Andrea bakes a Cake

This is my first true decorated cake (I bake pies for James every year for his birthday). Though I made a cake that looked like a stack of pancakes for Mom’s birthday once and a cake that looked like a Snicker’s bar for Melody’s birthday in Russia, this is the first time I wanted my icing to be smooth, my edges to be crisp and neatly bordered, and so on. It was a knee quaking attempt for me. But this is my first child and my first child’s birthday, I can’t imagine a better place to start! Thanks, James for not letting me wiggle out of this one. I would have regretted not doing this for my baby girl’s first birthday!

Titus’ favorite hangout in the kitchen--between Mama’s feet.

On Thursday, I made the butterflies and roses at my mother’s house. My mother also gave me a quick tutorial on the whole decorating process.

These butterflies were made with Colorflow icing (you can get the mix from Wilton’s) on wax paper over a coloring book printout we got off of the internet.

On Friday, I baked the cakes, layered them with raspberry jam between the layers (yum) and iced them as well as I could. I set them outside to harden before icing, but it was snowing and I had to dust off a few flakes before I could get started. Oops.

On Saturday, I decorated. The edging was a little challenging, and it really is a bunch of connected globs, but at least they are semi-consistent globs! The lettering was difficult too, but I followed a friend’s advice and wrote into the cake ahead of time with a toothpick. It doesn’t exactly flow gracefully, but at least it is neat!

Once the lettering and edging was done, the rest was a piece of cake (ha-ha)! Piping green vines and leaves was a lot of fun, and I got to add a little rosebud here and there. It was fun placing my roses and butterflies all over the place too.

I used extra cake batter and icing to make the little cake. I really am loving the rose and butterfly, pink-and-purple combination. It’s taking me back to my little girlhood!

The “Grandma” and the “5” were a surprise for my mother, who shares Clara’s special day.

So, is that enough pictures of my cake? I have more! Do I seem just a teensy bit happy with it? : ) Just wait. I already have plans for next year!

I think she liked it!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

First, I would love a personalized piece of mama jewelry like this pendant on Etsy.

Second, someday I would really like to have a Bosch mixer and a Nutrimill grain grinder.

Third, we badly need side tables for our bedroom, and I saw some lovely ones at Fred Meyer the other day.

Fourth, this isn’t for me, but it would be a huge help to receive Clara’s next car seat (maybe a Britax?) for Christmas.

Fifth, gift cards would be lovely. I really enjoy the process of shopping for something I need or want. Gift cards to craft places, specialty stores, or even just normal ones would be nice. We don’t normally do gift cards in our family, but I wouldn’t mind it!
2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?

My grandmother made James and I a quilt for our wedding. It’s such a beautiful labor of love! I will always treasure it.
3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

Well, I can’t tell what first comes to mind because it just might happen next year, but I would love to make clothes for Clara. My mother made dresses for me, and I’d love to do the same for her.
4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

Well, in my memory, I received all the boring gifts as a child—books, blank journals, nightgowns, colored pencils and paper, while my brother got lots of exciting toys—remote control cars, build-it-yourself robots, Lego’s, etc. But that was because I was older, a girl, a bookworm, and, actually, liked it that way. My favorite gifts were books I hadn’t read—like Mandy books. One year, however, I received a porcelain doll who I attached to with a special connection. I was nine that year and my dad was sent off to Saudi Arabia to fight in Desert Storm. There is more to that story, but that was a particularly wonderful gift.
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?

Clara doesn’t have a wish list because she doesn’t even know what Christmas is yet. We are getting her a few simple toys—wooden and bamboo. I am sure she will be showered with extended family love. And in two months, on her first birthday, we will try to get her something very special.
6. What is your favorite holiday food?

Mmm. Savory or sweet? I can taste delicious homemade artichoke dip with Fritos, but I also love Christmas sweets. Especially something with mint and chocolate in it, and maybe a tad crunchy with some crumbled candy cane? Mmm!
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

I am not much at handcrafting anything these days. I hope to bake some festive treats for the neighbors, and I will do my best to make Clara a special “taggy” blanket lined with flannel satin.
8. What is your favorite holiday movie?

