Miss Preteen turns 11 tomorrow. She's already 5'4" and stealing clothes out of my closet. She's so tall and wise, I forget she isn't 14 or 15 sometimes... only 10... for another 24 hours anyhow. My baby girl. Last week we got rid of the swing set in our backyard and so that was a pretty emotional reminder that my kids are growing and there aren't any more little ones coming up to take their place on the slide. It's a blessing to see them growing into these great human beings and a curse to see this time slip by so quickly. Any of you out there relating to this?
My birthday in Sunday. It will get swallowed up in the celebration my daughter is having, but it's okay. I count the 20 kids that are coming over as my friends too. And how many people my age get to say they had a 20 foot water slide at their party! I bought myself an apple pie to have after her party is over. Yummmmm!
We went shopping for some decorations yesterday and came home with this little number...
And yes, those are awesome paste-on mustaches we got for the gift bags you see in the background! We know how to make a party happen!
Hope your weekend is as full of love, laughter, family and paste-on mustaches as mine will be!
http://karenard.com/blog/2011/04/birthday-wishes.html
My kiddos and the Firefighter had last Friday off so we took a drive around the city. I had been wanting to visit Galco's for some unique sodas and we weren't disappointed. I had to buy some classic Coca-Cola made with sugar cane and we also found some Sioux City Sarsaparilla. (Any 'Big Lebowski' fans out there?) I bought a few just for the cool bottles they were in, as well.
When we were heading over there, we passed a cool building that I made the Firefighter go back to after. It was the Sparkletts building, built in 1925. Amazing architecture. What a gem to find tucked away in Eagle Rock!
For lunch we took the carnivore kids to The Bucket, another old joint in Eagle Rock, built in 1935. My son ordered The Cardiac Burger, which pretty much sums it up. Great onion rings!
Before heading back to the Valley, we went to check out the new bike path along a reclaimed section of the LA River. It's pretty cool what's happening along the paths there. I can't wait to ride out after the Valley section is open. Anyone up for some photos there???
{All photos taken with my three year old iPhone... can anyone say "Birthday Present"?}
http://karenard.com/blog/2011/04/day-trippin-eagle-rock-the-la-river.html
My daughter and I are over half way through our cake decorating classes at Kake Kreations. We love that we can schedule them at our convenience, but the flip side is we started these classes in August! lol We actually did this class before my dad got really sick but I forgot to post it. Class five was cupcake decorating which was so much fun. We learned how to create about five different flowers. We always donate our finished product since we don't really eat cake... just decorate it. (Hmmmm... it just occurred to me... is that weird....?)
Things I learned: Have the icing colors mixed and ready to go. Adding two colors into a piping bag gives an awesome two tone effect.
Sunflowers are not only my favorite flower, they are one of my favorite to make now too! The instructor had us block out a circle in the middle for the center but after doing a few that way, I realized it looked odd and just freehanded where the circle would start. The sunflower petals were made with a leaf tip, #352.
My other favorite flower, a daisy. (Sunflowers and daisy's are just such happy flowers!) This was created with the #104 tip as was the rose and poppy. A lot of the flowers use the same tip, it's just how you use the tips that make the difference in the flower. Pretty basic, I realize, but I didn't know that until this class.
I'm not sure about these Hydrangeas but maybe with some more practice? Tips #102 and #2 for the center dots.
I DO NOT like making Chrysanthemums but it was my daughters favorite one to do. I just can't get the hang of these things! (They are the orange ones and the red ones in the back are the poppies but I didn't take a picture of these by themselves.) Chrysanthemums were made with a #80 and as mentioned above, the poppies were made with the #104 and a #27 for the center.
When we get home, it's easiest to run all the tips, spoons, bowls, etc... through the dish washer but sometimes Karma gets to them first....
...even though he knows better!
http://karenard.com/blog/2011/03/cake-decorating-101-5-of-8.html
If you've been hanging out at my blog for a little while, you know my daughter and I like to bake. We decided to make green velvet cupcakes for St. Patricks Day and came up with a cute theme: Pot O' Gold Cupcakes! They turned out really cute. Well, cute enough for a class full of ten year olds anyway.
Erin Go Braugh!
http://karenard.com/blog/2011/03/green-velvet-cupcakes.html
After a tough battle at the end, my step-dad passed away Friday afternoon. His funeral is today and I've spent the morning writing something to say. I don't know how I will get through it and I don't know how you can sum up 83 years of an amazing man's life in a two minute speech. I do know that my brother and I were blessed to have him in our lives. He was the sweetest, funniest man I've known and a great grandfather to his seven grandkids. Life without seeing him will be hard but I know he is now with my mom, looking out for us and having great seats to all the Dodger games. I love you.
Thank you to all my amazing clients for allowing me to spend the last two weeks in hospice with him, taking care of him and making him comfortable. And thank you to the Firefighter and my kids also for allowing me this time with him. It meant a lot to me. Love you guys!