Candy Graduation Lei

Cole's 5th grade class had a graduation (or I guess they call it promotion ceremony) to leave elementary school and head to  middle school . He of course is not fazed by this at all, I'm the one having the hardest time with it.  I was running like a mad woman with work and of course trying to make Caden's cupcakes to celebrate his summer bday in class before school ended. But I wanted to do something special for Cole, Thank God I found a cool and easy thing to make! 

I did a google search and several Candy Lei ideas came up but I then found a great tutorial on Laughing Stock Papercrafts. This was so easy to make and Cole LOVED it, he got several compliments on it.

What you need:

Celophane

Mini Candy (I went to Dollar Tree and picked up a few)

Curling Ribbon (Or ribbon of your choice)

Heavy duty Tape (I used packing tape)

Card Stock (I made a tag to hang off if you want) 

Step 1:  Cut your roll of cellophane the length you want your lei to be. I did like her recommendation to lay out the candy before cutting the cellophane to gauge how long I needed it to be. I also doubled up the candy per each round. 

Step 2:  Lay out your candy down the length of the cellophane, leaving a small space in between each piece so you'll have room to tie your ribbon.  (This is where I doubled the candy).

Step 3:  Fold over each side of the cellophane until you've got one long tube around the candy.  It doesn't have to be really tight to the candy so don't worry if the cellophane looks loose, mine was loose and worked perfect.

Step 4:  Begin tying in between the candy, starting at the center of the lei and working toward one side, then starting back at the center and work toward the end of the opposite unfinished side.  That way if your candy shifts and you need to remove a candy at the end to make room to tape the lei shut, you can do that more easily than if you randomly start tying.  Make ribbon about long enough so that can have curled ends.  I also used curling ribbon in my son's school colors but you can use whatever ribbon you like.

Step 5:  Overlap your ends and wrap a piece of heavy duty clear tape around it to hold the lei in place.  The candy lei can end up heavy and you don't have to worry about them falling apart when using heavy duty tape (I used packing tape).

 Step 6:  Tie a bow around the taped end.  You can add lots of curling ribbon here to mask the taped end.  I also like to add a cute tag here to dangle with the ribbon along with a thing of pop rocks to go with my saying "Congratulations Cole 5th Grade Graduate 2015 YOU ROCK!! Love Mom, Dad & Caden. 

Make one you'll be the hit of the graduation class!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Graduation Cookies (Letter with Graduation Cap)

We take a break from my mom's wine party items to show these really cool cookies I made for one my friends niece. These turned out so great and I'm getting this royal icing thing down!

I just noticed the only pic I took of one cookie was one I hit with my nail.

The other's looked smoother.

What you need:

Sugar Cookies (I used Sugar Cookie recipe found on Spoon Fork Bacon)

Letter Cookie Cutter (I picked mine up on Amazon)

Royal Icing (I use Julia M. Usher's Recipe) 

AmeriColor Soft Gel Coloring - Soft Pink

Piping Bags

Modeling Chocolate (White or use color for the cap you want)

Small Square Cookie Cutter

I rolled out the cookie dough and cut out the letters I needed. The girl I was making these for first name started with an E so I did about 32 E's. Baked them and let them cool. I tinted the royal icing was the soft pink gel. The E's weren't huge so when we did the outline we just ended up filling in with the same icing consistency instead of flooding like I did with the other Graduation Cookies. For the caps I took Candy Clay in white and cut out squares, my cutter was a little too small so I rolled it out to make it larger square. For the tassel we just took a strip of the candy clay and made it look like a tassel. And to make the cap have the button on the tassel we added a little circle of modeling chocolate. When the royal icing was almost dry I added the graduation cap to the cookie (I put a dab of icing on the back of the cap to make sure it stayed on).

For those who have not seen my previous post on how to make modeling chocolate (aka candy clay).

Modeling Chocolate

12oz Candy Melts

1/4 Cup light corn Syrup

Melt your Candy Melts in microwave (mine takes about 2 minutes). Stir them to become smooth and add the corn syrup.  It will become thick and form a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit out and dry.  Takes a few hours or over night is best. (Alexis note: I found to roll this out use a little powder sugar (like you would do with flour), also you have to kneed it a little like you would dough to make it easy to roll out).

