Audrey's 5th Birthday Party

Yes! It's over and done - and I think the birthday girl really enjoyed herself :) We had it at the Outpost in John Day downstairs in their arcade/pizza room. I like having it there because I don't have too much clean-up afterwards, and the kids have fun running from one end to the other non-stop. There was plenty of that this year! We had 8 little girls and one boy (Bridger) there. They thoroughly enjoyed Bridger playing shark and chasing all the little girls around while they screamed...er..no shrieked at the top of their lungs. The cake was a hit, the pizza was good, and the pinata did it's job - for the most part. The top ripped off before it got broke by the bat, so I ended up just dumping it all out -which they all thought was very cool. Audrey got more barbies and polly pockets than she could have ever dreamed and was very thankful for everything! Now to do the thank-you cards...

Festival of Children

Yes, I am going forward a little. I will be catching up sometime. But you know, I guess I can do whatever I want on here.... OH! How refreshing! :) Wah ha ha ha.... {evil laugh}.

Now, onto the blog. So in John Day, Oregon every year they have the usual holiday activities. They have something called The Festival of Children. It's at the fairgrounds, and a whole bunch of volunteers set it up with tons of tables of different craft items for the kids to do. The cost is either $1 per kid/$2 per adult or 1 can of food per kid or 2 per adult. There's painting a various amount of ornaments, making cards, drawing-glueing-sparkling-glittering-and every-other little messy fun thing they can think of. They have snacks catered towards children (popcorn, juice, cookies and pb & j sandwiches). I took the kids last year. It... was....ok. I had Bridger in the stroller who didn't really want to do anything, Audrey who wanted to do everything with her cousins (they were there this year too :), and I had Maddie in a backpack. If you are/were a mother of 2 or more kids you'll understand when I say I was experiencing that uncomfortable hot-ness you get when you are chasing around a bunch of little kids in a public place with a bunch of other little kids, you've got both hands full, each one wants something different, and you are overdressed because you haven't gotten the chance to layer down yet. Well, in the midst of it all, I was standing near a table watching Audrey and I feel an alarming amount of very warm liquid go down my back and soak through my layers. Um,huh.... Maddie peed all down my back. I changed her right before we got there, but apparently it went out the leg-hole or something. Needless to say - fun was over and we left in such a hurry I forgot the stroller with my backpack in it in the parking lot after buckling all the kids in. Luckily it is JD, and after I figured it out (when I was looking for my wallet), some nice soul had taken it inside and kept it safe for my return.

This year's was MUCH better. Josh was there and Maddie was not with us (I do love having her though). Here are some pictures from this year. Audrey had a blast making things with her cousins (Andrea and Leah - oh how she adores them!), and I enjoyed talking with mom, mark, my cousin Sheila, and some other friends I saw there. Bridger made a birdhouse (his highlight of the last two months), he was so excited he couldn't even stand still!

Ahh, now to wait for next year's!

Ooey, Gooey, Fondant....

I think I will write about Audrey's party later, but I've been wanting to get the fondant recipe on here for awhile. I searched out several different sites on-line for the recipe and taken tid-bits from each of them....


For about an 8 X 13 inch cake, you will need:

• 1 bag of large fresh marshmallows (approx 16 oz.)


• 1 bag of powdered sugar (about 1 lb should be plenty)


• lg. microwavable glass bowl (or if you do it on the stove, a large pot)


• shortening or butter


• 1/2 cup water


• any food coloring you might want

1. Start off by preparing your surface. I've found that a large counter spread with either powdered sugar or crisco (butter) will do. Also grease the insides of your glass bowl.



2. Pour the whole bag of marshmallows into the bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.


3. Meanwhile, I've found that if you sift your powdered sugar, this saves a lot of lumps and unevenness in your fondant. I don't have a sifter, so I just rolled my sugar very well with my rolling pin to try and remove any lumps.
4. Test your marshmallows -hint- they won't even be close to being done. Put them in for another 30 seconds.
5. Gather your sugar in a large, round mound on your prepared countertop. You might grease or sugar your rolling pin at this point if it's not a no-stick one (like my old wooden one).
6. Remove the marshmallows (they won't be ready) and sprinkle them with approx. 2-3 Tblsp of water and return to microwave for another 30 seconds.
7. They should be getting closer now, remove them and stir them with a spoon. Return for another 30 seconds.
8. Remove, it is at this point that I add my food coloring. Stir it in very well. Your marshmallows might need another 20-30 seconds at this point to ensure every last bit of the marshmallows are melted.
9. Once fully melted, spoon the marshmallows out onto your large pile of sugar (hopefully you've made your circle of sugar large enough to hold the marshmallow w/o it spilling out over the edges).
10. Grease or sugar your hands well.
11. This is where you start to feel like you are actually making something! Start by moving the sugar around so it covers the entirety of the marshmallow - it's a lot easier to maneuver if you get it coated with sugar before you get your hands in it (believe me!!)
12. Start kneading the sugar into the marshmallow as you would bread dough.

