Vacation Pictures

You should feel special - even my family doesn't have copies of these pictures yet!

Two of my adorable nephews enjoying ice cream after lunch at the Salty Dog Cafe:
Brent and I on the dolphin watching cruise:
Me & my nephew at the top of the lighthouse:
Brent & said nephew at the top of the lighthouse. He LOVED riding on Brent's shoulders:
I'm no photographer, but I took this picture and totally plan on having it framed. I think it's my most favorite vacation picture:
Wii pictures are usually hilarious, and these don't disappoint! :) Bowling was the popular game of the week.
Caden really loved playing the Wii. As children usually do, he picked up on the game in no time flat and almost always got a strike or spare:
There was a rope swing to the left side of the house. Caden loved it:
Davis wasn't so sure:
And of course, if the kids are playing on it, you know Brent and I had a turn:

This is the cutest picture of Ethan. I love how he's already loving Starbucks:
And what's a trip to the beach without a little seafood? You know it's gotta be good when it comes with a bib.
Brent and I took a 17 mile bike ride one day. We biked a huge circle around the island. Here we are on the bridge to the mainland:
Here's the house we stayed in. There is a pool out back:
Sisters!! :) (I also want to frame this one. Aren't we cute?!?!)
Us with our husbands. I love how they're all bald! :)
My family!!

Vacaction Memories

-Hearing the word "Mommy" more times than I can count. Really. And my counting ability is infinite.

-Hearing my sister say "Davis" just as many times. Followed by, "It gets annoying, doesn't it?!?!"

-Having my nephew come into my room the first morning we were there and crawl into the bed with me and my husband. Loved it! :)

-Riding a bike and pulling a basket with my nephew behind me toward the beach.

-Watching my husband play with my sister's children.

-My family telling me we need to have at least 4 kids so Brent can play with them.

-My mom telling me Brent's going to be a great Daddy.

-My sisters, mom, dad, and nephews playing the Wii.

-More playing of the Wii.

-Playing the Wii over going to the pool.

-Having my sister french braid my hair every day like she did when I was 8.

-Watching the movie "Bolt" for the first time and having my sister quote it while it's playing. And my mom asking if I'd seen this part or that part that clearly hasn't happened yet.

-My sister tearing up near the end of "Bolt", even though she's seen it 1,000 times.

-My step-nephew telling my sister he learned to spell a long time ago! Hehehe!

-$4.50 cup of Clam Chowder soup....which, by the way, tasted like super pepper-y gravy. Where's the biscuit??

-My nephew repeatedly hitting his stitches that were in his chin.

-Watching my nephew getting said stitches removed by my sister in the middle of the living room floor.

-My nephew bringing his little brother his favorite stuffed dog to make said stitches removal go smoother.

-Going up the lighthouse in 100 degree heat with no air conditioning...twice.

-Watching the sunset at the top of said lighthouse with my wonderful husband. (Okay, so it was more like watching the clouds as the sun was hiding behind them, but we still get credit for it.)

-Finding sand EVERYWHERE...3 days later.

-Desserts bigger than my sister's head.

-Singing "Going to the Chapel" with my sister on the beach and watching the older lady next to us sing right along with us.

-Brent making 50 billion smoothies....with different orders every time for every person. Without complaining even once. I know, I have an awesome husband!!

-Our "family photo" pictures literally 5 minutes before checkout time. (Thank you, camera timer!)

-Hummus & pita chips!

-Two new pairs of Crocs! Yay! Thanks Mom!

-Lunch at The Salty Dog Cafe.

-Watching my nephews tie-dye their own Salty Dog Cafe shirts (more or less...hey, they're youngsters!)

-Rita's Island Fusion Gelati! Yum!

-Wanting to miss dinner out so we could watch the rest of the Food Network Cake Challenge. (And it was the general consensus...not just me!)

-Relaxing with food, fun, and family.

I'm out like a fat kid in dodgeball

Tomorrow morning we leave for VACATION!! I'm so stinkin' excited I can barely stand it! We have a full week ahead of us of sun, sea, pool, family, and food! Can't go wrong with that! Hello Hilton Head! Here we come!

