Monday, July 30, 2007

Swimming Videos

Here are the videos! I'm so proud of how well they are swimming just by going to the pool about 3 times a week. :)

Favorite Summer Activity


This has become the girls' favorite thing to do this summer! We are very blessed to have family who live close by--both mine and Andy's. Andy's sister and husband put in an inground pool this summer and have allowed us to come over whenever we want. That has been awesome since I'm pregnant this summer. I really didn't want to go to the town pool or even the aquatic center in Siloam Springs because I'm sure I would run into former students. There are some things that I would not like my former students to know about me--like how I look in a maternity swimsuit! :) I also decided not to put the girls in swim lessons this summer because they are having more fun learning on their own at Coye and Marnie's pool. It's been a lot of fun to watch and help them as they explore their bravery in the pool.





vidoes to come...
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Friday, July 13, 2007

Anne and her Neena


My mom dropped by with a "surprise" for Anne, the green and blue sundress. Anne really liked it, and had to demonstrate twirling in it. :)
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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

What I've been up to today!


I took classes on decorating cakes when I was pregnant with Naomi. I've always wanted to know how mainly so I could make adorable cakes for my girls. This is a cake I made for a colleague my mom works with. It's not the most difficult one I've decorated, but it certainly turned out cute--if I do say so myself! :) This shows that even a simple decoration can turn out just as well as a difficult one. It's also the BEST chocolate frosting recipe I've ever made! The cake is cherry chip with chocolate buttercream frosting. The pink frosting is buttercream as well, just not chocolate. The sparkles you might be seeing are just cake sparkles. I use the Wilton brand for most of my cake decorating necessities. I have to say this cake combination tastes like a chocolate covered cherry! I tried some of the cake scraps with some of the leftover frosting to check out the two flavors together. It was AWESOME!! Here's the frosting recipe I used. I had to double the recipe for chocolate because the cake has three layers seperated by the chocolate icing.

Buttercream Icing
1/2 c. solid vegetable shortening (Crisco is the best)
1/2 c. butter
1 t. Wilton Clear Vanilla Extract
4 c. sifted confectioners' sugar
2 T. milk
YIELD: 3 cups

Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with damp cloth until ready to use. Refrigerate leftover icing in an airtight container, up to 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

Chocolate variation:
Add 3/4 c. cocoa powder for baking or three 1-oz. unsweetened squares for baking, melted. (I prefer the powder.) Also add an additional 1-2 T of milk. Mix until well blended.

ENJOY! :)
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