This Weekend's Project

We made a wedding cake for a friend of my husband, who got married on Saturday.
So, how long does something like this take, you may ask?
Baking: 5 hours
Mixing Frosting: About an hour and half to make all the batches needed - this one needed 3
Crumb Coat layer: About an hour - crumb coat lock in the cake crumbs to keep them from getting into the final frosting layer. A crumb coat is a MUST for a chocolate cake...which this was.
Final Coat: About 2 hours, including waiting for the frosting to set up.
Smoothing: The hand-smoothing process, using waxed paper, takes another hour and a half or so.
Applying Decorations: It depends on how ornate it is. This one was fairly simple, so it took about an hour to put all the trim on and arrange the flowers.
Total Project time: 12 hours

Okay, so the guys on Ace of Cakes do it faster...I guess, but then I'm not a pro. LOL!

Then...how long does it take to cut it up and eat it??? About 20 minutes! LOL! (I always hate that part!)

Full Moon

_MG_7297, originally uploaded by Steinway13064.

Mmmm, Mmmm, Good!

More Christmas Stuff

The Grandkids...Papa likes to torture them with a group picture every year. Here's the 2008 edition!



As compared to the 2007 edition:



Bascially, Will's hair is less volumnous, otherwise, not a lot of significant change. RJ is even wearing the same Snoopy Christmas T-Shirt. My sister is so into Snoopy! LOL!

Here's the obligatory 'Youngest Grandkid's Fantasy' for 2008:



As you can see, I was not the one with his 'focus'.

As compared with same said pose from 2007:



My shot from last year was much better...It's always nice when your subject is looking at you! ;-)

Christmas Craziness

This is my husband - my hero - and my sister...my best friend.

KBBC Music Christmas Party_20081219_0053, originally uploaded by Steinway13064.

This is my Dad. He is also my hero.

Actually, this was a game we played at a party at church. Each table had to race to blow up balloons, then fill each leg of a pair of panty hose. The end result was crazy looking reindeer antlers that must be place on a team member's head. The first team to accomplish this highly challenging feat, was the winner! We were laughing so hard at everyone, we almost never got calmed back down to move on to the next game!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree..., originally uploaded by Steinway13064.

My Cracker Barrel Tree! We found a bunch of cute ornaments at Cracker Barrel...that's mostly what's on here. We will add some of the family favorites, also, but I went the 'Designer Tree' direction this year.

The Christmas Box

120808_0003, originally uploaded by Steinway13064.

My friend gave me this tonight. She is one of the sweetest, most cretaive people I know. She's been there through thick and thin...She is a very special lady!