UnBelizable

Here are some pictures from our trip to Belize. I'll put another post with underwater pics of us scuba diving. We had a blast in Belize and enjoyed the vacation. We went with our really good friends, The Sperling's.
This is Brooks and I at one of our favorite restaurants, The Lazy Croc. It was a neat, outdoors restaurant, that looked like something from the movie Water Boy. The owners were from Florida and since we were the only people there that night (everyone else knew a massive storm was coming, which we got caught in and had to run 3-4 miles to the nearest hut (on the water by the way)). It made for a VERY memorable night.

This was right before our last dive on day 4. Yes, Steph and I wore matching tops. We saw sting rays and sea turtles on this dive. They were amazing.

This is the golf cart we rented to tour the island.

Brooks and I on a speed bump in the road. It was a giant rope.

The New Cake Boss!

Have I told you that I started taking a cake decorating class? Well, I did, 3 weeks ago, at Hobby Lobby. I signed up for a Wilton Decorating Class so I could attempt to make Gavin's 1st Birthday Cake. Plus, I figured, once we moved, it might be a good idea for me to have a few extra hobbies to keep myself busy and entertained with.

One of my FAVORITE memories growing up was watching my mom make, bake, and decorate some AWESOME, AMAZING cakes. The best part of her making those cakes would be when she would level her cake and then mix some of the excess cake with her homemade Butter Cream Icing and we would be allowed to snack on it! Yummy- it was delicious. Of course, I learned how to make the famous Butter cream Icing and it brings back MANY memories from when I was a kid!
***Side Note: A few weeks ago Brooks was helping me make some of that icing, which I doubled the recipe. Well, let's just say my $30.00 mixer did not appreciate all the Crisco and powdered sugar, so it took us multiple rounds just to make 3 cups of icing. So, for yesterdays icing making I borrowed a state of the art Kitchen Aid mixer from a friend and it took us 10 minutes to make 6 cups-- we were in shock! It was one of the those things I explained to Brooks that when you pay a "little" more the quality is much better! He agreed too!

Last night we had Lesson #3 from the Wilton Cake Decorating Class for Course #1 and I learned how to make various shapes- the shells (which the instructor was very complimentary of how well mine turned out (check out the bottom rim of the cake)). I also learned how to make star flowers (these are the green icing on top of the cake- but please note, half way through I realized one of my stems was not coming out & part of my icing tip was blocked with paper). We were taught how to make swirl flowers (not shown on the cake) as well as large dots (the pink dots on the top layer of the cake). We practiced making clowns, which I made on my practice board, but didn't have a clown head topper, so I chose to complete a Wilton Rose (I made 3 of them on top of the cake.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed last nights cake class and was so proud to come home with a decorated cake. My classmates really liked my color choices and wanted to know how I made my pink icing (my secret: it was red coloring, I just stopped coloring before the icing turned red).

Voila! The Cake Boss has nothing on me!
Brooks and I are so proud of this cake, we haven't even taken a bite out of it. We don't want to ruin it! I'm sure by the end of the day that will change.

PS: Gavin is playing on the floor beside me and just found his shadow. It is waving to it and patting it. Every time he moves, his shadow moves, and he follows it. It's the cutes thing!

Yummy in my Tummy!

I made spaghetti for dinner the other night and gave Gavin a few bites of mine and he really liked it. So, today, for his lunch, I made him a small bowl of spaghetti to eat instead of a jar of baby meat. I decided that I didn't care if he got dirty or made a big mess (we didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do) so I took off his clothes and put a bib on him and gave him the bowl of spaghetti! He loved it!

After that, I figured since he was already a mess and was going to need a bath, I took him outside and gave him a Popsicle. He loves these and has learned that if he bites down on it, he gets a bigger piece. (Don't worry, they are sugar free).

I don't think Gavin would object to Mommy having more carefree days more often!

Belize

We are still in Belize right now, it's Friday morning, and we are getting things ready to leave: packing, returning our rented golf cart, taking last minute pictures, and grabbing a quick bite to eat at one of our favorite local stores.

