Fall festival

We went to a local fall festival. Matthew enjoyed being able to wear his spiderman costume that he got for his birthday.

Amelia got to sit in the driver's seat of a fire engine.

This was inside of an ambulance. Matthew is looking through the "window" into the front seat from the back of the ambulance.

Plumber Cake

This cake was created for a friend who is a plumber. It was so much fun to make.

Cakes

Matthew requested a Spiderman cake for his birthday party, of course.

One of the nurses that I work with requested a cake for her mother's birthday. She told me that her mom loves to cook and so I made her this cake. Everything on this cake is edible, from the frying pan to the salt/pepper shakers to the hand towel. The "floor" was hand-painted fondant.

This was made for one of my fellow nursing instructors.

Matthew's Birthday

Matthew was soooo excited to turn five last week and to have a party. It was a lot of fun. We went to a park and the weather was just gorgeous. Matthew had a spiderman themed party.

Jim's mom got Matthew a spiderman costume, which he quickly changed into at the party. I was busy doing other things, so I have no idea WHERE he changed (seeing that we were outdoors at a park).

Matthew posing with his Spiderman face pinata that I made. (That was a lot of fun.)

Hitting the pinata!!!

Matthew finally got a big boy bike, from us. He loves it.

Fun pics of the kids

I have been remiss in posting pictures of the children. Here they are having fun.

I found Amelia this way one day when I realized that she had "disappeared."

Most recent cakes

It has been a while since I have "done some caking" as Jim calls it. Here are two from today. We had a ladies' brunch at church today and I had volunteered to bring a centerpiece for one of the tables. It was a garden themed brunch. I had seen a picture of a cake that I wanted to try, so cake was my centerpiece. Everything on top of the cake is edible, made out of a sugar paste. This centerpiece attracted way more attention then I imagined. I then sent the cake home with our pastor's wife for the family to eat. The second cake was for my office mates' birthday party.

Build-A-Bear

Last weekend, we went to a birthday party at Build-A-Bear where Amelia and Matthew were able to make their own teddy bear. The kids had a blast.

They were given a heart to put in their bear. In this picture they are putting it to their ears so the bear will be a good listenener.

Amelia's "Teddy" is being filled with it's stuffing.

Matthew had fun pushing the pedal so that "Isaiah" could be stuffed. (He picked the name.)

After filling and fluffing the bears, we picked out clothes for them. Matthew was very bothered that the budget didn't allow for shoes for his bear.

And, of course, the first thing Amelia did was undress "teddy." Silly people---they use velcro for the clothes.

My latest two cakes

A graduation cake for the girlfriend of the son of some of our dear friends.

My dad asked for a "double chocolate" cake for his office.

Amelia's corner

My dad picked up two new toys for Amelia. One is an interactive chair and the other an activity table. She decided to put them next to the couch. It has become her little cubby hole, and she absolutely loves it.

Matthew's award ceremony

On Sunday nights, Matthew attends "Master's Club" at church. Last Sunday night was the award ceremony. Matthew received a ribbon for finishing his book.

Matthew's Parent Day

On Thursday, Matthew's class at school had Parent Day. It was an hour of seeing what he does at school. He started the group by leading us in the "pledge" and the national anthem. He also got to participate in other songs and questions. Here are some of the pictures from that event.

Waiting for Parent Day to start.

Leading the pledge

Matthew smiles at us.

Matthew helps sing "I will make you fisher's of men."

Baby shower cake

I was asked to make a cake for a baby shower. Here is the finished product.

Matthew's a Cowboy

Some dear friends of ours passed this cowboy gear on to Matthew. He will be able to grow into it for years to come, and he absolutely loves getting all decked out.

Peru team graduation party

Last night we had a party for our Peru team from last year and our Mexico team. We were celebrating the graduation of 9 of the members. It was a blast. And I was thrilled with the way the cake turned out.




The graduation cake

The nine soon to be grads

Playing "1-100"

Kidnapping

I kidnapped Jim last night. Since it was just for one night, I wanted to stay close. We stayed at a bed-and-breakfast in a Victorian home downtown. We actually had what was called "the Carriage House" out behind the house. There was a jacuzzi out our french doors and a pool, as well. The pool was pretty nippy, but was refreshing after some time in the jacuzzi. (I meant to bring the camera to take some pictures of the place, but it got left behind.) It was just nice to get away from kids and stresses of every day life before Jim starts his second CJ grad class. And, by the way, I am so proud of him. He got an A in his first class.

Fun at the racetrack

Last night we took the kids for a little family time. They had so much fun, especially Matthew.

Matthew and Jim are knocking down the clowns.

Matthew is feeding balls to the dog by banging on the knob.

Matthew wanted to be in the police car.

Amelia had fun in the Batmobile while Jim and Matthew were in the racecar.