Do you love me?

Now that I can dance!

Okay, just kidding...still can't dance. Although I do currently hold all the high scores on our "Just Dance" Wii game. Then again, I'm competing against an 8-, 5-, and 2-year-old.

Anywho...

I like cakes. Do you like cakes? Do you like my cakes? Well, then head on over to my buddy Debbie's blog, Cranberry Fries, and vote for your favorite cake! Some are inspired by books and others are just for fun. And since I'm all about fairness (please don't laugh out-loud), I won't even tell you which ones are mine so as to sway your votes.

Go on now...scoot!

(Comments off...go vote instead!)

What's a Birthday without a CAKE?

On any given day, I love decorating cakes. Love it. But on my birthday...well...I'd rather have someone else put forth all that time and effort for me.


Aunt Denise baked the cake and then (bravely) let all three kids decorate it. You can almost tell which sections match which child. There's a horde of chocolate chips (pirates, I'm told) swimming in sprinkles. That has to be the work of the Boy. Then the careful writing (it's harder to write on a cake than it looks) and flowers. Obviously da Boo's contribution. Those smudges of color amongst the fingerprint up in the corner could not have been made by anyone else except Baby.

And it all tastes really good with rocky road ice cream.

Let Them Eat Cake

So I like to pretend that I'm a cake decorator. But even someone as naturally talented (and beautiful) (and athletic) as I am occasionally might have something to learn about the business. Lately, it seems like all I do is learn from my mistakes. Here are some of the things I've come to realize lately:

• I stick to only my recipes, unless they have Grandma's really awesome cake recipe. It's so awesome, in fact, that it doesn't need any sort of leavening agent and is more like a pudding than a cake. Not so good when trying to unmold it from the pan.
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• Telling people that I don't do wedding cakes apparently doesn't mean that I won't do theirs. I have made three wedding cakes in eleven years and each time, I am reminded of why I don't make them. Recently, I had a referral from an old friend who told the bride-to-be that I was great with fondant. Yeah, not so much. At least, not until recently, and I've still got a long way to go.
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• Making deals with strangers while out shopping is a good idea. Even if she has the last dress in your daughter's size that you desperately need for your family's first photo shoot since the youngest child was born, it will bring nothing but stress, frustration, and more stress. I felt like I signed away a part of my soul with that cake. But hey, Baby looked adorable in the dress!
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• Price doesn't matter. No matter how much I jack up the price on that cake I don't want to make for the super prissy lady, she's still going to order it. Is it too late to claim that I'm having a baby* that weekend?
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• Getting only a delivery date is fine. I don't need more specifics, like a time frame or an actual address. Nope. Got nothing better to do than sit by the phone and wait for you to return my numerous calls and let me know you're home.

Hopefully, I'll get my act together. It helps talking to the real professionals, like my buddy Amber, who was shocked (and maybe a little horrified) that I don't ask for full payment in advance. And while I was once paid in quarters, I've never been stiffed for a cake. I really don't want to add that one to the list.

* Before I get emails and "Congrats!" comments, I AM NOT PREGNANT. Seriously. Totally not. I mean it. Not even joking here, folks.

There's just no pleasing him

This weekend, I made a birthday cake for a kid entering his teens years. He's quite the gamer and the kids are just as obsessed, so I suggested a Wii Remote.

Friday, I decorated the cake while simultaneously watching Ocean's Thirteen with the Man. The next morning, I showed it to the kids.

Me: What do you think?

Boo: Hey, that's pretty cool, Mom!

Boy: There's no A button.

Me: Doh!

Sure enough, the main button you push while playing games on the Boy's most beloved past time was missing. Apparently, I had been distracted by the movie enough to not actually finish the cake. I had plenty of time, so I set to work. A little while later, I called the kids back into the kitchen.

I also added the front black window and the port for the nunchuk in the back. I couldn't add everything, obviously. There's no actual nunchuck to plug in. Since the cake is solid, there's no trigger button on the underside.

