tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29440820348897127372024-10-09T18:50:42.974-04:00Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-30886490817010023362014-10-27T23:13:00.004-04:002014-10-27T23:14:07.585-04:00

Each fall season, we allow our children to pick out a pumpkin. This year, they both chose tiny ones. When it came time to carve them, I figured we would do the same thing we always do and have the children pick a simple silly face for each one. Bubby decided on the Goofy Pumpkin Face because he liked the silly eyes, but Lalo is getting to that age where she is noticing things with more detail.

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-2316468033495574742014-10-06T00:41:00.002-04:002014-10-08T15:48:53.544-04:00

My daughter was set on a Frozen themed birthday party, but I just couldn't bring myself to create yet another one of those cakes. So, I sneakily encouraged her to change her mind by searching the internet for girl party themes. All it took was for her to see the Enchanted Unicorn Party Supplies. She absolutely loves horses and unicorns! And, I found some great ideas for the cake online:

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-25819396422683374892014-09-19T12:44:00.000-04:002014-09-29T17:44:42.126-04:00

A certain little boy in the Carpenter house is completely obsessed with trains. So, naturally, his eyes are constantly pulled in the direction of Thomas & Friends. In lieu of a birthday party this year, we actually took him to visit Tweetsie Railroad, but I promised to bake him a Thomas cake for a small family celebration. My very first thought for this cake was to just make Thomas. It

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-88386861588245761342014-07-14T01:45:00.000-04:002014-11-02T16:53:59.814-05:00

My good friend Dusty from To the Moon and Back asked me to make a cake for her sweet little daughter. Her daughter is in love with the Disney movie Frozen, just like all other little girls, so Dusty searched Pinterest and found some great ideas that she wanted me to mesh together. Cake and Icing Cake Flavor If you've read any of my other posts, you know I am a box cake kind of gal! LOL

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-74066715971293592592014-01-31T14:30:00.002-05:002014-10-08T11:31:05.457-04:00

At least one person in our household has been sick, except for the occasional week here and there, since October 2013! This is by far the worst "sick season" that we've ever had in our house. Needless to say, we've had plenty of empty tissue boxes left over...LOL. I hate to throw things away that I think might benefit us in some way later, so I went on a search to see how we could upcycle our

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-16428101801845907012013-11-07T01:06:00.000-05:002014-10-10T15:43:23.889-04:00

I was asked by my husband's workplace to create a cake for a silent auction for a local charity. When the recipient told me that she wanted me to create a Fall themed cake for her mother's 80th birthday, I really wanted to make it a light and happy cake for such a special occasion. And, Fall has so many great things for detail (apples, pumpkins, leaves, acorns, vines, scarecrows, etc.). And,

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-43929626431912586212013-10-22T18:24:00.000-04:002014-10-08T11:32:37.627-04:00

This cake creation was for Lalo's 6th birthday...I can't believe she is already six!!! This year we gave her the choice of a birthday party with her friends or going somewhere special as a family. She chose going somewhere special for her birthday, but threw in a few requests. She wanted to bring along her best friend when we had our family outing, and she wanted me to make her a "huge cake"

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-49335479162697530762013-10-20T17:25:00.001-04:002014-06-12T15:03:01.081-04:00

How can you possibly explain the feeling of becoming a parent for the first time? My husband and I had played the role of what I believe is the typical young married couple when our biggest worry was figuring out when to have a child ;) We said we would plan to have our first child around age 25. At the time, it seemed like a good number...we considered the age that would put us at when we might

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-66526043207970308312013-07-14T23:20:00.001-04:002013-07-17T14:02:19.708-04:00

Fondant is a sugar mixture that is kind of like edible playdough. It is available for purchase in stores, but unless you get the more expensive brand(s), it often doesn't taste very good. So, when creating cakes of art, I like to make my own fondant. But first, I had to do a little research on the subject. Being a "hands on" learner, I really needed to see it done and then try it myself; so, I

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-20305921677301131282013-07-12T21:55:00.000-04:002013-07-12T21:55:20.561-04:00

The very first Dora the Explorer cake I made was the very first "occasion" cake I had ever made, plus it was my first attempt at creating a tiered cake. At that time, I thought that I did myself a disservice by "tracing" figures and making them flat as opposed to making them 3D. Boy was I wrong! LOL. It is MUCH more difficult to make Dora and Boots 3D! Not because of the detail involved...that

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-44694661415807964792013-07-08T13:39:00.001-04:002014-09-19T15:15:14.046-04:00

Our 2 year old is absolutely obsessed with airplanes. If we're hanging out at home, he wants to watch them take off, fly, and land on Youtube. If we're in the car, he's constantly looking out the window to find them flying in the sky. He even carries his little toy airplane around the house, flying it and making sounds for it. So, when a friend posted that she had taken her little boy to

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-61656049274478582312013-05-23T18:20:00.002-04:002014-01-31T14:45:14.484-05:00

The rainy and hot days are among us, finally! But, that can sometimes mean the kiddos are bored from being inside all the time. Or, perhaps everyone in the house is ready to get out and enjoy the sun! So, I went on a search for things to keep the kiddos occupied and/or active over the Summer months. Here's what I found: THINGS TO DO AT HOME Create a movie theatre -     

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-40904086530520940772013-04-06T22:00:00.000-04:002014-01-31T14:43:55.786-05:00

