..Latest and Greatest..

Here are the cakes I did the last two weekends. 

 My "business" is surely growing and that is both exciting and terrifying at the same time.  It's caused quite a stir of emotions in me this week.  Almost as though I'm having somewhat of an identity crisis.  I've realized, and it's odd that cake has made me feel this way, that I don't really know who I am.  I'm not really aware of what I like and dislike, what I want to be, who I want to be, who I am.  It's been very confusing.  I have spent so much of my life trying to be the person I believe people think I should be, the person I think people will like(although it has somehow drastically backfired). I feel as though my whole life (at least from the teens to present) has been a front to get people to like me.  And somehow I have so few people that actually do like me.  Don't take that the wrong way, I do have friends and family that love me, but I have put so many others off.  People are constantly telling me I am abrasive, opinionated, stuck up, too quiet, and that I don't get along well with others.  I have hurt so many and turned away so many more.  All the while I felt as though I was trying so hard to be like-able.  I have never wanted anything more in life than to be liked (read "popular").  That worldly desire has done nothing but keep me from being me, whoever that is.

 I've been doing a lot of pondering and soul searching, but I don't feel like I'm getting any closer to answers.  How is it that I am nearly 30 years old and I still don't know who I am?

..Cha Ching..

Ryland goes through phases with toys (not cars though, he always has cars in tow).  He singles out one toy as his favorite and then it goes EVERYWHERE!  Two months ago it was his new "Tommy" train he got for his birthday.  Two weeks ago his papa gave him and Ronnie $10.00 to buy a toy at the store.  His new favorite quickly became the tractor he bought.  

Currently, the new favorite is his "ching".  Can you guess?

A plastic costume sword!  

Ronnie decided he wanted to be a knight for Halloween (only because he wanted the sword and I wouldn't buy it just because).  Then, Ryland had to have one too.  Major melt down!  So I caved.  Because I'm a smart mom and I knew if I didn't it would mean endless fighting over one sword, which would inevitably lead to it getting broken, which would in turn mean if I didn't buy a new sword, Ronnie would then not want to be a knight anymore, finally ending in him either not going trick-or-treating for refusal to be a knight with no sword, or me buying a new costume all together.  See how smart I am!  The big picture is always more important than the current power struggle.

Long story short...Ryland got the "ching" and it goes EVERYWHERE!  At least until something better comes along.

..A Birthday Cake for Candice..

..For Grandpa and Grandma E..

Ronnie drew this in school today!

..Toy Story for Tanner..

My nephew Tanner just had his 2nd birthday and he loves Toy Story.  So here's his Toy Story cake.  All the figures are 100 edible fondant hand painted with food coloring.  It turned out so cute!  

(At least I thought so.) 

..Back to School..

At last! Back to school.  This is my favorite time of year. At least, for another 6 months or so until I'm tired of getting up early and making the trek to school twice a day.  Then summer becomes my favorite! (But only for a few days and then I loose all hope of sanity for the following 3 months.)

This year both the boys started school.  I have to admit, I thought I still had another year before Ryland started school and it tugged at my heart strings just a little.  I'm loving the quiet time though!

Ronnie is in 2nd grade.  Holy smokes! When did he grow up and who gave him permission? He loves math and writing, and recess of course.

Ryland started a special Early Childhood Development Preschool to help with his speech delay.  We were a little concerned with how he would handle the separation, but he surprised us with how well he did.  He goes twice a week for 3 hours.  In fact, he loves school so much he threw a monster fit the first day we didn't drop him off too.

..Birthday Boy!..

Ryland's 3rd birthday was August 1.  (I know, I'm late.)

 Not really interested in anything but his "Tommy" train.  He would open his gifts enough to find out they weren't more trains, then it would be back to "Tommy".

 I'm afraid my poor kids get the shaft in the cake department.  I never put much effort into them.  

Maybe if they paid! (Wink, Wink)

 We lit the candles and started singing and... Wait! Where's Ryland?

 Blowing out his candles...

 ...with a little help from Uncle Stephen.  Ryland doesn't quite seem to have the lungs for blowing candles yet.

He couldn't even be bothered to put "Tommy" down long enough to eat cake.  In fact, everyone else had already devoured cake and ice cream long before he even came over.  He was too busy playing!

All in all he had a great birthday with lots of trains and cars. And "Tommy" 1 and "Tommy" 2 are permanent companions now.  He doesn't go anywhere without them.

..Where Have We Been?..

It's been quite awhile since my last post.  Some of that is because I haven't been motivated to post, but most of that is because we have been busy, busy, busy enjoying our summer.  What have we been up too?

Nelson spent the last 3 months in the "great" state of Washington on a job that felt like it would never end.  We saw  him for a total of 7 days during that 3 months.  Once when we flew him home to go camping with us for Memorial Day, and once when he drove down to Utah while we were there so he and I could celebrate our...

...9th Anniversary!  Wow, where did the time go?  Our 10th is staring us in the face and I can hardly believe it.  I don't feel old enough to be celebrating 9 whole years of marriage.  Don't get me wrong, there have definitly been moments when it has felt like an eternity, but as cliche as it is to say, I am more in love today than I was the day we wed.

As you  may have guessed, the boys and I made the trek to Utah in June.  On the drive out we had Candice and Stephen with us, but the drive home was solo.  I was really afraid it would be a nightmare trip, but to the credit of my boys, it wasn't too bad, and they even did it without a DVD player. While in Utah we...

...Played with cousins! (And aunts and uncles!)

...Visited Kennecott Copper Mine.

  ...Panned for gold, rode the mini train, and rode a pony at the This is the Place Monument.

...Went to the Eccles Park Dinosaur Museum.

Once we got home, we jumped back into life by...

...Getting 5 pigs! Welcoming 3 goat kids, 2 boys: Ace and Atom, and a girl: Abigail.  The addtions bring our farm count to 1 cat, 2 dogs, 5 pigs, 6 goats, 20 chickens (and an occasional fox).  It's a full house around here.

...Keeping up with our garden.  I got a little crazy and planted 25 tomato plants, among other things.  So we have been canning tomatos like crazy!

...Swimming and getting tan!

...Getting glasses for Ronnie.  Mostly for school and reading, but I couldn't believe how excited he was. He is growing by leaps and bounds and is very excited to be BAPTIZED this December.

...Teaching Ryland how to talk.  He is in speech thereapy and making notable progress.  He gets to start a special pre-school this year, so we're hoping that will help more.  He still has absolutely no interest in potty training though.  He spends quite a bit of time in time-out, as most 2 year olds do.  This particular time, he just went ahead and took his nap while he was at it.

...And baking cakes.  I had 3 wedding cakes scheculed 3 Saturdays in a row.  CRAZY! but fun.  And it put a little extra cash in my pocket, which is always nice.

I am also staying busy as a housekeeper for my sister-in-law, on top of trying to keep my own house clean,

 which is no easy task with 2 live tornadoes living in it.

Nelson got home last night at about 10:00pm.  Finally!!!!!!

 And last but certainly not least, today is Ryland's 3rd Birthday. 

The rest of our summer will consist of spending as much time with Nelson as possible before he leaves for Hazard, Kentucky and preparing for school which starts in 2 weeks.