Cake

This was a cake I was asked to do for a girl at church for her Sweet Sixteen. The top picture was the final product and the bottom picture was the inspiration picture she gave me. She wanted the colors changed a little. The blue is more of a teal, but does not look that way in the picture. She was very happy with her cake and it was really fun to do.

Wonderworks

Since we were out of school yesterday for President's Day, we headed to Orlando to Wonderworks. The kids had done it without out us in TN, and have not stopped talking about it. Grandma and Grandpa were in town, so it was the perfect time to go.

You could feel the water temperature of the Titanic waters. It was really cold at 28 degrees.

This was really cool- it was the slant of the deck at two different times while the Titanic was sinking.

Derek enjoyed trying out all the neat things too.

The bubble room was a big hit!

You try to pull yourself up by your upper body strength.

The old bed of nails- I tried it and you can actually feel the nail pricks.

Of course Aubrey makes a friend wherever she goes. She had a great time with this little girl putting their bodies on the the needles and seeing what it looked like on the other side.

Of course Derek had to play the giant piano. At one point two girls were playing on it and Aubrey just ran right in front of them across the whole thing. I apologized for her:)

Ethan in the space capsule. It was very tiny.

Aubrey and Grandpa getting ready to ride the roller coaster simulator.

All smiles at the end. Grandpa said her eyes were pretty big during the ride.

Ethan and Mom taking a turn.

Ethan made a Mold-A-Rama. Derek used to make these all the time as a kid.

This was really neat- you stare at the picture for a little while and then look at the wall and see the face of Jesus.

Aubrey and Grandma trying to land a space shuttle.

Another cool optical thing. After starring at rings, you look down at the clouds and it looks like they are moving.

This was by far the best part- the ropes course.

Ready to go up.

All smiles walking the stairs up.

Then the panic. It is a blurry picture, but you can see by her expression that she is not liking it. We were about 14 feet up in the air, and her little legs were just too short to walk across the obstacles. We turned around and she came back down.

Ethan however, was a champ and did a great job!

There were some games and one of the prizes for the tickets were individually wrapped Jelly Beans. We had never seen this before and it fascinated Ethan and myself. The small things in life.

A great day was had by all!

THE Party

Aubrey's kid birthday party finally arrived. I got the inspiration to do a fashion show where all the girls would have a different skirt in the Strawberry Shortcake colors. It turned out to be a lot more work than I thought it would be. It was worth it all in the long run, it was a great party!

The skirts are all ready. Our neighbor, Ms. Linda helped me out a lot. She made all the skirt bases for me and I did the embellishments. Aubrey's skirt was the first one I did and it took me about 20 hours. I had to scale down after that, or I never would of had them finished.

I made each girl a hair bow to coordinate with her skirt.

The spread. We went easy and ordered some trays from Publix....so glad that we did.

We hired two wonderful teenagers from church to do the make up and nails for the girls. They loved it!

We also hired our friend and hairdresser, Jessica, to do their hair. They were super excited about this, it was such a treat for them. It was great to hear them come out and show everyone their hair when they were finished.

Aubrey's finished product. There s a story behind her cute shirt. The first one I ordered arrived way too big. It is now a night shirt for her. I ordered this one from another vendor and asked for measurements and was sure I ordered the right size. Well, it is a little small, especially when she raises her arms. It does have a small hole in it, so I am trying to get a new one in the next size up. Regardless, the shirt was really cute. Aubrey goes to open the door for her first guess and I notice that she has spilled Coke all over it. UGH! I tired to get it off the best I could, but it would not come off completely. Oh well, I did not let it ruin the party...just let it go!

The back of her hair.

Aubrey with her balloons. A traditional shot for us.

The kids waiting in the wings for the fashion show to start. They were so excited!

Ethan was a great sport and was the announcer for the fashion show. I wrote out what to say on index cards and even made him practice twice. He did a great job!

First up, the Birthday Girl. Do you think she is excited?

Showing off how her skirt can twirl.

Love this picture of my sweet little girl!

Little Scarlett in her strawberry skirt.

Nora had the posing down!

She has little bows all over her skirt. This was the last one I made and my supplies and creativity were dwindling.

Adorable Marissa. She was all smiles.

Showing off her sequin bow in the back.

Haley was totally into the fashion show. I love how she is holding her purse.

Hannah was a little shy and walked right over to the line.

Showing off her hair bow.

Sweet Charles is Nora's brother and really wanted to be a part of the show when I gave them the invitation. He wore Ethan's vest from Christmas and loved every part of it. I love the expression on his face. In fact, it was getting small on Ethan so we let Charles keep it, he loved it so much.

The whole bunch.

Cake time!

I love how kids always bunch around the cake and presents.

Present time!

Scarlett gave the perfect gift- a Strawberry Shortcake Fashion Show toy!

We gave out strawberry sunglasses in the treat bags!