A Quick Recap of My Crazy Week

These past 2 weeks have flown by - I can't believe it is going to be August already!! Last week we were busy from 8am every day until 8-9pm every night...Ben had a bunch of playdates and I had a bunch of work! I had a great night out with some other mommies last Friday night. We went to the Ivory Club and had some drinks and danced. It was a blast! I have not danced that much since I was 19 or 20...(I don't think I've drank that much either...). Needless to say, 7:40 came very early, getting home at 2am... it was still worth it! This week was supposed to be a bit more relaxed and calm, but it soon became crazy, just like the week before it!

We are leaving for Vancouver tomorrow for my "cousin" Rachel's memorial golf tournament. She passed away from Cystic Fibrosis and each year her family puts on a day of golfing and gathering - it is a lot of fun and it gives us an excuse to get out to visit them. Dave's sister Carrie is Hudson-sitting for us while we are gone....she is so great! We would miss out on so many trips if we did not have her!

OHHH! Speaking of Mrs. Carrie......I am going to be an auntie!!!!! YEAH!!!! Her and her husband Chris are expecting a baby BOY in the middle of December! I can't wait! Ben is going to have so much fun with a cousin, and a BOY... does it get any better than that!? She can feel him kicking and moving around already - makes me miss that.... I can't wait for the baby to come. She loves being an auntie, but wait until she can be a mommy! Life does not get better than when you are a mom! (Maybe I can convince her to let me take some Tummy photos of her for my blog....hmmmm we'll see)

So much for a "quick" recap. Anyway, I had my last cake class of Level 1 this past Monday. It was a great class. We learned to make those roses you get on Store bought cakes...not too hard once you practice them! This was my final cake:
My Level 2 class starts the second Tuesday in August... on to Gum Paste and Fondant...I am excited for that!

And of course, what would a post be without some Ben photos.... this was him on Wednesday helping Granny water her flowers (he had his own watering can that he figured out how to fill with the hose himself). Granny said that he spent most of the time "watering" his legs and shoes even though he thought he was actually watering the flowers...so cute! This makes me want a deck and yard even more!

How Can You Say NO To A Sale?!

I had heard that Bella Maas was going to have a semi-annual sale this past Wednesday. I went with my mom just to check things out...WOW! When we got there it was packed! They had tables and tables of jeans that were marked down and shirts and shoes that were also. We ran around picking things out and by the time we got to the fitting room line up, we waited almost 30 minutes. I found 3 pairs of jeans and amazing prices(you can see below!) and 2 really cute shirts for $10! Can you say "a shopper's heaven!". My mom found a pair of jeans that was marked down by $185!! She also got some shoes and a shirt. They had baskets of kids clothes that were $5...not much for boys, but I managed to find Ben some shirts and shorts (or man-pri's as Dave likes to call them)

It was sure a great way to beat the heat!

My Little Man and My Cake

Tonight was cake night again. This time I made a French Vanilla Cake and iced it with Chocolate Buttercream Icing. This one was a lot of fun to decorate - even the clown! He was super easy to make (not that I will be re-creating him any time soon!). Ben was with Dave all night. They took Hudson for a big long walk and were playing in Ben's room. I guess Ben wanted to sit on his rocking chair at one point and Dave put some stuffed animals up there with him... doesn't he look so proud in that photo!? To me, he looks like a little boy, not my little baby...

Here is my cake. I put mini M&M's on the sides and top for something different... it was much easier and quicker than making that many different icing colors to make dots.

I love this photo!! This was tonight before bath time. He loves watching the water fill up and seeing his toys floating around - I love the dimply bum! How cute is that?!

Cake Night

Well, my cake class was last night. It was great! A nice and relaxing evening with some ladies decorating cakes...lots of fun!

Here was my cake BEFORE the class. A two-tiered rainbow chip cake with buttercream icing tinted a light blue. We had to have it prepped at home and ready for decorating at the class.

This was my finished product. Notice how Dave cut into it before I could get a photo... I guess that means he thought it looked good, so I should be happy. I really wanted to take photos of all of my cakes BEFORE they got cut into... next one for sure! (he cut 2 pieces, one for each of us - that is not just one big piece for him..)

You get the idea here, there should be another cloud, but I think it is in Dave's tummy! ;)

Next week is a clown cake... really? I hate clowns! So does the instructor, but I guess we HAVE to, so we'll see how it turns out...

