solly-man

saturday afternoon (while poor jake was working) i took the boys to my moms house. just to hang out. but, when we got there she remembered that she had gotten a gingerbread house kit for solly. but she realized that she didn't have very much candy to decorate it with. so, after a "quick" (nothing is quick with my mom) trip to the store (or three different stores) we were ready to start

solly's serious face
(notice the cute little house kit)

and the insane pile of candy:
(that's right, all for that one little house)

all constructed and ready for the decorator

"a gumdrop there..."

"...and a pretzel fence here"

moses was very "helpful"...well, someone had to taste all the candy!! (and cram the candy into a toy car...and feed the dog some candy...like i said very "helpful")

the finished house!!

the "kids" waiting to open presents:

"mommy" in her pumpkin garden:
(cause a gingerbread house is not complete without one)

and "daddy" is looking around checking things out:

solly keeps asking if it's time to start eating it. and i keep reminding him that we have about 12lbs. of the candy left over that he could eat...thanks a lot grammy.

thanksgiving round 2: breece style

the breece thanksgiving was a huge success. jake and are make a pretty good cooking/hostess team (if i do say so myself)

our appetisers
(notice there is NO candy involved)

jake and i had told everyone that the food would be ready by 2. and by 2:02 we were all dished up and chowing down. and the turkey wasn't too bad (we had never cooked a turkey before)

the breece men:

i cheated on dessert and bought my pies. but i also had some leftover cupcakes so we had tons of sugary goodness to serve up.

this is what jake gave his brother for dessert:
jake calls this "the breece special"
1 slice of pumpkin pie, 1 slice of apple pie, cool whip, ice cream, a cupcake & whipped cream
(yes, he ate it ALL)

the kids enjoying their dessert
(if you look closely you can see all 5 of them)

and then it was back to more playing. it was like lego land in the guest room. they all had a blast!
we had a great day. i would totally do thanksgiving at our house again next year!

aaarrrrgggg

i was all geared up to write a great blog about the breece thanksgiving today. with pictures & all...but, my camera cord has gone AWOL.

so, i will be searching high & low for that tricky little cord. i will find it, i will find it...
i hope.

thanksgiving round 1: swineford style

we had a thanksgiving feast out at my moms house today. it's been probably 3 or 4 years since we've had a thanksgiving dinner with my family...and now i remember how long & weird it truly can be. but, we did manage to have fun.

this is my moms idea of appetisers:
(notice the candy to vegetable ratio)

my brother had sent our whole family a christmas present while he was in iraq a few years ago. and he had never seen it (he's been home almost a year) so, we busted out the sweet race track & all the boys (both big and small) had a blast with it.
it was all fun and games until grandma (80 years old) walked in and tripped over the track and fell- but, don't worry she seems to be just fine!

"race ya brudder!!"

then it was time to feast (an hour and half later than my mom had told us it would be ready...traditionally)

so there we are all 12 of us
(and we're missing about 6 people)

from the other side:
(still couldn't really get everyone in the same picture)

and then dessert of course:

then it was time for us to come home and start prepping for round 2: breece style

jake busting a move...

...while cutting the cheese!! haha

we're all ready to cram 11 breece's into our little house tomorrow and we're fully prepared to stuff them to the gills. stay tuned for more on that tomorrow.

cake...in a cup!

they're DONE!! it was really pretty easy (compared to the 300+ i made a few months back) it went so well i felt like maybe something should go wrong. but, all was well.

and here they are!

i was done almost 24 hours before they were to be delivered. i was so happy with how quickly it went. i got my messed all cleaned...
and then i walked into the living room... this is what happens when daddy watches the boys and mama is busy.

all tucked in and ready to go

i even put my logo to use:

it turned out pretty good.

they had LOTS of leftovers. (there were 100 cupcakes and like 30 guests...) so i guess its a good thing thanksgiving is just around the corner so they can feed them to family & friends.
solly helped me deliver them & then we went out for a little date to use his Book-it coupon at Pizza Hut. we had a lot of fun!

♥

after getting home and getting the house all clean we all went to the craft fair in town. it wasn't great, but i did get a great idea for cupcakes...stay tuned for that.
i am spending my last night over at my moms with my grandma tonight. i'm happy to be able to help. but i'll be more happy when i can sleep in my own bed, snuggle up to my man & not use an entire tank of gas in less than a week.

