Cake Decorating class #2

Last night was the second of four classes I am taking.  It was a lot of fun.  We had to take a cake already iced to class.  Yesterday was an interesting baking day.  I have three round cake pans that my husband bought me for Christmas.  So I made a cake from a box and poured it into the smallest pan.  It is about an 8'' diameter pan.  When I picked it up I saw that it was leaking batter out the bottom slowly.

Here is where my bright idea came into play.  I put it in the oven thinking...hoping that it would cook fast enough on the edges to stop the leak.  Did it work you ask?  No.  It didn't.  I took the pan back out after about 5 minutes and poured the batter into a bowl and washed out the pan and tried to get it to stop leaking.  Needless to say it didn't work.  So I grabbed the middle pan and poured the batter into it and put it into the oven.  Well because it was a bigger pan and I had already lost some of the batter the cake wasn't very tall.  I originally wanted to torte my cake but it wasn't going to work with this one.  So I made the yellow cake from scratch and poured it into the medium pan and guess what?  It leaked.  My luck today isn't doing so good.

So I pulled out a square pan and all the batter wouldn't fit so I made cupcakes too. This cake was shorter than the first so it couldn't be torted either.

Then I made two batches of icing.  A thin chocolate frosting to frost the cake with and then a medium consistency frosting for decorating.  I printed a picture of a snow plow to decorate on the cake and got ready for class. 

Class was a lot of fun.  We went over frosting, how to smooth out frosting, how to add color to frosting, and how to use two more tips as well as hand positioning and such.

This is how my cake turned out.  I thought well for a first time.

Lots of fun.

So this morning I frosted the square cake and am trying to decide what to put on it.  I'm so excited. 

Next week we will be working with cupcakes and how to fill them and ice them and it will be a lot of fun.

Recipe - Yellow Cake

Sorry it has been so long since sharing a recipe with you.  I am now taking a cake decorating class and I made this cake the other day.  I found it in my cook book and I love it.  It is soooo yummy.

Yellow Cake

3/4 C Butter, softened

3 eggs

2 1/2 C flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 C milk

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in bowl for later.

Cream butter for 30 seconds.

Gradually add sugar while beating.

Add eggs one at a time and beat in between.

Add vanilla.

Alternately add flour and milk.

Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes depending on the pan.

Ok there are a few things I have learned with this cake decorating class and while reading more on this recipe in the book.  It is highly recommended that you measure out all ingredients before you start mixing.  I used to measure and add as I went and I've been trying this new method of measuring everything out and then mixing it in.  It is really nice because the mixing process goes so much faster.  Also make sure to scrape the sides periodically to make sure that things aren't sticking to the sides of the pan.

I really like this recipe.  We made cupcakes with it the first time and I made a square cake with it yesterday.  I am in the process of icing it this morning.

I'll share pictures of last nights cake decorating in a little bit.  I hope that you like this recipe.

FHE & birdhouses

As we all know, yesterday was Monday.  We try to have Family Home Evening (FHE) every Monday.  It doesn't always happen but I'm trying harder.  I know that we are encouraged to have a gospel lesson with our family before activities but that is also something that we don't always do.

Growing up we rarely had lessons.  I remember doing things like weeding the garden, tilling the sand box, going for bike rides, playing baseball in the yard, golfing in the field, hauling hay, and playing cards for FHE.  Right before I left on my mission my family started having more lessons at the beginning.  They don't have to be long.  Right now our oldest is 3 and her attention span isn't that long which is why we don't have a lot of lessons.  However, while doing your activities it is a good time to talk to your family and children about important things.

Anywho, last night for FHE we painted bird houses.  We only had two because I originally planned the activity for just Sarah and I during the day and then decided to do it last night.  It was fun.  Sarah loves to paint and asked to do it often....it doesn't happen often lol.  Here are some of the pictures.  I painted with Sarah at first and then just let her take over.  Josh painted the other one.  We only had four colors.  I bought Orange, Black, and White for Halloween and Sarah wanted a purple pink color.

