Build-A-Bear

What a day! My daughter and my niece who had a sleep over last night were up at the crack of dawn. The were kind enough not to wake the whole house until 8am. We headed to Build-A-Bear for Madison's birthday party where we were joined by 5 of Madison's school friends. Build-A-Bear is a truly magical experience for the kids. We had a ton of fun Picking, Stuffing, Bathing, Dressing and naming our Bears. I am totally exhausted and wish I had more stamina for this type of a fun filled day. I am looking forward to a soak in my hot-tub, P.J.'s and a movie. Early to bed tonight and probably a full day of vegging out tomorrow.

The End Result

Okay as a said in a earlier post I was attempting to make Monster High Royal Icing cupcake toppers for my daughter Madison's 7th birthday party. We are taking her and 6 friends to Build-A-Bear and then for Pizza tomorrow. However after 3 failed attempts with crumbling icing I decided to go with a Plan B. So I hauled out some fondant and created the Monster Skulls with a edible Marker and added them to a butter cream frosted cupcake, rolled in pink sparkles and adorned with Duff edible tattoo paper. I am pleased with the outcome and the fact that I was able to complete them all in under 2 hours with baking time. Now I just need to clean the kitchen.

Monster High Fashion Shoot

Monster High is my daughter Madison's favorite toy right now. So she wanted to give them a photo shoot. She set them all up in her room and borrowed my camera  and took these shots. How cute! Maybe she will grow up to be a photographer.

Photo Challenge

I have decided that I will try out this photo challenge in May. My inspiration comes from my friend Alana who is completing the April challenge and pointed me towards @FATMUMSLIM for the list. We will see if I can commit to the photo each day, or not so much commit but remember to take the pics wish me luck. 

Cupcake Toppers

My daughter Madison is turning 7 on Friday and we have planned a party at Build-A-Bear on Saturday with 6 of her friends. She wants a Monster High themed cake. I have decided based on the venue to make cupcakes. So I began my search today for Monster High Cupcake ideas.
I found this great Blog http://mightydelighty.blogspot.ca which had a tutorial on how to make Monster high Cupcake toppers. So I went ahead and mixed up a batch of royal icing as per her instructions. I filled my icing bags with the great bag trick she mentions on hr site and made up some toppers. Unfortunately as soon as I tried to peel them from the wax paper they crumbled. I may not have let them dry enough before peeling, so I may give it another try tomorrow or I may have to come up with a plan B for Madison party on Saturday.

The Big Reveal

Okay so this past weekend we had a large Birthday party for my children Madison who is turning 7 and Colin who is turning 5. We have been planning a Disney Trip for months now but due to my Breast Cancer Treatment we have been waiting for the All Clear to come before letting the kids know that they are going.

I worked all week to create a Disney themed cake.  I was very pleased with the outcome. I used my Cricut to cut our Disney Characters and attached them to scavenger hunt clues. I also cut our 24 mini Mickey Heads to hide around the house for the kids to search for all the Hidden Mickeys.

So Saturday I arrange for them to go to my brother and sister-in-laws in the morning so we could set up the big surprise reveal party. I set our clues for a scavenger hunt which ended in our living room where the kids found two new suitcases full of Disney stuff including Autograph books, Disney Pins, and Costumes. We followed up the hunt with the cake reveal.

The kids were thrilled and I of course am exhausted but so happy. I feel this reveal was a bit of a celebration for me too. Can't wait for August to come. Mickey here we come.

First Communion

Another jammed packed weekend which makes me tired and happy at the same time.
We spent the day doing as a lot of Catholic grade two students families may be doing in April, attending a first communion for my husbands cousins son Ethan.
I don't usually enjoy taking my children to church. Mostly because as parents we have not spent the time going to church on a regular basis so our children have not quite figured out the proper behavior.Which inevitably ends up with us lecturing them on the way to church about quiet voices, listening skills, and sitting still. This lecture is often heard and sometime even obeyed for a short time but in the end we often spend half of our time a church trying to get the kids to sit still and pay attention leaving both my husband and I frustrated. We almost always have the "we really should go to church more often" conversation after each of these events. However we have yet to follow through on this. So we continue to attend church on major holidays, for weddings and events such as first communions.
Sunday's service was lovely and it was followed by a gathering of there family and friends for a great meal. The kids actually did not too bad in the pay attention and be quiet department and even showed a little interest in what was being said. I attribute this to the Catholic school teaching them about church decorum. I was taking lots of notes as it will be our turn next year to host this type of party as my daughter Madison receives her First Communion.

All Clear for Now

Today was a big day for me. I went into see my Oncologist for the first time since completing radiation and chemo for breast cancer. She gave me the all clear for now and told me to return in September. I am thrilled and scared to be done but I am looking forward to getting on with our plans to take our children to Disney this summer and to getting my energy levels and mental health back on track so I can get back to work.
It has been a grueling 7 months fraught with illness, tears, exhaustion and at times depression. I am proud to say I have made it through and for any of you out there reading this going through the same process hang in there it will get better.

Easter Crazy!!

Spring is in the air and for us it will be a busy one. We started of with a jammed packed Easter weekend. I had intended for a quiet one as I am still  recovering from the past 7 months but I enjoy visiting my family so much  that I could not say no to any of the festivities. We started the weekend of with a Good Friday fish dinner which my wonderful husband prepared for us his parents and my brother and sister-in-law and their children. I always love it when all the kids are able to get together and play.  We headed to my husbands Aunt and Uncles on Saturday for a visit with Chris extended family and a great meal. They own a beautiful piece of property with walking trails and ponds ( I posted one pic here). The kids love spending time there. Sunday morning the kids were up at the crack of dawn so we had a 7am Easter egg hunt at home (see the pic of this years Baskets) and followed it up with a hunt and visit at my parents in the afternoon.  Monday we were back hunting for eggs again at my in-laws house.What a crazy weekend which I will spend the first part of this week recovering from by laying on the couch most of the day.