More Cake

Last night was the last class of the first course of the Wilton cake decorating classes. Mainly we learned how to print/write and how to make ribbon roses. The cake I did last night I gave away before I could take a picture, but I made another one today to practice more roses, but I still can't seem to get it right. Oh well. I guess I will just have to practice even more :) I love how the bright, fun colors pop against each other. This cake is for my neighbor who watered my garden while we were gone.

And in other news, we are starting potty training with Sam today. It has been one heck of a morning. Beginning around 2 am, Sam woke up crying five or six times and had a fever. But we are going ahead with the potty training anyway, since the Tylenol/Ibuprofen schedule is keeping him feeling ok. I am trying a method recommended by my sister where you practice and practice and practice everything a ton. It makes for an intense day of pants checks and encouragement every five minutes (literally) but I think he is getting the idea (said hesitantly). He had three accidents this morning, but he pooped in the toilet with no issues and when I went to go make lunch, he took himself to the potty and did the whole thing without any word from or to me. I was so excited!!! I know it is early to get excited, but I am just glad we aren't fighting it the entire way. I was especially afraid when he screamed and refused to put on the underwear this morning, but once I got it on him and began to teach him the routine with his elephant he did ok.

One more bit of news, Robert and I are meeting with his boss tomorrow to discuss a raise! Hooray! Wish us luck!!!

Monday - Day 6

Our last day in Connecticut we didn't have to leave until late afternoon, so Robert went to work with Adam and Kayla and I took the kidlets to pick blueberries. Sam loved this horse, vest and cowboy hat the girls had - he would ride it all over the place!

The kids having a great time in the car making noise

The three beautiful Marble girls!

Picking blueberries

Mommy showing Gracie what berries she should be picking

Isn't this just simply gorgeous?! This farm was amazing! They have blueberries, strawberries, peaches, apples, pumpkins, etc to pick and they also built a really cool kids park right in the middle of it. The park had a track around the outside and all sorts of cars, wagons and tractors to ride. Inside, there were two little playhouses and a sand pit and a climbing wall to a platform with two slides on the other side. Basically a great place for kids of all ages to come and play.

But as we all know, good things have to come to an end. I thought we were doomed when Sam started doing this on our first flight BEFORE take off.

But things got better. This airplane had free TV to watch and Sam was fairly entertained with his headphones. It certainly made the flight go by faster for me!

A much happier kid! But of course no trip would be complete without issues. Our first was the airport security not allowing us to take our $18 snowglobe from New York on the plane. Thankfully, Robert had just enough time to find a place to ship it home. Then, our connection in Chicago got moved three times and took off late because of crew change, so we didn't get in to SLC until 11:30pm. But it was a wonderful (and best of all, free) trip. We were so glad to sleep in our own beds last night, but dreamt of all the fun we had visiting Connecticut and all (good and bad) it had to offer! Thanks so very much to Adam and Kayla for having us and for making such a monumental effort to make this trip so memorable!

Oops! Almost forgot; this is what we would do in between flights. Watching the planes come in and go out and naming them. Sam's favorites were the blue, red and nemo "puh-panes" (don't ask me what a nemo airplane is because even after all that airplane watching I still can't figure it out!)

Sunday - Day 5

Sorry, no pictures from Sunday. Just your average Sunday - day of rest. We all needed it for sure! Church was at 9:30am. We came home and had lunch and the little ones went down for naps and I made the famous Skousen gooey rolls for dinner - yum! yum! It was crazy how much the bread rose, though because of it being humid and warm! It tripled in less than 30 mins!!! So the rolls were huge and tasty!

Saturday - Day 4

So Saturday the Marble's had a stake Primary Activity day, but before heading to the stake center, Kayla took a little time to show me Yale. It was amazing to see the architecture of the old, stone buildings.

Kayla said it reminds her of Harry Potter, and I totally agree!!

Here are the kiddos getting started with the games. This game they had to grab little sports ball marbles with their toes and put them on the green plates outside of the pool. Sam did so well at this game, I couldn't believe it! They also had face painting, sidewalk chalk, bubbles and hand/foot printing.

