More Cake

Guess what I did this weekend? Yep, made a cake. This time it was for my Bestest Friend Ayzlynn. She turned 25! Old woman haha! Her mom threw her a party and hired Sweet Ace Cakes to feed the crowd! Again, I had creative freedom to do whatever so I decided I would keep experimenting with different recipes and decor.

(Below: Maggie, Ayzlynn, Me at the party)

So, here it is: white chocolate raspberry cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries on top.


Yes, it was super delicious. SO here is another plug for my tiny little business - if you want cake or know of someone who does, let me know! The only way for me to get better is practice, practice, practice!!

Family pet and Melting Pot

Well, we took the plunge and got a family pet! We can't have dogs or cats here so we went with a Guinea Pig. They are pretty docile creatures and they are great to have with kids. SO, everyone, meet Mokey:

Hannah and Lucas are so excited and just want to hold her all the time. I am not going to lie, I am pretty happy myself. She is such a sweet little thing. She is only 9 weeks old so she will get bigger.

In other news, Cole and I celebrated out 5 year anniversary this past week. Cole got me some awesome cake/recipe books and I got him concert tickets (B.B. King). We went out to dinner, just the two of us, to the Melting Pot in Fort Collins. It was DELICIOUS! We were there for almost two hours eating as much fondu as we could take.

It has been a great past 5 years and I look forward to the next 5!

Oh, Children.

Lately, Lillian is on this "do it myself" kick. Tonight, it was while she was eating blueberry applesauce. I have a nifty little self-feed spoon that keeps babies from being able to gag themselves. All I had to do was dip it in and she did the rest. She was pretty pleased with herself!

"Here Mom, want some?"

In other news, Hannah and Lucas are about to the point where they need to have separate bath times. Hannah is seen below demonstrating her modesty, Lucas is showing his sarcasm.

Many Sorry's My Dear Friends.

Okay, so I have been a really crappy blogger lately. My excuse? December was a busy month! THEN my power cord to my Mac broke and I had to order one. All is fixed now, and I promise to be much better from now on!!!

Okay so, Christmas. We decided it would be fun to drive up to Powell early and surprise Cole's family. We had the kids hide in a big box that we wrapped and jump out. Everyone was very surprised and our plan worked perfectly. We spend Christmas in Powell and came home the Tuesday after for Cole to work. Santa visited us and the kids were more than happy with the results. One of the gifts that is worth mentioning are the electric guitars they got. Lucas no longer has to play the pillow and can REALLY rock out with his daddy in the garage.

This was also Lillian Belle's first Christmas. She obviously didn't care, but we had fun spoiling her and dressing her up. Isn't she just the cutest thing EVER?!

Oh, and it was Noah's first Christmas too! We got them matching outfits and they looked super cute, that is, until Noah had a little accident and had to change.

While we were in Powell, we crammed in as much as we could. That 7 hour trip does not come easy for our family! Anyways, during the weekend, Mandie went to the Temple for the first time and it was a really great experience for everyone who got to go. I am glad that I was one of the lucky few :) AND we had Noah's baby blessing. We were able to snag a nice family picture too!

This is a picture of me with my beautiful niece Preslee (Dusty and Amber's daughter).
Lucas' Birthday just so happened to be while we were in Powell also. He has been telling me for months now that he wants a Batman cake with Joker cups. So that's exactly what I gave him.
He loved his cake, and his party. There were a lot of people who came to celebrate his turning 3. Our friends who were home for Christmas came as well and we had a blast!
So how are the Asays in 2010? We are great! Hannah is loving preschool and all her friends there. She wakes up every morning and asks "is it a school day mom?" She can now write her name, in order, consistently. She is working on letter recognition and letter sounds. She is so smart and such a drama queen!

Lucas is a wild man! He cant get enough of swords and Nerf guns. That kid wares me out. Talk about a test of patience. On the other hand. He has such a big heart and tells me every day that I am the best mommy. He still has his lisp and we are planning on working on that here in the upcoming months. Cole does not want our little man going to Kindergarten with a speech problem.

Lillian is still just a quiet observer in our house. She is now 9 months and still has no teeth! However, she does not let that stop her from enjoying whatever food she can get her hands on. She is working on crawling and I know it's going to happen any day now! For now, she just scoots backwards to wherever she wants to go. I am fine with this plan. When she starts crawling, that means baby gates go up, and I have to start vacuuming 3 times a day!

Cole is doing great as well. He is very busy with work and his online classes. He is happy with his job and is in the middle of taking his turn rotating the night shift. He works from 7pm-7am. It is so hard for us when he is working nights because he sleeps during the day and we have to pretend like he is not in the next room. The kids have the hardest time not going in and waking up their daddy to wrestle. Cole's school work is going good too. He is done with one semester toward his BSN, and he managed to get on the Dean's Honor Roll!! We are so proud of his hard work for our family! He just celebrated his birthday too. He had to work so we just had some dinner and cake on Sunday with some family that lives here in Laramie. Here are some pics from our get together:

Lilli eating a graham cracker.

