Lilly's 2nd Birthday and Cake orders.

We recently celebrated my grand-daughter Lilly's 2nd Birthday and a few months ago she picked out some cupcakes she wanted me to make.

 

 

Of course I made her Elmo her favorite Guy. I made them with chocolate cake mix, then used red icing, for the mouth I used Oreo cookies, the nose orange M&M's , and the eyes were white frosting with mini chocolate chips for the eyeballs.

 





And added Cookie Monster too since she loves him too. Cookie monster was made with white cake mix adding in mini chocolate chips because they are Cookie monster's favorite with, blue frosting. We used mini chips ahoy for the mouth, with white frosting for the eyes and mini chocolate chips for the eyeballs.

 

 

Here she is miss Lilly all ready to open presents.

 

 

 

We got her Cookie monster, and Elmo backpacks. I didn't take pictures of the Elmo outfit, Sponge Bob outfit, Sesame Street socks, Elmo cup or snack box we bought her, but we did get pictures of her favorites.

 

She had to put Elmo on right away

 

Here she is already to eat her yummy cupcakes.

 

Once people saw these cupcakes I had a few people put in requests for other things. One being the Butterfly Cake I had made a few years ago for Dorothy's birthday. As you can see I need lots of help with lettering but otherwise I think it came out well.

 

 

Until the next time I make care I bid you farewell.

Friday News from Marksville

Hello all, finally got a chance to check in with everyone. It has been busy here like usual, but with the Dorothy at her friends party, Dennise over helping out and visiting her friend, and Deanna playing with her friends, I might just have a few minutes to get something posted.

I had said something about Dorothy not feeling well in my last post and sure enough we ended up in the hospital with her on Sunday. I thought she had strep and was going to try and hold off until Tuesday when the Dr. office was open but by Sunday her fever was getting higher, and then she started to hold her side saying she couldn't breath, doubling over and then vomiting. I thought she might be having an appendicitis, as did the Dr, and when we got to the emergency room they were sure she was having one but the tests said she wasn't while her white blood count was through the roof.

They ended up doing a x-ray and found out that she had pneumonia which threw everyone off, and didn't coincide with her blood count so they looked further and even though her pee came back negative for an infection, they found  leukocytes in it so they gave her medicine that would cure both the pneumonia and urinary tract infection. By the time they medicated her, gave her fluids, and her antibiotic by intravenous, she had started to smile, sing. The Dr. said they didn't have to keep her as long as I checked in with the Dr. the next day and took her to see her regular Dr. on Tuesday which we did and he let her return to school on Wednesday. She does have to go in next week to have more blood tests because her white blood count being that high still has the Dr. on guard.

Deanna is gearing up for her 1/2 birthday and sent out her cards the other day. She is super excited to finally be having a party which she hasn't had since 1st grade. She is in 4th now. Things just kept coming up in the winter and holidays that just didn't make for having a successful birthday party, so we decided to do the 1/2 birthday celebration.

Dorothy is doing well at Daisies and really loves her friends, and getting together with other mom's is always good for me too. Next week they will be making Dog Biscuits to take to the Animal Shelter as well as old blankets and towels. I am sure they will all enjoy helping out the animals in need.

The other day we took the girls out to dinner at the Buffet near the mall and they talked Dennis into going inside the mall. He just went to game stop and then back to the car but I walked with the girls around the mall. Even though Dennise turned 16 in April she hasn't been anywhere where she could spend her money. I think after everything was said and done she has around 25.00 left.

 

We were lucky enough to find someplace where we could get her ear cartilage pierced. There is a place near by us but they never called back, or emailed so they lost our business. The next thing she is getting will be her nose pierced. Those are what she asked for besides the Keyboard I bought her that she has wanted for quite sometime.

 

Next year she will get her permit when she is 17 which is a tradition in our family so they can see how many accidents their friends have and it also gives them another year of maturing, which has worked out really well for both myself and my children so far. Don't fix what isn't broken I say.

 

Ok dinner is almost ready and the girls are waiting to go to the Flame concert at the school tonight. So will have to leave you for now. Enjoy reading.

 

Motivator

I set the clock for 30 minutes last night so I could get a head start on cleaning up my papers so I can file them away. We bought a second filing cabinet last month so we could get everything where it needs to be. Of course with being busy and taking care of Lilly I didn't have much time to get anything done, other then getting my magazines in the bottom drawers. They still need to be sorted and put back in.