First and foremost, I have to admit that this design is NOT my idea. It should be credited to Mimi Gateaux, who is VERY talented! I love her style...you should go over to her page and check it out. I typically find lots of ideas for a cake online, then compile little aspects of each idea into one big idea and make my own thing. However, I was absolutely in LOVE with this cake, so I decided to

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-13347998742496971562013-04-04T01:05:00.000-04:002014-01-31T14:44:13.659-05:00

Almost three years ago, (wow, how time flies), Phillip and I had made the decision to try having another child. Birthdays are important to us, because we feel so blessed to have one another to share this life with and feel there is cause for celebration of each person's special day. So, we were actually silly enough to try to plan out when the baby would be born...hopeful it would be during

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-46452393146671615552013-03-31T22:44:00.002-04:002014-01-31T14:45:39.446-05:00

The trees (Bradford Pear, we think) in our yard have started to bloom for Spring! They are so incredibly beautiful and are all throughout our neighborhood. However, they last only a short time before shedding those lovely petals; so, we took advantage of our time this weekend and took some photos of the kiddos. Photos by Stella (Moving This Mountain)

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-73862043956314238972013-03-23T00:38:00.002-04:002014-01-31T14:45:57.576-05:00

Bubby, my almost 2 year old, has pretty bad food allergies. He's allergic to dairy, wheat, eggs, and peanut butter; and, he can't completely digest grains like rice. So, as you can imagine, it's hard for us to find things he CAN eat. Anyway, I found a recipe online for normal pancakes...one my family has used since we decided to start eating things that are made more from scratch...more natural

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-67308990952253829432013-03-22T16:11:00.000-04:002013-05-05T23:01:16.235-04:00

I always try to plan for at least one quick meal during the week, because it's inevitable that I'll end up having a really grumpy child, have to do something unplanned, and/or something else will happen at least 1 out of 7 days of each week. So, I thought I'd share one of my go-to recipes for those times :) This is also a GREAT Summer recipe for grilling indoors (in a grill pan) when it's just

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-66666426788061188542013-03-20T00:33:00.001-04:002014-01-31T14:46:11.607-05:00

I read a clip of a newspaper. It was about women and how when they don't getting enough sleep it causes emotional and physical issues. I could see myself being the one to write the article, complaining about not ever getting sleep, and that made me a little disappointed with myself. So, here's a blog post to help me remember that my faith needs to be in a place where I can move that particular

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-38797822825469896612013-03-19T15:29:00.002-04:002014-01-31T14:46:34.642-05:00

While my sister's crocheted dolls did inspire my plunge into the crochet world, I did have an another motive. Lalo has a lot of red Fall/Winter dresses, and I could not find a little plain red hair clip for her. So, I decided to just crochet her one. I really liked the flower that I made for her beanie hat, so I made a few of those to match her dresses. I originally made the brown, white,

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-82560850379687830092013-03-19T14:47:00.000-04:002014-01-31T14:46:46.301-05:00

The potato chip scarf was my second attempt at crocheting. I actually got this pattern out of the book that came with my initial crocheting kit. I don't think it said it was a potato chip scarf, but that's what my husband's grandmother said it is, so that's what I'm calling it...lol. This scarf took what seemed like forever, but there were several factors involved like me only being able to

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-69666030135347821352013-03-19T00:03:00.000-04:002014-01-31T14:46:58.863-05:00

I'm almost always up for a challenge, so when I saw my sister's crocheted dolls, it made me want to try it. I knew I'd have to start slow though, so I bought a small "learn to crochet" kit. It had several crochet needles, a couple of crochet sewing needles, an instruction booklet, and a few other items. When I cracked open the booklet, it began with the different types of stitches (single crochet

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-23711512408700834372013-03-18T23:18:00.005-04:002014-01-31T14:47:14.905-05:00

Once you become a parent, it's funny what you forget in so little time. Lalo is 5 years old now, and I don't remember how I used to get her to sleep when she was 2 years old...just 3 years ago! I remember that, for at least the first few years, she slept on the couch during daytime naps, because she refused to be in another room alone. We'd have to put dining table chairs filled with one pillow

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-64354021994980716842013-03-10T20:05:00.002-04:002014-01-31T16:49:56.236-05:00

I created this cake for a young couple at our church. I have to be honest, I wasn't quite sure about the color scheme and/or the design; but, it came out pretty nice. I was not planning to cover this one with fondant, but I couldn't get the pink icing color the way I wanted it, and I made my icing too thin, so it wouldn't harden enough for me to smooth. Thus, I gave in with only about 4 hours

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-26838178842461222352013-03-07T01:43:00.001-05:002014-01-31T16:50:12.882-05:00

When I think about the kind of mother I want to be, I think about a woman who is calm and collected, nurturing, speaks in soft tones, gently instructs, etc. I can usually copy that visual for the first few times I have to ask something of my children, then the frustration sets in and this completely different person comes out. I don't know who she is or where she comes from, but she's not

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944082034889712737.post-51235309960430787392013-03-06T15:57:00.000-05:002014-01-31T16:50:27.353-05:00

This creation was for a baby shower to be held around the Thanksgiving holiday. We stayed with the fall pumpkins and leaves theme, and put a baby turkey on top in a bonnet and diaper, holding a rattle. I enjoyed this one....cute idea!

Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11549361399467529766noreply@blogger.com0