Me: What do you think?

Boo: Wow! That's the coolest cake ever!

Boy: ...

Me: Do you like it, Boy?

Boy: There's no B button.

Me: Yeah, sorry.

Boy: Where the nunchuk?

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Dear Rolled Fondant,

We've known each other for years. While I've always been a little intimidated by you, I can't deny your beauty. There's nothing quite like the look of a fondant covered cake and you know it. You never tried to make things easier on me, getting crusty after just a little inattention. I really worked on our relationship. I went to classes. I practiced at home. I attempted cakes I never thought I'd make. And slowly, slowly...things got better. I thought I was happy. But Fondant, I just couldn't get past one major issue: you are yucky. Most people will admire your good looks but then peel you right off when it comes time to eat the cake. And there goes all that money and effort, right into the trash. There had to be a better way.

And I found it. Marshmallow Fondant whispered in my ear, flirting with me, but could I really ignore all the agony I went through with you, with the history we had together? The answer was a resounding "yes." Yes, I could. Not only was Marshmallow Fondant so much easier on my wallet, but he was putty in my hands, bending to my will almost gleefully. And he was a smooth one. Just like you. But he's sweet. You were never that way to me, Rolled Fondant, and frankly, I deserve better.

So farewell, my expensive, temperamental, icky friend. I am so much happier now.

Hasta la vista, baby,

Jessica G.

(Wanna see Marshmallow Fondant in action? Go check out my cake blog!)

Mmmmm...Cake!

(This is an old post that I never published...oops!)

In grand birthday tradition, my kids decorated my birthday cake the Sunday before my birthday. Aunt Denise always bakes me a chocolate cake using the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa Powder can (so I don't have to go without or break down and bake it myself). Then she brings over frosting and decorations. The kids go wild! Every year, it gets more and more elaborate. This year was by far the most decorated...


Don't they look pleased? As rightly they should! I don't think they left any portion of the cake uncovered by frosting or doused with sprinkles.

Boo even wrote "Happy Birthday Mom" which you can just barely see through all the sprinkles...Here is Baby's contribution:


She had to do it twice because the Boy covered up her first effort with his sprinkles. She didn't seem to mind! Unfortunately, I was recovering from a touch of food poisoning and just couldn't eat birthday cake. By my actual birthday, I had recovered enough to enjoy it. And I gotta say...inch-thick frosting topped with another half-inch of sprinkles sure does cheer up a person!

Holed Up

Sorry for the delay in posting. We've had a whole heap of "fun" around here that the Man doesn't want me to post about (but call me later and we'll chat!). I finally got all of the new cake pictures up, so run and take a look! Then come back and tell me which one is your favorite because I could really use some positive vibes...

The Cake Cow

Cake Decorating for Dummies

I have two cakes this weekend. Both are fairly simple designs that I've made plenty of times before. But for some reason or another, I made a completely rookie mistake, causing my entire weekend to pretty much crash and burn.

During the cake decorating classes I took, the instructors taught us a few tricks, like how to make your own decorator bags out of parchment paper, how to smooth frosting, and how to properly layer your cake so it doesn't look like a prop from a horror movie. When you make a cake with a somewhat liquid filling, like lemon curd or raspberry puree, you need to have some sort of buffer between each layer of cake (so the liquid doesn't soak into the cake, disappearing on you) and around the edge (so the filling doesn't squeeze out and leak down your cake). This is especially critical when you have white frosting with raspberry filling. That red shows through easily! I spread a very thin coat of frosting on the top on of the bottom layer and on the bottom of the top layer. Then, I use the same frosting color as the outside of the cake and, with a large round decorator tip, make a ring around the edge of the bottom layer. A dam, of sorts.