It’s a Wonderful Life—I love Jimmy Stewart
9. Favorite holiday song?

I love the lullabies—“Silent Night,” “Away in a Manger,” “All the Friendly Creatures,” and so on. “Mary did you know” can make me cry, especially this year.
10. Favorite holiday pastime?

Being warm and cozy by the fire with my family, drinking a cup of hot chocolate, listening to holiday music, and laughing about family memories. It never gets old. Bundling into the car to take the coziness on the road to look at lights is fun too.

Chilly Willy Day

Thanks to all ye faithful visitors of our blog even in two weeks of silence. All it really means is that life has been busy for us.



James is fully emeshed his last semester of college. As each semester has it's own quirks and challenges, this one also looks like none that have gone before. His twenty hours of working to earn our keep are now for a small company that courts him predigiously hoping that he'll choose to stay when bigger, flashier companies offer salary packages and experience elsewhere. His three classes are a brain numbing concrete class, a group project driven senior design class, and a fluffy freshman art apreciation class. He spends most of every Saturday working with his group on the senior design project of planning an American history memorial park for downtown Anchorage. He also has meetings to polish up the design for the steel bridge competition in April, and his bedtime reading is the FE exam prep book which he will have to take in late April (right about the time that he has finals). We decided that a good date night (we haven't taken one since our anniversary!) would be to go to the Anchorage Museum of Art so he can get credit for it in his art class. The funny thing is that he took me there on a date when I was in art appreciation back when I was 17! Yup, semester is in full swing.


On my side of things, it is the time of year when all my little bilingual kids have to be tested in English to see how their skills have progressed since last year. Since I am the only bilingual staff person at both schools (by title, not definition), this means that I have to organize test materials, procure rooms to test in, group students to test, send passes, run passes, proctor, fend off angry parents, soothe irrate teachers, and collect and return all materials intact. The testing materials are so sensitive that I had to sign in blood that I would watch them like a hawk and when I check them out each day, I have to chain them to my wrist--even taking them to the ladies' room with me! Thankfully, I am almost completely done at one school, and I am looking forward to a smaller group at the other so I hope I can complete it all in one day.



February 8, we went to the Kuenning's house to celebrate Mom's birthday. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, of course, of all Mom's favorites--some cooked on the grill (in sub-zero weather). Aspen made a German chocolate cake (Mom loves both coconut and chocolate), and we opened Kinder eggs--as is our birthday tradition now that we have a supplier (Thanks, Uncle Rick and Aunt Jan!). It was an enjoyable evening, and Brady and Aspen made it even better when they announced that they finally set a wedding date: May 31st! We teased them and said they were getting married on our two year, five month wedding anniversary, but it is really good to have something to plan and work for.



Sunday night, we had another family event, but of a different kind. I took the little sweater and cap that I had crocheted months before (and only put the finishing touches on Saturday!) and put them in a bag with my favorite Burt's Baby Bee products for little Drake's baby shower! It was a co-ed affair and nearly 40 people were there at the Smith's -- including all of my family, which was nice. It was the first time I had seen Drake since he was two days old. He was wide eyed and rapt in looking at my face and occasionally gave hints of a smile! He is a beautiful baby boy. It was good to connect to all the family, and I think everyone had a good time.




So now we get to Chilly Willy Day, while birthdays and babys are exciting, how often can you go to church dressed in a cowboy costume? Well, that's what we did Saturday afternoon. After placing my pie on a table groaning with the weight of chili pots and fruit and cream pies, I stood back and mingled with cowboys, cowgirls, indians, and a mountian man. James came dressed as the town mayor in vest, cravat, and pocketwatch. I wore a prairie dress, full apron, and bonnet.