13. Continue kneading until it is no longer sticky to the touch, is pliable, even and smooth - kind of like a loaf of bread dough before you bake it.

14. Ok, now put it in a ziplock baggie (you can grease this beforehand to make it easier to remove later) and place in the fridge for 8 hours or so (so hopefully you read this far enough in advance you don't need it the same day!).

15. When you are ready to use it, remove it from it's shackles and be prepared to roll, roll, and roll. This stuff likes to return to it's original mound - so a lot of rolling is needed. It will eventually give in and slowly start spreading though. You can heat in the microwave a little to help, but be careful!!!
16. Viola! roll onto your cake, and pat into place.

My small little hints that work for me:

• Ok, I said grease the counter... I greased it and it helped a lot, but it also kind of turned my fondant slightly pock-marky. I would suggest NOT using Pam spray, this seemed to really mar the surface. If you can help it, only grease the bowl, your hands, and the counter slightly. If you can, try just sugaring the counter and this will help keep it very smooth, though it WILL stick to the counter.


• A lot of the sites suggest adding your color to the fondant after it's refridgerated and before you use it. This is because the color can deepen or change slightly while sitting that long. I personally don't care - it's much easier to stir it in when the marshmallows are melting than when they are already hardened.


• Since the "dough" is so hard to roll out after being in the fridge overnight, I thought I would skip the refridgeration part this last time. Not such a good idea. It is not nearly as smooth when you do this. The surface of it looked like a pubescint boy's face with a very bad case of acne - only it never smoothed out with time or as much as I rubbed and brushed it. Just suck it up and refridgerate it.


• Heating it up to help make it pliable - I did this, it does help, but if you aren't careful, it doesn't heat entirely even - it "burn" little holes in it, or weaker, thinner spots. Microwave it for like 4-5 seconds at a time.


• Ice your cake with buttercream frosting or something similar before putting the fondant on. It will help it stick better and it tastes a whole lot better.


• Lastly - you are going to be a huge sticky-sweet mess no matter what you do, so have fun! Your cake will be so sweet that your teeth will start aching when you look at it -- enjoy!

side note: If this doesn't work for you - it's not my fault - must be user error... ha ha!!!! jk - but seriously, practice helps.

The Cake is Done!

Wow! Isn't it strange how a little thing like a birthday party in the middle of an already very-busy schedule can put so much added stress on somebody?

Tonight I finished Audrey's birthday cake, and so now we are completely ready for her party tomorrow. After I wake up, we just have to grab the big, huge box (full of decorations, party favors, pinata, presents, etc.), the cake -oh, and the kids - and head down to J-town. {long sigh}

The cake didn't turn out like I was envisioning, but Audrey will love it. I've learned that if you want your homeade fondant to be perfectly smooth, it is vital to follow some particular steps in making it, and NOT follow some suggestions made. I will put the recipe and directions in my next blog (or shortly thereafter). For now, I am going to finish this up and relax for the last 1 1/2 hours of work. My fellow workmate (whom I share the EXACT same radio and phone voice - no, seriously, it's eerie) loaned me the book Twilight. I'm sure you've all heard of it. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I think it's the first fictitious book i've read since The Dark Tower series was published by Steven King. It's easy, simple, and I don't have to concentrate at all while I'm reading it -- I'm almost half-way through with it and I only started reading it off and on maybe 2 hours ago.

Anyway, I will post some birthday pictures tomorrow if I get a chance. Happy Saturday everyone!!

Blah, blah, blah, and more blah....

I know, I still haven't got pictures or anything up. I started on the fondant this afternoon, and learned even more valuable tips that I will post when I post the recipe and the pictures from it. I think her cake will turn out, just not the shining picture of perfection I was hoping for.

Josh got home tonight exhausted from only sleeping 1 hour in the freezing weather out in the field last night and then driving the whole way home. He is leaving again in about 7 hours to head to Bend to meet with his uncle to look at some prospective land that we might be able to use for some of our courses. He will be home tomorrow evening, and then Sunday is Audrey's party! Monday after I get home from work in the morning we are all heading back to Bend and meeting with one of our friends and colleagues that will be taking over the books for us for our business. She is flying in from Indiana and going to go meet with our accountant with Josh. Tuesday we will head back home. Looks like we might be just buying a Christmas tree this year from a stand in Bend. We really look forward to going out and cutting one down with the kids, but we are rapidly running out of available time this year!