So late Friday night, I am working on the first cake. For some reason that still escapes me (maybe I was thinking about this), I neglected to put in the dam. As a result, the bottom tier of the cake looked like this:


By now, I was using other forms of the word "dam." I tried to fix it a couple different ways, only succeeding in having more berry-tinted frosting. By then, it was 3 a.m. and I was very tired. I thought maybe things would look better in the morning.

They didn't.

And now my cake was kinda lumpy. Instead, I called my fantabulous neighbor and borrowed one of her lovely daughters (she has four) to watch my sleepy kiddos so I could hit Wally World untethered. I brought home fondant, my arch-nemesis. Desperate times call for desperate measures.


Now the cake has a lovely, smooth, uniformly-colored exterior. So what if the client didn't order fondant! She didn't say she hated it...I will have to sound convincing when I tell her I "upgraded" her cake. Luckily, I can make drop flowers in my sleep so those turned out just fine.


Just like she requested: two-tiered, white frosted cake with small red flowers, chocolate cake with raspberry filling. Simple, elegant, and possibly the narrowestly-adverted catastrophe of my short career. I think I might add some leaves, give it a little more color.

And of course she reads my blog. I have no pride.

Product Review: Naturally Nora's Surprising Stars Cake Mix

I'm addicted to reading food blogs. But even in the blogosphere, I'm a picky eater. In real life, I wouldn't eat shrimp - much less shrimp with it's head still on and dripping with wasabi. So I don't want to read about that, either. I prefer Bakerella and Gourmet Mom On-the Go. You know...real food. And lots of cake.

A little while ago, Gourmet Mom had a contest giving away a year's supply of cake mix and frosting mix. (Well, a year's supply to normal people...might have lasted me a month.) The mixes were from Naturally Nora. I'd never heard of those so I checked out the official site. These are all-natural with no preservatives, no dairy or soy and kosher to boot. Sounds good but what really got me intrigued were the choices: Sunny Yellow, Cheerful Chocolate, Alot'a Dots, Cookie Cookie, and Surprising Stars. I was immediately hooked.


I didn't win the contest but I did go to Amazon and ordered the Surprising Stars, thinking I would use it for the Boy's upcoming birthday. Because a cake with stars in it? How cool would that be? His head might explode over all the awesomeness.

I baked the cake as soon as we got back from our camping trip - the day before the Boy's party. And that's when I realized I was out of milk. Ordinary cake mixes require oil, water and eggs. Naturally Nora's require milk (or whatever milk substitute you use), eggs and oil. Oops.

Before making it, I dug out one of the little stars in the mix. It didn't photograph well but it looked like a chubby little star, a little smaller than a pencil eraser (but much tastier). Adorable!

The true test of any good cake mix is how the batter tastes. And Naturally Nora's was delicious! When I finished licking off the beater, I was eyeing the mixing bowl, weighing the costs of getting batter on my forehead against the benefits of getting more of that batter. After baking, the cake looked good. It didn't rise really high in the middle, leaving the sides thin, like a lot of commercial mixes are prone to do. Then I took my cake leveler to it, preparing the layers for stacking.


Hrmmm...where are the stars? It looks more like globs. A little disappointing. To cheer me up, I ate the trimmed-off piece of cake. Oh my...this could give your mother's scratch recipe a run for it's money! In fact, Naturally Nora's tastes much like homemade. Very moist without being too soft, firm without being crumbly. Absolutely fantastic.

Pros:
Tastes fabulous - before and after baking.
Great texture.
Fun flavors. I am definitely going to try more of these!

Cons:
Stars are gone once it's baked.
Difficult to find at your local stores.
(and be sure to check for milk before you make this!)

Overall, I give this mix 8 out of 10. It would have scored higher if the stars didn't go supernova after baking. And I will be trying the other cake flavors...just not sure about those frosting mixes...

Easter Happenings

Easter snuck up on me this year. It seemed like I only had a couple days to prepare and even then, I didn't get everything done. Only one spring decoration was put up. Oh well...

And I found my camera charger! It's a story for another blog post but I blame the gnomes. So I have a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.