 There they are painting away.

 Dad concentrating.

 Sarah having lots of fun.

 Yana not sure what is going on.

 Sarah's bird house - front view.

 Back and side view.

 Front and side view.

 Yana's name spelling in Russian.

Yana's name.

It was a lot of fun.  I love watching my girls play and have fun.  I'll keep you posted on our FHE adventures.

I am not a teacher....

Ok well a month or so ago I started looking into a Pre-K for Sarah.  She is 3 so she isn't allowed into the public school system for another year.  I wanted to put her into a pre-k this year so she could get a jump start but they are so expensive.

I was looking online to see if I could find some lesson plans for an entire week.  If I have to make the plans and come up with all the information then it isn't going to happen.  So I found this website http://letteroftheweek.com .  It has lesson plans for different age groups and different things that you might want.  So that is what we are going to do.

We started this morning with breakfast and then we watched "Your Baby Can Read" and then went to the park.  After we got back we talked a little more about the word of the week.  We are talking about Calves this week.  So we got down and crawled around and "mooed" and talked about calves.

There is something to do every day of the week including: the letter of the week, number of the week, shape of the week, color of the week and so forth.  We will see how this goes.  Oh and there is the craft of the week.

Cupcake fun

Since last Tuesday's cake decorating class I have wanted another project.  I also didn't want to have stuff in the house that I was bound to eat.  Saturday our friends invited us over for a BBQ and asked us to bring potato salad and....desert.  Can you see where I'm going with this?

The first thing out of my mouth was CUPCAKES!!!  Saturday morning after my bike ride we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  I love that restaurant/store.  Then we came back and I immediately started working on the potato salad and then the cupcakes. 

I made the cake mix from scratch from a recipe which I will share on Wednesday.  It was so yummy.  I had never used it before but it is definitely a keeper.

I let the cupcakes cool and continued to work on the potato salad.  Once the salad was done and the cupcakes were cooled down I made the icing that we will be using in our class on Tuesday.  I used the almond flavoring because I had never used it before.  It was delicious.

I decided to put a thin layer of icing on some of the cupcakes so I could make designs on top of that like it is in the book I have.

This is the icing.

This is when I realized that I should be taking pictures to share with you.

 Sarah really wanted to help.  She put her hand under mine and would squeeze with everything she had when I told her to.

She had a lot of fun.

I didn't end up trying all the tips but I tried quite a few of them.  These are the little cupcakes that I made...or at least the few that were left.  I didn't take time to wash the tips until I was all done so I just set them all together.

This is all of them that hadn't already been eatin.  It was a lot of fun.  I made 4 different colors and just had fun playing with the tips.  Sarah helped with several of them.  We had lots of fun and I am looking forward to class tomorrow.  I have to make a cake and decide whether or not to torte it and then put the first light layer of icing on it for class tomorrow.  I am very excited.

I'm pretty sure that over time I will take all the the Wilton classes.  I have been studying their website looking for recipes and ideas for my husband's upcoming birthday.

Well my daughters want to go to the park.  Talk to ya later.

FLEX days are a wonderful creation.

I don't know how many of you have flex days or are married to someone who gets flex days.  They are wonderful.  What they are is 1 day a pay period where you don't work.  You work 44 hours one week and 36 the next.  It is awesome because we can go do things during the week when people are working and at school.  It also gives you a three day weekend. 

Today is my husband's flex day.  So this is all I'm writing for today.  Gonna spend the day with my husband.

Poll

Hey everyone I am just curious to see who went on vacation, who still plans on going on vacation and who is not going on vacation this summer.  It would even be fun to see where everyone went.  So come take my poll to let us know and then if you want to share where you went or are going post that in the comments below.

We went on vacation last month to Idaho.  It was wonderful...except we caught a cold.