Silly Boy

This picture doesn't really have a story behind it, I just thought I'd post it because it is so darn cute! That is his potty in the background. He has been going on it a lot lately and is getting really good. I have to be the one to suggest it though. He still is too young (I think) to tell me when he needs to pee, but he loves going on it and loves the "running around naked" part that come afterwards.

Well, my cake class is tomorrow night. Last week, we just learned the basics - how to make buttercream icing and how to ice a cake... easy stuff! This week I have to bake a cake and take it to class iced so that we can decorate them. I let Dave choose the cake flavor, so this week it will be vanilla cake with rainbow chips in it - yum! I will take some photos of it and try and get them up tomorrow BEFORE I decorate it at class. Wish me luck!

Coloring with Daddy

The other night I had to get some of my work done, so I sent Dave and Ben into his playroom with his new crayons and coloring book. I expected it to be a quick 5 minute thing, but they stayed in there for at least 30 minutes coloring! I snuck in to take a quick photo and Ben was doing so good with the crayons! That is his new favorite thing to do... color! I am so happy he loves to color, because so does mommy! ;)

On another happy note, I bought Ben a potty a few weeks ago. It is this cute little Froggy Potty from FisherPrice:
http://www.fisherprice.com/fp.aspxst=2002&e=product&pid=47024&ncat=thumbnail&pcat=bgtub,bgpty

Anyway, he has been sitting on it for the last few days without his pants or diaper. We read stories on it and I ask him if he has to pee. I am not getting in to the toilet training yet, I just thought it would get him used to sitting on one. He is quite interested now when we use the toilet and he loves to flush them! Today, he was sitting on the potty and we were reading a book, when he stopped reading and looked down in the potty and then looked at me and smiled. I looked down and my little man had Peed for the first time in his potty! We were both so happy and we clapped and cheered! He was so proud. We went to the toilet and dumped it in and then flushed the toilet. He waved "goodbye" and everything! I am thinking this may have been a one-time thing, but I guess you never know... what a cutie! (I would have never imagined I would ever be so excited and happy to see pee!) ;)

Ben's work of art!

Mommy's Going to School

Well, I have decided to sign up for the Cake Decorating Class that Wilton puts on. I am very excited to do this again. I did it 2 years ago, but can't remember much, so I thought I'd go all the way to the very end this time and complete all 4 Levels. I am redoing Level 1, just so I can get a refresher, but cannot wait to go onto Level 2 and 3 - working with Fondant. I have always wanted to know how to make things, and pretty soon I'll be able to! Level 4 is Gum Paste flowers - another thing I would love to know how to do!

It will be a nice night for the whole family. It is Mondays in July from 7-9. I will get some "crafty" time alone and Ben and Daddy will get some "boys time" alone as well. No Mommy to interrupt and say "play safe" or "wash your hands" and I'll have no one interrupting me. I think it will be great!

My first class is tomorrow night. I don't make anything, but after that each week, I'll put up my completed decorated cake and you can all see how they look! We are going to be so sick of cake by the time July is over...

Canada Day Fun

Again, I know it has taken me 3 days to post this, but I guess it is better than nothing... Since Benjamin arrived, my life seems to fly by and seems so busy, yet other than cleaning the house and doing some work, I really seem to have nothing to show for how busy I am... it is a weird feeling, one that I never knew until my little man came into this world.

Rachelle (my brother's girlfriend) and I took Benjamin to Broadmoor Lake for the big Canada day festivities. It was great! There was so much to do there; farmer's market, petting zoo, butterfly area (I stayed away from that one, but Rachelle and Benjamin had fun) - I don't know why I'm scared of them, but I am... There was live music, face painters, great food, mini donuts and my favorite - the Root Beer right out of the Wooden Barrel.

I think Ben and Rachelle had a fun day - I know I did. It was beautiful outside and a nice way to get a walk in. They also had a free pancake breakfast and the line up was so long, Rachelle and I could not get over how some of the people had been standing in line for over 2 hours just to get a pancake and some sausage...we took some picture of the line up...it was funny!

Going to this made me so excited for next year! Ben is going to have a great time there and can get into some of the games and activities! He got a flag at one station and was waving that around...very patriotic!

the crazy pancake breakfast line up!

Ben and Mommy on the fire truck

Ben and Rachelle in the Butterfly tent

Mommy and Ben with the "safe" butterflies (the ones that didn't move) ;)

long day of fun!

Ben's first boat ride and Granny and Boompa's

playin' in the sand with Mommy and Grandma