We decorated eggs with our Aunt Denise and the Co-ed on Saturday night. That's always eventful. Afterward, we made our traditional Resurrection Cookies. The kids look forward to these. Their favorite parts? Da Boo likes taping the oven. The Boy likes tasting the salt.


Here are my beautiful girls, wearing matching Easter dresses, courtesy of Grandma G. Wanna know the reason why Baby is smiling so big? Because the Man can get her to smile and laugh like no other. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a little jealous.


And here's how the Boy was dressed for most of Easter Sunday, thanks to an early birthday present. You can see the collar of his dress shirt underneath...I promise I didn't let him go to church like that.

As usual, I like to try something new and crazy for Easter's dessert (and having Peep Wars doesn't count). I love and adore Bakerella (and if you aren't already drooling over her site, then what is wrong with you??) A little while ago she featured a 14 Layer Cake and I was immediately hooked. So I tried it.


It took me 2 1/2 hours to make but oh my! Isn't it pretty? The scalloped effect was created by the disposable pans I used and I must say, it really made it look spectacular. Go see Bakerella's pictures of the inside of the cake because mine all came out blurry. It's definitely got the "WOW!" factor! And the taste? WELL WORTH the time involved!

Foto Friday: Boo's Birthday Week

Well, it's been an action-packed week and frankly, I'm looking forward to having the Man home this weekend so I can get a nap!

First up, the bunkbed:


When it arrived, the kids were very excited and couldn't wait to sleep on it. That's when I realized that the only sheets we had that would fit the Boy's new mattress were pink and purple fairy princess sheets. One trip to Wally World later and the Boy was the proud owner of Spiderman sheets (and a vinyl mattress protector).

Since I am currently "great with child," we had da Boo's party at Build-A-Bear Workshop, so someone else had to do all the work. And I must say, it was worth the money spent! I've been to a couple of these before and this time, it was by far the best! The guy they had as the "party host" knew how to keep those kids entertained and paying attention. And? They recently lowered the price to $10 on a few more animals so there was more to choose from. Meet the new additions to our family: Belle and Dongo!


Have you seen da Boo's birthday cake yet? Its...an interesting one. I let her pretty much design the cake. Maybe next time, I'll offer a little more guidance. But my favorite part about making a bear cake? Serving it to the guest of honor.

Nobody Doesn't Like Cake

For awhile I've been reading a new blog. I haven't listed it yet because well, I'm trying to protect myself. See, the blog is called Cake Wrecks and they post hilarious accounts of cakes gone horribly, horribly wrong. And I am so incredibly paranoid that one of my cakes is going to end up as the daily post. But this site is really too good to keep secret so please, go have a look!

And I found this bit by comedian Jim Gaffigan posted on Cake Wrecks. It's about the best comedy routine I've seen about my obsession. Enjoy!

Lips Sealed

So I haven't been posting all that regularly lately. Wanna know why? Well, first of all, there were lots and lots and lots of cakes to decorate (and another version of an old one).

Plus? I have a secret. I am horrible at keeping secrets. I'd rather tell you but first I need to make sure of a few more dates...but I really, really wanna tell you! So whenever I sit down to write up a post, all I can think of are different ways to share my secret. And that just won't do. You'll have to wait just a little longer but I promise I'll tell you soon, okay?

How do you keep secrets? Or are you as bad as me at that?
Do you have a secret you want to share?

(And please, if you already know my secret or have a good guess DON'T SAY! I will delete any comments that reveal or hint at it to save the surprise for everyone!)

Because I like Having No Self Esteem

I am a glutton for punishment. Having not learned my lesson from last year, I signed up for the annual fund-raiser. And of course I offered to bring a cake. I did learn one thing from last year...next to "decorated cake" on the sign-up sheet, I wrote "will bring with me." So at least this time I wouldn't be double-booked.

