tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354Fri, 27 Sep 2024 05:24:05 +0000http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Liz)Blogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-3888084382552044760Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:57:00 +00002009-04-23T09:38:54.707-04:00So in my last cake decorating class we learned how to cover a cake with fondant. Fondant cakes are something that I've sort of turned my nose up at in the past. I'm not really sure why. I think part of it has to do with the fact that most 'kid' cakes I've seen with fondant have been way overdone. Plus I was never sure about how good it would taste.Well, for my class I ended up buying a 50 lb. tubhttp://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2009/04/fun-with-fondant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-1072539556811479521Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:16:00 +00002009-03-13T14:16:38.542-04:00 A circuit that didn't make it onto the cake. The birthday boy patiently waiting to open his presents and eat cake. For Christmas Sean had asked for a hymnal. Mom and dad got him one and promised to have his name engraved on it. Well, for his birthday he got a brand new one with his name on the front. He was so excited! Here he is looking at his hymnal.http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2009/03/more-birthday-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-3910272688735852079Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:13:00 +00002009-03-13T14:13:55.782-04:00 Based on what we were giving Sean for his birthday, we decided on a circuit board cake. These are the 'circuits' I made (with some assistance from the kids and Damian). I bought an insane amount of candy! The bases are graham crackers and the green, blue and white frosting is royal icing. This is the cake pre-decorations. The original plan was for it to be black. I started with a dark chocolate http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2009/03/seans-birthdaynumber-7.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-5372580241112458553Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:05:00 +00002009-03-13T14:05:17.897-04:00 Our friend who moved to California had a birthday on March 1st. A couple of weeks before, I was making banana bread and he hinted that he would like so. So I decided to make him some banana bread and send it to him for his birthday.When I told Damian, he said I should do more than just send banana bread, so I figured I would throw some cookies in with it. Well, when Sean got wind of this, he http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2009/03/monkey-cake.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-3666732190596260867Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:50:00 +00002009-03-13T13:51:07.172-04:00 This was my final cake from Course 2. I made all those flowers you see. The pansies are my favorites (they're the purple and yellow ones). The basket weave pattern was also pretty cool. It turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be. I think this is a pretty cool picture of one of my roses. The roses are another example of something that I thought would be really difficult to do andhttp://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2009/03/cake-decorating.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-6592073628367698790Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:21:00 +00002009-01-28T08:23:13.494-05:00He's apparently also He-Man! Connor just asked me for some milk so I opened the refrigerator to get the milk out. I turned around to grab his cup and when I looked back Connor had an unopened gallon of milk in his hands! He didn't even drop it. Maybe bc I got to him before he had a chance! But he was certainly trying to do it himself.http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2009/01/strong-man.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-4785908083646913215Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:17:00 +00002009-01-28T08:19:57.882-05:00Well, if I ever had any doubt about Connor paying attention to everything I do, it was thrown out this morning! Over the weekend Connor had a low grade fever. I use a butt thermometer when I check his fever and I always put some Vaseline on the tip before inserting (I'm just that kind of mom!).Anyway, just now I went into the kid's bathroom to give the boys a bath. Apparently I left the little http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2009/01/connors-watching.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-7803296755298118623Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:42:00 +00002008-12-30T10:48:42.607-05:00Leighton is such a sweetie!Uncle Matt and Aunt Becca enjoy some time in the greenhouse.Sean had lots of fun with Mama and Papa in the greenhouse!Aunt Katherine and Leighton.http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-2890352408233980672Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:16:00 +00002008-12-30T10:03:04.980-05:00My dad bought antler headbands for the 6 grand kids. The idea was to get a picture of all of them together with them on. That didn't quite happen, but Reagan enjoyed wearing them for Aunt Becca and Uncle Matt!We were blessed with a Best Buy gift card and bought the game Rock Band. What a game! It stayed at my folks' house for about a week and a half and pretty much everyone had fun playing. I http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/12/some-christmas-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-3579167409860993618Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:58:00 +00002008-09-12T09:19:51.396-04:00Ok, so he actually turned 2 on August 23rd, but things have been a little crazy around here. Tropical storms, starting school, moving Connor to Sean's room, etc...So anyway, for Connor's birthday we went up to Ft. Myers to spend time with Mama and Papa and Uncle Philip and Aunt Savannah. The original plan was to go to Chuck E. Cheese's, but the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. It http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/09/connor-turns-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-4927586278696094306Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:06:00 +00002008-08-14T10:09:02.065-04:00Connor has been making great strides in his vocabulary over the past couple of months. Some of his words/phrases are:What's that? - Those were actually his first words, no kidding.Thank youPlease - he does the sign for this one as well.NoOh wow!YesGood-byeDaddyShoesNoseMouthEyeDoorDownUpMeowNo wayOutOwAnd he's adding more day by day. It's pretty cool to watch!http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/08/connors-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-4013635746809930298Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:47:00 +00002008-08-14T09:54:14.755-04:00I love it when things like this happen! Yesterday the kids and I met my friend Julie and her kids at Dig Park. We were there for 3 1/2 hours! I don't think I've ever stayed at a park that long before. The kids had a really great time. Sean was able to make some new 'guy' friends and I got to have some mommy time.Anyway, we got there around 9:30 and didn't leave until close to 1:00. So Connor http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/08/radom-thought.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-487342731185741890Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:40:00 +00002008-08-05T11:42:57.299-04:00Last night I made a new South Beach recipe called Pan-Roasted Steak and Onions. This recipe is good for all phases of the diet. I couldn't believe how much I liked it. Damian thought it was good too.My cut of meat was actually a pound and a half so I tripled everything. It turned out perfect!Here it is:Pan-Roasted Steak and Onions1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil1 tablespoons balsamic http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/08/awesome-flank-steak.