My letter to Julia

Dear Julia,
How I wish I could ask you how to become the best baker in the country! I have a new adventure I'm calling it because for me, it is stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm starting a cupcake business called Kristen's Kupcakes and it is thrilling and scary it all ways possible. But, I'm willing to try this and I wish I could have you by my side to guide me but mostly to give me some of your profound confidence...you were truly amazing and I know your cooking for Jesus now but could you send me a dose of sugar knowledge from Heaven?
Sincerely,
Kristen

Ahhhh, let's see, as I fumbled through recipes, ingredients and cookbooks the last three days, I came across one I was able to make my own and thus have found recipe number one. It is my first cupcake recipe, a dark chocolate cake and buttercream icing...yes, it turned out yummy but with one mishap and decorating horror....hehhee. I mixed up my batch of cake mix, spooned it into cupcake paper cups, placed in the oven and realized I forgot the baking soda! I whip them out of the oven, squeeze everything I could out of the wrappers and back into the bowl, mix in the baking soda and do it all over again...yes, they turned out....oh thank you Lord, yes, they were moist, tasted like a deep, dark chocolate heaven and I was pleasantly pleased. Okay, cake recipe number one works and tastes great. Now the icing, beautiful, silky, delicious icing, started out great on the cupcakes and then as I continued messing around with decorating decided to start sliding together...it was kind of like watching a picture turn into something else...example..I did a basket weave on one, looked great and then somehow in a matter of seconds blended all together and just looked like I frosted the cupcake plainly....Dear Lord, could you let me borrow Julia for about 10 days?

So, I figured out I can cut back on how much cream I add and hopefully next time, work with it better. This was just step one and I liked it...I found I was talking to myself to, which in turn made me laugh...I loved the release it gave me and I loved how the cupcakes I absolutely thought were the worst decorated, my children thought were the best! Julia, do you hear me? Send me a dream tonight with your best frosting recipe, I promise to follow it to the tee and never let you down!...smiling BIG!! The adventure begins..!!Oh yes, and three dear friends I will see tomorrow get the samples from today...I will get my first reviews...yikes!
Until next time, Happy New Year!!!!

End of the Year 2010 Festivities and 2011 Goals

Once again time has gotten away from me so I am going to close out December's blog with a variety of activities that have happened the past couple of months. I have several New Year's Resolutions but one is to write on my blog at least once a month in the year 2011, another is to write in my children's journals once a month and the third one is to continue organizing my "stuff." Notice there isn't the typical still-try-to-lose-weight one or eat better one...well, that's because I'm not talking about it anymore. I turn 40 on January 5th and yes, I still have weight on and yes I will still try to lose it but I think I finally figured out that my time is of the essence and I need to focus more on things I want to do and have done for my children. Not that I'm not important but time keeps flying and I'm not getting younger and there is still so much to do.

I have boxes of things for them, souvenirs, photos, special memorabilia, clothing that they wore as babies etc... the list goes on and I need to sort and put in their own special box. I have school projects, writings, drawings too. Plus, I want to scrapbook their lives for graduation and haven't even started that whopping project. The organizing projects are huge, I even need to organize photos and recipes and they really are things that I want done and can't put off anymore. So, 2011 for me is making over my "stuff", not having piles, boxes and containers of things but projects to show, keep and treasure and eventually share and pass on to my children.

Now, for the conclusion of 2010, we have had a year full of fun and the photo books I made for the grandparents and myself turned out awesome and really showcased our adventures, fun and memories. Here are some photos of projects in the last several months:



Thank you cards I made after Vanessa's birthday party



First attempt at homemade pie dough



Christmas card I made in Photoshop, it's not an original idea but I took an example I liked and changed a few things and made it my own




More thank you cards




second attempt at homemade pie dough, turned out yummy!



Inside of Vanessa's Thanksgiving card to her teacher

Outside of the Thanksgiving card Vanessa made her teacher.

Outside of Thanksgiving card Hayden made for his teacher

Inside of card made by Hayden

One of five different cookies I made with a great friend. We had a wonderful time baking and chatting and can't wait to do it again next year! These are Fudgy Mint Cookies.