One thing about Connecticut, though is it is stinkin' hot and HUMID. I know it isn't as bad as further south, but it was enough for us to get a good sweat worked up most days! Sam had 8 cups of popcorn, 6 glasses of water and 4 otter pops! While we were at the activity, I had the chance to use my nursing abilities when a car crash happened right in front of the stake center. Thank goodness no one was hurt, but it was my first time responding to an accident and made me just a bit nervous.

Elli doing the foot printing.

Kayla and Gracie getting out of the heat

At the end, they asked the bishops to participate and they put shaving cream all over their faces and let the kids throw mini marshmellows at them, trying to get them to stick. Adam was a good sport and the kids had a blast!

After the activity we were supposed to go swimming at a beach in Rhode Island, but thanks to traffic and another severe storm, the beach was closed when we got there (we'd driven two hours just to turn around and go home) We tried just even walking out to the beach, but the lifeguards said it really wasn't safe to be out there and so we decided to hit up the movies instead and saw "Toy Story 3" with the kids. I thought it was good, although I wouldn't say it made me cry. I was just glad there was a good movie we could take the kids to that Sam was really excited to see! Ever since we got Toy Story 1 and 2 from the Disney Movie Club, he has just loved Buzz and Woody.

Running back to the cars before it started raining too hard.

Friday - Day 3

Friday was the day we adults left the kiddies behind to check out the Big Apple. It was so much fun! I thought we got to see so much for one day and we all got to do/see something we wanted. In reverse order, Wicked was FAN-TAS-TIC!!!!! The music was awesome and I just can't say enough about it. We are SOOO very grateful to Adam and Kayla for taking us - what a treat!! To give you an idea, Robert can't stop talking about it either and it's a PLAY! That's gotta tell you something!

Robert and Adam filling up their goody bags at the M&M store

Right in the middle of Times Square. It is amazing to just stand there and let the city flow around you. I didn't take a picture, but we really did see the Naked Cowgirl - crazy what some people will (or won't) wear!

Here we are at Big Nick's. The guys got the sumo burger, which are similar to the Big Judd, only they are nearly normal diameter, just much, much thicker!!

Here's Adam and Kayla taking a gander at the Apple Store. It was fun to play with all the latest technology toys like the iPad.

Can I just say how amazing the temple is?! Wowzer! It looks just like all the other buildings, but yet it stands apart, too. We all know temples are top of the line, but this one was very unique and especially gorgeous to me. We went upstairs to look around the chapel and classrooms and it is amazing how you can leave the city behind and just be at peace here.

Adam and Kayla in front of a water pond in Central Park. This park is amazingly huge!!! You just can't fathom it until you drive completely around. Add that to where it is located and you have yourself an unbelieveable park!

The Empire State Building. We decided in order to get the most for our time that we would drive the van around the city instead of using the subway system AND that we would just drive past many of the "usual" sites that lots of people visit, such as the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and the Empire State Building. We did get out and shop in Chinatown and ate lunch in Little Italy.

Wednesday & Thursday - Day 1 & 2

Here we are on our first flight. Sam was soooo excited to ride on a "puh-pane" and did really well, all things considered. The first flight he and I sat together with Daddy behind. The second flight we all sat together and fell asleep for most of the flight.

The last flight was horrible! We had a three/four hour layover in Newark, NJ. Now, had we known that it is only 2 1/2 hrs to Kayla's house from there, maybe things would have been different. We kinda just hung out and didn't really get anything to eat because we had munched all day and weren't really hungry. Then, because of weather in the east, we sat on the plane for 45 mins and were de-boarded. I told Robert to go get some food (he had to ride a bus to another terminal and find an ATM because they take cash only) since they had told us it would be at least an hour before we could get back on the plane. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, they tell everyone to get on the plane. Robert is still out getting food. Needless to say, it was an extremely stressful situation with having been traveling since 3 am. We ran to the door just as they were closing it, so we made it.

