Watermelons!

Another cake experiment...and it all started like this. Brian's family came into town this past week, and Meghan's birthday is on Monday. I asked her what she was doing?...Lauren is going to have some people over...Are you going to have a cake? Because I make way better cakes than Lauren! :-) She laughed at me said, "well, actually, I was going to ask you to make me a watermelon cake!". Immediately my little brain was spinning and full of watermelon-y ideas. Her initial request was for a chocolate cake.

But then I had a moment of brilliance. What if the inside of the cake was a watermelon too?! I purchased a cake pan set from Linens N Things years ago when I worked there. It's made for making Baked Alaska's, and lo-and-behold...I've not yet made a Baked Alaska. I will now though! Cake pans are super easy to use. Anyway, I took a white cake mix and tinted it green, for the outer shell. And then the center is a pink (strawberry) cake mix with chocolate chips added for the seed effect. Here it is all baked up! I still had to take a knife and cut off some the ridges/bumps from cooking to make it all even.
Trying to dye my fondant to look like a real watermelon skin
Fairly realistic, I think.
Next

Adding some detail...a ladybug!
A few more ladybugs, and a slice of watermelon made from the left over fondant. Placed in an effort to hide the blobs of fondant that are holding the cake on that angle. I also made a bunch of cupcakes with the leftover batter which will surround the cake when we actually have the party.

This cake could easily be made in a Baked Alaskan style, with strawberry ice cream and chocolate chips in the center, but alas, neither Lauren or I had enough freezer space to store it. Anyway, it looks really cute. I'm happy with it! Happy 15th Megs!

Blanket Boy

Every time you put him on a blanket, he immediately starts grabbing it up until he can chew on it

What a cutie!

My gift

Kenna: "Mom, I know it's not your birthday, but, I made you a gift"
I'm pretty much speechless, lol. What a lovely set of playdoh covered utensils. I'm so lucky, and it's not even my birthday!

Visitors

Our friends from Ontario came to visit for the weekend on their way back home from vacation in the Outer Banks. They have a little boy, Lukas, who is two years old, but just as tall as both Kenna and Brooks. We had a great visit! The kids weren't really into posing when it came time for pics though.
James was playing a game on his ipod. It was very interesting, apparently.
Lukas!

I'm Inspired By...

Names! Any who know me well know this about me. Recently, when cleaning out my purse, I found a paper that I had written on before Grey was born. I wrote it during church one Sunday (don't do as I do:-), so Brian and I could talk about the options. And so I could write them out and see everything. It just makes me happy. I should start a names blog. I really should. :-)

I should mention, the girls name was settled: Shaughnessy Alea (Shaunie), so there are no girls names listed, as we were only trying to nail down the boys name. Let me tell you, after reading this, you might consider it a miracle we nailed Grey's name down by the time of his birth! This was written about a month before he was born:

Breckin Greyson David - Breck
Greyson Breckin David - Grey
Lleyton Gregory David - Grey
Judson - Jud, Jude
Lleyton
Greyson
Callum
Breckin - Breck
Greyson Callum David - Grey
Callum Greyson David - Grey
Lleyton Greyson David - Grey
Lleyton Judson David - Jude

I definitely love boys names with a 'cowboy' feel to them (like Brooks, for example:-). So the thee main contenders this time were Grey, Jude, and Breck. (I also love Cash, but that didn't make the final cut from Brian:-)

Initially, Lleyton Greyson David was our choice. Until we wrote it out. Lleyton and Greyson have a lot of the same letters, and we didn't like Layton, or Grayson to try and change it up. We loved the sound, but not the look. So then we started playing around with it.

Breck was eliminated last minute because of Brian, Brooks, and Breck...it just might have been too much of the "Bruh" sound for one little family.

Callum was eliminated by me...Brian likes the nickname Cal, and I am not a fan. I didn't want to risk it:-)

Judson is still a fave. Chances are if we ever had another boy, his name will be Judson/Jude. We just decided we collectively liked Grey better than Jude, right now.

Grey as a nickname for Gregory came to me while watching House. The main characters name is Gregory House. His name is written on his clear glass door. In one episode he was standing in front of the door, and his head was blocking the middle letters. All you could see was Grey. Problem solved! I knew Brian would go for it too, since he likes more traditional names, generally. He does surprise on occasion though.

So there it goes! Lleyton was my first choice for Brooks' name. Lleyton Carson James...Brian won that one with Brooklyn. So I got to use it the next time around, and change it up a little! So with 3 kids, and 8 names used...I only have about a hundred more names to go before I've used up all my faves. Haha. And Brian dies of a heart attack as he reads this!! :-)

Beat the Heat

We swam at Lauren's house today! Even Grey got his feet wet for a few minutes. We love summer!

The Great Escape

Just where does he think he's going?

P90X

Brian and I are starting the P90X exercise program. Brian is starting this week, I will start next week. Brian did the first DVD last week, just to practice and get a feel for it, and then he'll do it again officially, when he starts. At the time, we didn't have a yoga mat (we borrowed Lauren's, so we're good now), so Brian grabbed a couple carpet squares from the garage to use. Brooks goes down to the garage, drags up 2 squares for himself (they are pretty heavy, especially for him!). He set them up next to Daddy and exercised with him. It was so cute.

Doing crunches!

Jumping Orange

Brooks picked out his clothes today. To him it's a perfect "volleyball" outfit. To me, it's a perfect "don't shoot me, I'm hunting" outfit. Kinda bright:-)

He is starting to love that Jumperoo already!