Another cookie I made, Lemon Wreath Cookies

Another, Pecan Lace Cookies

And another, Tropical Chewies. Number 5 cookie, I never got a photo of because they were gone in a flash. They were a chocolate and vanilla bark made with oreos...so yummy!

I delivered pies to the police station from my husband and made up these tags to go on the gifts. They had a cute Christmas poem and I just loved playing Mrs. Claus!

Snowflakes Vanessa and I made

on the window

Vanessa, Hayden and our babysitter Paige made these while my husband and I were out at a Christmas party, how cute!

The kids and I made rice krispie treats for the postal man and the newspaper gal, Vanessa decorated with sprinkles and Hayden put them in the tins.

This is by far one of my children's favorite things to do the month of December...advent calendars! Can you say 6 a.m. is never too early for chocolate...hehehe!

Santa's note to the kids. They really got a kick out of that!

That wraps up some of the fun things we have done lately. The year is coming to an end tomorrow and I'm looking forward to 2011. I hope it brings lots of happiness, good health and blessings. Cheers!

Remembering Summer and Looking forward to Fall

Once again, it has been too long since I have written but for good reason, it was summer, and we had ALOT of fun! Time got away from me but I was creating all kinds of memories and it really has been one of the best summers of my life. I watched Hayden and Vanessa blossom and grow into their own special people.

Hayden has become more confident and he brightens my day with his laugh and wit. He is turning into such an incredible boy, full of life and love, he gives the best hugs and is so genuine by nature. I'm so proud of him, he is incredibly smart.

Vanessa, my sunshine, has blossomed into a butterfly. She's so free and flutteres around dancing, singing, playing piano and making up songs. She amazes me with her talents, her smile is the sweetest and she gives me so much love all day long. She's sassy, giggly, funny and just plain beautiful. I adore them both and I LOVE watching them grow and discover themselves and their likes and dislikes. They amaze me everyday and I feel truly honored to watch them every step of the way along their journeys in life.

Here are just a few, of the MANY moments, captured in photos, of some of our summer fun:

Summer 2010

Vanessa at the beginning of June, practicing for her recital, she is the little one all the way on the left. So cute! This was her first year of dance with Calista and Kaitlin Swanson. She was recognized at the end of the recital for most improved dancer of the year! I cried!:)

At one of the many playgrounds in our town.


In our backyard, roasting marshmallows to make smores.

Mackinac Island

Hayden playing t-ball for the first time and this is his sport! He LOVES t-ball and actually did very well. He's a baseball kid!

Vanessa dancing at the KC & The Sunshine Band/B52's concert, at Summer Celebration, in Muskegon.

One of many times at the beach this summer.

Right before the 4th of July Parade


Eating and picking blueberries at Grandma Deb and Grandpa Bob's farm.


One of those really special moments captured in a photo, I just love her innocense.


This was during our first camping trip.


At Christofferson's farm getting peaches, plums, grapes, apples and nectarines.

Hayden doing his third annual Gift of Giving donating school supplies to a teacher. This is Ashley McDonald whom he had for Kindergarten.

We also did many other activities from swimming lessons, floating down the river at the state park, camping in Silver Lake, going to Pennsylvania/Hawaii, swimming in their little pool, riding bikes, gardening, catching lightning bugs, going to Sandcastles museum and doing the summer reading program at the library, just to name a few more. Hayden won the grand prize for the summer reading program and won 11 gift certificates and t-shirt. He was very proud as we were too!

Now it's time for more fun, a different fun. Fall brings some moments where I really cherish, this is my favorite season...I love the changing colors of the leaves, the football games, baking and cooking all the comfort food, relaxing watching a favorite show with my favorite blanket, going to the apple orchards, eating my favorite apple-Sweetango, going to the pumpkin farms for fun, Halloween, canning and knowing that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner brightens my days.

Hayden is in First grade and doing AMAZING! I actually am super duper proud of him. His teacher Mrs. Kasley told me one day that she felt honored to have him in her class that he is an excellant role model for the other students. She said he is the best behaved and works the hardest, I couldn't believe it, she brought tears to my eyes as I stood there listening. She also complimented his writing and reading abilities, she said he has great handwriting and he is reading at a second grade level.