Last year, I spent almost four hours decorating and perfecting a cute teddy bear. It sold for $22. Normally, I charge $40. This year, I decided I wasn't doing a teddy bear. I was going to do something that would take me two hours tops to decorate - including making the icing (and it takes me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to color icing). The theme for Girls' Camp this year is Pirates. Why this was chosen for young girls, I have no idea but hey! At least it made things easy for me.

After searching the Internet, I was half-tempted to make a pirate ship. Wouldn't that be cool? And I'd never made one before but really, how hard could it be? Then the sensible side of me (she doesn't talk much) reminded me of my two-hour limit. Oh yeah. So I opted for a pirate's treasure map. Turned out pretty well. At least, I liked it. And my kids did, too. Well, I think they did...they were utterly devastated when I said it wasn't for them. The final price? $30. Went to the same family that got the teddy bear last year. :)

We spent nearly twice as much as we did last year...ending up with two babysitting coupons (both from our favorite babysitter), a jar of hot fudge sauce, a plate of chocolate goodies, 6 sessions with the chiropractor (the Man's back is all out of whack), and a horse-back riding session. One man offered two hours of construction work. It went for over $100! The winner? His wife.

Tell Me Your Favorite!

I commented on this under the Co-ed's birthday but could really use your help.

FamilyFun.com is hosting a cake contest. You can enter a cake a day, if you want. Rules for the contest indicate that the cake should be easily duplicated by others (those who don't do this every weekend). I've already entered two: the Coo Coo Clock and the Salad Bowl. But I don't know which ones are most popular...

So which of my cakes do you think is the best? And I will probably enter a teddy bear (but just ONE) because those are so cute.

Dinner With A Fool

I like holidays. Some holidays I get a little too excited about. This was the first year I actually had a plan for April Fool's Day: I was going to make dinner! While making dinner, itself, is not exactly spectacular (unless I manage to not ruin it), what I had planned was different. Invited to take part were my mom (also my partner in crime), the Man, the Co-ed and Aunt Denise.

When they arrived, the table was set and there was a salad with a bottle of dressing on the table. The Co-ed looked a little nervous...after the last salad I served her, I don't think she knew what to expect. When everyone was seated, I announced that in honor of April Fool's Day, we were going to go a little crazy and have dinner backwards. Dessert would be served first. Then, I brought out this:


Mmmmm...looks delectable, right? And still, everyone seemed a little less than at ease. As I cut into the cake, it was the Man that guessed: the cake wasn't a cake at all. It was meatloaf, covered in mashed potatoes, with cherry tomatoes and ketchup as decoration. But the Boy didn't believe me when I told him it wasn't cake. He brought me his plate, asking so very sweetly for some cake. I finally let him have a taste of the "frosting." The look on his face was horrified - and priceless. I told him to go spit it out in the trash. But that wasn't good enough...he threw up. So dinner was off to a less-than-stellar beginning...

After "dessert" was finished, I brought out the main course:


These grilled cheese sandwiches looked so real that both kids burst into tears when I told them this was their bedtime treat. It took some heavy persuading, some sniffing, and finally very cautious bites to convince the kids that the "sandwiches" were actually slices of toasted pound cake schmeared with cheese-colored frosting. But once they were deemed edible, the kids woofed 'em down! Now I have to find something just as convincing for next year.

Other pranks played: I gave da Boo an unsolveable maze. She loves mazes and quickly became very frustrated with this one. She does not appreciate a good joke. Later on, she pranked called me. Asked if my refrigerator was running. So next year, I am going to do this to the kids. I'd tell you more but I really ought to go catch my fridge...

Birthday Bash

Tonight, we had the official Birthday Party for the Co-ed, complete with presents and a cake. Now, before you run to look at the cake, let me explain: the Co-ed is a very healthy person. She is majoring in dietetics and eats healthy stuff all the time. I have seen her turn up her nose at steak - yes! steak! - in favor of vegetables and salad. Some days, I wonder how we manage to get along. For her birthday she wanted a decorated cake, something fun and silly. You know, my specialty. So I thought about it, wondered about it, bounced ideas off anyone willing to listen...and then finally came up with what I thought was perfect. Keep in mind all the things I just told you about the Co-ed...Okay, now you can go look at her cake.