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Graduation Cap Cookies ... Royal Icing

I've been loving those cookie YouTube video's on FB where the girl does the royal icing in time warp. They are beautiful, and I've always wanted to try! A friend from the gym asked if I could make some graduation cap cookies.  I thought this is my time to try out royal icing! NOW this was a big day for her daughter so I didn't want to mess them up OR not have anything for her! I called my best decorating gal and headed to her house with my baked cookies.

I did a Google search to find the best Royal Icing recipe and I found Julie Usher, she had a GREAT YouTube video on how to make, color and make consistency adjustments. 

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

We decided on the outline and then the flooding. This way you make a clean line for the outline then fill in the outline middle with the flooding. WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.

We outlined with dark blue (using AmeriColor Royal Blue Soft Gel Food Color). My friend had a steady hand so she did the outling. I did the flooding. I must say it was easier then I thought. We then outlined with black (using AmeriColor Black Soft Gel Food Color). The one thing I have learned about black is it goes from grey to black. NOW I should have let it rest and turn black our's turned a bit grey in the meantime. 

It was a bit time consuming and I know why people charge like $1.50 to $2 each cookie. They turned out so cool and I have another graduation to go to in 2 weeks that I wanted to make cookies for her gift.

A BIG thanks to my friend for always helping me with my adventures in new baking techniques. 

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

End of Year ... Graduation Cap Cupcakes

Next on our graduation list to make was for another grad, sadly I did not make it to the party in time so my bestie got a ton of cupcakes to eat with her family ... lol.

What you need:

Mini Rolo's

Mini Ghirardelli squares

Red Hots

Twizzlers

Frosting

Frosted Cupcake

Frost a cupcake (I use my sturdy buttercream frosting) then I top with the little graduation hat.  I took a mini rolo added a little frosting and attached the Ghirardelli square.  I found these mini Ghirardelli square's at Walmart, they were the perfect size!  For the top I added a little more frosting to attach some Twizzlers I cut and topped with a red hot.

Super Easy and they look so cute!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

End of School Year ... Flourless Chocolate Cake Graduation Caps

We had a graduation party to attend this weekend for my friends son who I've known since he was a baby!  Let's just say I was the noisy neighbor that use to throw crazy parties late at night.  And here I am married with kids of my own, going to bed early instead of having cocktails.  I wanted to bring something fun to the party I found flourless chocolate cake graduation caps on Hungry Happenings.  They are delicious!!  MOST people probably could ONLY eat a bite or two since they are so rich. ME on the other hand with my addiction to all things sugar probably could eat everyone and stuff myself full!!

What you need:

Flourless Chocolate Cake (See Recipe Below)

18 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped* (I used Chocolate Chips)

2 sticks of butter (1/2 lb.), cut into small cubes (I just threw it in)

8 large eggs
a small amount of butter to coat the molds

ALEXIS NOTES: I used Cake Release but found that butter worked better! I bought my mold on Amazon (Freshware 15-Cavity Mini Half Sphere Silicone Mold and Baking Pan).

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven and a roasting pan filled with enough water to go halfway up the sides of the silicone mold, at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. NOTE: You will want to bake your cakes in a water bath so that they will bake evenly and be creamy and smooth. ( I used the roasting pan like she suggested, let the pan with the water get warm in the oven then add the silicone pan). I also did 6 cakes at a time.

Place chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl. (I did mine for 2 minutes she did her's in 30 second intervals). I whisk eggs in a mixing bowl with a hand held mixer on medium high until the eggs double in volume. You'll want the chocolate to be warm at this point, so make sure it is warm to the touch. Stir one third of the eggs into the melted chocolate to loosen the chocolate. Fold in the remaining eggs.

Butter your silicone molds. Equally divide batter among 18 half sphere silicone mold cavities, (I found one batch made only 12 cakes for me). Bake for 10-14 minutes until the cakes still looks moist but are set. Insert a digital thermometer into a cake, (my oven must have been off I found mine became a gooey mess if I didn't bake for 35 minutes). Once the cakes reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit, remove them from the oven and set on a cooling rack. Using a thermometer is the best way to tell if your cakes are done (I didn't have one this could have been my problem). Don't overcook them, or they will become dry. 

