Austin's Birthday Cake

I made this cake for a 10 year old boy. It was lemon cake with lemon zest buttercream. Soooo Good!!

Rusty the Hunter

Rusty is a Redbone Coonhound (ya know, like on "Where the Red Fern Grows"). They are bred for their tracking skills - more specifically - racoon tracking. Rusty likes to chase anything furry really - cats, rabbits, squirrels, etc. He doesn't care much about birds. It's fun to see him get excited when he sees a bunny and chases it. The hair on his neck bristles, and he starts baying with all his might. (It's really something to hear him howl. It sounds similar to a beached seal crossed with a wolf howling at the moon.) He never catches anything, but he sure gets all worked up when he sees one.

Well, recently we brought Rusty up north with us as we stayed at a cabin with friends. He was in heaven- his "sniffer" was really working. Early one morning, we were wandering around in front of the cabin with Rusty and the kids. I spotted a fat squirrel on the ground and alerted Rusty. His ears instantly perked up and he waited for me to point the way so he could follow the scent. Now mind you, I knew he would never catch the squirrel as we were surrounded by trees and Rusty can't climb trees obviously. I just wanted him to have a little fun in the chase.

Well, he instantly spots it and takes off to tree that squirrel. The squirrel realizes it had better move and instantly darts up the closest tree. Here's where it all went wrong! The squirrel decides it doesn't like that tree and comes back down to go to another tree. (What this squirrel was thinking I will never know.) That was all the time Rusty needed. He snatched that squirrel by the back and proceed to throw his head back and forth as fast as he could. (You know the way dogs do when you are playing tug of war with a rope).

The children all watched in horror as Rusty continued to break the poor little squirrels back with his death grip. The squirrel even let out little high pitched yelps. "Oh what have I done?" was all I kept thinking. I just wanted him to chase the squirrel up a tree and then start baying and howling. Not this!

The whole thing happened so fast, but here's a run down of the dialogue I had with Rusty during the tragic event.

"Rusty!! Look Rusty, it's a squirrel! Rusty go get the squirrel! (I said this in my most excited voice, almost like a mother to her toddler). Rusty get the squirrel!! Oh No Rusty! No Rusty - drop the squirrel - bad Rusty! ( My voice was not so excited anymore - more disgust and concern - like when you witness your child throwing up) Oh Rusty, stop!!! What are you doing Rusty. Drop it - Drop it!"

Here's a picture of the squirrel as it meagerly tried to climb the tree with it's front paws (it's back legs just dangled because of the broken back) after Rusty let him go.

It finally dropped to the ground and wriggled in pain.

Shane decided it was cruel to let it suffer and put it out of it's misery.

Despite my disgust, Rusty was quite proud of his kill.

The boys (only a boy would do this) cut off it's tail and mounted it to the side of the cabin.

EEEwwwwwww! Gross!

Do all squirrels have such nasty teeth?

Oh - I needed this!

When I have a Moment to Spare...

I have a funny Rusty story coming (for you Leslie).

Some great recipes to share (for you Nancy).

A gingerbread house (seriously insane).

And 2 more cakes to post.

Crazy busy at the moment.

Will try to post soon.

Promise to do better in 2010.

Rest in Peace

Yesterday morning, my daughter came downstairs in tears, to inform me that Tina had passed away.

We received Tina (named after "Tina the fat lard" on Napoleon Dynamite) last year as a white elephant gift. My daughter lovingly took the pet for her own and has cared for her faithfully for the last year.

When she wasn't looking, I put some gloves on and gently laid Tina in the green recycling bin.

Goodbye little hamster! Now we might get some sleep without you running on your wheel all night.

Just the same - we will miss you!

Chelsea's Wedding Cake

This cake went really well with the brides decorations. It was very fun and cute!

Fall Daisy Cake

This person wanted a fall cake with daisies. Here's what we came up with. It was soooo yummy. Pumpkin cake with a pumpkin cream filling.

Topsy Turvy

I just finished this birthday cake for Tatum. My first attempt at a topsy turvy cake. A little tricky - but not to bad for my first try.

Freedom

I loved this video.

Star Wars Cake

I just finished Nathan's birthday cake.  He obviously loves Star Wars.  He thinks he's getting cupcakes on his birthday, but I made this while he was at school today.  We are going to play Darth Vadors theme music when we walk in with the cake!  Tee Hee!  I am having way to much fun!