Vanessa is in 4 year old preschool and you would think she has been going to school for years she is that into it. She cracks me up! Her teacher is Mrs. Cooper and she is GREAT! She teaches alot with music and art so Vanessa comes home singing all kinds of songs and is always so proud to show me any work she has done. She is writing her name really good and coloring beautifully. She stays in the lines and it is real nice and neat. She is also doing excellant and I'm so proud of her.

If I seemed to brag alot about my children in this journal entry, I am...because they deserve it.

With the death of Brian's father, this summer I stepped away from everything that I volunteer with and concentrated on Brian and the kids and having fun enjoying every moment life brought us, not that I hadn't any other year but it was important for me to just relax, have fun and watch my children grow. Enjoy the simple things, not answer the phone or be outside so much that no one can get you on the phone....smiling. Now that school has started, schedules are created, calendars are filling up with dates, times, appointments, meetings, parties etc...I love that too...smiling again...After a relaxing summer, I was ready to jump into craziness but a little less crazy.

I'll write again soon with more memories to share....

Spring is here!

Yes, Spring is here and I LOVE it! Flowers are growing, grass is lush and green and our family has been enjoying nightly walks after dinner, baseball in the yard and riding bikes up and down our street. Something so comforting about nature in bloom...I am a true hippie/flower child at heart. Earth Day is a big day for me and when I lived in Pennsylvania there was a big celebration by the river that I attended every year up until I moved to Michigan. I miss it so much. One year I will take me kids back to that celebration, there is so much to learn and do that teaches them to care for our Earth and how to give back.

Well, I haven't any new crafts at this time because now I am starting to get ready for the 2nd annual Mom2Mom sale. I have tons of Vanessa's clothes to sell along with toys and shoes..should be a fantastic turnout, we have I believe 30 or more vendors so all of my mommy friends, come to our sale it is May 15th at the Cornerstone Baptist Church. I am starting to fill the living room with sale items...hehehe. I warned Brian that it's going to start looking crazy with stuff everywhere...thank goodness, I cleaned the house real good first and I am organizing all of it in containers so it shouldn't be too bad.

I did do a graphic design project for MOPS, it is a booklet on Farms, Farmers Markets and U-picks...I will scan a picture of it as soon as I finish printing the covers. It turned out nice and I made it purse size so moms can carry it with them. Well, time to go and play with Vanessa, she has been cleaning her room while I posted a new blog. Hopefully, she actually cleaned and didn't just play!...hehehe...Gotta love my 3 year old! Have a happy day!

I have been crafting again!

It has been awhile since I have been on my blog. Our family has been healing from an awful tragedy. Brian's father passed away and it was sudden and not expected...There is still so much pain but with each passing day, we strive to heal a little bit more. RIP Bob Madl, March 27, 2010. We love you and hope you are out of pain and at peace.

On a much lighter note, I have been trying to keep busy and get back into the swing of things. I am posting a picture of my homemade peanut butter eggs I made for Easter...I forgot to take one when I had dozens in front of me so these are the last two eggs. I gave 99% of them away so this is all that is left in our house and I still haven't touched them. I'm down 9 pounds and so I am watching what I am eating right now but that doesn't mean I won't soon split one of these 4 ways with the family...hehehee! Sorry the picture is a little blurry, I need a new camera desperately!

The next project I did was a couple of Monogrammed letters. These are so easy and alot of fun. I learned how at MOPS and now I plan to make some gifts for others. Here is one for Hayden and Vanessa. My pics are crooked but oh well, you can see the ideas. I plan on painting Vanessa's frame white to match her room better.

Now, I have two more projects I am working on and when I get finished I will post them. Have a great day!

St. Patrick's Day and Playdate

Vanessa had a friend over named Makenzie and they had a blast playing. They mostly played dress-up with anything they could find including Halloween costumes. They really were so cute! Here are a few pics!

Vanessa had fun coloring a shamrock for my best friend's birthday, which happens to be on St. Patrick's Day. Here is her artwork:

Notice how there is very little green...hehehehe. The whole shamrock is colored but she used yellow so it didn't scan in great. I know Regina will like it anyways!

I'm working on few projects that I will scan in as soon as I'm done. I'm making homemade Easter cards that are going to be so cute, I can't wait to send them out. Well, this weekend should be fun, we are going roller skating...woohoo! I will write again soon!

