HALLOWEEN!!

Scary Pumpkin

M&M

Hello Kitty Witch!

What a MONTH! Well, I got a second-kick of Halloween energy and October went out with a BANG!

Food Drive - Last week the Scouts took the food and money that we collected. We filled almost 2 huge rubbermaid bins full of food and decent amount of cash donations. We will make this an annual tradition to "Scare off Hunger!"

Pumpkin Carving: Friday, I cleaned out the pumpkins. We roasted the pumpkins seeds and had a good salty snack all weekend. We cut out the pumpkins on Saturday. Which is your favorite? I may have to do some more pumpkins next year. Homer Simpson maybe? ha!

Doughnuts: We found a doughnut dispenser at a garage sale for the sole purpose of making doughnuts on Halloween. I was determined to get it to work. The Yeast doughnuts didn't taste very good, but it was the perfect application for the spiced cinnamon doughnuts. So GOOD! I didn't take a picture. I should have taken a picture of our kitchen (what a MESS!!) .. or captured the smell .. the deep fryer always makes our house smell like a chinese restaurant. ha! Next year I'll do it outside!

Early Birthday Surprise: Friday night, the cat was out of the bag and I decided to give Pete his Birthday present early. Below we used the new contraption as a Halloween costume in the rain. Little Amelia is R2D2 and is shielded from the elements. Here's the funny story behind this find. Emily told us that she saw a R2D2 refrigerator or something like that at a garage sale. It turned out that it wasn't for sale, but the wife said that her husband never used it. Emily was worried she didn't get me a birthday gift. I told her that in lieu of a birthday gift she could track down this guy and see if he would sell the R2D2 to me. She didn't know which house it was and it took 2 tries to find the right house. They weren't home when she stopped by a bunch of times. Finally she got the number from the wife. I happened to be in Mapleton for a Halloween spook alley. I was at Emily's house and her home number rang and Emily said, "It's for you Cathy." Pete said, "For Cathy?!" It was the guy and we figured out a price and I planned to go to his house to look at it. Anywho, I tried to be coy and said I had to run to my friend Melanie's house for something, but I knew that Pete knew, but he didn't know that I knew he knew (confusing?) ha! Now our life is complete. We have a drink cooler that rolls on casters and is the shape of R2D2.

Halloween photo shoot: The Ritz Camera store by us does free Halloween photoshoots and you can get a sheet of pictures for free as well. They do it from 10:00 to 3:00 PM, so I recommend doing when your kids are getting ansy for trick-or-treating. I am copying Emily's decorating idea and I'll switch out my picture frames with seasonal pictures. I'm trying to figure out how to set up a similar studio at home.

Trick or Treating: - We did trick-or-treating at one of the rest homes after the photoshoot. We took a break and tried trick-or-treating in the rain with just me, Phillip, and Lily and 2 umbrellas. I think we only got to 5 houses in an hour. We took the whole family to some of the houses in the neighborhood and called it a night.

Clean Up and Set Up: - Yesterday Pete worked from morning until night taking down Halloween inside and out. I helped, but often got distracted by other projects. Pete also sets up the Christmas lights the same day so we don't have to worry about doing it in the snow.

What a wonderful time of YEAR!!

Disney - Part III of III - Stay at John & Kaley's House

We had a GREAT relaxing weekend at John & Kaley's House. I give it a four star stay!!

We got babysitters and went to a Greek Restaurant. We happened upon some tourist shops in 'Tarpon Springs, FL" We found some great cat T-Shirts. I found a piece of Amethyst for $4. I had a funny idea. We'd bury it in the sand when we went to the beach. He LOVED IT!!

We also went to a close by beach where we all enjoyed the white sand. Don't worry, we stopped by a 'Flea Market' on the way. (had to fulfill my garage sale itch) We got to enjoy the amenities of John and Kaley's neighborhood. REALLY nice pool, playground... even a beach volleyball court. YAY!

I enjoyed Phillip's random questions and quotes ... He told Kaley, "You talk like a Princess."

He asked John, "What is hand in Spanish?"

IT was a FABULOUS TIME!! I apologize for the manic blogging, but I was restraining myself. Looking at all of the videos and pictures makes me want to go back. Am I CRAZY?!