Lucky Number Seven

Time absolutely flies by. Brian and I are both in disbelief at how 7 years has come and gone. SEVEN YEARS! That makes me sound old. I remember when seven years was half of my life...and that feels like only yesterday. So wow! I thought I would share some never before seen pics. They've never been shared before because they are not digital, thus requiring scanning, and I rarely get around to 'time consuming' endeavors. Reminiscing is fun to do. Enjoy!

Coming up the aisle with my Dad. My 24 roses represented my age.
Saying our vows. My pastor, Doug Sargeant was officiating.

One of my faves



Cutting the cake!

Lehman and Maryn, my brother and sister, on a "test run" a few days before. Maryn was only 3 years old at the time! Our ringbearer pillow was actually a little teddy bear pillow with the rings tied on his heart.


A candid shot of only a small part of the wedding party!

My friend, Audra, my sister-in-law, Liana (at the time she was just my friend!), my childhood friend, Elizabeth, and two of my sisters, Lauryn and Maryn

Our "going away outfits" were hockey jersey, in our fave teams. We had BOLGER put on the backs, as well as 6 and 14 (the date). I think Brian is #6 and I am #14. It was fun! This is us leaving the church and spotting the 'mess' they made of my car!!

We honeymooned in Minden, Ontario. Because of immigration visa issues, I was not allowed to leave the country, so we had a semi-local honeymoon, and it was awesome. We ate practically every meal out on the dock.

The awesome cottage where we stayed (owned and loaned to us by my former employer and friend, Joey Kovac). I think it's bigger (and better) than my current home! We loved it! The screened in porch across the whole front of it was essential for a mosquito free evening.

Wedding Booklet

Our wedding had a few unique aspects to it, not completely original, but not super common either. It was very personal, and very "us". One thing that we did was a wedding booklet, instead of just a simple program. It was 12 pages long! In it, we wrote something personal to each of the bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc...We had a massive wedding party of 26 people (including Brian and I)! Even though we tried to keep the paragraphs short, they sure do add up!

This is what we wrote as the thank you to each of our wedding guests. Even though it was written 7 years ago, it still rings true today. In fact, it probably is more true today than it even was back then!




"We would like to thank...

Each of our guests for making this day so special. You have all contributed to our lives in various ways, and we are most grateful for the friendship and influence that you have shared. To our parents, and siblings, words cannot describe our gratefulness for the love and direction through the years. To our friends and relatives, our lives are made better because we know you. We can clearly see how our Heavenly Father has touched us through your lives individually. You are a great gift to us!

We can say in all confidence that we would not be where we are today, if not for the guiding hand of our Lord Jesus Christ, who holds each of us in His loving care. We give praise of thanksgiving to God, for apart from His life flowing through us, we know we can do nothing at all. It is our prayer as we continue to serve Him with dedicated hearts, that we will be drawn closer to each other, forever and always.

...gaol, dilseachd, cairdeas

Inscribed on our wedding bands, these Irish Gaelic words have special meaning to us, and each time we look at our rings, we are reminded of our vows to each other before God, and we remember our promise...

That we will love each other with the perfect love that comes from our Saviour Jesus Christ. And that that love will grow deeper as we live out our commitment to each other with unfailing and unconditional love and support, through all of life's joys and sorrows. And also, that we will remain faithful friends, enjoying each others company, and together, furthering the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Gaol, dilseachd, cairdeas...love, loyalty, friendship

Thank you for your presence here today. This has been the day of our dreams, and we have been honoured to share it with you!

Love always,

Darla & Brian"

Beach Day!

We had some friends come and visit us from Rochester. They were about the only people we knew/were friends with when we lived there. It was so great to see them again! We skipped church and went to the beach with them this morning, which was Grey's second beach visit, but his first time to actually enjoy some sun and sand! I forgot my camera, so Brian got a few pics on his cell. There was a sand soccer National tournament going on (which we were not aware of prior to choosing to visit the 'popular' beach.) Was it ever PACKED! It took us forever to find parking...all the lots and street parking were full. It was crazy, but fun. The kids had a blast. And Grey didn't mind the water at all!

It's that time again...

Time to get out the old wedding video and watch, as our anniversary is coming up on Monday. Fun for us, boring for everyone else:-) Time to enjoy once more one of our favourite parts to the wedding ceremony...the song our friend Josh wrote for us. Click here to see it (again:-), and here are the lyrics, which are beautiful. Thanks again Josh!

Immeasureable Joy!

Their Joy: What could be better than kids sized shopping carts? (ps, watch your toes!)


Mommy's joy: Saving money! Buy 2 big boxes of cereal for $5, and get a free gallon of milk. Wow! We also got Triskets for .88 cents per box (Brian loves them, they are normally almost $3 per box!), and some good savings on split chicken and ground beef and some other things too. Everyone was happy after today's trip to the grocery store!

Lifeguard

Grey is hanging out watching the kids swim! He might actually like to swim too...but I don't really feel like getting in the kiddie pool. Maybe another day:-)

Crazy Hearts

Just another day with the kids that capture our hearts everyday! My little nicknames for them, based on their little personalities (thus far anyway).

My Angel Heart, clomping around in my shoes! Kenna is so loving and concerned for the well being of anyone and everyone.


Gorgeous!


Lleyton is being serenaded by my Sweet Heart (aka Batman...notice his shirt), on the 'armonica'. Brooks is such a thoughtful sweetie. He is very spontaneously grateful (without being prompted). He loves to tell Brian and I that we are hard workers, or good cookers, etc. and he still loves to cuddle! So sweet!


My Cute Heart. Not much to say about that one! It's completely obvious why he's the Cute one!! We love him!

Perched

Looking over Daddy's shoulder, while Brian paces and talks on the phone. Grey likes to grab your shirt in front and back, and just hang on while he observes the world from his lofty perch.

High Chair

He likes to be with us...reclining in the high chair


Wow, he looks tiny in there!