Almost done...

I'm up to my elbow in cornstartch and powedered sugar, but thought I'd post the almost finished product. I still have some piping to do and the bride has flowers to add to the top.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens....

These are a few of my favorite things. (And this is just from today!)

It's been a busy day! To explain, the donuts are famous donuts from VOODOO donuts in Portland, OR. Ned and I saw "donut paradise" on the travel channel and it spotlighted this donut shop. They had all these crazy flavor. What would you know, some friends of ours went to Portland this week and brought us back a sample! Maple bacon bar. Believe it. And yes, it was AWESOME. The other one was a fruit loop one. Yummy as well. But what made it one my favorite things was not the donut, but just the fact that it was on TV and it's like a piece of history. Yes, I am that hokey. Then lastly, I started working on my Brother-in-law's wedding cake. I still have a whole other layer to do on the bottom, ribbon, piping...a lot more work. But I think it's off to a great start. I also attended a little discussion on managing and reducing stress. Always good advice I need. What a great day.

Back in preschool!

Tatum goes to a wonderful preschool. She is now in her second year and the first day was yesterday. Here she is with her teacher, Miss Jill.

Tatum with Miss Pam

We celebrated the first day by making "back to school" cookies.

Good luck this year, Tatum! I know you will do so well in school!

Ft. Nugent

Lately Ned's been playing disc golf with some of his friends on his crew. It's a nice arrangement because it's at a great park and the kids love to play. The other wives come too and we can hang out while the guys play the game.

The Raeg-ster

Here's some pictures of my little Bay Rae smiling tonight. I sure got me a cute baby!!!

My Iron Chef

The past month or so, Carson has become obsessed with cooking in the kitchen with me. Whenever he sees me plug in the electric skillet or get a pan out, he quickly grabs his step stool and runs up to the counter. But don't worry...he always reassures me "I promise I'm not going to get burned, Mom. I promise I'm not." Today I was making soup (very yummy soup to be exact) and Carson as usual joined me. Ned had some scrap paper nearby and quickly taped together a hat for him. I think he looks like he's headed of to Le Cordon Bleu. Cute man!

Last but certainly not least!

I hate doing posts that don't include all of my kids! So I realized today that I didn't get any pics of my Tatie bug. So here are a few cute shots from the past couple of years of her sporting sunglasses- her favorite!

Sunday morning smiles

My kids are morning people. I wish they weren't because I grow all too tired of being so acquainted with 6:00 AM. But they do go to bed early which makes up for it. Here are a few pics from our morning in the playroom.

A new toy...

Ned surprised me with a cake stand yesterday! He is so sweet. I had a 50% off any item coupon and he ran into Michael's yesterday to "get some fondant" and came out with a stand for me! I was surprised and of course...super excited! I'm doing a lot of cakes in October and November, so this will be a fun couple of months.

Say Cheese!

Baby Raegan (AKA Bay-Rae) had her two month visit today. She jumped from the 25th percentile in height and weight all the way up to the 95th for height and 75th for weight! I kept telling her that she had to stay tiny until her Daddy came home and sure enough she held out. She is such a wonderful baby and a joy to have in our family. She has started really smiling so here are a couple pics of her grin.

The Potty Project

Carson is seriously the second most stubborn person I know. The first, being me. Anyway we have tried for seriously 8 months on and off to potty train Carson with no success. It has been so frustrating for me. Especially since he's so smart and clearly knows what to do, just not willing to do it. I didn't realize how easy it was for Tatum to train when she was barely two and she was fully trained in 3 days from start to finish. Anyway, Ned had a four day weekend this week and we just decided that this time it would have to happen. Luckily it worked and we are well on our way! I'm so proud of Carson, he's been dry for 2 straight days (including overnight). Way to go Carson!! Keep it up.

Making it count

Today I learned that an old friend of mine passed away after a very short battle with Leukemia. She had 4 children under the age of 5. When she was pregnant with her fourth child, her cancer was discovered. She leaves behind a loving husband, four sweet children and too many friends and family to count. She had such a positive attitude and even throughout her radiation and chemo treatments she stayed upbeat and optimistic. Today I'm reminded that life is painfully fragile. That anything can happen at any moment. It makes me want to do better. To be a better mother. To be the best wife that I can be. Today I want to set a goal and achieve it. Today I need to remember that all life is precious. It is ironic that Annie's life ended so shortly after giving life to her little baby boy, Matthew. She loved being a mother and loved her children dearly. I know that the world is a better place for her being a part of it. I will be a better person for knowing her, and knowing her story. Till we meet again, Annie. We love you.

Welcome home Daddy!!

I left my camera in the car the morning Daddy got home. So this was taken by another wife for me. I can't beleive Carson is messing with his nose in it. Oh well. The kid is two, what are you going to do? Anyway life is good now. We love Dad.

I remember hugging Ned goodbye at the SLC airport on May 28th and being completely terrified. The knew that the next few months would be full of uncertainty, physical pain and discomfort and extreme fatigue and exhaustion. When is that EVER a good combination? So for the past 3 1/2 months my predictions came true. A lot of unknowns, some pain and seriously next to NO SLEEP for the past 8 1/2 weeks. I remember talking to Ned the day after Raegan was born and listening to his voice on the ship it sounded a million miles away. I wanted him there so badly because life is always better with Ned by my side. So the months have come and gone and now Ned is coming home tomorrow. I can quite honestly say that I have never been more excited for anything in my entire life. I'm just so excited to have him meet Raegan and hold his new beautiful daughter in his arms. He is such a wonderful father and I'm reminded of unconditional love whenever I'm around him. His coming and going the past few years has been difficult, but in it I have found a personal strength that I had not known was there. I am strong, I am able, I am a person who refuses to give up. These things have helped my life in so many other ways than just dealing with deployments. Being a Navy wife has taught me that nothing is ever perfect, nothing is ever going to go exactly as planned and nothing is impossible. Now I'm starting to sound like a recruiting commercial or something. It's not. I'm just slowly coming to realize that we are all given opportunities in life to grow. They may not be the way you want to do it, but it's always for the best. So welcome home Ned. I love you so much and we are all anxious to have you back home where you belong. Now....enough of this sappy stuff. I'm ready for a NAP y'all!!!!

Princess cake, take 2

This is the second princess cake for the week. Yes, I know it's basically the same cake as the baby shower one. I am beyond tired from this week. I've had more going on this week than any other week this summer. Ok, that's not entirely true. I suppose the week I gave birth, dealt with food poisoning and the ER, kept a 'round the clock vigil over Raegan on her Billi lights was a big week, too. It's been a party this summer. *sigh* Anyway my sister found this awesome pearl spray (food grade, of course...) at a bake shoppe in Utah. So she sent me a can and I love it. It adds a beautiful shine to the cake and I don't think I'll ever do a cake without it.

A fun project...

Well here is the first of four cake projects that I have to do. It's for a baby shower, and I am also doing a birthday cake this weekend, a baby shower cake the end of September and my brother- in-law's wedding cake in October. This one was a lot of fun to do. I'm co-throwing a princess baby shower and the thing on top of the cake is a cute little crown made out of sugar. It's not the best view of the crown, but it tapers down towards the back and looks prety cute. Ah, isn't life a little sweeter with cake? Below are the invitations I made for the shower and I tried to match the cake to it.