Disney Trip Part II of III

The Disney Celebration!

We went to the Magic Kingdom Halloween party. It was great! We got to see almost all of the park and meet all of the characters. I loved it! If you are planning a trip around October, I would look into it! We had 3 other full days at the parks!

Highlights

• The Halloween Decorations, Halloween characters, Trick-or-treating, Halloween Parade and fireworks... Did I mention...I like Halloween?!
• Phillip loving the Tower of Terror!
• Epcot - German Dinner - Worth it! The kids danced to the polka music while we gorged ourselves on an all-you-can-eat German food buffet
• Animal Kingdom - AMAZING! I love that park!
• Stroller swap & fast passes - took us a while to figure it out, but we never waited through the full line
• Parades & Firework shows
• Meeting characters. Lily kept saying that she met all of her friends, "Mini, Donald, & Mickey ..."

Lowlights

• Getting up the next morning after the Halloween party
• Crowds at Disney Hollywood Studios - Gak!
• Getting on the monorail after the firework show at Magic Kingdom

Family Picture with the 7 dwarfs!

Video of the kids Dancing at 11:30 PM! Are we 'good' parents for keeping them out so late?!

DISNEY Part I of III

Well, we are officially back from our trip. It was a LOT of fun! Wahoo!

Trip 1
Pete goes to ADA conference

Pete had to go to classes straight from a red eye flight. Gak! I got to hang out with John and Kaley over the weekend while we were recouping from the flight. Fun times! We ventured to downtown Disney which was fun and crazy.

We hung out at Kaley's grandma's house. It was fun racing the golf carts, eating a big lunch, and catching lizards. There was a 2 foot gnome that I was really jealous of! A home isn't a home without a gnome!














Fed the birds




Saw a gater!

We went to Chevys for dinner and ended up celebrating my birthday Again! We even carried the hat home in the plane. Phillip asked,"Is she 31?!". We said we were just singing happy birthday He said, "but we already sang Happy Birthday to her!"

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's the BIG 30. I can't believe it! Time flies!

I don't like to brag, but I'm really excited about my new toy. Pete gave it to me early so I could get it loaded with games and movies for our upcoming trip. I got the iPad! yay! I'm a sucker for gadgets. I would sometimes drool, sometimes make fun of the iPad. Deep down I was really jealous of anyone who had one. Pete got it for me to celebrate me passing my test (CISSP test) yay! and for my birthday.

Anywho, I was having a deep thought about the last 10 years. A lot has happened in my life. Your 20's are really pivotal years. As a teenager, I remember church leaders stressing making good decisions, finding a good husband/wife, keeping standards. But it's true. The decisions you make during those pivotal years affect the rest of your life!

Here's a look at the past 10 years of my life

Year 20 - Sorting mail at BYU
Year 21 - Decided to go into Information Systems, worked as a balloon animator
Year 22 - Finally figured out what a computer does and worked at the BYU server room, got a job offer with PwC
Year 23 - Graduated, moved to Philadelphia, started working for PwC
Year 24 - Met Pete, Dated Pete, Got engaged to Pete
Year 25 - Got Married, Phillip was born, Moved to California
Year 26 - Moved to Utah
Year 27 - Lily was born
Year 28 - Pregnant with Amelia
Year 29 - Amelia was born
Year 30 - I got an iPad! ha! Just kidding!

A Crazy Week!

So, I had a big project at work this week. I had to rely on a lot of people to help out .. THANK YOU to Pete, Merilyn, Penny, Paige, Mom & Becca! The week got even crazier when on Tuesday, Phillip in the kids were jumping around and BUMP!! Phillip cut his head. It was a pretty big cut. Pete took Phillip to Instacare. Phillip did really good and was conversing with the doctor like an adult. The doctor asked him what he was up to, and Phillip said, "Well, ... um I'm going to turn six." (his 5th birthday was last week). He asked Pete, "Why are they putting strings in my forehead?" .. he also said, "I feel like a fish" and made the motion of a hook pulling the skin of a fish. This was our first time getting stitches for someone in the family. I wasn't there for the commotion, but I'm glad that he was well taken care of! I'm excited for General Conference this weekend. :-) A great way to relax after a stressful week!