Sam and Gracie oblivious to the chaos surrounding them

The storm that had caused us problems at the airport reached the Marble's house in Thomaston. It was an actual tornado. Thank goodness no one was home! Two large trees in the front and five in the back were damaged, but amazingly the house was fine! We spent the majority of the day Thursday helping clean up the trees and Robert got to put his chainsaw skills to work!

Bravery

Look at what I did! So a few weeks ago, I saw a snake in the grass of our front yard slithering away. I didn't see where it was going and the first thought that came to my mind was to get Sam away from the thing before I thought to kill it. I ran to the local hardware/gardening store and asked what I could do. The recommendation was to put poison out to kill the food source - mice. I was bringing in the trash can from the road and noticed the package of poison I had put in a hole near the garage was out on the driveway and partially open. Then I see the tail end of the snake slithering into my flower garden. This time Sam was safely in the house, so I decided to get the hoe and take care of it while I knew where it was. Bravery is definitely doing something despite being scared, because I was terrified! I know right now Dad is probably chuckling at my fear of snakes. There were many occasions growing up when my Dad would pick up a snake and make, yes MAKE, us pet its belly. But that doesn't stop me from trembling just thinking that I took on the snake myself. Neither does the fact that this is probably just a garden snake. As Robert and I both vehemently agree, the only good snake is a dead one!

Way Too Hot

So the forecast for today was up to 91 degrees, so my friend and I decided to head out and get some relief from the heat (those of you in Arizona quit snickering, that is HOT for around here!)
First order of business was to visit this new little guy, Hyrum. Isn't he adorable?! He was so awake while we were visiting with him, it was tons of fun!

Then we jetted over to the Rexburg splash park with the kiddos. We got there early enough that there weren't a million people there, but it also meant it was a tad bit chilly with the water being so cold!

This splash park is so awesome! It has something for everyone and is totally free. I just wish it were a little bit bigger so the big kids and little kids could each have their space.

Last year was fine because the kids were littler and they just played with these little fountains around the outside. But this year the boys are bigger and want to run up the steps and go down the slides, but they aren't quite big enough to hold their own against the big kids that are there, so much supervision is needed.

Isn't this picture of the boys just precious?! I am so glad Sam has such a good buddy as Josh. Add to it that Josh's mom and I are even better friends and it is the perfect combination! It will be a sad day if/when we go our separate ways and don't live close anymore.

More water exploration fun

The kids after they were done swimming. I told them all to smile and this is what I got! :) It was a fun day to spend with friends enjoying some relief from the heat, thanks friends!!!

Ready to Know?

I will tell you my new calling.....after I tell you all about my cake decorating class last night. I know, the suspense! We had tons of fun last night at my class. We practiced leveling, torting, filling and icing our cakes, which our teacher had demonstrated the week before. Then we learned how to do the 3D ball and also practiced doing image transfer using piping gel. Basically you trace an image in piping gel onto parchment paper and then put it on your cake and the clear piping gel gives you an outline to follow/fill in. Last night we did cupcakes and had fun coloring icing and decorating our cakes with them. Mine turned out a pastel pink and blue decorated white cake frosted in homemade cream cheese frosting, with strawberry freezer jam for filling -delicious!!!
And as for my new calling - are you ready? Visiting teaching coordinator. Yep, that's it. Nothing cool or amazing, but exactly what I need in my life right now. Something behind-the-scenes, low-stress most of the time and something to organize and improve. My kind of deal.

At It Again

So I am trying something new, again! Today has been terrbly windy. Like so windy you can barely stand up, so I needed something to do inside. Our good friends, the Potters, wanted to come over and play, so while the boys entertained each other I took advantage of the situation and made cooked jam. We went and picked our own raspberries last year and I froze them thinking we could have them on ice cream and waffles and such. But that hasn't really worked out well, so I made five pints of raspberry and six pints of strawberry jam today. We tried using the no sugar pectin, but added in a little bit of sugar anyways, so we will have to see how it tastes. So now I can say I have made freezer and cooked jam! What are your thoughts and ideas on cooked jam? Anyone have experience with mixing flavors? This sounds really fun to me, but I have no idea how to go about it. Let me know your thoughts, ideas, or criticisms - but please try to be kind! :)

P.S. I was released on Sunday from my calling in Enrichment and was given a new calling. Can anyone guess what I'm doing now?