Bake these in batches, just be sure the water doesn't evaporate too much. If it does, just add more water to the roasting pan and allow it to heat up for a few minutes. Allow cakes to cool completely. Un-mold by turning silicone mold upside down and pressing the cakes out while turning the mold inside out. Keep refrigerated until ready to decorate. 

Chocolate Directions:

Turn a rimmed baking sheet upside down and set a piece of parchment paper on top. Spread half of the chocolate into a thin layer on the parchment paper. Set it in the refrigerator for about 3 minutes, just until it looses it's shine but isn't completely set. It needs to be soft enough to cut through. Cut into 3" squares using a straight edge and a pizza wheel or knife. She used a 3" wide piece of Plexiglas that to cut her chocolate barks into squares, I eyeballed it, her's turned out better (next time).  Refrigerate the chocolate until set about 10 minutes.  

Reserve a small amount of melted chocolate to attach the tassels to the caps, and repeat with remaining chocolate.  (I just made a huge batch with my chocolate and used frosting to attach the cake and cap).  

Decorating Directions:

She used a clay extruder to make the edible tassels, I used red Twizzlers (I was in a hurry and Rick would have KILLED me if I bought another tool for baking). I used a red hot for the button and some red frosting to attach the Twizzlers and Red Hot on top of the chocolate.

ALEXIS NOTES: This took a little time but I think they turned out great.  I've NEVER made a flourless cake before so it took a little time to get it right.  My oven took 35 minutes to cook, I then put in the freezer for a few minutes before letting sit on the counter and popping out of the silicone mold. I found the chocolate melts worked best to make the capes using my NEW 13 Inch Angled Spatula and pizza cutter.  I wish I had 2" plastic that she used to make them perfect but I know for next time.  I used Twizzlers instead of the extruder she used, Rick is already on me with buying new stuff for my baking so I went with what was easy and I had on hand.

A little work but as Cole said they were a hit!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Busy Weekend Ahead of me ...

I did it again over extended myself ... ugh!  We have 2 birthday parties to attend, 1 graduation party. PLUS I have to get all of Caden's invites out for his party and oh yeah I volunteered to make ANOTHER cake for the homeless kids party and I volunteered to help at field day!

My Plans:

I got the invites done

(WELL enough for the class at least

I gave up at midnight last night)

The Cake I'm doing for the homeless charity

Olaf - Well I'm going to attempt one like this

Idea found Fun Finds for Families

The Gamer Gift I'm putting together

Idea found on Bubbly Nature Creations

The Summer Gift I'm putting together

Idea found on Living Practically

The graduation mini cakes I'm making 

Have a great weekend!

Wish me luck!!

Let Them Eat Cake ... Fondant Graduation Cap Cupcakes

Yesterday I showed you the graduation cap cakes I made, today I wanted to show the cupcakes I made.  I wanted to make the cupcakes have the same theme as the cakes.  I was so excited when I came across Glorious Treats and a tutorial on how to make fondant graduation caps.  Here step by step photos are excellent and I must say the cupcakes came out amazing, the looked like a million bucks if I must say so myself!!

I also made a few with the year on them.

What you need:

Fondant (I used my Rolled Buttercream Fondant)

Ruler or Cutter

Wilton Color Icing (if you need to color fondant)

Fondant Cut & Roll Mat

Wilton Letter / Numbers (if you want to add)

Baked Cupcakes

Frosting (I used my Sturdy Buttercream frosting)

Here are the wonderful steps that Glorious Treats did up:

1.  Color your fondant as desired

2.  Roll out the color of fondant you plan to use for the hat.

3. Cut fondant into strips about 3/4 inches wide and 3 3/4 inches long.

4.  Roll up a strip of fondant to create a ring (overlapping slightly).  Use a teeny, tiny bit of water or corn syrup to help the ends stay together.  Set aside to dry.

6.  Cut a square (for the top of the hat) about 1 3/4 inches x 1 3/4 inches.

7.  Allow hat bases (the rings) and tops (squares) to dry for several hours or overnight.  They should be totally firm before moving to the next step.

