Sweet Sixteen Cake

One of the girls at church is turning 16 and her mother asked me to make her cake. The invitation was the inspiration.
Here is the final product! I was very pleased with it. It was my first time using ribbon as a border. I was also able to make black icing that did not taste bitter. I started with chocolate icing and then used the Wilton black icing in a tube to color it. It worked wonderful and did not taste bitter at all.
The real test is actually moving the cake and getting it to their house!

Aubrey's Dollhouse

I came home from dropping Ethan off at school and found Aubrey playing in her room. (She stayed home with Derek while he was getting ready)
She was playing with her doll house and talking to them. It was so cute. I just stood there for a few minutes watching her. I debated about grabbing the camera because I did not want to disturb her playing. Obviously from the pictures I decided to get the camera.
Sweet moments like these remind me of what a joy she really is and to treasure her. Much unlike the moment yesterday when I picked her up at preschool to find out she had been in time out yet again. Last Tuesday she was as well. Her punishment was no tv yesterday and also she can not wear a skirt to school on Thursday. She was really wanted to do that and I think that will be the worse of the two punishments. Anyway, another day today. Notice her hair, she said Daddy did it, but I am not so sure Aubrey did not do it.
Check out the back of this masterpiece! She got her hair cut on Friday after their pictures were taken. She has been telling random people, like the cashier at the store, that she got her hair cut when she had not. This has been going on for about two weeks so I figured she must really want her hair cut. Derek was getting his cut so I let her get about an inch off as well. Funny thing is now that she has had her hair cut, she is no longer announcing it to people!

First Beach Outing of the Season

Sunday after church our friends called and wanted to know if we wanted to join them at the beach. Aubrey was still sleeping and Derek was not home yet, so I told her I would call her back. Derek came home from the last service and asked if I wanted to go to the beach, having no idea of my conversation with our friends. That seemed to settle it. As soon as Aubrey woke up we headed to the beach for some fun. Ethan digging a hole. He had a little help from Daddy and a big shovel that our friends had brought.
The finished hole. At one point I did not see Aubrey and asked where she was and sure enough she popped her little head out of the hole and said "Here I am!" Of course it turned into a game and we all had to ask multiple times where Aubrey was.
Aubrey playing in the sand.

One of our friends boys was playing in the water so Ethan joined him. I could not believe it! The water was like ice! They played in it for a long time though and would have played longer if it was not time to go home. Crazy kids!

Upward Ends...T-Ball Begins

Saturday Ethan had his last Upward basketball game and then we changed in the car and headed to his first T-Ball game. Never a dull moment for us.

The coach's wife made these cute little basketball goals as a snack. Ethan had his best game making 3 baskets!
For some reason this is the only picture I took of Ethan at T-Ball...more to come.

Aubrey is thrilled because there is another little girl who is three whose brother is on the team as well. They had a blast playing in the dirt.
Drawing with sticks is so much fun.
She looked like a chimney sweeper when we left. She was COVERED in dirt. I had some fun scrubbing her white shirt and Ethan's white pants that afternoon, but both came clean!

Playing Princess Makeover

Nana got this play set at the consignment sale for Aubrey and I took some pictures of the kids playing princess makeover. Ethan washing her hair
Drying it...notice the princess dress
Styling her hair. It was really cute and they had a lot of fun. Ethan started to get frustrated because Aubrey kept wanting to get up and not do what he wanted her to...imagine that!

Annual Pictures

We went for our annual pictures at Portrait Innovations tonight. We do it in March because it is between their birthdays and that works out well for us. The kids were silly, but we got some good ones. I am listing what we have of the pictures for family and friends who want them. Just let me know what you want. The first pose we have the most of. 1 8x10, 4 5x7's, 4 31/2x5's and 32 wallets. It is cropped in the picture and you do not see their legs.