Wilton Cake Decorating Class

I have always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes.  I see women decorating their own cakes that look like the ones you could buy at the store and I've always wanted to know how.  Joann's has a class but it tends to be on Sunday's so I started looking around.  Hobby Lobby right here where I live also offers the classes.  However, every time I look into it they have already started or something else is going on.

We got back from our vacation and I told myself that I would check on them.  Lo and behold they had one starting up this week.  So I signed up and a friend of mine signed up as well.

First we had to make sugar cookies to take to class and I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be big cookies or normal cookies.  A lady at the store told me that when she took her class she made her cookies bigger so that is what I did.  When we got home I made cookies with Sarah using our cereal bowls to make larger cookies.

When I got to the store for the class mine where huge compared to the others.  It was ok though I just had more space on my cookies to decorate.

It was so much fun.  I learned new things about how to cook better cakes and how to make icing.  I learned about the different thicknesses and what they are used for.  Then we used the icing bags and tips that we got and started making stars and practicing.  It was so much fun.  Here are my 5 cookies.  One I gave to a lady at the store.

 For some reason my frosting wouldn't stick to my cookies out of the pouch.  I had to spread some over my cookie first.  I'm not sure but I think it was the sour cream in the cookies.  This was actually the last cookie I did.  I over estimated the letters.

 If you can't tell this is when I had to refill my bag and I decided to go to green instead of white.

 This was the first cookie.  I was just playing with the stars and then decided that I was running out of time so I moved on to other cookies.

He's smiling at you!

I had so much fun.  I have to bring a cake next week and we are going to work on icing and decorating.  I am so excited.  I'll keep you posted of my practicing and projects.  I'm planning on making a cake for my husband's birthday coming up so I'll let you know what I decide to do.

Crawling monster!!!!

Yana crawls, she climbs, she grabs, she cries.  She is now 7 months old and into everything already.  It is cute and it hasn't been too bad but I can see trouble coming.

 Isn't she cute.

 Always so happy.

She loves to crawl so much that she doesn't like to spend much time in her bouncer anymore.  Guess it is time to put it up.

Things are going good.  She is growing like a weed.  Just getting over a cold she picked up on vacation.

Have a great day.

A night at the movies

We spent quite a bit of time at the movies this last weekend.  My husband has been pushing...more like wanting to go see the new Harry Potter movie.  I have wanted to see it as well so when we got back home we decided to get a sitter and go see it.

We had a sitter come over for date night on Friday and we went to see the new Harry Potter.  I wont lie there were times when I wished I had brought a tissue.  I have not read the books.  I struggle watching movies that don't follow the books so I just don't read books if I want to watch the movies.

It was very good.  Part 1 was a little on the boring side.  It lacked the normal Harry Potter action but Part 2 definitely made up for it.  If you haven't seen it I would recommend it.

Saturday we had a babysitter all set up so we could go to the shooting range and then not knowing which shooting range to go to we decided to go see another movie.  We chose "Captain America".  It was an awesome movie.  I really liked it.  I did go prepared this time for possible water works. 

If you go to see either of these two movies you may want to take a tissue.

There are so many upcoming movies that we are excited to see.

If you've seen  either of these movies what are your thoughts about them?

Coupon burn out

I believe that I have hit or am almost through my first coupon burnout.  When I started I was really into price matching and getting coupons everywhere I could.  I would plan my grocery list and then look up each item looking for coupons or better prices in order to safe us some money.

As time went on I started slacking on one then another of these steps that I went through to the point where I didn't care if I bought the Sunday paper, look up each item, or really even have a coupon.  I was only taking 2-3 coupons to the store with me for my list.

I got tired of cutting them out really.  It took so long to cut them out and I, like most people, have better things to do than sit and cut coupons out for hours.  So I decided that I would buy a paper cutter.  It wasn't expensive and isn't huge but it has helped cut the cutting time down.  I never stopped but I feel like now I am getting back into it.  I am sitting here cutting out coupons with the paper cutter while my oldest plays with my hair and my youngest is on the floor.  I look forward to saving money and seeing how I can.  I don't spend hours on this but my goal is to save at least $10 dollars each time I go which over time does add up. 

