Taryne Turns Two!!

One week ago, our sweet little girl turned two!! Not sure how she is already two, but she is and let me tell you, she is a boat load of fun lately. And super silly. And clever. And smart. And totally amazes us every day with something new.

For her birthday, we did a strawberry themed party. Somehow I didn't get a ton of great pictures during her party, but I have been assured that others have some good pics and they plan to share. I will share those later too.

We had a bounce house (thanks to a good friend for letting us borrow the "kid" sized bounce house they have), a bean bag toss game and I made a coloring table for the kids. I was amazed at how entertained the kids were with coloring and throwing bean bags. Who would have known!

For the food, I decided a few months ago to go with hot dogs and Frito Pie (which sounded great at the time, but not so good now that I am pregnant!). We kept the food simple. Thank goodness since I have been feeling a bit tired and nauseated lately.

I decided that I was going to attempt fondant on Taryne's cake. It turned out better than I had hoped but not near as good as I wanted. I am a perfectionist and so I saw EVERY SINGLE FLAW on the cake. I did not eat a piece of cake, but I heard it tasted good. Sweets sound sort of yucky at the moment because I never pass up birthday cake. I made my fondant from a recipe on Bakingdom (one of the many blogs I follow) and everyone said it actaully tasted pretty good compared to other experiences with fondant. Yay! I guess it was a success! I sort of freaked out with the cake becuase I hated it when I went to bed. It look too plain. So the next morning after attaching the strawberries and the number "2", my mom suggested I paint vines on the cake. Thank goodness for her suggestion becuase until I painted the vines I absolutely hated the cake and was caclulating the time needed to make another batch of buttercream to re-decorate the cake.

The party itself was fun and Taryne played with everyone. I really think she had a great time. She sure enjoyed cake time and of course was excited about opening her gifts. All the girls at the party were so helpful and gave a play-by-play of Taryne opening her gifts. It was quite hillarious!!

She was ready to BOUNCE!!! She talked about the bounce house the entire week after the party and was pretty upset when we put it away to return to Melissa....

Bouncing before the party with Aunt Charlotte....

BEAN BAGS!!!!!!

The cake...

Carolina Grace, Morgann and Connor tossing the bean bags....

She seemed a bit mesmorized by the two candles....

Jacie, Morgann and Alexis....

Taryne (and both of us) are very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Thanks to all who were there to celebrate with us! Taryne has thoroughly enjoyed all of her gifts. She has rotated them all around in the past week to give them equal "play time". Kind of funny...

Until next time...Gig'em!

Birthdays, anniversaries and weddings, oh my!

Well, one birthday, one anniversary and one wedding. Taryne turned 9 months on Saturday, Kyle and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on Saturday and my sister Charlotte married Zach on Saturday. Saturday was a busy day!

I did the flowers for Charlotte's wedding, so I was busy from Friday until last night with prep and clean up. I also helped my mom with the cooking on Saturday morning. I am totally amazed at my parents for basically doing it all themselves...with the help of family and friends of course, but no catering or other "professionals" for wedding stuff.

I thought I was going to have a coronary on Friday because the flowers did not arrive in Llano until after 2 pm!!! I was panicked they would not show up and if they did I just knew they would be wilted, but luckily, they were ok. The insides of the boxes were HOT and I was so nervous they would not hold up, but they did...thank goodness.

After we got the flowers back to my parent's house, Aunt Claire and my cousin Nicole helped me make the boutonnières, bouquets and the table arrangements. I cannot thank them enough for their help! I had to miss the rehearsal, but that was ok because we got the flowers done fairly quickly and Kyle, Taryne and I had time for a drive through the pasture before it got dark.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful!! I think the only thing that would have made the day better was less wind. The wind was blowing so hard that it knocked some of the table arrangements over and each jar was filled to the top with water...

Last Wednesday, my Grandpa had surgery for his heart and we did not plan for him and my Grandma to be at the wedding. They were going to put a pacemaker in, but ended up putting something else in to monitor his heart and then go from there...I have no idea what it is called, so please ask my mom if you are curious. Well, Grandma and Grandpa made it to the wedding. They came with Uncle Ricky, Chance and Amanda. Whoohoo!!! I was so excited to see them! That really made the day perfect.

The wedding itself was short and sweet and perfect. It totally fit the personalities of Charlotte and Zach and I cannot think of anything that showed who they were more perfectly than the ceremony. Their personalities also came out in various parts of the reception as well.

Without further ado, here are pics from the prep and wedding this weekend...