8.  When the pieces have dried, use a tiny bit of “edible glue”- made with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and a tiny bit of water (it should be the thickness of toothpaste) and apply with a (clean) paintbrush along the top edge of one ring.  Set the top of the hat (a fondant square) on top, and set aside to dry.

9.  Once the top of the hat has been secured to the base of the hat, make a tassel.  For the tassels, simply roll a tiny piece of fondant into a little “snake”.  I used my finger to press down one end just a bit, then used a knife to create just a bit of texture to represent the individual strings at the end of a tassel.

10.  Add just a drop of your ”edible glue” to the center of the hat, and attach the tassel.  Bend tassel over the side of the cap just a bit.  Set aside to dry (at least 1 hour).  Add toppers to cupcakes right before serving (up to a few hours before).   Fondant decorations added more than a few hours before serving will begin to get soft and lose their shape.

ALEXIS NOTES:  I used water as my glue. I also used my wilton roll and cut mat to make the lines even and my squares (I would suggest getting one).  I added them to the cupcakes right before I left for delivery so they would hold up.  I also found mine must have been on the thick side so they took a little longer to dry.   I made the fondant a few days early and kept in a air tight container in the fridge.  I did not make enough of the white so I had to make a few of them the night before and they didn't have enough time to harden up and were a little on the soft side, so I say you MUST let them sit for a day before assembling.

For those like me that need step by step:

What you need:

My Helper had to have his picture taken too!

These were a little bit of time to make but if you do it in stages it will help it go faster.  I made two version's for each girl who graduated college.  I made the little caps look exactly like the big caps.

Hope you give these a try they would be perfect to make for a classroom or a graduation party.  I had full intention of making a batch for Cole's class but just ran out of time last week.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Let Them Eat Cake ... Graduation Cap Cakes

If you follow me here or on Facebook you will know I've been on a mission.  My friend asked if I would make a cake for her daughter and niece who were graduating college.    She was so funny she said I was thinking a sheet cake lol I told her what I was thinking.  2 graduation cap cakes and then 70 or so cupcakes decorated in a graduating theme.  They were expecting around 75 people, figured the girls may not want to cut into cake and share ... lol.

So on the mission I went to find a tutorial on making a graduation cap.  Well I found many pictures but no step by step.  Now I saw MANY beautiful graduation cap cakes but all were from professional sites that they wanted you to buy. So I just figured I'd wing it.  

Here is what I came up with.  

I made 3 total cakes! 

1 for Each Girl and then 1 trial cake I made for Caden:

PLU Cake (College Color's were Black & Gold)

Seattle University Cake (College Color's White & Scarlet)

Here was my first attempt that I made for Caden's Class

His School Colors are Black & Red

What you need:

• 2 baked round cakes (I used 10")
• Buttercream frosting (for middle and dirty icing)
• Fondant
• Wood dowels 
• Wilton Icing Colors (In school Colors)
• Silicone molds Numbers / Letters
• Fondant Mat
• Cake board (round)
• Cake board (square)
• Cake release
• Rolling pin or fondant roller
• Fondant Cutter / Pizza Cutter

Before I started this project I researched the school colors and what I would need and bought most of the items off Amazon.  I did make a test one that I gave to Caden's graduating Kindergarten Class.  I found PLU was Black and Gold.  Black Wilton Icing Color I bought at Walmart (I say you must use Icing Color's instead of food coloring, $1.57 at Walmart for a mini jar).  For the Gold I went to the Wilton icing color chart and found that for a antique gold you need add just an extremely small touch of Leaf Green to Golden Yellow (Both of these I found at Michael's).  I MUST say Gold is a pain the butt to make it just right.  For Seattle University I found their colors to White and Scarlett.  White was easy I just kept the fondant it's normal color (make SURE you use CLEAR vanilla extract found at most craft stores or Amazon). For Scarlet back to Wilton icing color chart to find Maroon (the closest match) you need Burgundy and Red Red.  I have Red Red that I picked up at Walmart, the Burgundy was a tougher one to find here so I ordered on Amazon.

I also ordered on Amazon (since they were half the price as the stores here) Wilton Roll and Cut Mat and Wilton Fondant Silicone Mold Numbers and Letters.  I picked up some 10" cake round pans also.