I got some exciting news yesterday :) We have been talking back and forth with a college up in Montana for awhile now about doing a 21 day course for them... well, we finally have started planning it, and it looks like it may be a go. Of course, it's not going to be for quite a while down the road, but they are wanting a female lead instructor and are very impressed that we have one that can teach the entire course. {smile} It's going to be a kick in the pants because it will be focused more on survival skills, outdoor living skills, and self-reflection and not just outdoor leadership. Let's hope that it actually pans out.....

Tomorrow is going to be spent trying to finish Audrey's cake, clean, work on business stuff and oh yeah, sleep sometime in there. Now, back to work... weekends are always a little more busy here:

Not to rush into it, but since I've been on the topic of cakes lately, let me steer you to this awesome blog I found... http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ This is a great blog if you want a laugh. If you want to laugh really hard, start looking through a bunch of the past posts and makes sure you read some of the reader comments. This site makes me feel oh so much better about my cakes, and makes me remember some that would surely make it on here!

Today I will be finishing baking Audrey's cake and starting on the buttercream that goes underneath the fondant. I will post the recipe for my homeade fondant in the next couple days if anyone wants to brave it. I think it tastes a lot better than the store-bought stuff, and plus, what's better than making it yourself?



Since I am going home in about an hour, here's my list of stuff I think I will try and get done today:



1. Sleep until the kids let me (since it's my day off, that means probably 7)



2. Make the rest of Audrey's cake (with three little kids all pulling their stools up to the counter saying, can I stir it? can I taste it? and sticking their hands in the bowl.... yes, three.... I have Maddie for half the day today)



3. Make a huge (2 doz) batch of deviled eggs for tonight's Christmas party...mmm... won't the house smell good with a mixture of cake and boiled eggs? Honestly, I love deviled eggs, but the thought of them right now make me want to vomit... maybe it's because I just brushed my teeth {ugh} maybe I will save that for later in the day.



4. CLEAN the house/kitchen esp. (of course, in our house with the three kids, this is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing - what's the point??)



5. Shower at some point....... I could just not sleep and not have to fix my hair or change my clothes....hmm... that's something to consider :)



6. Oh, get gas on my way home (it's down to $2.14 a gallon here! - which means it's probably down to around $1.50 a gallon in the real world), see if the mini mart has eggs and mustard. It's either wait in town until the store opens to buy overpriced eggs and mustard or buy them at the gas station for twice that. Let's see......nope, i'm not waiting in John Day for an extra hour or so to save a couple bucks, sorry, not worth it this morning.



Maybe at some point I can take the kids out for a walk or bike ride (hopefully it will get above freezing today!) My body is in some serious need of exercise!!!

So, sorry to bore you, but I will leave it at that, and it's almost time for me to head home!!! Hope your Monday is grand! Josh is heading to Prineville today to meet with his uncle and the son-in-law of Les Schwab about using his ranch for some of our training. Cross your fingers. I hope he makes it back in time for the Christmas party too, I don't really want to show up without my date! I guess it will probably be worth it if he doesn't though, usually the longer it takes, the better the outcome with stuff like this.

Cheers!

The Cake - The Sweater - The WTF Cards....

So I started on Audrey's cakes, and still haven't found a pan to do Barbie's dress in. I actually found a vase of mine, washed and bleached it out, and was able to turn out a nice cake. But once it was done cooking, it just wasn't wide enough to stick big-ol-barbie (yeah, don't we all wish we were as "big" as barbie!) in there and still have cake leftover. I think today or tomorrow I will finish baking the second layer and find something else for barbie's dress.

I started trying to knit a sweater.... wow, it's going to take me forever to finish this thing! It may or may not fit when I am done with it, but hey.. there is always Audrey that will fit into it! I'm trying the cable stitch on it for th first time, and so far I'm not really finished with enough rows to see how it is turning out. I am having fun with it though, and that's all that matters!

I thought I would jump ahead this year and order my Christmas cards early. Well, I always create them online at Snapfish. They turned out pretty good on the "preview card now" frame so I ordered them. I got them last week all excited that I would be ready to mail them all out by the 1st of December. The excitement lasted until I pulled the first card out and it read:

"ing you Happy Holidays and a Wonderful 2009!" "ING????" "ING?" what... the.......

After 1/2 hour on hold, I was promised I would be fully reimbursed for them once they recieved them back with the postage free label they provided. So I re-ordered them, and just to be safe, I shortened the greeting way down in hopes that when I get them next week they will actually look like what I ordered!

Ok, guess I should post this and finish up my last 1/2 hour of work! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!