Happy 9th Birthday Gracie!!!

On Sunday, we celebrated Gracie's 9th birthday at Dan Nicholas Park! We absolutely LOVE that park! If you haven't been, I suggest that you do it soon...while the weather is nice! There is so much to do there. There are also paddle boats, petting zoo, playground and mini golf that we didn't get to do yesterday. We had a blast! Onto the pictures...

This was Gracie's Ladybug cake that I made for her. The cupcakes looked cute originally, but they had a rough car ride! They were melting and some had crashed and burned on the trip. Oh well. They were still quite yummy! :)

This is Gracie and her cousin Natalie! 

Paul's cousin Jeannie (mom of Natalie)...and her youngest daughter is Caroline. 

One day he will learn to smile on cue, until then, we will enjoy his cute faces! :)

Some of the kiddos...

It was so windy out and we almost didn't get all of the candles lit...but Paul finally worked it out. "Happy Birthday to You!"

Make a Wish! :)

Present time! This little girl racked up! She has a total of $60!!! (and some awesome gifts to go along with that!)

She was so excited about this game from PawPaw Corne and Nana Marsha!

This is my cousin Sydney! She came with her mom Susie and my grandma! We were so surprised when we heard that they were coming and we were so happy to see them! We only live about 1.5 hrs away, but it is so hard to plan a day to drive down and visit everyone. Thank you guys for coming...it meant a lot! :)

My sweet birthday girl! <3

When we went to Dan Nicholas for Jai's birthday party, we didn't get to go to the Gem Mine...so we made sure to do it this time. Gracie loves mining for all sorts of stones. She has quite the collection! The kiddos loved this! :)

Paul has been growing his beard since October, I believe. He has been going until the warmer months! He mentioned yesterday that a trim may be in the near future...so I wanted to make sure I got a good picture of it. 

Love this guy! <3

Time for a family shot! Gracie asked for a family picture (for her birthday gift) that she could frame for her room. She is such a sweetie! 

This was an awesome book that Auntie Sandy brought for Gracie. It's so cool...each page is a puzzled picture from the movie. 

This is Miss Molly! She is so adorable! We were so happy that Sandy, Rinn, and Molly could come. My cousin Neil couldn't make it because he was into the Duke/Carolina game! Shame on you, Neil..hahah! Just kidding! I hope it was a good game, but we enjoyed your family! :)

Thank you to everyone that came out and celebrated with us. We had an AWESOME time! :)

Random Things!

Yesterday we traveled to Ikea! Yes!! It had been quite a while since our last trip (approx. 6 months). We usually go about every 2, so that was a stretch for us and we enjoyed it! Paul came home from work around 8:15am and we jumped in the car right away. It's best if he keeps moving instead of resting so that he doesn't fall asleep (3rd shift is lame). He had planned on sleeping on the way up and back, but he barely got any rest. Car rides with 2 kids can be a little noisy. 

Our friend Dennis lives in Germany, and had been home (charlotte) visiting. We haven't seen him in YEARS. It's probably been 6-7 years?! Anyways, he was heading back to Germany and had time to stop by Ikea on the way to the airport to see us. It was really nice to see him, even if it was for 10 min. 

 I really should have taken a picture...it would have been nice to have here! (sorry Dennis & Paul) :(

Anyways, here is our damage! This is mild for our usual trips. Our biggest purchase was an awesome hammock! I can't wait to put it up and relax! 

Ok, I did say "random things" right?! I should have said "random and out of place". This is a picture of Jai celebrating "Pirate Week" at the YMCA. We pretty much live there these days! He was so excited to dress up and they let him visit the treasure chest for some loot! I made him an eye patch but it kept falling off. Oh well! Aarrrggh Matey! :)

On our way home from Ikea...Gracie and I went inside Concord Mills while the boys napped in the car. We were looking for some birthday ideas for Gracie, and she decided to play dress up in Claires. She cracks me up with this serious face! She loves fedora hats and these cute scarves. 

We had a good time just hanging out with the boys for a bit, but we were happy to get back to them! 

I'm getting ready for the Kville Indie Flea starting on March 26th! I needed a cute business card holder, and my stepdad made me this out of a spoon. He is so creative! I love it and it works perfectly for my cards. :)

...and my awesome friend Cyndi made me these beautiful paintings! I absolutely LOVE them! I bought some cute frames for them from Ikea...and I can't wait to hang them. I'm so lucky to have such awesome and creative people in my life. Thanks so much Cyndi! :)

Today is Gracie's 9th Birthday!! I am so proud of the sweet little girl that she has become. She is so smart, beautiful, compassionate and loving! I couldn't ask for a better daughter! I love you Munchkin! I hope that you have a wonderful day! Muah! xoxo

This Valentine's Day I wanted to do something a little different for the kiddos. I get so sick when I see all of that cheesy, ucky heart stuff and chocolates in the stores. Yuck! I wanted to make something for my little valentine's that they could have forever and cherish it more than that impersonal stuff in the stores. 

I hoped that they would like it, and I was pleasantly surprised that they LOVED them! Ever since I gave them to them, they have been carrying them around the house and sleeping with them. That makes me happy and proud that I took the time to do them. I sewed them by hand because my sewing machine was at my mom's and to be honest, I probably couldn't have even gotten the needle threaded if I did have it. Learning to use a sewing machine is on my "to do" list. 

I went to a thrift store and picked out the fuzziest most snuggly sweaters I could find. ;)

I drew a cute pattern up of a sort of bat bunny...haha. It really bothers Jai that his ear is lower on one side. That was totally intentional on my part. I like the weirdness of their shapes! :)

That was his only complaint, so that's good I suppose.