I started with my favorite homemade yellow cake mix.  NOW make sure you use Wilton cake release, this can be bought at Micheal's or even Walmart. It will make sure your cake comes out nice. Believe me I had to throw out 2 cakes that didn't come out, in pieces was my heart and the cakes. Let the cakes cool before you do any thing.  While the cakes cooled I whipped up a few batches of my favorite Sturdy Buttercream frosting.  I used a Wilton circle cake board, put a dollop of frosting on the board.  I then put one of the cooled cake rounds on the board the dollop of frosting is like the glue to hold in place. I then added frosting to the top to be the middle of the 2 tier cake.  I added a cake on top, then lightly frosted the the sides and the top to be like the glue when you put the rolled fondant on (See photo's below for step by step).

Then I made my favorite rolled buttercream fondant, one I dyed with Wilton black icing colors and the other I left white (side note I used clear vanilla extract so it didn't make any color).  This is the easiest fondant, I found if you roll it out on a Wilton fondant mat, I then used the mat to drape the fondant on, I found this was the easiest and it didn't rip.  You will have to do a little smoothing out the bumps and any lumps.  I Added 4 wood dowels to make sure the cake didn't slip.

For the top of the graduation cap I came up with using a square cake board the I rolled fondant out and covered it.  It worked perfect.  I added frosting to the board as the glue, rolled the fondant and the put the frosting side down. And like a present I pulled the sides up and pressed them on the backside that be came the underside of the cap (see picture below).

For the tassel I rolled out fondant in the 2nd color I then cut into strips (use a Wilton fondant cutter or pizza cutter) and added to the top of the hat.  I rolled a ball that I used for the button on the top.   My friend April came up with adding little balls in the two school colors around the base of the cake.  She is the fondant rolling queen and helped me out so much!!

I added Congrats, their name and the year on top of the cake.  I pushed the fondant into the mold. Put in the freezer and when it hardened up I popped the letters/numbers out and added onto the top of the cake.  To add to the top of the cake use a little water as glue.  My friend April also gave me a tip of using corn starch in the mold to help the fondant pop out easier!

It was a bit time consuming but it was so worth it! They looked so great!  Ok I'm bragging but I was so excited!

Here are all the cakes!

For Caden's class I added to a clear bag & tied with a ribbon.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Taking a Breath ...

Sorry gang haven't been around much!  Last week we had end of year concert, graduation from kindergarten, last day of school and I made 2 graduation cakes and 70 some cupcakes for a friend.  I'm just coming up for breath now.  Just a quick post of what we have been up to.

We had 3 parties to attend this weekend and me baking up a storm!

Cole & Caden's End of Year Concert!

Kindergarten Graduation

Preview of Cakes and Cupcakes

Oh yes and my laptop screen died :(.

Who knew the keyboard could work but screen stays black.

Thankfully my dad showed me to jimmy rig it using a monitor to the side of the laptop.

OH yes it a real pain in the butt, but my new laptop is coming.

I'm hoping to be around more today!

Graduation Cap Cake Pops Made

I like to make something for the class as they move to the next grade.  I found several things on Pinterest for Graduation but I’ve been dying to try out this cake pop pan my mother in law bought me.  So I came up with an idea to make a cake pop and then add a graduation cap on top to make it look like a little graduation head.  Cole’s school colors are red and black.  Here is what I came up with.  What do you think?

 

First off I made a Vanilla Cake Pop from the Baby Cakes Shops.  It was a simple recipe and I did like they said and put it in a piping bag (aka poor person ziplock bag).

Ingredients:
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ cup milk
Directions:
1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and creamy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Alternately blend in flour mixture and milk into butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
4. Fill each cooking reservoir with about 1/2 full. 
5. Bake 350 for 20 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and glaze or coat, as desired.

You Will need:

• Wilton Candy Melts (In your School Colors)
• Cake Pop Sticks
• Graham Crackers
• Peel Twizzlers
• Frosting (Something you can use like glue to stick the hat on top)

I made the cake pops stuck them in the freezer while I melted some red Wilton candy melts and dipped them in it.  I then put them in the fridge so they would firm up.   I then took graham cracker rectangle and broke in half to be like a square for the cap.  I dipped that in black candy melts and let them sit on some wax paper before they hardened I took some peel twizzlers  to look like tassels hanging off the hat.