I usually read my magazines and just pull out the pages I like and file them. With pinterest I can find most of it online and just throw the magazine in the recycle bin when done, but like I said before I haven't really done this in the last 6 years so they kind of took over a few areas of the house. Ok two drawers in my filing cabinet but nothing that can't be fixed in time.

Since they are out of the way the next area is my desk. The never ending pile of mess that even when I clean gets taken over very quickly with our busy schedule. So that 30 minutes which turned into much longer really gave me the motivation to do it again today when I get the other things done on my list.

Before my father died I was very organized even with being sick most of my life, but as time went by I was able to do less and less while things kind of got out of hand in our home. Not anywhere near a hoarder, as my husband and I like everything where it belongs, but enough to make us feel our house was dirty. The only thing that kept my husband sane about it all was when he would see other peoples houses with either the same problem or worse. Worse is always better to make you feel like you haven't gotten to that point yet, which is also a motivator, but he would still sometimes lose it and of course me feeling like a failure because I didn't have the energy to keep up with it didn't make things any better.

It took my husband a very long time to realize that something was really wrong with me, he was in denial for a long time, he has seen me unwell more then well so I am sure it had put a toll on him as well, but now that the Dr. has figured out once again something that is wrong with me, we have made progress, and when I get things done or do things he hasn't seen me do in a very long time he tells me how proud of me he is.

He still has days when he blows up about something small, but his injury has helped him realize that sometimes no matter how much you really want to do something, when you are in pain, or can't move a body part the way you would like, it isn't that you don't want to do something, it is that you can't do it, or need a little extra help doing something that should only take one person to do, and that has helped him with his own inner soul healing path.

Speaking of motivation I need to get moving, but like everything else my blog and readers were missing me. Hope you all are motivated by my writing to do a little at a time and you will be surprised by just how much you can get done.

Where did the month go?

In our home it can go in the blink of an eye depending on how busy we are and this month we were very busy. I picked up a second job or third job if you count my home child care business. Luckily right now all I have is my grand daughter so she goes along with me or stays with Papa while I am working. We have my husband's physical therapy, shopping, school performances, school activities, Daisies, after school activities, Dr.'s appointments and any other thing that comes along.

There aren't many days in the month where the girls don't have at least one friend overnight, which doesn't bother me. My house runs smoother with each and every addition. I think it just keeps me going. The house is getting more organized by the day.

We had kind of a rough go with it early on because my husband's check didn't show up and we ended up being late with rent, and got down to pennies in the bank. Ok we had one overcharge fee but it could have been much worse. Matter of fact we just got the check on Friday which was much needed and caught us back up with everything. Of course we got his second check a few days before the late check. Now to pay the other bills I put off waiting on the first check.

I have had a few painful days myself this month but mainly from over doing it. I am finding out how much I can push myself before it causes me pain. Like I said I am doing things that I haven't done in over 6 years. I even planted some tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash,  and red peppers, now to sit back and see if we will be able to harvest. We had one tomato plant last year that was given to us and it did well so we added a few more plants this year.

Dennis had planned to make me raised gardens so I didn't have to bend over so much but with his injury that didn't happen. He does plan to get it done by next year though. While on the subject some of my friends from other sites know that I have tried to grow inside plants with no luck, so I am trying my hand on outside plants, if they do well, then I will try on inside plants again.

Even with everything being slow at the beginning of the month I was still able to save enough to get my kitchen island. Now for the girls to bring it in, and Dennis to put it together. He can do things that don't take much standing so this is right up his alley. He said he might even take his friends suggestion and paint from a chair so he can get some of the painting in the living room done, and if everything goes well he is going to touch up Deanna's room so her room will be finished.

Someday we will get to our room but until then as long as they kids are taken care of and I have a bed to sleep on I am fine. By the way the next thing I am saving for is two new desks for Dennis and I. I love being able to bookmark or pin things I would like to get. I should make a dream board if I ever have the time.

Today the girls are going to try to swim up at the state park. Yesterday it was raining and they were bummed they couldn't go. I think it is too cold, but hey they love to swim and the school pool is still closed because they can't get the water right for some reason, so more power to them to keep up with the things they love to do. Dorothy didn't go because I know it is too cold for her, besides that I think she might be getting sick. Dennis is sleeping in as we didn't go to bed before 4:30 am. I looked at the clock and said oh my didn't know it was that late and we were off to bed.

I have already cleaned, swept, and mopped the upstairs bathroom. Princess has been walked and fed, now it is time to change out the laundry and do the few dishes that were on the counter as I passed them this morning. I have clothes to fold and hope to get back in the computer room to go through more papers. I think that is about it for us. Will have another post up in a few, God willing.

