Mother's Day

There are few women in my life that I love and respect as much as my mamma and mother-in-law. When I strike it rich these two women will be spoiled as often as I can.
But for now I baked them a cake.
It is the kind of gift that means a lot. It may not have been expensive, but I spent a lot of time into planning what to make and even more energy into making it look pretty=).

Happy Mother's Day!!

Taking Time

I would just like to start out by saying that I love the convenience of our technology. I have a smart phone and a laptop, my husband has both and a kindle. We can tell our TV what show we want to watch without using the remote, and we can sit down while we mow our grass (okay that's not so tech-y but it is very convenient!).
But sometimes, like many, I worry about what we may have given up in order to have these conveniences.

My cousin is throwing a birthday party for her little girl. She is one year old. I think the first birthday is a big deal to a mamma. So I asked her if there was anything I could do to help. She asked me to come over and help her plan things out.

So I am thinking we are going to plan out some games or talk about what is going in the goodie bags. I get there and she is making invitations. Hand making invitations. Whoa.

Not designing them and printing them. Not making a face book event. Hand making invitations. I was impressed.

So I thought, "How hard can this be?"

After spending 15 minutes on one invitation I began to realize my fine motor skills aren't what they were in middle school.

But they turned out great! Each one was different and they all looked fantastic! I know everyone who gets one will know the time and care put into it. I'm sure they will feel like their presence is truly valued at this gathering. And that is something you can't get from an email or face book notification. So did we spend hours of our lives making these invitations when we could have spent five minutes writing an email? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely.



More pictures to come, this was a few of them after step one......

Decorah Eagles

This has to be one of the coolest things ever. The Raptor Resource Project has placed a camera in an eagles nest to observe the laying, hatching, and raising of three eaglets.

http://www.decoraheaglecamalerts.com/ie.htm

It is such a beautiful thing to watch. It inspires awe and wonder at the creation of our God. These animals instinctively know how to care for their young. No one had to show them. They didn't go to parenting classes. They just know. This knowledge was given to them by their Creator.

So often we question God. We ask why He would let bad things happen to good and innocent people. We ask why He has planned the course of our lives so differently than we would have planned for ourselves. I know I have. I am a planner to a fault. I am quite content to plan every penny of my money and every  minute of my day. And when my plans go awry, what do I do? Make yet another plan.

In the book of Job chapter 38, God asks Job,

² "Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans?
You do not know what you are talking about.
³ Get ready to stand up for yourself.
I will ask you some questions.
Then I want you to answer me.
⁴ "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you know.

He continues into chapter 39.....

39:27
 Do you command eagles to fly so high?
They build their nests as high as they can.


These two chapters are a beautiful proclamation of God's sovereignty. Declaring that He alone understands how everything works together according to His divine plan.



I wasn't there when the foundations of the earth were laid. I can't hold the great expanse of the universe in the palm of my hand. But I do know who can. He commands these eagles to fly so high, to build their nests as high as they can. He has created them to know how to take care of their young. He has designed them to work together with the rest of His creation. And my best made plans couldn't even compare to what He has designed for my life.

Proverbs 16:9
In your heart you plan your life. But the Lord decides where your steps will take you.

Hannah's Bridal Shower Cake!

I was asked to throw a Bridal shower for one of my best pals!! Which I of course said yes to! How could I pass up the chance to make her blush repeatedly and throw a party? Plus I have been wanting to try a recipe for Marshmallow Fondant. Here is a 'how-to' for this cake.

I quickly fell in love with this theme. But could not find it anywhere in town, only online. I hate paying shipping if I can at all avoid it but decided it would be the unofficial theme any way!

So my plan was to make the cake similar to this and decorate in blue, white and black. It turned out gorgeous!! (more pics will come later)


So after a few rough sketches, this is the design I settled on...

I made the Fondant the night before I made the cake. It was a lot of trial and error, but it turned out alright in the end.



First to make the heart shape (because I don't have a heart shaped pan and I hate spending money), I used a nine inch square pan and a nine inch circle pan. I turned the square diagonal to make the diamond shape and then cut the circle in half, putting a half on each side to make a heart. Like so....

I knew I wanted a layer of pineapple filling in between two layers of cake but I hate having to torte a cake. So I put half of a box of cake mix in each pan to make a very shallow cake. Then I piped icing around the edges and where the two cakes meet, and filled it in with the pineapple. Then made another box of mix and another layer!!

After adding the second layer of cake, I dirty iced the whole cake. It doesn't have to look good because it's going to get covered up anyway! It is amazing how much faster you can go when you don't have to worry about appearance.

Then I rolled out my fondant and decorated my cake!!

It was a hit!!

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!!