In grand Birthday tradition, the Birthday Girl got to select whatever she wanted for dinner (she chose pizza) and then was presented with a mound of gifts to open. Well, really, there were only six presents...but still...


Here is the Co-ed opening her gifts...and there is the Boy, throwing a tantrum because there are no presents for him. Yes, it was proud-mothering moment for me. He did cheer up when I explained that his birthday was next.

Happy, healthy Birthday, Co-ed!

Now...anyone have any ideas for an easy party for 3-year-olds?

And now for the low points...

Alternate titles: The Airheaded Adventures of Me, How to Ruin a Perfectly Lovely Holiday

Up to this point, Easter was rather nice. Egg hunts, breakfast and adult interaction at the church. Family fun, decorated eggs and much laughter at home. Even Sunday morning was great! I woke the kids up, they ran downstairs, passed their Easter baskets and headed straight for the oven to get the Resurrection Cookies, because Christ's resurrection is the true meaning of Easter, not marshmallowy treats. And those cookies turned out better than last year. When they finally noticed the Easter baskets, they were both ecstatic over what they contained. They each got a basketful of sugar and a movie. Easter Bunny even brought me a movie. That's one smart bunny.


The Co-ed spent the night so I followed their Easter tradition and hid her basket. That was kinda fun...I might have to start doing that. So we have breakfast, get ready for church and out the door we go! We were only a few minutes late, which is pretty good for us. Sacrament was lovely (especially since I was listening instead of talking). Then comes Sunday School. I am sitting between the Co-ed and the Man (which is a nice change!) when, after 20 minutes, I happen to look around the room. I see a friend and remember that she was recently released from the Primary and can now sit with her husband.

PRIMARY!!!

I was supposed to substitute for da Boo's class today! I made a horrible noise and immediately jumped up and ran from the room. I checked in with the Primary. One of the moms was sitting with da Boo's class but was not teaching. Fortunately, the Primary President knows I am an gigantic airhead. Unfortunately, I had about 15 minutes to get a lesson together. I headed to the library to look through the manual. There's a special lesson for Easter and it had a handout for the kids. Of course, the copier was broken. So home I went! While making copies, I scanned the lesson and tried to calm down. I couldn't focus because I felt like such an idiot. This isn't the first time this has happened...and sadly, I'm sure it's not the last. I decided that instead of stammering my way through the lesson, I would do something else. I gathered up my supplies and copies. I raced back to church. The Co-ed and the Man had corralled da Boo's class. The Man escaped as quickly as possible but the Co-ed stayed with me (ain't she sweet?).

My brilliant plan was to teach them the Resurrection Cookies lesson. I had all the ingredients with me (except I forgot the eggs but oh well!) and went through it just like I had with the kids. One girl nearly threw up after tasting the salt but it went well enough. We did a few things from the lesson manual and then I gave them each a cookie at the end. All seemed well...for now...

Home again, I tried to relax and regain my strength after the whirlwind. It was then that I remembered I was supposed to say the prayer in Relief Society...dang it!

After falling into an exhausted and depressed sleep, I slept too long (of course). While Aunt Denise brought the traditional ham and the Co-ed made a fruit salad, I was supposed to make rolls, funeral potatoes and dessert (it's me, after all). After watching a cooking show on tv, I decided to make coconut cake and had purchased all the ingredients. But once again, this is me, people. I can't do something the easy way...so I tried a new recipe that took twice as long as I thought and had to make it fancier than expected by coloring the coconut. It turned out interesting. Cute enough on the cake plate but had an odd flavor, more like shortbread than like the cake I expected. Disappointing, after all that work. And if fell apart when I tried to cut it. But at least it was pretty, right? Right??