Check out the step by step here, plus you see my helpers .  I only had one cake pop stand (I even sent Rick to Walmart and couldn’t find another one).  So we did some extra and did them with out a stick in a cupcake holders.

So Friday we wrap up the 2nd grade.  I hope our goodies are loved.

Weekend Wrap Wednesday ~ Graduation and Just Hot Days!!

First off I start out with pictures of the car that my grandfather bought for Cole on his 2nd birthday, before he passed away. Yes it has been sitting in my garage since then on a top shelf too high for me to reach. After 3 YEARS! of begging Rick finally built the car! Thank the lord now we have 2 so the boys will stop fighting over the cop on, right? Yup I'm laughing too! But it was super cute watching the boys face light up and Caden running around with a wheel, sing "Wheel, Wheel, Wheel". LOL It was perfect!

Well it wasn't a slow weekend yet again! Friday was a busy day at work and when I was done I picked the boys up and went up to my parents to find out what special treat my mom has for Cole. That would be a new Spiderman Bike! She pickup a bell ... thanks mom just what I need more noise in this house! She previously bought him a spiderman helmet and pads when she bought him a razor. Can you say first grandchild and spoiled rotten. Well we already knew he was rotten but to give him gifts on top of it? Now only I could get my parents to be those grandparents that have sleep overs and babysitting ... LOL. LOVE my parents and they take very good care of my boys, just not many babysitting hours there. Hey I will take what I can get! Cole gets items I could never afford and Caden gets them passed down! Can't beat it!

Saturday got up at 5am to work for the call center it was the first weekend of getting my calls recorded and I was so nervous! I know my script and try to stick to it as long as my callers stick to it where doing well. But you know my life it never goes that way, so of course almost every caller wanted to get me off track. LOL at least I had a good amount schedule, so off the calls I went and get everyone dressed and ready was the name of the game. Of course the monster escaped out of the house after I got them out of the tub. Caden the no shoe boy, Yup you put them on he throws them off. So guess what happens he got splinters. Yes I'm a bad mom I took pictures of him while he was screaming. He wasn't that bad!

After rounding up the crew rewashed them and even ironed their clothes yes you read that correct I ironed their clothes. I was so frustrated and sweaty from running around that I totally forgot to take their picture. Believe me they were super cute! I got down to my grandmothers house to pick her and my mom up to go to a graduation party. We were early you have to mark that one down! Got to GG (what my kids call great grandmother) and hung out for a while. I LOVE my grandmother but we're just not super super close like how she is with my cousin. So it was a little sad to see toys for her kid there, when we never really went down there when the boys were babies but it's nice that they are that close just sad that my kids aren't really that close. Maybe the future!

The party was fun but it was super hot and the ride up there was oh so much fun! LOL we have GG in the front seat and mom in the back with the boys. Yes that would be a fun ride, those of you that know my family are giggling. Between directions being yelled from the back from mom and GG keep telling the boys to be quiet and behave. Yes it was the longest hour and 15 minutes of my life. Did I mention Jubilee was going on in Seattle and that meant 20 blocks were blocked off to go where we had to go! UGH, it was so hot and the day flew by we stayed a little later then planned and I must say the boys did very well for 4 hours and being the only kids (yes no kids). Oh did I mention the boys got up at 6am and had no naps! Yup I say we did very well for no naps and just little snacking here and there! So congrats to my mom cousin's daughter that is going to Korea to teach English. She may go to where our exchange student was from!

Sunday was a nice day I had the chance to talk to an old friend and was able to talk on the phone for an hour! It was fabulous catching up. We even hung out at my parents house to get the Bell I "forgot" for Cole's bike. Thanks again mom! Visited with some of my favorite gal pals too! Even had a picnic outside I think the gravel in the kids playbox ate more of the mac n cheese while they dug for the hotdogs ... LOL.

REMINDER!!! I have an AWESOME Audio book giveaway up that is a book I would recommend for everyone! It's a true reminder of 2nd chances and the angels that are around us to slow down and appreciate what is important in our life!

Any Minute Audio Book Giveaway (3 Winners)