Here they are! Gracie really liked the eye on Jai's so I may do another like that for her in the future. She loves hers though because it reminds her of "Coraline"...one of her favorite movies. They were both so happy and surprised over them! 

I was so busy with them, and making everyone else's Valentine cupcakes, that I didn't have time to finish my sweetheart's gift. I'm sorry Paul! I will get to it soon, and we will celebrate a little late. :)

Sweet Tooth!

For those of you that haven't heard, I have started a baking business called Sweet Tooth! 

I had been excited a few months back about starting this up, but never quite found the motivation to get it going. It was a little overwhelming just thinking about it. My sister in law, Chrissy, gave me a very motivational speech one day, and from then on I've been so excited about it all. (Thanks so much for that CC!!)

I started a facebook page to spread the word, and jumped online to order some business cards. I realized that I had to start baking more to create a "portfolio" of sorts, so that people are able to see my work. I plan on taking more classes very soon, so that I can improve my skills. There are a lot of things that I have yet to learn. I'm so excited about this though. Here are some of the sweets that I've been making lately!

This is the famous carrot cake that I give my mom credit for. She came across this recipe one day and made it on my birthday. Ever since then, it's pretty much a staple at any of our birthday parties. Thanks mom! I know people are really going to love it! 

I got a few Valentine orders, and experimented with different flavors and designs. This was a carob cupcake with buttercream icing. I actually decorated this rose by accident, and loved it. It was perfect for the holiday. <3

This was a carob cupcake with peanut butter icing. My friend Stacey had ordered this for her husband, and I also made a batch for Jody per Chrissy's request. They both loved them! Oh, I have to tell a funny story!

My friend Stacey wrote me to order 6 cupcakes for her husband Erik. Erik is a personal trainer and it trying to cut weight for a fight that he is doing...and Stacey is part of a Biggest Loser contest at her school. So, they only wanted 6! I was excited to make them for him.

The next week Erik wrote me to make 6 cupcakes for Stacey!!! Haha. He also requested a caloric intake count on each cupcake. I'm thinking that I'm in trouble. They only want 6 cupcakes..and they are soon going to have 12!!! Haha. It was fun trying to keep it from each of them though. From what I understand, they were able to share with friends and co-workers, so I didn't feel so bad. 

I didn't have any luck figuring out the caloric intake though. If anyone knows how to help me with that, that would be a big help! :)

This was a white cake with key lime icing. I had never had this flavor before...but Chrissy insisted that people would love it! She was right. It was pretty awesome! :)

This was Stacey's batch of cupcakes for Erik about to head out the door! This will not be a standard package. I really liked it...but it's not "the one". Hopefully I can find a good supplier for cute containers soon. 

This past week...I made a carob chip cupcake with cream cheese icing. It was AMAZING! Seriously, I think that it was my best cupcake yet! Everyone that had one loved it (except my mom)! She's not a fan of chocolate chips.

This was an owl cake that I made for Chrissy! She loves owls! She has been such a big help with my business so far. She has the best ideas, and has sent me a lot of referrals. She has helped tremendously with the facebook page. I really appreciate it CC! I hope that you like your cute little cake! :)

This was the first official order that went out. My friend Sonya that I went to high school with contacted me and wanted a dozen vanilla cakes with vanilla icing. I was so excited! She was very happy with them, and said that they loved them! :)

This is a proof of my business card! Just for the record, if you order with Vista Print...when you choose slow shipping...it's SLOW shipping!!! I've been waiting for quite a while, but it's what I requested so they are doing a good job and fulfilling my request!! Hopefully they will look awesome, so that I won't feel so bad about it. :)

Thanks for looking! 

Happy Birthday Rita!

On Saturday, we celebrated my mother in law's birthday! We decided to do a little surprise party for her and her daughter and family came in from Richmond (secretly). Her sister also came over with her daughter. She was very surprised when she walked in and everyone came out yelling "SURPRISE"! The kids loved doing that! 

We had a great time celebrating! I snapped a few pictures (thanks Rita for reminding me). It was very nice to have Paul's sister and her kiddos here. We always love it so much when they visit, and it's never long enough. :(

This is Paul with his mom and sister! :)

The Grandbabies! We were so happy to see Desmond (far left). Usually when they come to visit..he stays with his dad the entire time and we don't get to see him. It was an extra special treat to see him and how much he's grown. He is such a kind and thoughtful young guy! 

This is Desmond, Jai, Rita, Gracie and our little Christian! :)

The kiddos getting ahold of some water guns and small toys to play with. 

This is Erin and Nena (Paul's Cousin and Aunt). Beauty runs in this family, let me tell you. I always feel so frumpy around them...haha. 

Desmond

I made her a carrot cake, since she had never tried it before. Everyone loved it! Yay! 

Rita told us that she had never had a birthday party before. She was one of 14 kids, so maybe that had a bit to do with it?! But, still, that was sad to hear. I was happy that we could do it for her though. Maybe next year, we can get a lot more family members together. 

Make A Wish!!! :)

Valentine's Day Cupcakes - Order Yours Now!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes!

$1.25 each

Vegan Carob Chai (decaf) cupcake with Buttercream Icing

Vegan Vanilla Cupcake with Buttercream Icing

If you would like to order cupcakes for your sweetheart for Valentine's day...send me a message at xladydayx@yahoo.com. 

Please specify how many, and which flavor you would prefer. If you have a special flavor request, I will be happy to let you know if it can be done. 

Thank you! <3