Happy Pumpkin Jack Birthday Phillip!

Phillip blowing out the candles. When asked what he wished for, he said, "I wished that I can eat cake." Phillip is SO PRACTICAL!

Pumpkin Jack cake. Rolled fondant over buttercream. Do I dare take credit? It was late last night after I had spread the buttercream and I was getting the fondant dirty. Pete stepped in and was a lot better at this more precise type of decorating.

Spook Alley. It was a little too scary for some of the kids. I made them reach their hands in an african kist for 'eyeballs' (grapes) and 'brains' (spegetti).

Playing pumpkin ... pumpkin ... pumpkin ... pumpkin JACK!!

The wig and hat race. Who knew that I had a good collection of dress ups!

So here's a look at Phillip's 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th birthdays. All I can think is that he has grown up so quick. Or has he always been a grown up and his looks are just changing? He is always surprising me with the things that he says. He has such a mature personally for a now 5-year-old. We are pretty casual with shoes in the house. But, if friends come over Phillip, makes them take their shoes off. He only lets me get one treat at the grocery store. (since when does the 'ONLY ONE TREAT' rule apply to me?!)

Some funny Phillip Stories:

• I was trying to get him to memorize or at least read the primary scripture for August. 2 Nephi 27:33. I told Phillip repeat after me ... "For behold, I am God, and I am a God of miracles..." Phillip: "For behold, I am God ... I'm NOT God." I tried to explain that the scripture was Heavenly Father speaking for himself to the prophet. I tried again. Phillip: "For Behold, I'm God ... Mommy, I'm NOT God. I know who God is ... He is my Heavenly Father".
• Phillip refused cotton candy and a cookie one night because he had ice cream earlier and he said, "Only ONE treat!"
• Phillip keeps talking about his baby brother 'Tardan' who is 0 years old. (THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT :-)
• We had had a long day at church, both Lily and Amelia were screaming and we decided to leave 15 minutes early. Phillip said in the parking lot, "That is the LAST TIME! We are supposed to stay until it's finished!"
• One time, when leaving sacrament meeting, Phillip announce really loud, "That was a good show."

Phillip we love you! You make life fun! You even make me more responsible ... can you imagine it!! "Mom, you forgot your purse!" he said as I left my purse in a shopping aisle at Smiths.

Braces are OFF!

Before:

After:

So ... I have to thank Pete for getting the ball rolling in getting my braces off. There were some scheduling problems and I wasn't going to get them off until October 18th. I told Pete that all I wanted for my birthday was to get my braces off and get my teeth whitened. SO, THANK YOU to the MONARCH Ortho Team and Thank you to PETE!! I'm so glad to have them off. What a great early birthday present.

It was weird to see those braces on the tray .. kind of gross with all of the food stuck in places you couldn't see. It kind of reminds me of getting a cast off. You feel like something is missing, yet is it is SO liberating!

It has been 2 years and 3 months. Here is the post when I originally blogged it.

So, I am pleased with the results. But having braces as an adult has its challenges. Spending an afternoon with a black bean on your front tooth. Having your picture taken when your teeth and braces are stained from a Popsicle. Eating corn on the cob and people thinking that you are using your teeth as food storage. Phillip told me that I have train tracks on my teeth. My nephew once called them 'robot teeth.' Even so, it was ALL worth it! Wahhooooo!!!

Contracted Craft Services

So, I thought I would blog & brag, or blag about the Halloween bows that I got. I did NOT make them. I can sometimes be crafty, but I know my limits. I tried making bows once, and it didn't work out too good. Buying bows can be expensive. I was at the ribbon store and almost bought some ribbon to make bows ... they had really cute halloween ribbons. I called Bina and she said she'd make some Halloween bows for my girls. She went to TOWN!! They are REALLY cute! Don't worry, I'll have to share some with my Utah siblings. (or will I? ... I think I look pretty good with the Halloween bows!) ;-)

I guess the moral of the story is that we all have our strengths. You just need to figure out how to 'contract' services from those who know what they are doing ;-)

We are doing a Joy School and I started reading the lesson plan and I started into a cold sweat. I couldn't understand what I was supposed to do .. when .. ak! I called Pete's mom and Pete's sister penny who are a Kindergarten teachers. They gave me some good ideas. I told then that I probably felt the same way that they sometimes feel when they are figuring out a computer. It's great to help each other out.

