Playing Professional

Most every one knows I love to bake, but not everybody knows I'm a 'wanna-be" cake decorator. I just like to fool around at home and I have no real chance at ever being a professional; I am slow, messy, and did I mention MESSY! For those who were interested as I talked about Maisey's cake this year, here are some from last year too!

As you can see this ballerina cake was longer than Maisey. We had no idea how to transport it to the pool party we were having so we wrapped huge Rubbemaid lids in cheap tablecloths... Where you see the gap in the torso we later filled in with pink cotton candy to make a 3D tutu. The legs are frosted twinkies. Just to give you an idea as to how big this thing really was, the head and arms alone are a 9 x 13", the torso is something like a 10 x 15".

This horse cake was also a big hit at another end of the school year birthday party. It is sad but nowadays you can't make homeade treats for school- unless you live in Hood River I guess.

My grandma made this one for her family party in Eugene.
I made this cake really quickly, and I mean really quickly- hence the lack of color and detail on the duvet. This was for a last minute slumber party this year with her cousins and they could hardly care what it looked like. The cake is a bed and where it is raised are strawberry swiss rolls for body contour, marshmellow pillows, and Nilla Wafer faces.

Birthday Dedication on Growing Up

The pictures on top are in order from youngest to oldest in each of the next three posts.

Feeding the ducks in Libby Baby clothing which I loved to splurge on and custom order for her.

Last July during our moving mess, which I was able to crop out.

Pre-school field trip to the pumpkin patch and this year without 10+ inches of her long curly hair!

Easter this past March.

Ok, so it's obvious I'm not computer savy and if I had more time I would figure out how to make a slideshow. However, now is not the time for blog discovery. Check back Monday and you can re-live our weekend birthday celebration.

Maisey Continued

18 mos. and fooling around with the idea of modeling. Her 2nd baby contest. She didn't win but she did win one at 5 wks.

2nd Birthday with an Elmo theme at Our Children's Play Place.

Oktoberfest in Eugene.

The fetish for dressing up begins.

My Big 5 Year Old!!!

Today Maisey turns 5! Time has gone by so quick and the last 5 years have been so fun. Every day I am thankful for the two beautiful children that have been given to me. We are so lucky and so blessed to be parents and it is impossible to imagine how our lives would be without these sweet little ones!

The day she was born.

Hanging in the car seat at the zoo.

My favorite overalls (they have light blue cuffs and Ryley will be able to wear them soon although I am not sure how because they are 3-6 months and she is clearly walking). I bought them when we didn't know what we were having and they are definitely versatile.

2nd trip to the pumpkin patch.

Clone

Here is a picture of Maisey when she was about 4 weeks old. Every time I look at Ryley (especially when he is in his car seat), I think of Maisey. I cannot find the exact picture of when Ryley was this age and in this same position because I think I deleted it, but the two look so much alike. If you can't remember him at this age the April blogs show him before his cheeks filled out

Old Times

When I was a kid we use to go out to Pietro's pizza in the neighboring town of Springfield where we could play on toys and ride an old carousel. Well now the "toys" are all quarter sucking video games but the carousel still lives on. Now Maisey gets to enjoy the same fun I once did... Aside from this fire red motorcycle.

A New Chapter

We spent this past weekend in Eugene honoring my brother Chase. We attended his High School Graduation, visited with family from out of town, and celebrated Sunday with an open house and family barbecue.

My brother has had a band (Trapped in a Minivan) for six or so years and you can check them out on My Space and purchase their CD and other memorabilia. He is very musical (plays every instrument and sings vocals) and he is attending college in the fall for musical engineering. Obviously, after having a band that has continued to grow for so many years he is well known in the school district and around town where he plays his gigs. For the ceremony he was asked to write and record a class song which was distributed to each senior. * I tried posting it but I think it was too long to upload.

I am so glad he is attending college close to home because Maisey (along with everyone else in the family) would be so sad if we didn't get to see him often. It is times like this that you appreciate those things which are sometimes taken for granted, like family.

A Cool New Park

We checked out this new park in Hillsboro the other day and we loved it! I didn't get the name but the toys were real cool and there is a covered picnic are too.

They have a teeter totter, a new version of a tire swing, and a merry-go-round.

Little Gabber

About two weeks ago Ryley found his voice. Majority of the time he tries to make noise and nothing comes out. However, after a couple of minutes his vocal cords kick in and he is pleasantly surprised. Initially, I told Maisey NOT to talk because he won't make make noise if someone else is, but on this occasion he wanted to interact with her... I guess he is just a polite little gentleman.

The Wind Up

We went to feed the ducks at the beautiful Hillsboro library on Saturday morning and since we last fed them, Maisey has personalized her method. I got my laugh in for the day.

It was so funny to watch her do that each time and sometimes she would crank her arm around at least 10 times!

Ryley Boy

Like I promised last week, I was conscientious and took plenty of pictures of Ryley the last couple of days. I also started the first of his many albums. I have to say it is hard to remember to take pictures sometimes because up until now, it seemed like he was always asleep.These were Maisey's soft duck pj's that she got with a matching blanket from Aunt Carey and Uncle Adam. I just loved them but they were so skinny and tight she barely wore them... I am on the ball this time and although they are 6-12 months in Gymboree sizing (and they are hardly a reflection of this little guys body type), they fit him perfectly. Ryley smiling.Ryley waving. Ok, not really but these involuntary muscle movements of the limbs need a purpose.

Conversing with mom.

Looking up at my favorite toy, the leap pad baby gym.A picture daddy took before church.

Just kicking it at the Rose Festival.A deer in headlights.