Lucas: "Yeah, Yeah, I know I'm cute. Take the picture and get me some dinner."

Me and Ayzlynn

The fire is just going to keep on getting bigger and bigger from now on.

Cole and our Hannah Banana.

So, Cole had to work on his birthday. Naturally, I made him some cupcakes to take to work :) I found a recipe I wanted to try and this was the perfect occasion. They are peanut butter cupcakes filled with chocolate cream and topped with chocolate ganache and peanut butter chips. Were they delicious? Um, hello?! It's chocolate AND peanut butter. Of course they were delicious.

Anyways, I guess that leaves me. Not much new here. I have been dieting for what seems like forever. Still trying to get off the last 15 lbs that have been there since I had Hannah. Since September, I have lost almost 30 lbs. BUT I am not finished yet! I started going to a step aerobics class on W/F and it kicks my butt! (but in a good way) I am so sore I can barely walk, but I am excited to go every time. In-between I am doing yoga and other forms of exercise. Hopefully by Lillians 1st birthday, I will have a new physique. Also, I am still trying to get into the whole cake making business. I will hopefully have some orders coming in in the next little bit. I am really hoping to be able to go to Chicago this summer and take the Wilton Master Course. It is 10 days of Cake, Cake, and more CAKE! It gets me excited just thinking about it. They teach you everything you need to know to get a good base of knowledge and skill. The cost isn't too bad, but I have to shell out some money for the lodging. SO, if you want to make a donation I accept PayPal, check, or cash HAHA!

Anyways, thats about it. I will try to be much better from now on so everyone isn't reading a novel when they check out my blog. Bye for now!

Trees, Cookies, and Good Times

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I LOVE the holiday season. There is just something about the feeling of Christmas that just warms my heart. The kids are getting old enough to feel it too and that makes me really happy!

So a few days after Thanksgiving we decided to put up the tree. Cole always gets the decorations out for me and puts the tree up. Then it's my job to 'fluff' the tree and direct the decorating. I always let the kids do their thing first. I have slight OCD when it comes to the tree so Cole always has to restrain me while the kids decorate. Of course they did like all kids do and put most of the ornaments at their eye level and on a total of two branches. But they had fun and had no idea that I moved the ornaments around after they went to bed :-)

Things are good here at the Asay house, aside from the holidays, not a whole lot is happening. Cole started working nights and I am not a fan. He works from 7p to 7a! So he leaves after dinner and comes home at breakfast and crashes. Then he gets up around 2 or 3 and hangs out for a while before starting it all over again. We dont get to see him very much on work days...boo. The nice thing about nights is the pay is better...thats about it. 

The kids are doing good. Hannah is going to start her last week of school til the new year this week. She loves school. She asks me every night if its school the next day. 

Lillian is teething so she is kind of a bear lately. She has been struggling with fevers and diaper rashes for almost 2 weeks now. Still, she keeps a smile on her face. 

Oh, so it has been very cold here in Laramie the past week or so. Our house has been cold as well. I thought because its an older house maybe the house couldn't keep up with the -30 wind chill. So I have been sitting around the house with blankets and electric heaters. I even attempted to start a fire in the fireplace. Nothin was working. Yesterday morning I went to get in the shower and the hot water wouldn't work either. So we were freezing all around. Turns out our boiler is broken and needs a new starter? The whole heating system in the house is water based, which explains the cold. We are currently waiting on the part to come in and the guy to come install it. Until then, its showers at Ayzlynn's house and sleeping in the living room with electric heaters. 

We started our holiday baking! So far we've just done the gingerbread men, but Thursday I am going to bust out the good stuff!

Aren't we cute?

Thanksgiving Weekend and a House Full!

  So, Thanksgiving...I was so nervous. It was our first time hosting, and my first time cooking a turkey for such an event. Cole invited his friend Kizzy from work and her new husband Tom. He is from the Philippines so this was his first Thanksgiving...EVER! I spent the week cleaning up the house and researching recipes. I found a delicious roasted turkey recipe where you make a compound butter (butter with herbs, garlic, etc.) and you shove it under the skin. I had to baste it every 20 min for 3 hours, not to mention, it barely fit in my tiny oven...

But after 3 hours the turkey was done, and it was beautiful! Did I mention the aroma? I wish there was a scratch and sniff feature on my blog. Wow. 

I did a huge no-no and tried recipes that I have never made before. Fortunately, I am a decent enough cook to pull it off. I made some Brie en Croute for the appetizer, it was delish! Cheese, nuts, and bread. You cant go wrong with that combination. 

We set the table before our company came and Hannah made us all our own turkey hand place cards. She colored them and Cole helped her cut them out. She was very proud of her work. When meal time came no one was saying a word; this is a good sign in my opinion. Their faces were stuffed with food! It was so good! Kizzy and Tom brought the traditional items I didn't make, like mashed potatoes and rolls. Tom also brought some native dishes like Lampas and some delicious chicken soup. Cole was happy to just have his turkey leg!

