).

Reputations That Define

When I was in high school I was asked to the Winter Formal. We were going to go with a group of friends and have dinner and it was going to be fun! But then we realized that all the boys had a basketball game that day and would be done about 45 minutes before the Winter Formal dance would begin. So we girls rallied and decided to make the dinner ourselves. We would each make something to contribute and then meet at a friends house and get ready and wait for the boys with dinner already on the table. I volunteered to make desert. So I spent HOURS in the kitchen working on a Red Velvet Cake with homemade cream cheese frosting. It was BEAUTIFUL!! I was so proud of my work and couldn't wait to dig into it with my friends!

Well the game went later than we thought and so the boys showed up about 20 minutes before we had to leave so we scarfed down dinner and decided we didn't have time to eat dessert. I was somewhat disappointed after all my hard work but was excited to get going too so I took the cake home.

The next day we were having our new youth pastor and his wife over for dinner so we decided to eat the cake for dessert then. I was so proud of myself! My mom cut into that beautiful cake and put a piece on a plate for everyone. It was so pretty, a deep red with the creamy colored frosting as an accent. I took a huge bite and...YUCK!!!

I don't know what I did wrong but it was so horrible!! I was so embarrassed. My dad, bless that man's heart, ate TWO pieces to make me feel better. But in reality, I knew that it tasted like play dough with really good frosting.

Well that was over 8 years ago but it is a reputation that has defined my life, as far as my ability to bake anyway.

Until now!! I recently got inspired to bake a cake from scratch from a cook book I got from my wedding. It turned out pretty and yummy! I don't actually remember what it was called but it was a four layer white cake with homemade chocolate frosting!! Here are some pictures to prove it!!








The proof is in the cake!!