Always Room For Cake!

I just wanted to mention a huge thing that has just sort of happened in the last few months. I've always liked to make cakes and cookies and decorate them cute, but back in May, someone asked me to do it for pay for their son's birthday. I had fun doing it, so I thought, why not try to make a little $ on the side doing cakes? I made end of the year gifts for all the girls teachers (cookies on a stick) and I put some stickers with my name and phone number on the back of each cookie. I got several calls to do more things. From that and word of mouth, I have suddenly become very busy! I've been doing 2 cakes a weekend for awhile now and I'm having such a good time! I created a blog just to show off my cakes, so you can see that at www.amyleessweettreats.blogspot.com if you are interested. I'm going to look into creating a facebook page soon whenever I get a free minute (not that I know what a free minute is anymore!) I'm just so thankful that God is allowing me to do something I love to do and still stay home with my girls. I would love for it to grow into a steady business in His time!

Tea For Two

Kaylin and Annlee decided to have a joint birthday this year, which made things a lot easier on me! They wanted a tea party and we had such a fun time! We asked all the little girls to dress fancy and we made crafts (rings and picture frames) and ate yummy tea party food. And of course, they had tea (or lemonade) in tea cups! Everyone seemed to have fun and the party was a big success! They are already talking about a joint party next year at the skating rink (even easier!!!)

Update

OK, Lindsey, this is for you! You said you were tired of looking at Maryella's swollen face, so here are some new pictures to keep you entertained for awhile.
To everyone else, sorry I've been slack on my blog recently! But I've been SO busy making cakes for people! I decided to try to see if there was any interest around Lake City in doing a little cake business and I've been thrilled with the response. I've had to do virtually nothing in the line of advertising and I'm having anywhere from 1-3 cakes to do most weekends. And the best part is ... it's so much fun! We shall see where it goes. For now, it's still in the experimental stage, but who knows. I'd love to do this for a living! It's such a wonderful way to be able to bring in a little money and stay home with my girls at the same time.
So, now tha you know why I've been slacking lately, I'll post some pictures from our life recently. And look for an upcoming post about Kaylin and Annlee's joint tea part birthday - that was a fun day!
At a recent birthday party for a little boy in our church - Elianna and her friend had a great time grabbing ice from the ice chest.


Jeff and I at the same party.


Cheese tastes better with your sunglasses on


And you never know when your going to need an extra pair of sunglasses


A sweet picture in their Halloween shirts


And behind our 4 girl scarecrows


Making sure her Barbie is watching tv with her. She kept turning the Barbie's head to see the tv.


Pretty Package

I Hate Mosquitos!

I don't know what it is that makes Maryella so attractive to mosquitos. I wish there was a medicine you could take that could conteract it. But this poor girl gets bitten by any mosquito within a 12 mile radius of her it seems. This is the second time she's gotten it on her eyelid. And they itch her so badly that she can't help but scratch them until they bleed, like the older bites on her forehead. Suggestions, helpful hints and ideas, thoughts - anything is welcome for solving this problem short of making her live in a bubble, which I'm beginning to think may be the way to go...

She was in the middle of eating breakfast in this picture and has a mouth full of pecan roll. It's just her eyelid that's swollen.

Our Playroom Gets a Facelift!

The three big girls have been sharing a room recently which leaves an "empty" room (as far as beds go). We've been using it as a playroom, but wanted to get it a bit more organized. I had seen some shelves I wanted from Pottery Barn that were much too expensive. Jeff was toying with the idea of making something himself, but wasn't quite sure he could do it the way he wanted. I wanted to give the girls something like "centers" where they could play. The girls weren't picky, they just wanted the room to include all their toys and maybe a chalkboard. So over Labor Day weekend, while we had Marmie and Granda here to help, we decided to tackle the job!
First we moved the dressers out and put them in the bedroom. You couldn't fit one more piece of furniture in there, but it's cozy and the girls love all sleeping in there together!

Next, Jeff had seen some shelves at Home Depot that we thought might work, so we went and looked and decided to get them. Leave it Martha Stewart to have the perfect solution to our playroom organization dilemma! Jeff and my dad got the shelves and window bench built and it looks GREAT!!! Everyone has enjoyed that window seat, but Alex especially likes it!

The chalkboard was the next big project and the girls were very patient waiting the 3 days for it to dry before they could use it. It turned out very cute! The girls have used it not only for art work, but for spelling homework and playing school. It's definitely been a fun, albiet dusty, addition to the room! Check out these Pharoah ("Farow") pictures that they drew the other day! Impressive!





Once everything had a place, the playroom was ready for use. We have all enjoyed being in there.

The Barbie house has a new home and it's been fun for the girls to play on both sides of the house.

Elianna loves the play kitchen! It had been out in the playhouse but the weather was starting to get to it, so we moved it back inside before it was too late.

The vanity and baby doll area has also been a big hit. All 4 girls love this part and can play there for hours.

I'm still wanting to order a big tree wall sticker to go over the chalkboard. It's so cute and I think it will finish off the room perfectly. We're also debating a small table and chairs for art projects, maybe for Christmas. And Mama is planning on bringing an old school desk that we used when we were kids to put in the school / chalkboard area. But for the most part, it's finished and we love it!

18 Months Already????

How can Elianna actually be 18 months old already?!?! Time flies! She is such a joy in our lives! Here are a few stats on our little sweetie...

Weight: 29 lbs 6 oz (95%)
Length: 32 1/2 inches (75%)

Words: mama, dada, shoes, juice, I want some, I wanna talk, cheese, mine, stop it, guys, dress, diaper, hi, bye, woof woof, garbage, no, ow, this, ball, tickle, guys, where are you, hot, cold
She doesn't say all of those clearly, but it's enough that we can usually understand what she's saying.



Things she can do: walk, run, climb (on EVERYTHING), walk backwards, follow 2 part commands (ex: go get my sunglasses and bring them to me), throw a ball, eat with a fork or spoon, identify numerous body parts



Things she enjoys: shoes, anything having to do with baby dolls, our toy kitchen, snack time, morning walks around the neighborhood, taking baths, playing with her sisters, sweeping, books and being read to

Things she doesn't like: being told no, noisy sisters (specifically,a screaming Maryella), getting out of the bathtub



Funny things she does:
-She has this look like she's upset with you - she furrows her eye brows and everything. But she knows it's funny, so the whole time she's doing, she trying not to smile. It's so funny. Wish I could get a picture or video.
-She always wears sunglasses upsidedown.
-She loves to tickle people.
-She walks around the house when the girls are gone calling, "Guys! Guys!"

Maryella's first day of school

Maryella had her first day of school yesterday and overall had a great day! She cried (screamed) when I left, but got ok pretty quickly. She's got some sweet teachers who are very patient. One of them took her out of the classroom until she calmed down and then she was fine. Her second day got off to a rough start also, but there was no screaming involved (that I heard). We're hopeful that things will get easier soon. I think she really does enjoy being there. She's just got to make some really good friends and feel a little more comfortable.
Here are her first day of school pictures...

All ready to go! So excited to get to take a backpack this year!



In front of the school - still excited!


Elianna wanted a picture, too.


Playing in the classroom - still having a good time!


With her teachers - "I'll look, but you can't make me smile."