Pheww! Lots to POST!

A LOOOONG, LONG weekend! I am SO behind on emails, blog reading, posting...(you know, the important stuff! Ha!). It will take a while to catch back up, so I'll try to pick up where I left off: My INSANE day of baking/cooking/decorating/getting ready for the baby shower and Joe's Birthday Party.

Here's the Diaper Cake I decorated for Ashley's shower...(I had never "done one" before)


Some food I prepared for the shower:

Sausage balls, Spinach Dip in a Hawaiian Bread Bowl, Veggie Tray, Mini-Quiche, cheese tray...


And for Joe's party...the Giant Cupcake...oh my word. FRUSTRATING! It just cooks weird. It is going to take some practice until I get it perfect. This was my first attempt. Looks good right? Well, it was HARD AS A ROCK on the outside, but the inside was gooey. The taste was amazing...but it simply would not do.



The first recipe--see above--(that came with the pan) was VERY labor intensive--especially for those of us who have always WANTED a Kitchen Aid Mixer,
but have never been able to spend the money on one--so, I used cake mix from a box. (times 2) I tried some different tricks and tips that I researched on the web before cooking---it still cooked funky, but was OK. I was NOT about to try it for the 3rd time! I am going to keep playing with the recipe until I perfect it. This is my quick attempt at decorating. (Another thing about this cake is that it is VERY high and no container I had would work, so....it got a little smushed during the 3 hour transport to Austin...pics to follow)



Other things that I worked on that day (Yes, the same 24 hours...I was insane!)...click on the description if you are interested in the recipe. These are all of Joe's favorites.

Kellogg's K-bars



Mini-Strawberry Cheesecakes



Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (made from scratch!)



My parents & Aunt Judy came into town Saturday morning to watch the quads (Thank you SO MUCH! LOVE YOU!) The ladies (me, mom, Judy) headed over to the LOVELY baby shower--Ashley is SO cute...love her SO much! Can't wait for Baby Carter's arrival!


I left the shower early to start the 3 hour drive to Austin- the place of Joe's Birthday Party (yah, did I mention that part??)- and arrived JUST IN TIME to change clothes, help Kate with the set up, and greet the guests! PHEWW! (Kate was SUCH a huge help in getting all of the decorations up and ordering the food and such! Thank you SOOOO much!!!)




Like I said earlier, the Giant Cupcake was smashed! So, I used those creative skills to jam a cupcake on top! (just don't look too closely) LOL! Joe, you are such a huge nerd and I love you.



The Birthday Boy blowing out his candles at 3:30am.


More posts to come--we had a great time! 6 years of marriage (3/1), and 30 years of life for Joe (3/2)!

(Update on Savannah's walking/braces---that girl is walking EVERYWHERE! She hates her braces and refuses to try to walk when I have them on her--which is only 2 hrs/day at MOST. But the second I take them off of her---there she goes! Just needed a little extra time. Stubborn little princess....God love her.)