Paige, who I have contracted time and again for organizing help, stopped by the other day. Our garage door was open, both of our cars were there and Rhino was in the back yard. She kept calling our names. Kitchen was covered in dishes and food. She couldn't figure out where we were and thought we had Carbon Monoxide poisoning. We had taken the truck to pick some fruit. I told her that in her mind, the only explanation of leaving your house in such a state is that we had DIED! Any other reason just didn't make sense in her mind. ha!

We had a Relief Society activity where we made quilted pillows. I made sure Pete's mom was coming so that she could help me. I would cut the pieces, pin and iron. I put her to work and we were one of the few that finished. I know Al got a kick out of seeing me sew a bib, and it took me 45 minutes to sew and turn out a seem. She was nice enough to alter a dress for our Family Reunion. :-)

I don't sew. I don't make cards. I don't make bows. I don't do flower arrangements. If you need help securing a computer, decorating a christmas tree, arranging lawn ornaments, or painting, I'll be there! (creative painting that is ... I'm not very 'good' and normal painting ... when i say 'good' I mean ... I don't like doing it :-)

Catching Up - Blank Canvas!

So, I took a test last week and I feel like I wasn't doing much but study that last few weeks before the test. I don't know the results for 4 or 6 weeks, but at least I gave it my best shot. Now I'm trying to catch up on enjoying life!

Yesterday I was a LITTLE impulsive. Lets just say a LOT impulsive. Pete told me about a blank canvas at DI, but he said it was REALLY big. I ran into DI, and found it and thought .. hmmm... I don't have a place to store this, I don't have time to paint, but I WANT IT!! maybe it's all of the school supply ads, the fresh boxes of crayons that I have been meaning to buy, but this BLANK canvas is REALLY refreshing. I took it out to the mini-van .. thinking I could get it to fit .. NOPE! In the process I was almost blown away with some heavy gusts of wind in the parking lot trying to carry a HUGE canvas by myself. I did finally get it with the truck. Now I just need to figure out what to paint. Any suggestions? It's 6 ft by 5 ft. (It comes to about my nose when standing).

As a recap for the kids .. Phillip is funny as ever. Here he is in FULL get-up from the boots, racing outfit, guns, hat and belt. Another ACTION shot of him being batman. I asked him if he wanted to do Soccer or another activity in the fall in addition to pre-school and he said, "NO MOM! I just want to do letters and numbers. Just ONE ACTIVITY!" Phillip definitely keeps me in check .. pretty practical for a 4-year-old. Maybe we'll do soccer next year. He is so literal. Pete told him to not eat too many cherries or he will get sick. Phillip is now the cherry police and says, "Dad look at all of these!!" (pointing to the cherry pits) "You are GOING TO GET DIARRHEA!"

Lily is in a big girl bed, which means that naps are not necessarily on the schedule. She LOVES her "Gig girl bed." As always, she is a fashionista. If she doesn't want to wear something she'll pull and tug on it and say, "Mommy .. It dirty!"

Then there is Amelia and Rhino. ha! Funny that I pair them, but they are quite a pair! Amelia is crawling now. We have the baby gate up, but she is definitely testing the boundaries more than Lily and Phillip. She just wants to be a big kid!

Well, that's just a quick recap ... of kids.

Summer highlights:

Family reunions

Thrifting with family

Fireworks

Training for a triathlon on an old beach cruiser with a bell and basket

Swimming in our inflatable pool ;-)

Watching the kids jump on the tramp

Artic Circle (Chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, & reasus peanut butter cup)

Summer Lowlights:

Not getting highlights ... maybe tomorrow I won't have any more dark roots ;-)

Studying

Weeding my garden after neglecting it for 6 weeks

Two things that I have started that I LOVE!

1. Bountiful Baskets

I already sent an e-mail out to family, but figured, I could get on a soap box and brag about the co-op that I have participated in.