It has been fun saving money and learning where to look for savings.

Fun in the sun.

Well I have kept my poor kids indoors pretty much since we've been back from Idaho.  Other than to go to the store or other indoor places they don't step out of the house.  I have been feeling really bad about that.  I've had a really bad attitude towards this heat and it is going to get us no where.  So this morning I went for a jog as you might have read already and while I was jogging I decided that I needed to get my kids outside more.  They need more physical activity as well.  I can't only be working to making myself healthier just to leave my family behind.

So after yoga and a shower I got dressed and went to wake up my beautiful girls and low and behold they were already awake...somewhat.  So I told them that if we hurried and got dressed and ate breakfast than we could go to the park.  I was thinking the park that we can walk to but my daughter asked if we could go to the "big park".  I decided why not.  We haven't been in a while and they deserve it.

Breakfast took a little longer than I was hoping for.  We had to deal with some stubborn streaks in my daughter but eventually we got through it.  We loaded up and went to the big park a few miles down the road and they had a blast.

 Sarah really likes to ride those things.  That was the first thing she went for.

Yana is going to be just like her sister.  They both love to swing and neither of them has any fear.  Yana would giggle and giggle as she was pushed a little higher.

Sarah went down the slides and ran around and had lots of fun.  It was getting warmer and warmer so we only stayed an hour but it was worth it.  I told her that if she was good and didn't have a fit when it was time to leave then we would go again tomorrow if we could.

We will either go back to the big park or we will walk to our park.  As soon as their eye infections are gone then we will go swimming as well.  We will just do all our outdoor stuff in the morning and in the evenings right before bed. 

If any of you have good ideas for things to do indoors with kids please fill free to share.

I will be starting Sarah on her own school program next week when the school year starts here.  Nothing huge but enough to help her learn some things she needs to for next years public school system.

Question of the day (week)

Well I have now been home from Idaho for a week.  I finally got out this morning and went for a jog.  So here is the question that I have been asking myself all week long.

Is it alright to exercise when sick?  from the shoulders up that is.

We all got sick on our vacation.  It is some type of a cold.  My throat hurts, the back of my neck hurts and earlier in the week my lower back hurt.  I haven't had a lot of energy either.  So I rested all week.  We didn't go outside hardly at all because it is so hot outside.  I set my alarm a few times but just couldn't get myself out of bed.  This morning almost turned out the same.  I lay there thinking to myself that it was too dark outside.  Then I figured I'd have to start running at night again and then the fact that it was so hot outside at night changed my mind.

So I did it.  I ran 1.6 miles in 20 minutes.  Not super fast but given the fact that it has been a week and half since my last run and I don't feel that great I figured it was a good run.

So my answer that question above is that it all depends on how you feel.  I felt ok.  I figured if running wasn't going to work then I would walk and still get at least a little exercise.  I have felt really good all morning.

Then later I did a pilates yoga workout which also felt really good.

Vacation continued...

We had a great vacation.  Last weekend it was my family reunion.  It was so exciting getting to go to my family reunion.  It was sad at the same time though.  We had to say good-bye to Josh's sister and her husband Friday morning.  Then when we left for the reunion we had to say good-bye to my in laws because they would be leaving Saturday while we were at the reunion.

We packed up our stuff in Grandpa's truck and headed to the reunion.  We took several pictures along the way.

 This is the river near Pond's Lodge  We sometimes see moose feeding in the river.

 This is the view as we are coming down the hill and it opens up on the valley below.  Pardon the bugged windshield.

Here is the  view going back to the cabin.  The mountain in the back is Sawtelle.

It is so pretty in Idaho.  The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there.

