Excited!!!!!!

I know I haven't posted much. It's amazing how crappy stuff that happens in your life can suck everything you've got right out of you. Your motivation. Your determination.Your ambitions. The goals you set. Your mood to get dolled up for the day. And it likes to linger too. Even after everything passes and everything is suppose to be back to normal. I'm one that it takes awhile to brush the dirt off and keep going. SOOooo...

I'm excited to share the long awaited for, Cake Website:

Audcakes.com

 Mind you, it's still in progress. I'm looking for feedback of what you think about it and what you would like to see added or not. Questions. Comments. Complaints. Let me have it! I want honest opinions!

I'm still in the process of uploading all the cake pictures. But most of you who have stuck with me all these years or followed religiously *HA! yeah right*..... will see the same stuff. This is just a site to send potential customers to, so I can still rant and rave and brag and ball about the personal stuff in my life, and not appear to be a complete nutcase....here. On this blog.

OH! And I'm almost done setting up a facebook page for people to "like"...So keep an eye out for that you fb users!

Yeah for Happy Days!!!!

Southwest Chicken Pasta Casserole

Jared believes in premade meals from the frozen department and coming home and nuking them for dinner. Me, not so much! But he picked something I would've totally snubbed my nose at and kept walking. But because I wasn't with him when he made this purchase, I couldn't prevent it. And I'm glad that was the case. It was SOOOO good!

With each bite, I was seriously trying to pin point every ingrediant so that i could make it myself. Which is what I did. This is what I came up with:
1pkg of penne pasta boiled and cooked.
1lb of cooked diced chicken breast.
1 can of cream of celery or c.o. mushroom
16 oz sourcream
1/2 pkg of taco seasoning
grated cheese
crumbled up corn/flour chips.
Add all but the cheese and chips and pour into casserole dish Top with crushed chips and grated cheese. Cook at 375' for about 20-30 min.

You'll LOVE it!
Note: I originally used a full packet of taco seasoning and it was too much. SO that's why I cut that amount in half. If you do use the full...it's still really good and the kids gobbled it up! Seriously surprised me! Not a flavor you imagine with pasta but it worked wonderfully. I think I'll go make some right this minute!

What you need to start summer vacation

Bubbles. Spit or soap....doesn't matter.

 Cake. (that's a given) This is Mykael's second cake. She did the research, made the preps, and put it together. I helped her wrap it with the fondant....she did the rest!!!! (She even colored the fondant herself.) I may have some competition in a few years!

 Black. Ok, not really, but if you're 12 yr old boy. It's essential. And some sunglasses.

 Friends. And that is all.

 Oh! And an escape

A new piano technique I never thought of.

I love the intensity he plays with. And the placement of his fingers. And his over active tongue. And his quick little smiles. And his focused concentration. And the beat of the music. And his joy at sharing. And his face. And his whole person. And this song he was so excited to play for me, but wanted to "practice" first. And his sparkly eyes. And  his.............................................................................................................................

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                                                                                             Everything!

 The sunlight in my Life. Sweet Baby Eli!

It's about time!

The announcement read: Mykael & Jaden are pleased to FINALLY announce the marriage of their mom Bonnie to their dad in training, Randy....

 This has been an exciting thing to look forward to in our family. And it turned out to be a really fun night!

 Everyone looked really good. And everyone had a great time! It was a relaxed atmosphere. Not stuffy and proper like most weddings can be.

 I've gone back and looked at old pictures. Read old journal entries. And it always says the same thing. "Look how much you've grown." And they just keep growing!

 What's up stud!?

 This was requested by Randy. He wanted the two kids to sit down and make a list of everything they expected and wanted out of him when becoming their dad. Technically he's been here for more than half their lives...but it was still important to him that they do this. He really is so great with them and perfectly compliments the four of us parents.

 Bonnie's bouquet. This really shows you how gorgeous the orchids were!

 All the boys....minus the other dad.

 Cutting a bit of my heart the cake apart.

 "Bring him to me boys!" quoted Bonnie

 He really didn't want to.

 Really. Didn't.

But Ash was all too accomodating!

It was such a fun night that when we left....all three boys had melt downs on the way home. And it was only 9:30pm. Good times!
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A little background for those of you who don't know....Bonnie is my husband's ex-wife and for 7 of the 8 years I've been married to Jared...Bonnie and I have been really good friends. We spend ALL our birthdays and Christmas' together, in addition to school events and fun activities. It's not "normal" for most split family "standards"...but it was easier to get along then to hate each other. Plus the kids benefit from it. There are moments of disagreements when it comes to raising the kids, but nothing that isn't worked out or big enough or worth breaking our "family" apart. At this point....I don't think anything will. And that's cool. It's become that strong.

Oh my Oh my Oh Dinosaurs!

This one was really fun to make. But took a lot of "research". I don't know too much about dinosaurs other than books we may have somewhere around here. My boys never went through a dinosaur phase like a lot of little boys do.

 I wasn't quite sure how to mold a dino...but I think I figured it out without it looking too odd. "Stick some spikes on it and call it a dinosaur". "Yea, I think that's what God said." A conversation I had with birthday boys dad. :o)

 After I applied the lava, Mykael suggested I had orange and yellow to make it look like a fire. So...I did. It's a cute fire now!

 I wanted to incorporate dino bones somehow so I made dirt and drew them on with royal icing. I kept laughing because how cute they looked. I really didn't know how to do dino bones either....it just happened.

Looks pretty cool to me! Luke loved it and that's all that mattered! The only drawback after completing the cake, Luke's mom made me cut it up and serve it. Since I was the one that assembled it. I was the one who knew how to destroy it.

Bottom tier: Cherry chip cake with fresh sliced strawberries in glaze. Second tier: chocolate cake with coo whip chocolate filling. Volcano: rice crispy treat.

$20 dollar cut

This is a friend of Jaden's. And he's had long hair for a LONG time! We've tried talking him into letting Jared cut every time we see him. He came by one saturday for a "trim".

 Jared had just cut Jaden's hair crew cut short and I told this boy that if he let Jared cut it like Jaden, I'd give him $20. He took a long time to think about it. And with much persuasion from a friend that came with him and Jared and Jaden....he finally made a decision.
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 He took the money!

Smart boy!....and handsome too!

He really did like it....he doesn't look like it in this last picture because I made him stop to get a close shot of it. He wanted to run home and show his dad. He even came back the next day to say he liked it. :o)