It is a co-op where you donate $15 and get a basket of fruits and vegetables. They work to get local growers. You make your donation on Monday night (in Utah it's around 8:00 PM). You sign up for a pick-up time and location. On Saturday you pick up your produce at the determined time and location.

They are in the following states - AZ, CO, UT, WA, WY, NV, ID and TX.

I have paired up with two neighbors. I do the order and we switch off the pick up.

This is why I like it

1) Great quality - I've never had better corn on the cob

2) Great price - you get about 15 to 20 pounds of produce for $15

3) Convenience - it takes a little planning, but for the past few weeks my fridge has been STOCKED and I feel like I haven't been going to costco or the grocery store as much. (therefor saving MORE money because there is less chances for me to buy the latest promotional item!)

You don't choose what you get, but there is quite a variety, so if you don't like something (brussels sprouts), don't worry, you won't be eating them for every meal!

Check it out!

2. Mint.com - IT's FREE!

So, I've always struggled with managing finances, budgeting, and getting a CLEAR picture of where we are at. I would log into one checking account, get the balance, type that into excel, next account, excel, and so on .. then I'd try and figure out how much I had left after our regular spending each month .. This is just your basic checkbook drill to make sure you will be in the clear when that big check or mortgage hits the checking account.

Budgeting, don't get me started. I've started so many, and failed so many times. "We will spend only $400 on groceries, $50 on gas .. etc .. and look how much money we will SAVE!" The bad thing is that the budget is broken before I can hit 'SAVE' to my dumb excel spreadsheet. It was NOT realistic. Where is my fountain diet coke fund? What about home improvement .. ? What about going to DI .. on occasion.

Finances ... don't EVEN get me started. It would take me FOREVER, to figure out our NET WORTH ( student loans, mortgage, 401k, assets, savings, etc). I would literally spend hours trying to figure out my sign-on account at the various financial institutions, plug the numbers into excel .. have a small grasp of where we are and our goals, but knowing that this little 'yearly family statement' will be obsolete in one month.

Anywho, I just was curious about an old site I had joined (quicken-online). However, mint.com has taken over the current quicken-online accounts. This personal finance tool is AMAZING!! and it's free!

You aggregate your bank accounts in one spot (no need to log-in more than once).

**Security tip**

Use a VERY strong password for your mint.com account as it is an aggregation of your personal finances .. gold mine for someone attempting to perform Identity theft. Strong password is *more than 8 characters, Upper and lower case, numbers and Sp3ci@l characters. Use a passphrase to help out ... substitute a $ for 's' or a @ for 'a'. '$@vingM0n3y' - 329,000,000 days to crack. vs. 'SavingMoney' - 0 days to crack.

Use a different password than the old and trusty password as sometimes sites that you frequent do not encrypt user passwords.

DO NOT use the password 'password123' (do I need to explain?)

WHERE DID I SPEND MY MONEY?

They auto-assign the spending categories. It takes some tweaking, but it does a LOT of the work for you. With a click of a button I can see how much I have spent at Salt City Burger in the past 3 months. There are a ton of cool trending and pie charts. See below. BTW, the picture I pulled off the Internet. This is not MY spending. That's too embarrassing!

WHAT IS MY NET-WORTH?

As I mentioned before, you sync ALL of your bank accounts, this includes the bank that holds your mortgage, your investment firm that manages your 401K, credit cards, savings, checking, etc ... You list any assets or liabilities manually for accounts that can't be added (car, home, other loans). Any time you login, you can see where you are at!

WHAT IS MY BUDGET?

Since you have linked ALL of your bank accounts, it loads the payment history of the last 3 months. When you create a budget, you select a category which you want to budget ..ex. Food-groceries .. the web-app will automatically suggest a number which reflects your spending over the last 3 months. AMAZING!

WHAT CAN I DO WITH ANY EXTRA?

You have set up a realistic budget, you may have some money left over to set aside. They have different tools to help you decide how much you should set aside for a personal finance goal. How much to save for kids tuition? How much to save if we want to retire at 65? How much to save if we want to put in a pool with a tube slide coming from our master bedroom (will really increase our home value!)

Check it out! It's free!

The $40 Rule

So, you may be thinking ... ga'ak! another picture of cupcakes?! What else does this girl do?! ha!