The reunion was great.  We got there Friday night and set up our tent.  This tent was awesome.  I wish I would have thought about taking a picture.  This tent was ancient lol but sooooooo awesome.  We roasted our hot dogs at my cousins fire and then went back to visit for a few hours with my immediate family.

Saturday we had breakfast and then went swimming at Heise.  We even took Sarah down the slide.  It was a lot of fun.  Later after dinner we an Old time band play music for us.  Josh danced with Sarah a lot and with me a couple of times.  After the dancing we played Family Feud.  Guys against Girls.  I don't know who won because we had to take our girls back to camp so they could sleep.  They were getting grumpy.

After that we visited with my brother's for a while and recounted several hunting stories we had together and then I heard of several of their new ones from the last couple of years.  It was so much fun.

Sunday we had breakfast and then packed up and headed back up the hill.  We visited with Grandpa for a while and got things packed up and ready to head down to the airport in the morning.

Monday we ate a wonderful breakfast made for us by Grandpa and then we loaded up in the cars and headed down the hill to the airport.  We had a pretty uneventful flight home.  Got stuck on the airplane for 30 minutes in Tulsa because the plane in our spot wasn't ready to leave.

It was a great vacation full of walks around the island.  Swimming in the water, bike rides, work, laughter and fun.  I love Idaho and already miss it but it is good to be home again.

Vacation

Well here I am sitting down to tell you about my vacation and I realized that I don't have all the pictures so I will post it and then when I get the rest of the pictures I'll add them.  So you may have to come back and check them out.

Well Wednesday we flew to Idaho.  It wasn't the greatest....we started the day late...or I should say that the airlines started us out late and that just seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day.  We missed the connecting flight since our first flight didn't take off until after the connecting flight and then the flight they put us on was late.  It was a good thing that we didn't have anything important that day.  We eventually made it to Idaho and met my sister in law at the airport.   

We then dropped her off at her apartment and borrowed her car to head to Grandpa's cabin.  Later that night my in laws made it.

Thursday was a busy day.  In the evening we had the first part of my sister in laws graduation.

Friday was also a busy day ending with the finale of graduation.

This is Sarah sitting next to Grandpa at Convocation. 

Saturday we had a family reunion at Lava Hot springs.  It was a good reunion.  It was interesting because we saw my old car driving around.  I used to drive a 1986 blue T-Top Camaro.  It was nice to see it and see that it was being driven.  After the reunion we came back and swam in the lake.  Sarah loved it.  It was cold.  The reservoir is usually down to 60% or so but was still at 100%.  It was awesome.

Sunday we went to church and visited with friends and then headed down the hill to my family.  My dad blessed my brother's baby and then we had a BBQ afterwards with family and friends.  It was nice to spend time with friends and family.  After everyone had left my dad showed me his bike and offered to let me ride it for my big ride.  I had already borrowed my brothers bike.  Then we got to drive my dad's new toy - the skid steer.  It was so much fun.  I love driving tractors and things like that.

Monday we got up and worked on the sewer and other projects around the cabin.

Tuesday we (my sister in law and myself) woke up and at 6:30 and were on our ride around 7 am.  We were originally going to ride to West Yellowstone from the cabin which would have been about 32 miles but with all the traffic and not that great of shoulders to ride on...not to mention the fact that it was making all the men in the cabin anxious for our safety.  We chose a different route. We chose to ride to Big Springs and back which put us at 31.6 miles and then we rode farther around the island and ended up with 32.3 or so miles.  It was good.  My brother's bike worked great.  It had a mind of it's own and kept shifting up on me while going up the hills.

I really enjoyed the ride and would like to train for some longer ones.

Some point in the week while we were traveling up and down the hill my daughter got a hold of my sister in laws mascara and decided to put it on all by herself.  Let me remind you that my daughter is 3.

Thankfully she didn't poke her eyes out.

Well that is enough for now.  I'll tell you all about the rest of our vacation in the next couple of days.