Maisey's Buddy

Unfortunately for Maisey there aren't many girls her age here in our Beaverton ward. To be exact there are two and one of them just moved in. However, Maisey is pretty patient and loves being the little leader (or boss-whatever), and there are plenty of other little girls that she gets to play with regularly. I have noticed a huge difference in play and development between 3 and 5 year olds, and even between 4 and 5 year olds, and I am just glad she isn't too bored. Here is a snapshot I got of Maisey and her buddy Jazlyn away on a camp out (in the living room- of course)! They pretended to look for bugs which is comical because Maisey (like her momma) has a big phobia about anything that crawls (except babies that is) and Jazlyn, not yet 3, thought they were really looking for bugs and got freaked out a couple of times! We really want to do a little camping this summer (maybe 2 one night "excursions"), but we are still very unsure because we just know we will here a shriek every 2 seconds that would go a little something like this, "Ah, a bug, kill it daddy".

The Rose Festival

On Friday we headed down town to the Rose Festival so that we could try to be a part of the the nations best rated festival... I just loved how the news said it was a great and "economical" source of entertainment for families! Yeah right, if you are loaded. The rides seemed so over priced and since Maisey is having her birthday at Oaks Park in two weeks, she only went on 7 rides, not including the ponies. At Oaks Park all of the operators have their teeth and the environment is really clean. If you haven't been there it is a family tradition for us and one of the main things that keep us going back is that the unlimited ride bracelets are $10 and the staff is made up of friendly people, many of them being young college kids on summer break. Despite the cost Maisey of course loved it and had a great time. She sure loves ponies and horses like her mom.The swings. She was actually tall enough for the adult swing ride but when we asked her if she wanted to ride once she saw the ride in motion, her jaw just fell to the ground as she boisterously passed. I remember how much I loved that ride (it was always my favorite), and lucky for her, they carny had the kiddie version. The mangy animals in the petting zoo. Without being too brutally honest, I wasn't sure what was more frightening, some of the unhealthy looking animals or the attendants. Once when the traveling fair came to Hood River we bought an inflated ride bracelet for Maisey and then after she saw the ride operators she refused to get on the rides because she was scared of them. That is a memory I won't forget but lucky for us, she has. Dad got to go on a couple of rides with her and that made her pretty happy. We may not be able to watch The Simpsons because of the lack of appropriateness in the script, but how can you not love them!

Out of This World!

A friend told us about this awesome new family pizza place called Out of This World Pizza. It is located just 8 or so minutes from our house and it has a rad 'Space' themed play structure which extends all the way up to the warehouse ceiling, along with plenty of other things to play on too. You can purchase food and pay an additional $5-$7 a child or just pay to play. It was so worth the fee to try something new and the pizza was pretty good.

We couldn't pull Maisey off of these little push carts!

A rock climbing wall that Dad had to assist with...The floor to ceiling play structure with the super fast slides!

The inflatable obstacle course.

What really sold me were the amenities... A mothers room with two way glass so that you can still watch your kid(s) if your hubby isn't there to help (which included Boppi's and a rocking chair), a family restroom, and just clean restrooms for everyone.

*I would only recommend this for children over 3 years old, unless they have older interested siblings. If that is the case there are toddler friendly things like a Little Tykes house, slides, and grocery station.

Ultimate Frisbee

This past Saturday looked like it was going to be an ugly one but the weather came through... A couple from our ward invited us and 8 or so other couples to play ultimate Frisbee. It was pretty darn hot and Ryley (only semi-awake) seemed pretty uncomfortable, so I played the spectator role. Chad finally admitted he was out of shape after running his little tale off!

Chad is in the very back of this crummy shot taking a breather... He was roasting because he chose to wear pants (which was partially my fault for not persuading him otherwise b/c I didn't want to see his socks with his high tops... However, every guy their had visible socks and I felt guilty the whole time)! SOMETIMES you've got to throw style out the door for comfort!

Progress

I'm not sure what kind of parents we appear to be but despite any one's thoughts on this we are a lot happier... Maisey has graduated from our bed to our bedroom floor. Since this move we have all slept a lot better at night! When Maisey first saw this make shift bed she said, "Mom, that is sooo fancy!" As if her bed wasn't charming enough... Ryley goes back and forth between the cradle and our bed, but we will give him a little more time to adjust before we cry out for support as we attempt to "train" this one to sleep!

*Another wonderful bonus: Ryley is now sleeping about 6 hours throughout the first stretch of his sleep cycle... I can't seem to make it into bed to reap all of the rewards that a restful night bestows, but I sure get a lot done!

Little Photographer

Maisey not only loves her new camera, but she loves ours too (this is from ours). Here is one of the many pictures that she begged me to put on my blog. Her excuse for every picture she takes with her camera is, "Mom, I need a picture for my blog"- no matter how inconvenient the timing may be.

Dino Mania

EVERYBODY is showcasing dinosaurs right now: Omsi, The Children's Museum, and now the Zoo. Friday we went to the Zoo and it was a little warm for our liking but at least we got to cool off in the new Dino exhibit. We almost passed it up but our friends wanted to stop in and it turned out to be free for members that day. It was pretty cool... One of the Dino's spits out water if you choose to stand in its path and aside from the water, the exhibit also included a path of fog, a slide, some loud roaring, and of course lots of mechanical Dino's.

Summer Meals

Summer is near and the corn is arriving. As a child my dad use to drive me to sleep through the corn fields and he referred to my brother and I as "the children of the corn". Well, my love for corn is still alive today and Maisey loves it too- maybe as much as I do. We eat it with most our meals all summer long and sometimes we even get to share daddy's because he is too lazy to give himself a long good floss afterwards.