Well, I had to celebrate because I got something that I have wanted for more than 12 years. An air-brush kit! Let me explain. I decorated cakes for a Summer for Krogers when I was in high school (same as Smith's foods). I made some pretty good cakes, but I was always frustrated that I never had the materials to replicate what I did in the store. Namely, the air-brush kit. I haven't see one for less than $150 and it could be qualified as a uni-tasker, so that was too much money to spend on it.

Pete and I have a rule that if we are going to start a new hobby, we need to put a cap of $40. Once we have put some time into the hobby and feel like it is going to 'stick,' we can invest more into it. I can't tell you how many hobbies I've started and dropped. From weaving to scuba diving, I've done it all, just not very well.

So, we went to an estate sale that said in the sale description, "My Uncle was a hoarder." It was amazing! The nephew was yelling about certain items. "Air Brush compressor, New In BOX!" I about ran to it and had him hold it for me. I got it for $25 There was a price tag still on the box for $175 from the hobby lobby. YAY! It didn't have the gun portion, so we made a trip to Harbor Freight hardware, another great store, and I got the gun for $12. I got some of the food coloring for the air brush at Orsen Gygi for $4. So I am still under my $40 budget and I'm excited to see what else I can make.

These were my favorite cakes I made at Krogers with the air-brush set:

Smiley face cake

Watermelon cake

Hamburger cake (my favorite)

Tye - die cake

Dragon cake

There is no END to the possibilities!!

I also want to investigate the potential for face painting with the airbrush and stencils. :-)

Summer 2010

Summer Update

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. It's been a WHIRLWIND of a Summer. I have the kids in two activities and still feel overwhelmed! I don't know how people do it!

The kids:

Amelia is getting so BIG! She is starting to rock back and forth on her hands and knees. She will probably be crawling within a month. CRAZY! She LOVES big kid food and will have almost nothing to do with bottles. (don't worry, she's getting enough). Lily is talking a lot lately. She doesn't talk in nursery or around other people. She says funny things like, blaming the poopy smell on Rhino. ... or.. she wanted to wear make-up and I said, "maybe when you are older." She said, "I TWO, IT's MINE!" Phillip is my funny little guy. This morning he was bribing me saying, "If you let me, I'll let you come to my Pumpkin Jack Party!"

Biking:

The kids have had fun riding bikes outside. I was a little naive and rode my bike with Phillip down our street. I didn't realize we had a gradual hill AND Phillip didn't know how to brake. (he had practiced on our driveway which is flat). Luckily one of my neighbors caught him with one hand. We broke out the bike trailer one night. It was a lot of fun! Pete and I are signed up for a Triathlon sprint in August. I'm excited to do it with some type of costume.

Swimming:

I haven't figured out a GREAT swimming option for the kids. I did take them to the Bountiful recreation center once, but it was a little crazy there to take 3 kids by myself. Pete bought one of those inflatable kid pools. It's on our patio, and the kids had fun swimming in it! We'll have to jump in once it gets really hot.

Wirthlin Reunion:

We had a fun reunion over the 4th of July for my Parents 50th anniversary. It was a LOT of fun. Was it 104 people there? All immediate family and grandkids. I sometimes take it for granted what my parents were able to do with all of us kids. It is quite the accomplishment.

Hotel Bountiful

We got to have Al and her family stay with us. It was a lot of fun and a good excuse to finish our basement bathrooms. The kids had fun watching movies, eating popcorn, and either chasing or being chased by Rhino. Here are some sparkler pictures from our little driveway fireworks show.

Dance:

I got Lily into a one-week dance camp. She really liked it. She froze for the recital today, but what can I expect .. she's two! It was fun that she got to do the class with her cousin. I think I'll download the princess and the frog song and see if she'll do the dance for me!

T-Ball

Phillip started T-ball this summer. Phillip is one of the younger players on the team. He's getting better and running to get the ball and insists on trying to hit a pitched ball.

Here's the play-by-play ..

Batter UP!!

Safe on First!

playing in the dirt on second ..

... Running to third ...

The third base-man was making sure Phillip was O.K.

Phillip running home.

