January 20

Today's challenge, making a cake level!

Mission accomplished!

(My level is torpedo shaped, so it is not supposed to touch on the sides)

January 22

Here is the cake of the day!

January 21

This little guy apparently fell out of the tree into my hair. I picked out one of the tree flowers and tossed it into the sink. Later I went to get the flower out of the sink and he was crawling around in it so I grabbed the camera.

Unfortunately while waiting for him to open back up all the way I forgot about him so now he is crawling around my bathroom somewhere =o/

January 18

Today Alyssa helped me get started on my next cake project....

I just love her cheesy grin!

January 17

Today was all about this cake... as seen on my cake blog =o) If you want to see more or read more about it visit Amber's Cake Creations.

January 16

January 15

January 13 & 14 ... are on my phone and my computer refuses to download them =o(


However, today was a beautiful day and we were able to spend some time enjoying the outdoors!

January 12

Mushrooms! Alyssa was running around the backyard and I was trying to keep the mushrooms out of her reach... and then I started taking pictures! I seem to be facinated by the underside of the 'shrooms... but they have the best texture! I think the second photo is my favorite.

January 11

Date night...

January 10

Our family went out for dinner and tried the newish Thai restaurant in Natomas, Tuk Tuk. Brian and I really enjoyed it and Alyssa dug right in! The atmosphere was great and everything we tried was yummy. I definitely appreciated that not everything was doused in curry =o)

January 9

Gifts from the kitchen! The cake is a yellow cake with a chocolate rum ganache and peanut butter fudge filling. Yeah, it is good =o) Next time I am going to go with a chocolate cake with the peanut butter fudge though.

January 8

I love these pictures, not because they are really great photos (it is too dark to re-do them now), but because when seen from a distance, these catkins appear to be drab yellow blobs hanging from our tree. However, on closer inspection they are actually beautifully patterned and have lovely shades of red, pink, green and yellow! This reminds me to look for the beauty in things that may not appear to be worth my time at first glance.

January 7

We are studying the Mycenaean Civilization!

January 6

I think I would rather be there...


...than here in the dentist chair staring at the painting on the wall.

The rest of my day consisted of working on the NOEO Science kits for PACT.

January 5

Today I present an amazing photo. This photo is special because it proves that God is at work and miracles do still happen. In fact, this photo documents not one miracle, but no less than four!



At first glance, this might seem like a photo of a messy room with sleeping children... and it is, but look closer and I will outline the miracles.

First, my son is sleeping. During the day. If you know my son, you too will agree this is the first miracle.

Second, and more prominent than the first, and like all good miracles requires faith to believe, he took this nap of his own free will. Wow!

The third miracle, our daughter is sleeping. This is the lesser of the four, but as she is currently prone to not napping and rather just being grumpy, as her parents we attest to the validity of this small miracle.

The final miracle? Well this is truly the biggest miracle of all, and I think any parent would agree... they are both asleep AT THE SAME TIME!! Gasp, yes, it is true and this is photographic proof.

January 4

Stephen got some skates as a post-Christmas present and today we had some sun (and everyone was healthy) so Brian took him out to give them a whirl... his thoughts? "Being on wheels is fun!" Now when we go to the rink he can wear his own skates =o)

While we were outside I found my Paperwhites were in bloom, and our snowflakes were very pretty in the sun!

January 3

Today we were finally feeling well enough to go home! The photos today are not spectacular, but if you consider that they were all taken from a moving vehicle while traveling up I-5, I think it is amazing that any of them are in focus!































Stephen wanted me to take a picture of this cloud because he thought it looked like a sleigh! If you look closely, I think you might agree =o)









I don't know why the photos are all over the place, but at least they are here!

January 2

Today Brian and I were sick, sick, sick...

January 1

I have always been intrigued by those who document a year (or more) of their lives in photos. Most of the photos they take would not win any prizes or really be noteworthy on their own, but together they can give you an amazing view into their lives and show you what is important to them in some ways. This year I thought I would give it a try and see what my life looks like at the end of the year. For those who are interested, this will be a brief glimpse into my world.

I can promise you they will not all be works of art, but hopefully some of them will be interesting and speak to you in some way.

Day one... Paso Robles, CA








The previous photos were all taken in my parent's backyard. It rained pretty much all day and this was the only time I ventured out (but I did go out Betti!).



This last photo is a rose I made out of play-dough... my first ever attempt at making a flower free-hand with no cutters or tools whatsoever. My hubby laughed at me because I had to have a photo, but I am pretty proud of this accomplishment. If I can do it in play-dough, I can do it in fondant or gumpaste! Not too shabby huh?