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-8189592410080413527Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:04:00 +00002008-07-23T09:20:02.795-04:00Well, I'm finally joining the ranks of those using Flickr. Here's a link to my photostream. There's a new link with all the others on the right hand side of the blog as well. I will still post pictures directly in the blog. But if you want to see more, then visit Flickr.Right now I only have 3 sets there. Soccer, Cakes and the current visit with Aunt Katherine. I'll be adding more as time allows,http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/07/flickr-photostream.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-274097314438198299Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:46:00 +00002008-07-15T11:48:33.920-04:00Speaking of my computer...Sadly it died a little over a week ago. Damian is working on getting it back up and running. Until then I won't be posting anymore pictures as I have no access to them. But once it's functional again, I'll have to take a day and catch up with some good picture posting.Rebecca, Matt and Anastasia were in town recently and I got some good pictures of them with the kids at http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-computer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-5281920898868772734Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:42:00 +00002008-07-15T11:46:37.469-04:00Well, I suppose it was bound to happen. Neither Reagan nor Sean ever did it. But Connor is his own man and must take matters into his own hands at times.This time I believe it was a matter of retrieving the matchbox cars that he undoubtedly threw out of his crib! I had put him down for his nap and he was playing happily (which he usually does before falling asleep). All of a sudden I hear a thud http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/07/connor-hits-ground.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-3362746821330135848Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:12:00 +00002008-06-23T21:27:32.881-04:00So I've had a few requests for my banana bread recipe. It's from Southern Living, January 2005. I've tried a different recipe maybe once or twice since finding this one, but I always come back to it. It is definitely my favorite.Cream Cheese-Banana Nut Bread3/4 C butter, softened1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened2 C sugar2 large eggs3 C all-purpose flour1/2 t. baking powder1/2 t. baking http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/06/banana-breadagain.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-5205271941004346774Fri, 30 May 2008 11:34:00 +00002008-05-30T07:40:07.366-04:00So, last night for dinner I made a chicken dish with squash and zucchini. It turned out ok, although I should have browned the chicken a bit more. Oh well.But as usual Sean was saying that he didn't like that kind of chicken. So then he and Reagan had this conversation:Reagan: So, what is your favorite kind of chicken, Sean?Sean: Chicken nuggets.Reagan: Well, these are kind of like chicken http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/05/chicken-nuggets.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-1110931124257338205Fri, 23 May 2008 23:05:00 +00002008-05-24T09:22:20.584-04:00Well, Miss Abby Kendrick graduated from Gulf Coast High School this afternoon! She'll be off to the University of Central Florida in the fall. The kids and I are going to miss her very much. She's been a great friend to me and to them. Her graduation party is tomorrow afternoon and this is the cake I made for her:This is the 6-inch tier. That's Nutella in the middle. And it's a yellow cake.This http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/05/abbys-graduation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-5185508747576249368Wed, 14 May 2008 11:35:00 +00002008-05-14T07:40:53.796-04:00I ran across this website yesterday. I don't remember exactly how I ended up there, but the photography is absolutely beautiful. Especially if you like flowers and plant life, as that is what Anita focuses on. The link goes to her portfolio page, but she also apparently posts a different photo every day under 'home'.It's always neat to see how people with real talent can capture the beauty of http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/05/photoblog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-2798396060453266306Tue, 13 May 2008 12:27:00 +00002008-05-13T08:30:10.730-04:00Earlier this morning I was sitting at my computer doing my morning reading when Sean came up to me and asked, "Mommy, may I order a book online?"I said, "What book do you want and why do you want to do that?"To which he responded, "Because it looks like fun to order things online."!Fortunately he's in no position to find out how right he is....http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/05/random-morning-funny.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-4347412954210385742Wed, 07 May 2008 00:22:00 +00002008-05-06T20:46:01.580-04:00Well, my dear friend and former babysitter Sarah Teigen is getting married on May 17th! I still can't believe it. Anyway, her bridal shower was last night and I was asked to make the cake. Knowing her complete LOVE of chocolate, this is what I came up with:The bottom is a 10-inch 4-layer tier, and the top is a 6-inch 4-layer tier. The cake itself is chocolate. The filling is buttercream flavored http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/05/death-by-chocolate.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-533693010037744119Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:40:00 +00002008-04-17T13:25:57.506-04:00I had the privilege to attend the Spring Concert at my father's church in March. The second half of the program was a performance of K. Lee Scott's new Requiem. Mr. Scott has been invited to conduct his Requiem in Carnegie Hall next year.It was a beautiful Requiem, from a distinctly Protestant perspective. The movements incorporate scripture about death as well as quotes from John Donne and http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/04/that-blessed-dependency.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-6336074369181464335Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:44:00 +00002008-08-31T10:50:18.952-04:00So, I have a bunch of pecans in the pantry and Damian wants to know what I'm going to do with all of them. I hadn't really decided yet, so he suggested making some Cinnamon-Pecan Waffles.I knew I wanted them to be buttermilk waffles as well, since I love buttermilk pancakes and also happened to have some in my refrigerator. I did a search and came up with a few good looking recipes, but none of http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/04/cinnamon-pecan-buttermilk-waffles.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-870979237696517354.post-8934594529395047043Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:47:00 +00002008-03-31T13:12:24.663-04:00I know this is a little late, since his b-day was March 8th! but better late than never...The kids have been really enjoying soccer this year, so much so that Sean requested a soccer cake for his birthday!My mom didn't even have to help with the cake this year! I actually had it completed the night before (if 1:30am counts as night!).Sean insisted on the number 6 candle along with 6 regular http://mccreafamilyfl.blogspot.com/2008/03/sean-is-6.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Liz)0