I know it's Been a While

...but my life is changing. It's only temporary but it's a big change and I'm finding it a little hard to adjust.

Prayers are appreciated :)

Emerald City Dreaming

Last week was my friend's daughter's 3rd birthday. Did I say that right? Sounded weird? Whatever...

Anyway, Becca (my friend) asked me to help her make a Wizard of Oz birthday cake as Eden (the birthday girl) is obsessed with all things Wizard of Oz. She's 3 and she'd take Dorothy over a Disney princess any day! It's refreshing actually. I really love that about little Eden.

Anyway, having never decorated an actual CAKE before (I tend to stick to smaller confections) I did my best to re-channel all of those Food Network challenges I've seen time and time again and Becca did some research online to find the perfect cake to replicate.

After about a week of research and pre-making about a million fondant poppy flowers, this was our end result...

Not bad, huh?

And I have to admit, I had some help. Becca did the baking, my friend Michelle has an eye for placement so she came over to help us figure out where everything should go on the cake and well, I had the cutest little assistant when it came to making the fondant decorations...

Ain't she cute? Poor thing. Worked to exhaustion. We don't play around at the Cortez house when it comes to fondant. We just don't.

Snowed In

Yes. We are. The snow began late Friday morning and did not stop until Saturday evening. We were under a blizzard warning all day long. When it finally ceased, there were over 30 inches of snow in our yard. 30. Yeah.

Oh! And...and...we had no power. All day on Saturday. Our house got down to 53 degrees! It was cold.

Needless to say, I have not left my house since Thursday evening, minus a quick run to CVS for necessities like paper plates and laundry detergent.

OH! And...and...we are expecting another 12-20 inches tonight! Yay for us **rolls eyes**.

And I have to admit, I've always had a Loralei Gilmore attitude when it comes to snow. I've always had a special place in my heart for the way it floats from the sky and sticks to your eyelashes. I love the smell of fresh snow in the atmosphere and how rosy your cheeks become after playing in it. It's clean and new and pretty and cleansing.

But much like Loralei, my love affair with snow is becoming tainted. For as pretty as it is when it's falling from the sky, the day after it snows, once the plowers have come through and there are 10 sedans stuck on the road shoulders, the bloom rubs off. Snow becomes dirty. And dangerous. And well, it keeps you in one place for far too long. The fact of the matter is, as much as I love snow...I don't always like it.

That being said, the family and I have found some great ways to entertain ourselves through all of this snow.

And snow is...well...pretty. Before the plowers come through and the cars get stuck anyway.

So, don't laugh too hard at me when I tell you, that in some small way, way back in the dark corners of my heart, I'm a slightly looking forward to another soft snowfall tonight. What can I say? My relationship with snow is complex like that.

Elliana = Eva and Isabela

Baby woman, tiny in stature now

But your heart is a treasure

Little princess come follow behind me now

I am reaching for you

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana, God will conquer my fears

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye

To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life

To give you to Jesus that He would impart

The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

There will be others to lead and to guide you girl

But only one you'll call Mother, the honor is all mine

To show you what a woman's like

I'm so glad you're mine

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana, God will conquer my fears

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye

To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life

To give you to Jesus that He would impart

The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Tenderness of God is twirling around

In our living room tonight

Lighten up your daddy's eyes

And know that he just wants to freeze you in time

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana, God will conquer my fears

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye

To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life

To give you to Jesus that He would impart

The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana's Song by Watermark

Play song from iLike.com A Grateful People - 2006 - 5:23

A Lesson in Coloring

The other day, I walked into the kitchen to find Eva and Izzy giggling infectiously at the breakfast table. Eva had taken it upon herself to teach Izzy all about colors and coloring and she was going through a handful of crayons waiting for Izzy to decide which color she wanted.

I decided to stand in doorway and just observe for a minute. This is what I heard :

Eva: This one?

Izzy: Uh-uh

Eva: This one?

Izzy: Uh-uh

Eva: This one, Iz?

Izzy: Uh-uh *shaking her head*

Eva: How bout this one?

Izzy: Hmph *nodding her head up and down*

Izzy reached out to take the crayon and Eva gently corrected her. "No, no Izzy. First let me show you how. Okay?"

Izzy agreed and watched intently as her big sister delicately pressed her crayon to the paper and made small red strokes back and forth across a small section of the coloring paper.

Eva then passed the crayon to her baby sister and said, "Here Izzy, you try."

Izzy readily took the crayon from Eva's hand and excitedly scribbled across the paper while Eva monitored, every few seconds encouraging her little sister with a "Good job, Iz."

I watched with pride as my girls played and bonded. I was proud of Eva's willingness to be patient and gentle with her younger sibling and it made me beam from the inside out.

And just as quickly as I had stumbled upon this sweet moment of affection and patience and learning...

it was gone!

And there was lunch to be made.

Pay it Forward Game

My dear friend, Katie has recently become a part of a "pay-it-forward" type game having to do with handmade goods. Me, being a huge fan of all things handmade, and further, all things handmade by Katie, decided to join in.

Do you want to?

Here's how it works;

"* I will make a little handmade Annie-crafy-something-or-other for the first 3 people who comment on this post who would like to play along.

* I have a year (365 days) to complete my mission and send off the goods! Sounds like enough time, right?!

* There is no telling what those things might be, or when they will show up in the post, it's a mystery.

Details, or the fine print;

Since this is ‘Pay It Forward’. You, my dears, must do as I have done and post a similar blog entry yourself, hence Paying the handmade bloggy goodness Forward and keeping the meme, and the fun, going.

Would you like to join in? Of course you do. You have an entire year to make whatever you want, it can be something small or tall or short and stout, even something round. And you will receive something made by me! Ooh, the possibilities!"

Vacuum Chasers

Well, I suppose I should correct that. It's not necessarily them chasing the vacuum, it's quite the other way around to be exact.

I don't know what it is about the vacuum, but every time I pull it out and turn the sucker (haha, no pun intended) on, it sends my girls into a frenzy!

They immediately start running laps around the living room, stopping just in front of the vacuum's cleaning path, daring it to come closer and as soon as it comes within an inch of their toes, the most shrill of screams flies out of their mouths followed by the scurry of their little feet across the room, and the dance begins again.

No matter how many times I ask them to stay on the couch while I vacuum, as soon as it is switched to the "on" position, their hinies are OFF the couch and running all around the room.

Sigh...I know that technically, they are disobeying me, but geez, is it ever cute!