After the chili and pie judging (and lunch) us wild west people were released into the auditorium which now looked nothing like it had before. In the town of "Ye Blessed" stood "Ye Blessed Bank", "Ye Blessed General Store" (fully stocked and functional), "Ye Blessed Mother Lode", and "Ye Not So Blessed Jail." Hung strategically around the room were wanted posters for many familiar faces. There was a cake walk, a (fake) firing range, a spittoon hitting contest (with waterguns), a place for kids to make bonnets and vests, pony rides (dispite the -10 degree weather), an ice cream eating contest, a bubble gum blowing contest, and a place to have pictures of your sweetie put on buttons.


All of it was completely free. We paid in fake gold coins which could be earned through winning various games, panning for gold, or turning in a wanted criminal. If anyone wanted to contribute in REAL currency, the money went toward sending our teens to AIM Camp Adventure. It was good to see the men playing sherrif and robbers with the kids, the women making bonnets with the girls, families fellowshiping, and so many visitors! It met a need that I didn't even know we had--for a little bit of fun in the middle of a cold, dreary winter.

The tour . . .

Here, let me show you around a little bit.

1. The television you see on the kitchen counter doesn't pick up any channels, it is solely there to play VHS videos that we have no other way to watch. This is probably too rare an occurrence to take up valuable counter space, but that's where it is for the time being.

2. The desk that you see James working at James calls the "Borg Cube" as it folds neatly up into one massive, and slightly imposing, cube. It sure is handy though.

3. My bedside table doubles as storage for my stamps and scrapbook supplies. James' bedside table is a bookshelf.

4. The only piece of furniture that I've ever bought new is the desk/china cupboard beyond the dining room table. The closest thing to furniture that we've bought new are the folding end tables that we picked up at the brand new Bed, Bath, and Beyond in Anchorage.

5. The side table with the plant on it, is actually Titus's kennel. We can tell how excited he is when we get home by how fast the leaves quiver.

6. The bed, white couch, white dresser, bookshelves, corner cupboard, table, and chairs are kind hand-me-downs from my parents. The antique dresser and bookshelf/sideboard are also hand-me-downs from James' parents. The couch and "Borg Cube" are used acquisitions of our marriage, and the little table with the roses on it is from Grandma Kuenning's house. We're hoping that we don't have to move it all any time soon!

7. All through the house are evidences of how much people love us. Wedding gifts sprinkle every photo. Probably most people reading this blog could recognize something given to us (even if it's too small in the picture to really see), from the Tibetan lantern hanging in the bedroom, to the tea pot on the kitchen stove. We've been very blessed.

8. There are four beautiful quilts in the bedroom. The one on the bed is a wedding gift from the Tylers. The one above the bed is a hand made graduation gift from Jeanne Hoyt, the blue one behind the dresser is a personalized gift from Loni Bowlus with our names and wedding date embroidered into it. The one quilt not shown is a lovely, hand stitched and hand quilted labor of love from Grandma King. It is awaiting a home not in danger of dog toenails and daily grime, a pretty quilt rack on the wall or some safe place where it will hold up for many years of "your great-grandmother made this for Daddy and me when we got married." All I have to do is touch it to feel the awe of Grandma's great love for me.

9. The fall flowers on the table were left with a FREE sign in our laundry room (which is in the bottom floor of our building). They were fun to arrange.

10. Since our apartment is on the end of a long building of apartments, it is one of the few that has three windows instead of just two. Because we are on the top floor, we have no one walking above our heads, because we are not in the middle, we only share one bedroom wall and the kitchen walls with our neighbor. We try to be good neighbors to the people beneath us and next to us, but we are thankful that we are not dependant on four other apartments to be good neighbors to us.

Wedding Pictures

I don't know why I didn't do this sooner, maybe because the nearly 1000 pictures that people kindly took of our wedding day and reception is slightly overwhelming! But I'm not complaining. How else could we tell that Jesse Munsell was blowing bubbles while I was walking down the aisle? Or that Tanya Scott was crying harder than my mother? How else could we catch James' dad crack a smile during the ceremony or see Brady, the best man, check surreptitiously to see if he did indeed have the ring. Well, maybe I'll post those pictures later.



All I can say is it makes scrapbooking a very daunting job. I have to admit though, being able to choose one shot from five different angles does have huge advantages. If only I wasn't making that goofy face in every one of them!

-Andrea