Cake Prep

Man alive.  I had such high hopes for this cake.  I knew I would need to plan ahead and try out these fondant flowers ahead of time, so I attempted it today.

This was the inspiration.  Gorgeous petals in the faintest of ombre.

Somehow, I always fail to remember that what I see on Pinterest is not always recommended at home!  These people are professionals!  I spent forever the last week or so finding the right tools and cutters to get the petals shaped correctly, and finally tried it out.  Yeah.  It isn't going to work.  I made homemade marshmallow fondant, and I had a hard time getting the consistency right.  It had to be rolled pretty dang thin, but then it would crack and be too dry.  Grr.  So I tried not rolling it quite so thin, and the 'flowers' you form just went plop.

The petals were just too heavy and too thick.  And I don't have time to figure this out several times before the baptism.

Especially because this little man is here with us today.  It's just not going to happen.  So i will consult Pinterest and come up with plan B.

Deer in the yard at Grandmere's house!  They were wandering around looking for food, and apparently found some here!

The final push on decorations for the upcoming baptism party!  I love the poms!

The coffee filter garlands turned out so cool.  My mom worked so hard on them, and they are amazing!  We hung them all up today, so we aren't running around like chickens without their heads right before the baptism.  It's coming up fast!

Mommy Daughter Date Day!

This morning I took the girls to Brad's house, then took each of them out individually on a quick date, which doesn't happen very often.  Leiden and I went clothes shopping, where she found a shirt she likes and a pair of jeans that actually fit her!

Mac and I went to get a pedicure together.

Mimi and I went to get a smoothie, but I forgot to take a picture of us on our date!  Sigh...

I DID, however, take a picture of the beautiful macaroons I bought yesterday to share with the girls today.  I bought them at the little french patisserie inside the Grand America Hotel.

Mac had never tried them, and has wanted to for a while.  Probably mostly because I call her macaroon every once in a while.  They are such PRETTY cookies.  There were pistachio, salted caramel, strawberry, coconut, red velvet, and vanilla.  Delicious!

Later this afternoon I completed the cleaning out of our refrigerator, complete with loading up two coolers with its contents, because we get a new one!

It's new, it's stainless steel, and it's awesome!  The best part?  It has an ice maker!  It doesn't dispense from the front, but it makes ice!  I'm very excited.

Activity Days!

We had Activity Days at Sister Moreno's house this afternoon.  The girls made prayer bracelets and we talked about the importance of prayer in their young lives.  I even got to make a bracelet!  These girls are so sweet, and so happy with their testimonies and love of life!  This was a special one for Mac as she is officially part of the group now.  She was very excited to be legit, and made sure everyone knew she was finally 8.

Ugh.  The dentist for me, today!  And worse, for a crown.  He has been watching a particular tooth, with a filling that has been suspicious, and it finally crossed the line into problematic.  Crown for me.

Mimi took this without me knowing.  Funny girl.

She wanted her hair in a braid with a present ribbon braided in.  It was pretty cute.  She has some creative ideas.

Tonight for FHE, we had one of the final lessons before Mac's baptism, so we did a punch board about choices we can make and how they might affect us, as well as some scriptures to back up those choices.

The girls thought it was really fun, and of course fought over who got to do how many, etc.  I guess you win some, and you lose some!

Snow, today.  It had all melted, and it was sticking, but just to the lawn.  We hoped more would fall and we could be snowy again.

The envelopes turned out SO well.  I love this new skill.  It has come in handy several times, now, and it's so fun to make something so beautiful.  This was a redo to add Joan to Uncle Mike's invitation, and beyond this, they are now all out!

We had Thomas with us today, cute as always.  Even when he pulls a scrunchy face!

He has such a fun time with the girls here.  They were thrilled to show him their cozy tail blankets.

He is learning new things all the time, and him clapping is so fun to see!

He decided in favor of the cozy tail blankets.  He would just lay on them.

He enjoyed looking out the window at all the various sights.

As can be seen, the snow turned pretty much to rain and just wet outside.  The girls stepped outside with their new umbrellas and 'walked' the plasma cars.

Mimi attempted her scooter under the protection of the umbrella.

Family Birthday Celebrations!

Family party for the two birthday girls tonight.  Master Thomas was in attendance, and looking particularly dapper and SWEET!  He was there to support these two members of his entourage.

SOOOOO big!

The girls enjoyed opening presents from Grandmere, Bapa, and Uncle Mad and Aunt Joni.

Mad and Joni gave them cute little umbrellas.  They were always fighting over Leiden's or mine, and it was an excellent gift choice!

There were tiny little FinFun Mermaid tails for their American Girl dolls that match the full size ones they have.

And CUTE, COZY mermaid tail blankets with their names silk screened on them by Grandmere and Bapa.

They were immediately tested and passed inspection!

Master Thomas seemed happy enough watching the activities.

To top it off, there was cake with candles and singing.  Happy Birthday, sweet girls!