68 years & togther again.

today was my grandma swineford's memorial service. it was in her home state, arizona, so i was not able to attend. the service was planned for today because it would have been my grandpa "bumpy" and grandma's 68th wedding anniversary. bumpy has been gone for probably 15 (?) years. so, today they get to spend their anniversary together...in heaven (praise the Lord that we know where they are!!)
i have very few memories of them. but, the ones i do have a great, fun ones. they will be missed. one thing that breaks my heart is that she never got to meet my baby moses. but, i am grateful that she did get to meet solly a few years ago & that he has some memories of that time.
weren't they adorable?
my grandmothers obituary from the Arizona Republic:
Swineford, Palmera (Beulah)
90, of Phoenix passed away on November 10, 2009. She was preceded in death by husband Robert and daughter Karen (Don) She is survived by daughters Lois Olson, Karen Rohlf (Robert); son Craig Swineford (Martha); 7 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren. Memorial Service Thursday, November 19,2009 at 11:30 am at Black Mountain Baptist Church 33955 N. Cave Creek Rd. Cave Creek, AZ

happy anniversary to grandma & bumpy.i love you and miss you!

hippo-birdy!!

to my bryndalin jacquelin:

on the day that you become an "adult"
i wish you a very happy birthday!!

having starbucks in a freezing QFC with you (while a vampire enjoyed his lunch) was very fun! thanks for sharing a part of you day with me!!

crack-a-lackin'

i talked to a lady at church a month or two ago and she asked if i could do cupcakes for her daughters bridal shower, she told me the date i gave her my number to call me when the date got closer and then we didn't really see each other much after that...so, i get a call on monday from her saying "hey! can you still do the cupcakes for this saturday?!?" of course i can and i will. i was just a bit caught off guard. so, i am gearing up to do 100 cupcakes for a shower on saturday.
i usually store, carry & transport my cupcakes in plastic cases that i buy from safeway, they're super cheep (75¢ a piece) and if they get left behind it's no big deal. but! the downside is people always say "oh wow, those are beautiful cupcakes! where did you buy them??" *gurrr* so i've come up with a little logo i put on the cupcake cases so that even if people think they're store bought at least they'll know they're NOT from a grocery store and at least think that they are from some fancy bakery :)
so here is what i came up with as my logo. it's not great, it needs work. but, i love the general concept of it.
★★UPDATE: (just for rose!) i am doing 4 different flavors! ★chocolate ★coconut ★strawberry ★white cake with raspberry filling!!★★
i went shopping today and got all my baking supplies as well as a frosting tip that i needed. when i got home i started searching through my kitchen looking for all my tips, bags, papers and other party supplies and i found them all...in 3 different cupboards and a drawer. so, fed up with the hunt i did some thinking and came up with a great way to stay organized!!!
i swiped this sweet "toolbox" from the boys (don't worry it was in the back of a closet with random toys tossed in. it's not like it was a functioning for them...they'll never miss it) (OH and a special THANK YOU to ashley who bought this for solly a few years back! he got a lot of use out of it!! and now so will i)
it has handy compartments for my tips, colors & some random balloons!
the bottom part has enough room for all the bags, papers, candles and other decorations!!
OH! another big thanks to my big sister, anna. she spotted these boxes of cupcake papers at cash & carry a while back and told me about them. i went i picked some up today!! the regular size ones were $3.16 for 500 papers!!! (i normally buy 50 for $1.99 so this is quite a deal!) and then the mini papers were on special for the screamin' deal of $1.98 for 500!!! i won't be buying cupcake papers for a while but when i do i know where to get them!!!

★ ★ ★ ★

in other news. i dropped my parents off at the airport this morning. they're off to arizona for my grandmothers memorial service. so, i am house sitting for them...or, grandma sitting. she doesn't like to be alone at night (and i do not blame her one bit!!) so, the boys (jake too) and i will be back and forth from there and home until sunday. so with cupcakes and house sitting i will be one busy bee until saturday around 1. but, life is good!!

a few of my favorite things.

moses always wants to help daddy cook and jake found a new way for him to day that. grilled cheese anyone?
awww, this almost never happens anymore and the fact that he's holding a balloon makes it that much better!!
and solly, he knows how to be when it comes to being sick on the couch all day long. the gatorade, saltines, blankie, pillows, books, books and more books. i think it all helped him feel better!
it's been an off week (or two) this week just gets weirder...more to come on that.