We have had an amazing time this week. Our vacation was packed with lots of activities. We came to Belize last week with some friends of ours, Micah and Stephanie, who convinced Brooks and I to get certified to scuba dive so we could accompany them on some dives. So, we did, and we dove 5 days on this trip. There were some awesome sights to see underwater and we had the chance to swim with or see sharks, seaturtles, stingrays, lobsters (the size of my head), and much, much more. Here is a picture of Brooks and I underwater on the last day- he wanted me to take my regulator out to smile but I was too scared. I must say as nervous as I was to scuba dive, I was very sad to take our last dive, thinking it would be a while before we could do this again. There is something so peaceful when you're underwater, looking at God's creations!

I have to run now, the laptops battery is dying and I need to go pack. Once we get home and settled I'll put more pictures up of our trip.

oops..

I just learned the hard way that it isn't a good idea to make my coffee and Gavin's bottle at the same time. I just poured creamer into his bottle and formula into my coffee cup. Then, I stirred his bottle with my spoon, and used his air fuser pump thing that goes in his bottle to stir my coffee. To add to that, once I realized I had done all of this, I started over with both his bottle and my coffee, only to pour splenda in his bottle. Wow-- this should be an interesting day.

Gavin and I are going to a birthday party today where he gets to play water games and then I'm off to cake decorating class! I had my first class Monday night and learned how to make homemade icing as well as different consistency's of the icing. I also have to bring a cake already made and iced to class today, with multiple cups of icing-- Brooks and I had a blast in the kitchen last night. I'm excited because my lesson today is a private lesson (it's a makeup class since I'm going to be in Belize next Monday) and we have to bring in a character shaped cake, which the whole reason I'm taking this class is so that I can make Gavin's 1st Birthday Cake.... and my idea for his cake just so happens to be from a character pan of a monkey. I figured the only way to learn is to practice!!!

King of the World

Last weekend we drove to Arkansas to visit Brooks family. It was a blast. We did a ton of stuff in a matter of just a few days. Let me start by sharing our traveling experiences. The last time we drove to Arkansas with Gavin, he was only 3 months old and still in the sleeping all the time phase so he wasn't bothered by riding in a car seat for 8 hours. However, now that he is 10 months and very active, Brooks and I were very curious to see how he would manage with having to be strapped into a car seat for so long. Gavin did great!! He is always so aware and inquistive about things as is, so it was no surprise that he only slept for 20 minutes because he was very busy looking out the window and watching things pass by-- not to mention our dog Maggie was in the back seat with him and he loves watching her. We stopped a few times for gas and potty breaks (changing his diaper, etc) and sadly to say... everyplace we went to gas station, grocery store, and even fast food place did NOT have a changing station in their bathrooms. how GROSS!! I had to change Gavin on the floor of the bathrooms b/c our car was so jam packed, there was no place to lay him down (even on the floor of the car). I was mortified and felt like the worse mom ever. But, that was our only hiccups on the way there. On our way home, believe it or not, we stopped at 3 different places and those 3 places did not have changing stations either-- this time though, I made sure to leave room to change him in the car. We stopped at Burger King to grab a quick bite to eat and Brooks found one of their crowns and put it on Gavin's head-- he wore it the entire time! He just thought that was the best thing ever-- that or he didn't realize it was on his head. Either way, it made for some very cute photos!!! I have to run-- the air conditioning guys are here... our air conditioner is messing up, AGAIN. I'll write later and post more pics of our trip soon. I tried downloading a video all night and it keeps telling me there is an error!
Oh yea, we stopped for dinner at a Chili's in Texarkana, TX and left Maggie in the car while we ate. Did you know it is a felony to leave an animal in a vehicle that is turned off, with no windows rolled down (yea, we didn't think about doing that for her). We came out of the restaurant and were welcomed by a police officer who received a phone call about animal abuse. He mentioned that he could arrest us because we committed a felony, but decided against it since we had our child with us and were traveling (we simply stated we weren't from around there and were unaware of this law). It was very interesting!

Yes, I'm Here!

Hi everyone! Once again, may I write, long time no post?!?! It has been a while since I've had a chance to sit down at the computer and write and even right now, I don't have much time. I visited a friend of mines blog yesterday morning and noticed that it said my last update was more than 2 weeks ago so I wanted to change my "status".

I have a list of topics to blog about with pictures and (cross your fingers) videos to go along with the post-- I just haven't found the time to download everything. But, I'm here to say, it is on my list of things to do, when I find the time to do it!

Hope all is well! We have been blessed beyond words the past few weeks and hope you have been too!

Happy 4th of July!!