Lillian didn't get to eat the same food as us, but I made sure she had some Gerber Turkey and Sweet Potatoes. She was just fine with it. Oh, I found this super awesome spoon at Albertsons of all places. You put the food in the handle of the spoon and just squeeze it out into the end of the spoon! It's great for when we are out places or even at church. 

This is a picture of our company, Tom and Kizzy. Oh yeah, and Hannah :-)

After dinner, we cleaned up and our company left, just in time for more company to show up! Cole's family came to visit us for the weekend after they ate in Riverton. With Cole's parents came presents for the kiddos. Such gifts were: bunk beds, a dresser and night stand, clothes, and super hero costumes with muscles. Lucas immediately put on the costume they got for him and didn't take it off until he had to bathe the next day. 

Maggie came with them, which was great because I hadn't met her baby Noah yet! He was so tiny. My kids were still in the womb when they were his size. You forget so quickly how small babies are. He loves his Auntie Manda.

Here is a picture of Ayz, Me, Mandie, and baby Noah in my kitchen. 

It was so nice to have a visit from the family. Cole spent time playing guitar with his dad and the kids played downstairs with Mimi (his sister Mandie). 

On Saturday we took a trip to Fort Collins Colorado to do a little shopping and eat at Rodizzio, a delicious Brazilian restaurant. We went to a baby boutique/toy store that was extremely over priced! They had the coolest stuff there, none of which I was willing to pay for. I did see a really cool baby carrier called a Maya Wrap that I wanted and made a note to save up for it or find it on eBay. When we left the store, Mandie handed me the wrap and said Merry Christmas! It was super nice of her, and I LOVE it. 

After that we then went to the mall. When we got to the mall there was a Holiday Train for kids to ride, so of course my kids had to ride:

Lucas thought it was super awesome. Lillian didn't get to ride, but she liked hanging out in her wrap and watching her brother and sister. We walked a little further down the mall and guess who we ran into? That's right: SANTA!! The kids were ecstatic. Hannah jumped right into his lap, Lucas was hesitant. Like any good mother around the holidays, I forced him to sit on Santa for a picture. He warmed up to him but got off his lap to tell him he wanted a "costume sword". 

Cole's family left on Sunday morning after a delicious breakfast at Perkins :-) We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying what was left of the holiday break. Cole doesn't have to go back to work until Wednesday so we are going to put up our tree and do some things as a family until he has to go back. 

Denver, Sewing, and Night Life

So, sorry about the long break from Blogg-age. I have been busy finishing unpacking. I figure there is no longer an excuse and I just need to quit being lazy about it. 

Anyways, last weekend we took an overnight trip to Denver. It is only 2 hours away so, not too far of a trip. Cole, Glen, and Megan went to the Black Crowes concert at the Fillmore, so me and the kids had a night-in in the hotel room. We were starving by the time we got there so I decided we needed to order some room service. Now, I was super excited because this was in fact, my first experience with room service. I got the kids a pizza and ordered myself some fabulous sounding pasta... Well the kids' pizza was AMAZING! My food was lacking salt and tasted pretty bland.

BUT to compensate for the lack of flavor, the hotel kitchen included a mini bottle of Tabasco. 

It was a pretty good evening all in all. The concert was good according to Cole, and they got me a T-Shirt (not that it made us even). So, I need to find myself a concert to go to and it's Cole's turn to watch the kids, any suggestions? 
We got up the next morning and chilled while everyone got ready. We then treated ourselves to an amazing breakfast at IHOP. Might I recommend the Gingerbread Holiday Hotcakes...

So when we got home from Denver, Cole and I had a reception to go to for his preceptor at work. It was a small, very personal event, so we had Ayz come over and watch ALL 3 kids! It was nice to be an adult for a few hours, and not just someone's mom. 

Oh yeah, so in the downstairs living room there are 4 windows that look right out into the front yard. They are ground level so you can see right into the play room. This has been a problem, especially at night when the inside lights are on. We don't want any creepers looking in on our kids. The solution? Discount fabric from Wal~Mart, and me using my limited sewing skills. I specialize in two things when sewing, pillow cases and baby blankets. Curtains are pretty much a combination of the two. Hannah helped me out by handing me pins and putting the used ones back in the tomato cushion. 

As you can see, I am getting very bored with making the curtains. But the turned out great and you can no longer see in, or out, of the downstairs windows!

Okay, I read the Twilight books just like every other woman in the world, and yes, I loved them. However, I hated the first movie. I thought it was a combination of cheesy effects, added dialogue, and poor acting. So when New Moon came out I had mixed feelings. I had the highest hopes that it would be so much better than the first. Ayz got us some tickets for opening night so I put the kids to bed when Cole got home and we went to the 9:45 show. Let me just say it was everything I wanted it to be. So much better than the first. It just goes to show what popularity and a couple more millions of dollars will do for a franchise. 

Ayz and I tried to take a pic while she was stopped at a stop sign...she didn't get the memo...

There, thats much better!