Been Gone

It's so relieving to finally be able to talk about our two-week long holiday, now that we're back.
It was lovely.
We saw, we did.....and I even started (sort of) drinking coffee.
:: The MaC's ~ Newport, OR ~ 2011 ::

I've only got 561 photos to pick from, so be sure that you will be fully updated!
Hooray, finally, for some SUMMER!

Do It Yourself :: A Cinderella Dress Cake

"Five hours to make, five minutes to hack to pieces".
The words out of my mouth while I served up Denay's 3rd birthday Cinderella cake at her party. But, the look on her face when she saw it for the first time, and the fact that she is still thanking me, makes it all worth it.
So, here's the rundown on how I fashioned my little homemade creation.

I did a lot of research, looked through dozens of photos and watch numerous YouTube videos and after considering many different combinations of pans and bowls, I decided on an angel food cake pan and a four cup pyrex mixing bowl. I used a super moist boxed cake mix, and found that it was very crumbly and ended up having to make two because the first one fell apart out of the angel pan.
Our cast of characters......

I mixed up the cake mix and distributed it between the two pans.....

I think I should have mixed in some flour to firm up the cake a little to make it easier to work with.

I made the cakes a couple days ahead so I wrapped them REALLY well with plastic wrap and put them in the freezer. On Thursday afternoon, I took them out and while they were still frozen, started shaping them.


I took the smaller of the cakes, that would become the top, and cut the dome off so that it would lie flat on top of the angel food pan cake.

.....just like that!

Then I did the same for the larger cake. This is where I ran into major crumbly cake issues. It just seemed (as you can see) to not want to stay together!

Then I placed the smaller cake upside down on the narrower part of the larger cake. I then took a large serrated knife, and keeping with the angle of the smaller cake, I cut around the bottom cake and ended up with this.....

Then I cut a hole in the top of the small cake for the doll to be inserted into.....

Then, while I re-whipped my buttercream icing (made the day before) I took a second to wrap my Cinderella Barbie's lower body to keep it from getting ruined by icing.

In order to get in another layer of icing in, I cut the bottom layer in two.....

I used my glass cake platter and placed the lowest layer near the back (so I'd have room for three cupcakes) and then wriggled some tin foil underneath to keep the plate clean during icing.


Yummy buttercream icing, dyed the "color of moonlight".

ThenIwenticingcrazyandforgottotakeanypicturesoftheprocess. Phew. This is post icing.....it's a crumby crumb-coat, I know, dang crumbly cake.

I got his idea from a "How To...." channel on YouTube. I used pieces of the carved cake to create pleats, that once the fondant was laid, would create a full look to the dress.

The finished icing project.

Just a little "real life" shot of my kitchen.

The next morning (the day before the party) I brought the pre-made marshmallow fondant (that I also dyed a lovely blue) our of the freezer a while before I planned to work with it so it wasn't rock solid. I was told numerous times to use copious amounts of corn starch on the counter and I'm glad I listened. I used some on my hands and rolling pin as well so I didn't have any issues.

Then I evenly rolled the fondant until it was about 1/4 of an inch thick......

Then I got my hands and arms underneath it for support, and draped it over the iced cake. I smoothed it out, used a pizza cutter to trim the edges (up to the edge of the platter, not the base of the dress) and then used a dry, rough cloth to get rid of the starch residue and then squished Cinderella in! The reason I left the bouffant out of the plastic wrap was so that it could sit overtop of the fondant and make the transition from doll to dress a little smoother. I used sewing needles to discretely pin then down.....


THEN.....(I know, you've left to grab something to eat, you've been sitting reading this post for so long) then next morning I made (a mess) a batch of royal icing and proceeded to (try) ice swags on the dress. I just couldn't seem to get the consistancy right.
But, the end result is just perfect.....

Happy Birthday Canada & A Reflection On Fireworks

I LOVE Canada Day.
I love big crowds. I love the energy they create. I love the bustle and the excitement.
Our day was almost over before it began when we arrived at C&K's house (where we were to meet D&B and the girls and M, B and G) and found out that K* had gotten a call from a mutual friend (who's hubby is an RCMP officer) to tell her that there was a bad accident and the road to get where we were going was closed. After about 45 minutes and dozens of calls, we got word that there was a detour, and even knowing we'd sit in traffic, our four-car-convoy hit pavement. The trip that should have taken a little less than an hour ended up taking two, but with the sun shining, windows rolled down and the stunning mountain pass view, no one was complaining.
We met up with a few more friends at a lovely beach park and BBQ'd, played baseball with a group of Australian tourists, tossed around a football (my arm was sore for days) and a frisbee and soaked up that sunshine!


:: My hubby, the grill-master ::

:: The lovely Auntie K* and Paisley's little buddy Gracie ::

:: Paisley having a chat with Uncle C* ::

Just before 7:00, we packed ourselves up and booked it westbound, found a pay-parking lot and then made the two block trek to our hotel. Yup, H-O-T-E-L. You see, we've know these two people, who are great and we like them a lot. They took the initiative to rent a two-story penthouse suite in a downtown hotel for the night so that we could all have someone to sit, hang, let the kidlets roam free from their strollers and watch the fireworks. In a word: INCREDIBLE. I think the overall consensus was that it is our new tradition.

People.....yeah, like 40,000 of them. A sea of red, white and CANADA ROCKS!


There's something magical about fireworks. Something that causes silence, demands attention and almost respect. I sat on the lower balconey on a plastic lawn chair snuggling #2 while the mister had #1. The first *crack* pierced the air and all fell quiet. Movement stilled. Eyes widened. About halfway through the show, during a brief cessation of the light and thunder, I stopped for a moment. I took a breath. I looked all around me. I quickly thought back to the almost a dozen Canada Day celebrations I had taken in, at this very harbour, over the past 17 years. It struck me how different my life is now. How much I've changed and grown and the crazy wonderful journey I've been on. I realized that in just five or ten mintues, the fireworks would stop, the applause and cheer would arise then die off and then the magic would be over and that moment I was in would be forever lost. So I held my daughter a little tighter and memorized the faces of the amazing people around me and made a choice to seal that moment in my mind. Just finally having the chance to sit and struggle to find the right word to express my emotions, causes my heart to well-up and burst with joy and gratitude and thankfulness. Here, is to God moments in the midst of pyrotechnics.....

By the time we packed up, walked to the car, and slugged through traffic, we got home around 12:30 and, well, collapsed. Denay fell asleep about 10 minutes into the crawl with her hand in her snack container, trying to grab a chocolate teddy graham.
The day in a word: epic.

:: A Living Legacy ::

My grandparent's were in town from Ontario. My dad's parents. My children's great-grandparents. It's amazing seeing them with my kids. It makes me wonder what it's like to watch the world change after over 85 years of life and 60 years of marriage. My grandma handles them like it hasn't been over 50 years since she's had a little one.
:: Paisley meeting her great-grandparents, and only living great-grandpa, for the first time ::

:: Paisley, Opa, Denay and great-grandma Ali ::

:: We celebrated Grandma's birthday while they were here ::