Dennise turns 16.

Like I said last weekend was busy. Friday Dennis had physical therapy, plus we had to pick up things for my daughter's party for Sunday. We went to Sam's club, picked up my camera, and then ate at the Chinese Buffet.

 

Saturday I cleaned the house and got things ready for my daughter's sweet sixteen. Totally sucks that we couldn't give her the huge party we had planned, but with my husband out of work it just didn't work out. It all turned out well though. We ended out running out again because of all things I forgot to get ice cream and soda for the party. I told you I couldn't remember.

 

She had several friends come and spend the night. There was no Drama, it was wonderful hearing all of the girls laughing together and seeing my daughter smile. It doesn't take lots of money to make her happy. Spending time with her friends and family was the best gift she could receive.

 

Sunday was the big day. I made her cake which was a orange mustache cake, which by the way came out pretty well, and thank God we didn't have a huge party there was no way it would have been enough. My daughter wanted my famous pudding frosting and everyone loved it. I even had to send a piece over to one of our neighbors/friends fathers so he could enjoy some.

This was early on in the day when the girls that had stayed the night were just waiting for others to show up.

 

Here she is below my Dennise. Her hair is not usually this light is it closer to my hair color and will be turned back normal at the end of summer. This was suppose to be the dress she wore for her big party. We told her to put it on and let us take some pictures.

 

 Two friends my daughter Samantha had to pick up later, my husband, myself and Samantha's boyfriend are missing from the photo.

 She might not have had a lot of friends or gifts but she said this was one of the best parties she has ever had, and her friends all said they had a great weekend too. One of the best they said. They were all sad for Dennise though that so many people who said they were going to come didn't.

 

Now this week she has been bringing home gifts from some of the friends who couldn't make it which was very sweet of them to do, and made Dennise very happy. She would have loved to share her special day with them as well, but at least they thought of her, and bought her gifts.

 

 

 

Happy Sweet Sixteen Sweetie.

 

The week is coming to an end.

Sunday we were able to see Dennise in "Guys and Dolls". It was fun to see her sing at the beginning, and then act throughout the musical. The drama club did a great job, much better then I had thought they would.

Monday we headed out early so I could do my job, then to physical therapy for Dennis. Once we were done there we headed out to celebrate our Birthdays, with a stop in between to visit Bryan for a while.

Dennis stopped at several Game Stops while out and about, We got a 60 day pass for BJ's in the mail so we took advantage of that and bought a few things there. Went to lunch at Panera bread, loved it and got a free treat with my card.

We stopped by our favorite furniture store to do a little dreaming for down the road a bit. Fell in love with a couch there, and actually got to see the wall unit I have had bookmarked up close and in person. Dennis approved but it wouldn't fit in our currant Living room, but like I said before a little dreaming. While there we also looked at a new mattress for us. Not that we can get it now but we will be in the market in the next few years. We left with sizes, and layout plans to maybe return sometime in the future and order.

We had dinner after visiting Bryan at Olive Garden. It was one of the worst experiences we have ever had. Dennis did write them a long letter on how things were. Let's see if they make things right. Then we were off to the mall.  I picked out a new purse and wallet. Dennis bought me a new cover for my new upgraded cell phone as well.

I picked up some things for the girls at Claires while Dennis was checking out more games at another store. Then we met and saw a movie. Pain and Gain, much more different then what we had expected. It was too late to get dessert at Cheese Cake Factory so we settled with stopping at Walmart and while looking through the store we ate some Ice Cream. It was a wonderful ending to quite the Busy Birthday Celebration.

Tuesday we opened presents with the kids. I bought Dennis a Candle making kit. He has always melted down our old wax so that he could someday make candles but never bought wicks to do it. Now he has a whole kit. Wonder what he will make first. He bought me comic books that early in our marriage he had sold of mine without permission. He is a keeper for sure.

Wednesday was the big day for Dennis to turn 41. Yes we are only a day apart. If both of our parents had gone to the same hospital we would have met each other then. My mother-in-law had stopped by while Dennis was still asleep with our cards. She still hasn't gotten anything for the girls for their birthdays though. Later in the evening we had cake and blew out the one candle the kids put in the cake. I ended up going to bed very early. Been very tired lately.

Today we went over did my job and then spent the rest of the day cleaning, and relaxing. We had breakfast for dinner, and the kids actually made it to bed on time. Go figure. Will be heading to bed myself soon. Have another busy day tomorrow and actually the rest of the weekend. There is always lots going on here in Marksville. Have a good night everyone.