We just had to get this one. As Derek said, "Aubrey looks like she is up to no good!" This one is also cropped right about where Aubrey's shirt ends. It is amazing at all the clothes they have in their closets, but we still had to make a trip out today to get something that coordinated well. As luck would have it I had a bow to match perfectly. I usually give myself more time to plan pictures and today was a last minute decision since we did not have any plans for the day.
1 5x7, 4 31/2x5's, 8 wallets

Our sweet little Aubrey - can you believe she is 3! She so did not want to place her hands correctly, or leave them there is more like it and was having more fun playing than sitting still. It is amazing we got a good one. This one is cropped about at her knee
3 5x7's and 8 wallets
Ethan who was tired and has a tooth coming in, but was a good sport anyway. It is weird writing 6 on the back of the pictures since that is what he will be in one month.
3 5x7's and 8 wallets
This picture is turned so it does not seem like she is leaning. It took a lot to get those hands to stay put and not have her dancing and turning circles on the backdrop.
3 5x7'sand 4 31/2x5's
This one really captured Ethan's personality. It is cropped close to his thumb.
3 5x7's and 4 31/2x5's
This is my favorite fun picture. The photographer suggested trying to have Aubrey on Ethan's back and we were not sure he could do it. By golly he did! He was still smiling even while be choked by Aubrey! Too cute!
1 8x10, 2 5x7's and 8 wallets.

Let me know what you want and I will get them in the mail.

Here are a few of the bloopers and a couple that we liked, but did not get....we could not get all of them!

Yep, she was picking her nose!She loved this rocking chair, but would not stop rocking in it to get a very good picture.
We liked this one, but had the same pose last year.This shows a little bit of the silliness that was going on....lots of laughing and playing.

Road Trip

On Thursday after preschool Aubrey and I headed up to NC. This is what the back of the car looked like. The main reason for the trip was to sell all these clothes in an upcoming consignment sale.
Aubrey liked to help pump the gas. Right after we finished I was putting my wallet back in the car and another car pulled up to the pump behind us and Aubrey yelled out "It scared me!" The poor lady was so apologetic and made sure that I knew she saw Aubrey. I told her it was fine..that is Aubrey's latest - everything scares her.
We had an uneventful ride up and Aubrey enjoyed playing with Aunt Joy and Nana and Papa. Joy brought her to the mall to meet me on Friday to try on some shoes and to play at the indoor play area. Aubrey walked through Children's Place and grabbed about 5 things asking Aunt Joy to buy them for her. We are going to be in trouble with this one. We settled for a pair of shoes and a Belle nightgown that was on clearance at the Disney Store. While paying for the gown, she said, "Oh Mommy, thank you so much!" Now, how can I resist that.
Saturday we went to shop at a consignment sale and I was able to meet up with my friend Chrystal - which was wonderful!
Nana bought this little (actually not so little) vanity set for Aubrey at the sale. She loved doing everyone's hair and make up.
Sunday we were able to see some old friends at West Cabarrus and then we headed up to Raleigh. I met my friend Bradley from my college days and his sweet wife for dinner. It was raining and nasty all day and Aubrey fell on the wet ground while pumping gas. Not to worry, I had an extra pair of jeans in the suitcase that I pulled out and put on her. Well, about 20 minutes later in the parking lot of Olive Garden, yep she fell again. This time I did not have any extra jeans and I was not very happy with her. I asked her why she could not just stand still instead of jumping all around and falling. While waiting for Bradley to arrive Aubrey announced to me that it was okay her jeans were wet, we could just buy her some new ones. I told her no, she would just have to stay in her wet ones and we could dry them at Ms. Angie's house. I did feel bad as we were leaving the restaurant that I had gotten upset with her for falling because when we got to the car she announced very proudly, "Mommy I did not fall and get wet!"
We then headed to our good friends The Lambert's for the night. We just love this family and had a great time with them. Hannah and Rachel were not feeling well, so that was a bummer. We were blessed with some snow so we stayed a little later yesterday for it clear up on the roads.
Sarah entertained Aubrey on the computer doing make up on Barbie and a bunch of other cool things I did not even know existed. Aubrey loved it!
Of course, you can not stay with three girls and not get your nails done!
I was not planning on snow, so I did not pack accordinly. Here is Aubrey ready to go and play in the snow.



Sarah and Aubrey heading out to play.



All bundled up on the couch wathing tv trying to get warm. When it was time to leave Aubrey wanted to stay. Ususally, I just tell her goodbye and walk away and she yells after me to wait for her. Well, she REALLY wanted to stay because when I tried it, she just gave me a kiss goodbye and went upstairs to keep playing. That trick obviously did not work. I did finally get her to come home with me.
All bundled up watching TV in the car....thank goodness for the car tv - it made the trip bearable! We arrived home last night safe and sound around 10:00. Derek did a great job with Ethan and they had lots of fun while we were gone...including an Orlando Magic basketball game. Derek cleaned the house and even cooked some healthy meals while I was away. I told him I should go away more often. He said one or two nights would be okay, but 4 was a little long. I guess it is a good thing to be missed!