Chickens, Songs and Cuties

ok, so I'm back on the smilebox kick. It is just so much quicker to upload video to a smilebox than youtube. Youtube takes so long my computer usually crashed before it finished uploading. So here's another smilebox for you! Enjoy!

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Painting Party Goodies and a Big Mermaid Cake!

The bakery has been hopping this week! I had 2 projects for this weekend. One was rather small in numbers, but challenging all the same. A really smart mommy friend of mine celebrated her daughter's 5th birthday with a painting party. So much fun! I made a mini cake and matching cupcakes.
Love the cupcakes!

I also made cookies in the shape of cupcakes and iced them in white. The party girls used edible markers to decorate them! Thanks Laura! Always a pleasure!

My other cake for the weekend was one John Merritt would deem "big honkin' cake." It was really fun to work on. Love, love it when people give me free reign. I loved how it turned out. Everything is edible except the dowel supports inside the cake and the sticks holding the topper on the top of the cake. The topper is made out of white chocolate.
Fondant seashells and brown sugar for sand.

The coral is made with plain old sugar and food coloring. You boil sugar and a little water to a high temperature then you pour it over ice. I sprinkled mine with sanding sugar. Can't wait to use that technique again!
Thanks Laura (yes, the birthday girls and the moms had the same names!) it was a joy to make Caroline's cake!

Happy 5th Birthday John Merritt!

John Merritt turned 5 today! My how time flies! It seems like only yesterday we were heading to the hospital to meet our first child. And now, he's 5!
In just 5 short years, John Merritt has grown into a wonderful young man who has a deep love for his family and for Jesus. He is learning new things everyday and is such a delight to be around. We love you dearly John Merritt and thank God for you! Happy Birthday!

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4th of July Fun!

On Sunday night, our church family gathered at the park for a joint 4th of July church service. It was a bit warm, but wonderful to be able to celebrate not only our wonderful country, but also the freedom we find in Christ.
Monday, Jason had to preach a funeral for a dear man from our church that passed. Mr. Loyd will be greatly missed. We served on the benevolence committee together. I guarantee Mr. Loyd had the best 4th of July ever! The boys and I made our way to Roxboro for a visit with Grammy and Papa. It was a great visit with lots of yummy food from the garden! We returned home in time for a big thunderstorm that canceled everyone's fireworks plans.
My family has been ragging me about not doing smileboxes anymore. So, at long last, another smilebox!

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Famous Family Quotes

There were a few moments today, when the words that came out of the mouths of several of my family members were too funny.
It started with my husband Jason after he brought me the shirt we bought him for Father's Day.
Mom- "so, it didn't fit?"
Dad-"no, the sleeves were too short"
Mom-"would a bigger size work?"
Dad- "I don't think so. And can I just comment on the kind of shirts you buy me?"
Mom- "you don't like what I pick out?"
Dad- "I'm not really into plaid."
Now, this exchange probably isn't funny to you and you're probably wondering why I posted it. I really don't know, I just thought it was so sweet the way my husband told me he didn't like my clothing finds. He kind of had a sheepish look on his face too. And later, at dinner, he told me to stop putting cheese on his hamburger. We've been married 10 years people!

The next moment happened during the dinner blessing. Our 4 year old was the #1 prayer, and he thanked God for the food, his Dad and the chickens. I see where I fall in the lineup. Then he quickly asked God to please let him be able to put a leash on his favorite chicken Clucky. I can't wait to see that.

After dinner, we were playing in the floor when the 4 year old asked me, "Why are your legs so fat?" What am I going to do with these guys?

Easter, Gardens and School

I snapped a few pictures during school the other day! Wow, imagine that! A picture without a cake in it! Here's a neat project we started last week: illustrating the 23rd Psalm, a passage we are committing to memory.
John Merritt decided e wanted to write a book about a trip to the library.

Here's Samuel working on his "school."

Here are a few words from John Merritt's spelling list. His penmanship is getting better. Hopefully, it will end up being a lot better than mine!
We've been working on building a few more raised garden beds. Here's Sam hard at "work."
John Merritt working the soil, getting ready to add more dirt and other fun stuff (I'm talking about that yellow bag with the picture of the cow on it!)


Sacked out after a hard day in the garden.
I always try and get a family Easter picture. Samuel was not thrilled.

Sam in Sunday School.

My poor short legged child.

Dad also built a nice picnic table for us! Good job Daddy!
This is our friend Stick that John Merritt found. Look at how dirty my child is! The bathtub has been working overtime lately. I'm ready for when the weather is warm enough I can just hose them off outside. Aaahhh the joys of country living!


another dirty boy!

Stay tuned for garden updates!!

Yoda Cookie Tutorial

Finally, finally I have completed a little demonstration/tutorial video. Many people have asked me to make one so I finally was able to photograph my way through my Yoda cookies. Now please keep in mind, this is a pretty advanced cookie and I've had a lot of practice. I should have made a basics video first, but this is the way it happened. I'm working on straight forward star cookies this week and I'll try to video the basics. You need to start with a good quality cookie (smooth and without rounded edges) in order for your icing to work right. So enjoy this video and remember it was my first one so don't be too harsh! I'm not claiming to be an expert by any means! This is just what works for me. There are many, many schools of thought regarding cookie decorating, and I know several decorators that could decorate circles around me!
And for all you who have no desire whatsoever to stay up all hours of the night baking and decorating cookies, I'm sure it will be interesting just to watch. It is kind of neat! You'll also see how much time I put into my cookies! if the video is choppy, press pause and let it load a while before you watch it. took me a while to figure that one out!