Don't you love the Darth Vador and star candles?  Too cool!

Music Cake

I made this cake for Kevin's (my brother-in-law) birthday.  He's quite the musician!  The top tier looks lopsided in this picture, but it actually stood straight up.  Camera angles....

Adoption Cake

Uno Cake

I am such an airhead.  A couple wanted this cake for their 1 year olds birthday party.  The whole time I am making the cake I am thinking -"one year olds can't play uno".   Then someone said to me...."UNO = ONE".  Duh.  I felt sheepish.  Pretty cute idea - I am just a little slow.

Funky and Fun Present Cake

Here's a cake I finished for my daughters friend.  It was a hit at the party and matched all her decor!

Tri In The Pines

My friend found this picture on her friends blog.  There's Jeff and I in the pool warming up before the race begins.

I didn't get any pictures during the race, but here I come - headed for the finish line 2 minutes ahead of my hubby!!  Yippee!!1

I was so glad to be done!

Big smiles!

Jeff and I had so much fun we are signed up for another one in October!!

Coming!

At the end of the week I will have some pictures to show you.

I have some cakes and cookies to finish and sore muscles to stretch, but soon I will post pictures of my triathlon and goodies!

Until then... have a good week!!!

Surprise Birthday Cake

I didn't get a good picture of this cake because I was late getting this to the surprise party.  But the top of the cake is a present with tissue paper coming out.  The bow is my favorite, but again, I didn't get a good picture of it.   It was a really fun cake to make!

(See, it didn't take me to long to get back to the blog)

Lacking Inspiration

Where have I been you ask?  

I am still here.  Just in a little blogging funk lately.  I feel the computer calling to me, telling me to update, but alas, I just haven't been able to force myself to sit down and do it.

The kids started school today.  I think routine will set in again and the blog posts will continue.

I have made some cute cakes and made some very tasty baked goods.  I have had some fun vacations and lot's of pictures to sort through.  But for now, bear with me - 

Maybe tomorrow I will feel inspired to sit down and share.  

Right now, all I can do is share with you how I am lacking the motivation to post.  

Pathetic, but true non the less.

I will be back.

Just not today.

The 4th With Friends!

We got home from Utah on the 4th late that afternoon.  We hurried and unloaded the car and off we went to enjoy some fireworks with friends!  (I was so tired I don't think I was much fun.) 

Why is it that driving poops you out, when all you do is sit?     

Here I come!

I get to spend a week looking at this everyday!  (Okay, maybe not the snow.)  I am ready for a little R & R!  Oh happy days ahead!!!!!!!

Dolphin Cake

Here are some pictures of a fun dolphin cake I finished this weekend.  I love the palm trees and the hula girls!  Cute!

Thailand Cake

Here's a cake I did for Mimi's farewell party as she heads off to Thailand.  This cake took forever to hand paint and put the beadwork on. Shwew!

The Start of Something New

I have had a lot of people ask where I have been lately in the blogging world.  The answer is BUSY!   A friend and I are in the process of opening a bakery.  We should be up and running in August or early September in Gilbert AZ.   We are specializing in cakes, cookies, cupcakes and anything else that is sweet.  We are "The Sweet Studio".
This past weekend we set up shop at the Phoenix convention center to kick off the new business at the Wedding Expo.  (Our booth was soooo cool!!!)   
April (the boss lady), Heather and I have never worked so hard in our lives.  We served thousands of cake samples - seriously we couldn't keep them coming fast enough.  I think our cakes were a hit.  We worked so hard to get ready for this show - baking and decorating like CRAZY!!!!  Here are some more pictures of the cakes and cookies we displayed.

60th Birthday Cake

I loved this cake!  I forgot to take a picture of it so I was soooo happy when my client emailed me these great shots.  I love it when I get to see how the cake looked with all the table settings!

White Wedding Cake

Here's a cake I finished this weekend.  I am bummed for 2 reasons.  One, that I took a picture of the back of the cake by accident - I was in a hurry. (Yes, there is a back to every cake).  Two, that I didn't get to see the cake after they added the flowers.   Oh well.

Graduation Cupcakes

I finally made these graduation cupcakes!  I don't know if it looks like a graduation cap or not, but they were yummy.