~ a m a n d a ~

Friday, October 21, 2011

Monday, December 20, 2010

I survived! It was iffy for awhile, but after months of planning (yes... I have issues) I made it through Maxton's 3rd Birthday party in one piece and relatively sane. I was really pleased with the way everything turned out. He had a blast playing with the other kids and other than a couple of minor snafu's like not enough food and drinks (HUGE thank you to Kevin for the pizza run and Angelia for the drink run) and the fact that I was still frosting cupcakes after guests had already arrived (Hey, at least they couldn't say they weren't fresh!) it went off without a hitch. I so appreciate all of our friends and family who were able to come and make it such a special day for Max. It's really hard at this time of year with everyone so busy, so it really meant a lot.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mother's Day in Addison Circle

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Adventures in Cupcaking

Check out my Cupcake blog... http://www.adventuresincupcaking.com/!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

New Year's Resolutions

I’m a little slow with this post, but I’m just now getting around to writing down my New Year’s Resolutions… I have several this year and I really hope I’m able to stick with at least a few of them.

1. Lose Weight… I know it’s not exciting or different or interesting, but it’s very, very necessary.
2. Get my shopping/spending under control… Not only do I eat my feelings… I spend them as well. And considering the fact that Bailey will be in high school next year… I really ought to focus a little more on the college fund and a little less on fun, new Coach bags! *sigh*
3. Bake Cupcakes… Okay, I know that this goes directly against my first resolution, but I don’t plan on eating (all of) them. I just want to bake them more often. I love cupcakes (the act of baking and decorating them) and have received several cupcake books recently, so I’d like to put them to use.
4. Keep a cleaner/neater house… This one has been rough for me lately, but I honestly believe that having an organized, chaos free life begins with having an organized, chaos free home, which leads me to number 5…
5. “Run a tight ship”… I want to be more organized and keep my kids more organized this year. No one has ever accused me of “running a tight ship”… I’m going to attempt to change that this year.
6. Lose the potty mouth… I’ve needed to work on this one for awhile, but now that I have a 2 year old repeating every word I say it’s imperative!
7. Learn to play the guitar… I have wanted to play the guitar since I was 15 years old… Even took a few lessons in high school… Have owned (if you count my mom’s hand me down) a total of 3 guitars… And still don’t know how to play! Kevin bought me my latest guitar for Christmas and I am determined to actually learn this time.

I guess that’s about it… Wish me luck!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Bailey Cupcakes

My Bailey is turning 14 on Thursday, so (in order to avoid NYE craziness) we're going out to dinner to celebrate on Wednesday. Mama bought me the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book I had been wanting (AND a Joann's gift card!) for Christmas, so I decided Bailey's birthday was a good opportunity to practice my cupcake skills. Bailey actually helped me make these... He loves cooking, baking and especially desserts!

So this was my inspiration for the cupcakes that I wanted to make Bailey... Only not pink of course (simple enough, right???)....

Cupcakes baked...

Fondant rolled and circles cut...

Frosting made from scratch (I know it's not rocket science, but it was a first for me!) and dyed...

White Chocolate Melts ready to be melted...

Maxton showing me his Mr. Potato heads "toes"...

Decorating bag ready to be filled...

B's ready to be traced...

Bailey being a goof...

And the finished product...

Holy disastrous kitchen.....

Monday, December 14, 2009

Maxton's 2nd Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had a party at our house for Max's 2nd birthday. His birthday isn't until the 20th, but we wanted to go ahead and have his party a little early so it wouldn't conflict with Christmas festivities.

The party turned out great... Max had such a good time. He loved seeing all of his friends and all of the Elmo decorations. It was so fun to see all of the little ones playing together so well and having such a good time. Kim did a fantastic job with the face painting and everyone loved it!

Max LOVED opening presents... He was a little overwhelmed, but that didn't stop him from loving every second! It was too cute... As he was opening each present he would say "Oh, wow!" (sometimes before he actually even saw what the present was).

Granny bought him a Yo Gabba Gabba microphone, which he loved and he spent the rest of the weekend using to sing "happy dirday dada".... "happy dirday mama"... So sweet! :-)

Birthday Boy...
Elmo cake...