Cake Class #3/Cake #2

Brent's a little jealous of this cake...I'm not sure if it's because of the lemon simple syrup in it or because I have a better feel of what I'm supposed to be doing! :) It's kinda weird...at the beginning of every class everyone looks around at everyone else's cake...I guess to compare? I'm guilty of it, too, but I still think it's funny. So when I brought this into class tonight, I was a little nervous:
Why? Probably because I spent forever trying to get all the creases out. And they're still there! Seriously, I think I dreamed about working all the creases out...even then it was impossible. Man, the teacher wasn't kidding when she said a plain white cake is the hardest to make. So, without further ado, bibbity-bobbity-boo, here's my newest creation:
Yay for icing that stayed where I put it! :) Brent was really awesome and was super excited about how well the cake turned out. So office peeps, it's up to you tomorrow to let me know how it tastes...

Cake Class #2

Well, tonight was my first class with a cake of my own! On Tuesday night I made & baked the cakes. I used the stand mixer my mom gave me...she's had it since before she had my sisters and me, I think. I absolutely love it - it's spunky and reminds me of my mom:

It was the 2nd time I've made a cake from scratch. I followed the directions and left the cakes in the oven for an hour, but clearly that was a little too long. Below are my two cakes and the buttercream icing I made (also from scratch with the stand mixer):

Turns out the consistency of "can" icing differs from that of buttercream. Buttercream should be much thicker. Good to know...:



So clearly, my icing ran because it wasn't thick enough. It looked fine during class (although working with it was a little tough at times), but on the way home it ran off the cake a little. Well, at least can say I definitely learned something! You can't even tell I used a different piping tip on the boarder. Oh well...good thing Brent's taking this one into work instead of me... :)

Before & After

Okay, promised pictures are here! :)

The "before" pictures:
Note the curved (stock) handlebars and dark neck (behind the headlight but in front of the gas tank).
Note the dirty back tire and chain drive.
Note the side view of the chain drive and again, the dirty back tire.
Note the back of the motorycle, the way the license plate hangs and where the taillights are.

And now, the "after":
New belt drive!!!! New tires!!!! And look at that clean, shiny bike tire! (And to think I used to believe my mom teaching me how to scrub things clean with a toothbrush was useless...)
Note the T-bar and iso grips Brent got me for my birthday last year:
Check out the chrome neck plate Brent also got me for my birthday last year. I really think it lightens up the front part of the bike:
Here's the updated pic of the back of the bike. The license plate has 6 LED lights that illuminate the plate and we removed the spacer between the taillight and license plate. And yes, you can actually see the tread on the tires! (Not so much on the last ones...)
And, just because:

Blame

I'm feeling a little philosophical today, so be warned.

It's a funny thing, blame. What keeps us from taking responsibility for our own actions and instead place it on other people, circumstances, or reaction?

I was in Michaels today and while walking down a main aisle, a man knocked over a bucket with fake flowers into my aisle not 5 feet in front of me. What did he do? What did I do?

Him: Looked at the flowers on the floor, looked at me, looked at the flowers again.
Me: Thought to myself, "I'll help him pick up the flowers."
Me: Bent down to put them back in the bucket.
Him: Went back to shopping.
Me: Looked up a man not helping me pick up the flowers that he knocked off. (I'm betting there was a look invovled, but since I didn't see it, I can't be positive.)
Him said to Me: "I don't work here."
Me back at Him: "Well sir, neither do I, but they still fell in the middle of the aisle and need to be picked up."
Him: Finally bends down to help pick up the flowers that he knocked off! Also mumbles something incoherent.
Me: Finishes up with the flowers, puts it back on the display.
Him: "Are you going to be able to finish shopping now in peace?"

Now, I don't know if attitude comes through via blog, but let me tell you, for his response I was as sweet as a...well...flower as I said, "Yes, thank you" and walked away to check out.

For those of you who knew me growing up, I constantly had what my mom called an "attitude problem." So okay, better make that sweet as a Michaels fake flower.

Ummm...but it's not my fault! He's the one who didn't care to clean up his own mess! And he degraded the Michaels employees!

Oh well, ummm, for the part of my attitude, can I chalk that conversation up to PMS? Oh okay, fine! I take full resposibility for my actions and tone of my voice. (sigh) I apologize, Random-Michaels-Customer-Who-Is-Too-Good-To-Pick-Up-Your-Own-Mess.

Oh well...I tried.