I think I need another nap...

FHE: The Scriptures Teach About Jesus Christ

I'm still taking advantage of the fact that I substituted in Primary. There was a really great Sharing Time lesson so I copied it for our lesson tonight. (Oh, and still haven't gotten the dinner he promised me...I think I'm going to start hiding his socks until he makes good on his promise.)

Opening Song: Twinkle Little Star (I could probably skip this part of the recounting, since it's the same every week, let we suffer the wrath of the Boy.)

Opening Prayer: The Man.

Lesson: I made the kids a little booklet (just like the one from Sharing Time). Each page was titled with a different book of scriptures. I talked about each book first and how it taught us about Jesus along with a word or two word that defined those teaching. Then the kids got to draw a picture that went along with a theme word.

• Old Testament: Isaiah prophesied about the coming of a Christ, that Jesus would be our Savior. The theme was birth of Christ. Da Boo drew a little cocoon baby. The Boy scribbled.

• New Testament: Here is the recounting of Christ's ministry and all that he accomplished for us. One of those things was his baptism, the theme. Da Boo drew two ghost-shaped figures standing in a circle, representing Jesus and John the Baptist in the river. The Boy scribbled some and then drew circles on the other pages.

• Book of Mormon: In this book, we read about Christ's teachings among the people on the American continent, how he wanted them to serve one another. The theme was serving others. Da Boo drew herself walking someone's dog. The Boy didn't really color but did enjoy pretending to be a dog.

• Doctrine and Covenants: The Prophet Joseph Smith received important revelations and those were written here. Among them were things about how families can be together forever. Da Boo drew a stick figure family (with the Boy crying...don't ask me why). The Boy drew a series of circles...and if the biggest circle - the one that encompassed another page - turns out to be me, he is sooooo not getting a treat tonight.

• Pearl of Great Price: The scriptures here tell of the creation of our world and the part that Jesus Christ played in that. I asked them to draw something that they liked about our earth. Da Boo drew the earth itself, proclaiming a large wedge to be Utah. The Boy drew a circle and then stabbed it with his crayon several times.

• Modern-Day Prophets: We are trying to help the kids understand that Thomas S. Monson is now the Prophet. I told them how, when he talks to us in General Conference (which the kids know as "church you get to watch on tv in your jammies"), he tells stories about the kind things that people can do for others. They were supposed to draw something nice they can do for someone else. Da Boo drew a cat eating from a dish. The Boy drew a series of circles and scribbled on them.

Closing Song: Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam

Closing Prayer: Da Boo. She prayed that Daddy would give a good lesson. Huh?

Treats: I made a cake earlier that day. There were trimmings from the cake and lots of frosting leftover. I let the kids have their own little circles (apparently the Boy's theme tonight) of cake and I used frosting to write whatever they wanted. Da Boo asked for her name. The Boy asked for - I kid you not - "stinky," which you can make out a little on the parts he hadn't eaten yet.

Da Boo's Christmas Program

Da Boo's preschool had a Christmas Program two days before we left on vacation. She practiced the songs constantly at home so I knew she was very excited. The Boy and I headed to her class. I stood at the back, snapping pictures and giggling like crazy at how cute she was up there. (He played in the little play house they have and proceeded to stink up the place by "takin' care of business" while in there...)

Here, she is being one of Santa's busy elves. They used the sticks and bells to act out the song. There was also a really cute one with the Gingerbread man, Jingle Bells and a couple traditional folk songs. (And since I was using my old camera, only one picture actually came out looking decent enough to post.) She was partnered with Jacob, her best buddy (at least when she doesn't want to have a tea party). It was rather amusing as he is head and shoulders taller than her.

Also, we were asked to bring a plate of cookies or chips to share during the party. This is me we're talking about here. So I brought this. Because nothing says "Christmas Spirit!" like trying to make this cake when you should be packing for your trip.