The flowers...we had 100 orange Gerberas, 100 white Gerberas and 90 white daisies

The table arrangements

The bouquets...Charlotte's is the white one and the bridesmaids had orange

The prep...my mom and I cooked 50 pounds of potatoes...

The potato dish was awesome! It has potatoes, cheese, sour cream and bacon and seasonings...

Zach requested peach cobblers (like my Grandma Martin made) for the Groom's Cake...

The Bride's Cake...

Grandpa Clarence, Grandma Milady and Mom

Here comes the bride...

Charlotte & Zach

Grandpa Clarence, Grandma Milady, Me and Taryne

Taryne, Aunt Claire and Grandma Milady

Grandpa Clarence, Uncle Ricky and Nicole

Nicole, Amanda & Chance

These 2 flowers broke on Friday and I placed them in a cup of water for us to enjoy. Last night when we got back from the wedding I picked them (not sure why I did this...) but this is what I found...the stems curled up and intertwined...amazing!

More of my family was at the wedding, but somehow I did not get more pictures. I guess I was a little crazy and busy! To all my family, it was so great to see you all! I hope we can see each other again very soon! Love you all!

Until next time...Gig'em!

SHSU Graduation...

Yesterday, Charlotte graduate from Sam Houston. I think I should feel old because my youngest sister is now a college graduate, but I don't. I guess that is a good thing. Charlotte earned her B.S. in Family & Consumer Sciences. She has no idea what she wants to do and has not found a job yet. So if you are reading this and need to hire someone...she is looking. She will still live in Huntsville, so it needs to be close to there... Her current "occupation" will be getting all the last minute details together for her wedding next month. I am sure she will be very busy in the coming weeks.

After her graduation, we went to a party for her and another graduate at The Vineyards of Waverly Manor. Charlotte and her friend Lori were both interns at this place this past semester. They learned even planning and all sorts of things while working there and helping with weddings. The party was superb. It was pot luck, so I brought decorated sugar cookies. I love decorating cookies so I thought this would be a great time to make some bearkat paws.

Here are some pictures from graduation, right after and at the party....

Mom, Charlotte & Taryne

Charlotte in front of the Sam Houston statue...

Mom, Charlotte & Dad

Aunt Claire and Taryne...Aunt Claire and Uncle Ricky surprised us and met us at the graduation.

Kyle, Uncle Ricky, Dad

Cake...It was supposed to say Congratulations Lori & Charlotte, but it was Laurie...it was wiped out and "fixed". I think I might have to submit this to Cake Wrecks....it was a very yummy cake by the way.

Taryne after she had some of the cake...

Mom, Charlotte & Dad outside at Waverly Manor.

Kyle, Charlotte, Me & Taryne...

Zach & Taryne...in her Buda position...

Zach had Taryne try on the orange wig...she looked like one of those trolls...maybe we should dress her up as one for Halloween...all we need to do is take of her shirt and a jewel to her belly button...

I am so glad we were able to be a part of Charlotte's graduation. I have watched Charlotte grow and become a wonderful person over the last 5 years of college and the last 22 (almost 23) years. Congratulations Charlotte! No more papers or tests!!! Whoohoo!!

Until next time...Gig'em!

Valentine dessert...

As I have previously mentioned, we are not too big on Valentine's day. Well, this year, we had dinner at a favorite Mexican restaurant...on Saturday to avoid the crowds...and I made a special dessert for us for the actual day.

I decided to make Strawberry Shortcake. I love this dessert, but Kyle and I differ on how it should be made. I prefer my Strawberry Shortcake be made with pound cake or angel food cake. Kyle on the other hand, prefers the biscuit like version. I thought I would be the thoughtful wife and make the biscuit like version for Kyle...how sweet, right?

So I searched for recipes and decided to use the one on the side of the Bisquick box. And it didn't disappoint. It was biscuit-like  but sweet. A perfect compliment to the strawberries and the whipped cream.

I decided to make my own whipped cream. I have never attempted this in the past, so I was a little nervous. But after seeing Alton Brown make whipped cream from scratch earlier in the week, I knew I could do it. So I poured the heavy whipping cream in my mixer and beat until it was stiff. I then added sugar and a little vanilla. I beat a little longer until "stiff peaks formed"...really I just beat until the sugar was dissolved and it tasted yummy!

I sliced the strawberries and tossed in a little sugar and assembled. They turned out great! This is definitely something I will be making again and I will definitely be making my own whipped cream from now on...Cool Whip does not compare...AT ALL!

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 t. vanilla

Beat heavy cream until stiff. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form...taste it and make sure the sugar has fully dissolved. Enjoy!

Until next time...Gig'em!