My Children

My children have such a way to bring so much joy in my life...it amazes me how many times I cry over their accomplishments or giving heart, they really do reflect what I teach them. Vanessa brought four "dollies" to me, that is what she calls them in her sweet little voice...I love hand sewn dolls that are soft with yarn as hair and Meijer sells one called Groovy Gals that are so cool and trendy. Well, one has long brunette hair that she named "Mary Kisses"...how cute...smiling big...and another has curly red hair she named "Princess Lea".

Then I got her two Culture Club Kids, which are very cute fabric dolls and one is spanish/mexican looking and she named her "Nancy" and one is asian and she named her "Milka"...all on her own she came up with these names and her favorite book right now is called "Can you say Peace?" where it tells you how to say peace in different languages. She really is starting to show her motherly nature in everything she does and something cute and funny that she recently started doing is, when I'm sitting on the couch she will come behind me with her stool and stand behind the couch and wash and style my hair...how cute is that!!! Could she be a future cosmotologist?

Vanessa is very much a fashion queen also, she has to be stylish and she is fussy! When we go shopping she will let me know for sure if she does not like something, it really is too funny and I do crack up when she isn't looking. Well after typing this I thought I should take a picture of the dollies and her favorite book so here they are below.

Now for my incredible son, Hayden. He amazes me everyday with his heart and intelligence. First, he colored some beautiful dinosaur pictures for different family members and wrote messages to each of them but what made me cry was when he brought me one and it said "I love you. This is for you Mom!"...It was so touching and so sweet.

We went to his teacher conferences and he is doing so well in the class that Miss McDonald wanted to change the report cards for him. Everything is rated 1-3 and she said Hayden needs 4's. How awesome is that! He blew us away with his reading level, for Kindergarten they should read at level 2 and he is at level 10, which Miss McDonald said is where 1st graders are right now. She said 1st graders have to read at a level 18 by the end of the school year and Hayden will start first grade at level 12 or 13. WOW!!! He may up like I did, in 4th grade I was at a 6th grade reading level.

His handwriting is better than some adults, seriously. He is just doing incredible, we are very proud of him and I'm pretty sure he is even proud of himself. He flourishes in school and really strives to be the best student. He comes home and tells us how many kids got warnings and ended up with a white card, how many got time outs and ended up with an orange card and how many had to see the principal with a red card etc... So then we will ask well what about you, what color were you...he says, "Green, I'm always on the green". Green represents good in class. Hayden has had one white the entire school year and it was for only the first half of the day and because another boy got him a warning. The second half of that day he was in the green and all the rest of the year green. Such a great kid!

Hayden has also taken up some new sports, skiing and ice-skating and really LOVES both, which is awesome and exciting! Vanessa even liked ice skating, she hasn't tried skiing yet. So, that is a slight update on the kiddos. I love them so much, they really make me laugh and giggle and just smile all day long. My pride and joys!!!

Crafts/Snacks

For Valentine's Day, I made these cute little snacks that the whole family gobbled up. I got the idea from a good friend who is always doing amazing things. All you have to do is take small pretzels and put a choclate star on top, place in the oven for 5 minutes and when you take them out you place an M&M on top! Easy!

Now I am working on a project that I started at MOPS, it is a banner for Vanessa's room. I'm so excited about it because when it is done it will be super cute! Here is my rough draft:

I will post more pics when I am done with it.

Next up is making some St. Patty's Day crafts and/or snacks...hmm...this could be really fun! I know I will have to do them while drinking my annual shamrock shake from McDonalds...I look forward to them every year. Kind of a funny thing but they are so good!

February already!

Oh my where did the time go? This winter is going by fast which is fine with me since I have the gardening itch...smiling. Lately, I have been doing some projects for ME, which I rarely do and I have done some things I am so proud of. First I made some aprons...I haven't sewn on a sewing machine since 7th grade...hehehe. So, this was very rewarding for me and I am posting some pics of them. If anyone wants the know-how just ask and you shall receive...smiling.

Here is the one I particulary wanted to do because we have an accent wall in the kitchen that is merlot red.

This next one was an extra one but turned out beautifully. I can't wait to use them!

The next couple of projects I need to take photos of and then I will post...Well, here is to me and my endeavors...hehhee. Good night!