Ashlyn's Belated Birthday Post...Part 2

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Picking up from the end of my last post...

Saturday morning the girls that spent the night with her spent all morning playing dressup and hanging out!  That was GREAT for me as I was on to making Ashlyn's birthday cake... and it was my first time using my new "toy" for making cakes...

I was siked! 

And a little nervous...

but mostly anxious to start working on the cake!!

I had no idea what I was going to end up with.  And, let's just say it didn't start off well.

In addition to using the "Cricut Cake" for the first time, it was also my first time working with fondant.

I had heard that store bought fondant was not very tasty, so I found a recipe for Marshmallow Fondant and used that instead. 

It was very good... and relativey easy to make... and to color...but it didn't cut well in the machine. 

So, after trying several different things and searching for answers on the Internet with others that have used the machine... I determined the best way when cutting fondant is laying it out on the cutting sheet and then putting it in the freezer for 20 minutes before cutting.  Then you have to freeze it again after cutting before taking it off the sheet.  That worked the best.  However, I think I will be trying gum paste next time as I have heard it is the best for using with the machine.

Anyways, there were other problems throughout the cake making process that day...

It first started when I noticed that my yellow fondant was missing. 

I had unwrapped it and set it on the counter to start rolling out when one of the girls asked me for something and when I returned to my fondant, I couldn't find it.  I retraced my steps thinking I had set it down somewhere else, but after thinking about it... I called Charlie over to see if my suspicions were true.  I opened his mouth wide open...and determined that I was correct!  Yellow...attached to all of his teeth. 

That was the only fondant that Charlie ended up getting a hold of, but he did eat one of my small cakes before the day was over.  Needless to say, he slept in his crate that night!  I wasn't going to deal with a mess if he ended up getting sick.

I did finally finish the cake.  And, I think it turned out okay for my very first one! 

On Sunday, we celebrated with family, which is what I was making the cake for in the first place.

Ashlyn received lots of cool stuff...especially stuff for her new bedroom!

And, then after lunch and opening presents... we had to serve cake!

I think this was the hardest cake for me to cut since I knew how much effort it took for me to put it together.  But, it was worth it!

But, after Ashlyn blew out her candles, we cut it open and gobbled it right up!  And, it was yummy!

 It was a GOOD day, a GREAT weekend and an AWESOME birthday for Ashlyn!

Shame on Me...Ashlyn's Belated Birthday Post...Part 1

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I cannot believe it has been over two weeks since my beautiful Ashlyn turned 7 years old and I am just now getting around to posting about it!

SHAME
ON
ME!

It was a busy weekend around her birthday and it took me several days to recover, but I think she had a GREAT birthday!

One of the biggest excitements for Ashlyn was that she got a “bedroom makeover” and we worked it out so that it would all happen around her birthday. We painted her bedroom on the weekend before her birthday and her new furniture was delivered just a few days before and we were able to get all her new bedding on her bed before all her friends came over for a sleepover.

Just a little history on the bedroom switcheroo…we recently moved Maddie downstairs to her very own bedroom…and therefore she inherited our old bedroom furniture complete with a queen size bed. She has done so well adjusting to being downstairs by herself…personally, I think she LOVES having her own space and her own bathroom. Therefore, because she moved into a different size of bed, she got to pick out new bedding.

Of course, Ashlyn was extremely jealous and we had several breakdowns, but we promised her that she would be getting an upgrade as well. And finally she did…and right in time for her birthday to show it all off! She picked pink and black for her bedroom colors! 

Very Cute!.....  Very Ashlyn!

On Friday the 25th (her actually birthday), I was able to take off half the day from work and have lunch with Ashlyn at school!

These are the gentlemen that sat and ate lunch with us that day!

After lunch, the had "indoor" recess with a fun game of "red light, green light"!

I stayed the rest of the afternoon and she was able to show me what she does at school all day…

Ashlyn was VIP the week of her birthday...meaning she got to be in the front of every line, she got to bring show and tell and do calendar...

and after the kids all sang "Happy Birthday" to Ash...

(sorry Mrs. Harris...it was just one pic!)

we got to hand out treats!

The kids in Mrs. Harris’ class are great! They had so much fun with a “visitor” for the day. And, since I had my camera out, they loved posing for it!

Ashlyn's class was challenging the other two 1st grade classes to "Math Olympics".  They did such a good job and Ashlyn's won the challenge.  Mrs. Anderson presented them with their award...



Ashlyn was so proud of her class for winning!

I got the opportunity to visit Maddie too, at lunch and then sat with her during her “chinese” class.

Maddie & her friend Kailee at "indoor" recess



That was VERY unique to say the least. First, they are learning CHINESE! But more than that, they are learning it VIRTUALLY! I tell you what, technology is mainstream in the 3rd grade class at Southeast! Not only do they learn on their own Ipod Touch, they have virtual classes.

I did find out that the “teacher” wasn’t actually in China, but instead was at a Learning Center in town and the technology allowed her to teach the class without going to all the schools.

It was amazing!

After school, Ashlyn brought three little girls home for the night, two of which were able to actually sleep over! It was her very first sleepover… and to say the least… they did VERY well.

We ate pizza, watched movies and colored... we did some crafty things and we even got to go swimming at the YMCA!

Ashlyn & Erica

Ashlyn & Ivie

Ashlyn & Meghan

They even went to bed on their very own…all three of them in Ashlyn’s new bed! (I knew that would come in handy!) and that meant that mamma bear got to sleep in her own bed and not on the couch! 

Yippee...  Trust me...everyone benefited from that.  I don't function too well when I don't get a good night's sleep.

That wasn't all the fun...but this post has been long enough.  I will share the rest of the story next post!