He does exaggerated arm movements so he can run fast like 'Dash' on the Incredibles.

Cupcakes

So, I found a better buttercream recipe and thought I would share. I modified it a bit ..

1 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

6 cups powdered sugar

2 t. clear vanilla extract

1/2 t. almond extract

1/4 t. salt

4 oz heavy whipping cream

1. Cream butter and shortening until fluffy. Add confectioners sugar (1/2 cup at a time) until well blended.
2. Add rest of ingredients to whipping cream. Add 2 oz of whipping cream. Add additional whipping cream if you like a more 'wet' look of frosting. (sometimes you may want a stiffer texture for decorating. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

So .. I tried out making mini cupcakes. They sell liners for the mini muffin size cupcake at walmart (about $1.50 for 100 liners). I tried mini cupcakes before, and they didn't come out of the pan very well without the liners. So, I signed up to bring a treat for a shower. I tried the mini cupcakes and ONE box of yellow cake mix made 96 cupcakes. Woah! The frosting recipe above was PLENTY of icing to ice all of the cupcakes. So I show up to the shower with almost a 100 cupcakes and about 15 to 20 people show up. OVERKILL! ha! Anywho, I got to keep some at home. I may switch to mini-cupcakes for parties with kids because the cupcakes are stretched farther and there is less waste. (BTW, the patriotic cupcakes caused me to set up some memorial day plans just so that I could use the flag picks I got at Osen Gygi for a dollar!)

Tips for baking mini cupcakes:

• Use a small cookie scoop to put batter into cupcake tins. Watch the baking time. My oven was about 10 to 12 minutes.
• You want to pull them out before there is any brown on the edges but after the middle ones are done.

Tips for cupcakes in general:

• Make sure the cupcakes are thoroughly cooled before decorating.
• Keep it simple. It's fun to use different decorating techniques, but they look better if all of the cupcakes are uniform with some slight differences.
• Make the frosting. I've tried box cake and from scratch cupcake recipes. I don't know if you could taste a HUGE difference. However, I think the frosting makes a big difference, especially for cupcakes.
• You can bake now and use them later. You can use freeze baked cupcakes for up to 3 months. When I worked at the bakery at Kroger, the cupcakes would sit in the back freezer for I don't know how long. Once decorated they could stay in a freezer for one month. The baked cupcakes only need to sit on the counter for a few hours to thaw. For decorated, they would need about a day to thaw the frosting and cake.
• Transportation can be tricky. I've yet to buy a cupcake carrier. I have a plastic box that was the packaging for a make-up kit from Costco. I don't use the makeup much, but that plastic box has gotten a LOT of use for carrying cupcakes. My sister saves the cupcake containers from the store.
• Make your own picks. Becca gave me this idea. I did this for one of Phillip's birthdays. Just print some images on card stock or paper and glue to a tooth pick.
• You don't have to go to a specialty store. You don't need a fancy tip. Use the end of a bag, or just a knife to spread the icing. If you like sprinkles that you see on the bakery cakes see if they will sell you some. I did this for 4th of July 2 years ago at Dicks and still have some sprinkles left. You could even see if you could buy the cupcake carrier from the bakery.
• Have fun! It's cupcakes!

Chickens on the Move!

So, our neighborhood has seen an increase in the rat population. We have set out traps and Pete even got a pellet gun and was successful in one hit and one possible wound. (Pete's a great shot!). Even with our successes, we thought it better to move the chickens to a more rural location until we build a better chicken coupe.

My sister Becca got chickens this easter and is moving up to Charleston, UT (near Heber and Midway). It's a farm property equipped with a chicken coupe and she was nice enough to take our 10 chickens.

I know the chickens have been our schtick, but I guess we can't be defined by our livestock.

Here's a funny video of our minivan packed with 10 chickens, 1 puppy, 3 kids, and 2 adults. We even went to Wingers for dinner. I kept on thinking of funny pranks I could play with the waitress. "Could you fry this one up and take $4 off our check?" After waiting 45 minutes for our meal, we left Wingers without eating ... I kept saying "It would have been faster to pluck and cook our own chicken!" Anyway, here is a tribute to our chickens and "Keepin' it Rural" in Bountiful Utah.