In A Hurry

With it being summer time, we spend alot of time outdoors working on the flower garden, the vegetable garden or on the lawn. This morning Sam wanted to come out without shoes on. At our house, this is not a great idea, so I told him to go find his sandals and then he could come outside with me. Around ten minutes goes by and I am beginning to think he had either forgotten or was getting into trouble, when out he comes in his shoes. I was amazed he put his shoes on all by himself, but upon closer inspection it becomes apparant how badly he wanted to come outside with me :)

But I would still give him an A for creativity and effort! In other news, Sam got to drive the combine with Daddy this afternoon, which he absolutely loved. Then we came home to cool off in Sam's little swimming pool, but boy is that water chilly right from the well!!!

More Education

So my good friend, Julie, and I have been doing alot of classes together and we are at it again. This round is called cake decorating. We have done yoga and gardening together and now we are finally getting some formal education on decorating, which we both love. We are doing the Wilton cake decorating class #1 taught at Micheal's. It is two hours once a week for four weeks. I will have to miss one class, but felt it was worth it anyways, especially to do with a friend! Tonight we learned about the basics of baking, filling and frosting a cake and began practicing doing stars. That is what is up with all the stars on the cookies; I was playing around with doing stars in general and then trying stars of different sizes. Sam ate the one that was a smiley face and kept telling me "miley face gone!" when he had finished it. What a surprise! :) Hope you enjoyed your Wednesday evening!

Cake!

Ok, so I feel the need to show off my latest endeavor. I saw an idea on my favorite blog, Make It and Love It, for a fourth of july cake beyond the typical berry cake. Now, I never do a cake for occasions like this. Usually we only have cake for birthdays, period. But this looked like so much fun and we were having the big family get together, so I thought it would be perfect!

After alot of work and frustration, the end product not only looked cute, but tasted fabulous!!! It is five layers with homemade cream cheese frosting. And the best part?! When you cut into the cake, it looked just like the flag! No joke! Yes, I know it was ridiculous to spend so much time on something not so important, but it was fun to try and thanks to all those who helped!!! (sorry no pictures of the inside, but you can go over to Make It & Love It to check it out for yourself and see how I did it, just click on the Make A Cake series and look at Flag Cake)

Trip to Washington

We had a FAN-TAB-ULOUS trip to Washington this weekend! We went mainly for Caleb's blessing, but were also able to enjoy celebrating the Fourth and Karalie, Candace and Mom's birthdays! Here is "Care Bear" (Karalie) with the birthday cake Corinne's visiting teacher provided for the kiddos.

Oma with the sweet, patriotic baby Caleb

Auntie Candace helping Camilla warm up after playing outside in the swimming pool. That 'Milla loved the pool SO much! She first swam with the kids, then somehow managed to escape and get back in, fully dressed, TWO more times!

And what is a family weekend without a friendly game of whiffle softball? (or some other sport) We also enjoyed the Potter's private miniature golf course set up with real clubs. I was inside decorating the cake, so no pictures, sorry!

April and Matty showing us some family love

And here is the man of the hour in his adorable blessing outfit. Too cute!

Camilla shows us her apple fritter stolen from Mommy

Natalie being the oldest has really learned how to share even the best of things with the little kids.

During the Fourth of July program the Potters were involved in, the kids decided to attack Ben all at once! But of course he took it all in stride :)

The lovely Potter girls singing "Yankee Doodle" (three verses) for the Grandview partiotic program Saturday morning. Later in the program Mommy sang beautifully with other women from the ward, so it was a combine Potter effort.