This was a busy summer

We had such a busy summer.  Summer is birthday season in our family.  In our nuclear family and in my extended family.  Between mid June and Labour Day we have 12 birthdays.  It is literally cake once a week.  It is a crazy time, but it is fun, there are lots of reasons to get together and lots of company.  We have a pretty big house now and so we had the pleasure of hosting our own birthday gatherings, as well as some of the others! We didn't get to celebrate 2 of those birthdays, but they are a part of it nonetheless.  And actually, I am (with pregnant brain) trying to remember without consulting my calendar, so I may even be missing someone!
Here are some of the cakes I got to make!

 These were Dash's cupcakes.

 And her cake - which I admit, I didn't make.  We had just got home from holidays, you know the awful vacation I blogged about.  Um, ya, so I bought a cake - whatever - as my mom would say, "Of course I made it, I made it all the way to Sobey's to pick it up!"



Then my dad turned 59 this year!!

I made him an apple pie, because he doesn't actually eat cake - but kids like cake, so I made these chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes for the kids - they actually have a ball of cookie dough inside, got the idea from pinterest - totally delicious!

 The Toddler turned 3 this year and I saw a monster cake that I loved on the web, but then when she was looking over my shoulder, she freaked out about this Cookie Monster cake, so I tried it instead.  It was HUGE.  I borrowed a friend's wedding cake pan set and made this out of 3 layers, each was the equivalent of a 9x13 cake - it was massive!

Next was one for my sister!

 My sister turned 30 this year - and she is a nut about zebra print, so we made her a cake with zebra sugar sheets, which I had never made before...I had never made a tiered cake like that before either.

 OH, and, I made zebra cupcakes to go with it.  The cake was layered zebra-like in the papers and then I used a technique I saw on the web for rainbow frosting with just black and white frosting to make zebra frosting.  It was cool!

Then we missed my other sister's birthday because we were camping - but I still plan on surprising her with a cake some day out of the blue - because she totally waited for me!
Then we had Ballerina's birthday and she turned 16!  The big Sweet Sixteen!

That is not the greatest picture - but it was a pretty cool cake, and I cannot for the life of me find any pictures from her birthday on my own camera.  It was a 3 tiered cake (I even used dowels to hold it together after consulting the internet) and then it had ombre rosettes up the sides, starting with a light pink, graduating to a dark in 3 different shades.  I used the last of the zebra sugar sheet on the top tier and covered that top tier with fondant that my friend Laura showed me how to make.  I had made it originally for my sister's cake, but then changed my mind on the design so didn't use it - so I used a bit of it on my girl's cake.  It was actually pretty yummy.  And I think she was happy with the cake itself so that is all good!

And this was my husband's request.  He turned 40 this year and so he wanted a cake made out of a 4 and a 0 out of homemade ice cream cake.  It wasn't the most stellar ice cream cake I have ever made, but it was fine and it did look pretty cool!

I stopped at DQ to pick up a log cake for my third sister on her birthday and made my first ever from scratch Angelfood cake for my Mom on Labour Day and that completes birthday season for another year!
I have no more cakes on the agenda now until November - unless you count chocolate zucchini cakes that will be made to use up all this zucchini!

Back to school

 So I really want to get a good head start on the year.  I know that once November rolls around and there is a new tiny person here that I will have to be a bit more occupied than I am now - and then when my awesome husband takes parental leave around the end of November and starts ripping out a wall and possibly some floor to give me a larger and more functional laundry room we will also likely be a bit crazier. Because of this I have a goal of establishing good routines right now so that the girls can carry on with their schedules as much as possible when everything goes a little crazy around here!

 

Ballerina is in Grade 11 this year.  Grade 11!!!  Can you believe that?  I can't.  I mean I really cannot imagine that I am old enough or mature enough or smart enough to impart the wisdom that a good mom will impart on someone.  And I only have 2 years left!!!  Aaaaahhhhh!  Okay, so truthfully, I know that it is not all up to me and that I can only do the best that I can, and that my influence doesn't end when she finishes grade 12, but my academic role will be over.  I do sometimes get a little overwhelmed, wanting to be sure she has all she needs to succeed academically when we are done homeschooling.  If only she had a bit more of an idea what she might want to do!  LOL! 

Tapper is in Grade 7 this year.  I mean is it just me, but doesn't Grade 7 sound super, extra old?  Grade 7, hmmm, time really does fly.  Remind me of this often, okay?  Because in the moments that I am stressed, tired or overwhelmed it seems like time doesn't move at all!  She has had a good first couple of days and so far, her favorite part has been Science.    

The Princess is in Grade 3, and that sounds a little more normal.  Grade 3 doesn't sound nearly so old, or scary, or unbelievable!  She is so smart and funny and responsible, that actually, I am often surprised that she is only in Grade 3.  Although she is almost 9 years old.  She has a January birthday so she is an old Grade 3.  She has had a great year so far and she says so far she likes all of her subjects.  (Politician answer if I ever heard one)

Dash is in Grade 1, and she is glad, but not nearly as glad and excited that she is about being in Grade 1 at Sunday School!  LOL!  She cracks me up!  She is doing well. We have a lot of work for her to do, and it is a bit of a stretch, but she is adjusting well and that smile doesn't often leave her face!  Her favorite part of school so far is Science.  She and the princess are studying Astronomy together and so far it has been fun.  She is also super excited about her first real bible.  We make it a bit of a tradition that when our kids are going into Grade 1, the year you traditionally learn to read that we give them a real translation of the Bible.  Not a bible story book, but an actual kids' Bible.  Hers is great and she loves to look at all the pictures inside!

The Toddler is just kind of hanging out.  She is lonely without my nephew to hang out with, but she colours with the girls with her own notebook when it is that time and then plays for a bit with some of the toys we try to keep put away except at school time.

 One of the best things about the first weeks of school is all the new books and supplies like I mentioned.  This year, I ordered from a Canadian company because when you factored in shipping and exchange it was actually cheaper.  But we did have to wait a little longer.  Our books did arrive by 10:00 on the first day, right after we had finished sorting out the school supplies and filling the new pencil cases!

We started Tuesday, and almost got done what I scheduled.  Wednesday we did it all and caught up from Tuesday, Thursday we had a day where life took precedence, but most of the school work still got done and now we are here at Friday.  So far, so good.

I have been so tired (Or maybe I am just a bigger complainer)

Way more tired than I have been with other pregnancies - as far as I can remember.  Too tired to think of anything witty, too tired to go to the gym, and way too tired to get out of bed early when I have the option of sleeping in!
Unfortunately for me, today is our first day of school, so awake I am.  I was so excited to take pictures of our organized books and school supplies to show you.  I was completely pumped about all my shipments arriving!
But um, ya, they haven't all arrived!
So we will start with what we have and deal with the rest as it comes! Hopefully today, I am keeping the faith!
So as I was cleaning off my desk in anticipation of the new school year, I came across the disc from where I had my ultrasound, and decided I would share a picture of our baby with you instead.  I get to go for another one next week - I can hardly wait!

So there you go!
Hopefully I will be able to update you on our packages and our first day of school later!
C-ya!