Canvas Giveaway!

Okay Karen, I have to copy you because I am dying to get this pic on a canvas!

I am entering this photo in the MCP Actions/Color Inc. Win a Gallery Wrap Canvas Photo Contest at http://mcpactions.com/blog. I certify that I took this photo and give both parties permission to use this photograph on their blogs/sites.

Just for funsies... *updated*

Today at the Children's Museum!
p.s. if you ever want to test out your skills with shooting in manual mode, go to the CM. Way difficult and 3,000 different lighting options. grrr.)




Future paramedic?

Maybe not...

This evening Shawn called me into the bathroom, and I saw his new hairstyle for Lorelai. I immediately told him to put the letters up and ran to get my camera....
and this is what I caught!


So cute.

Forgot to add this one of this cute little kitty cat at the museum:

Do-Over!

wow. What an overwhelming response to my last post. On one hand, I'm quite surprised that so many people I don't know are reading my blog (yes, I realize I posted a link to it on my Facebook. But, I have done it before with no response...) and on the other hand, I am quite overwhelmed because what I was writing was directed to a specific few and not meant to make people feel guilty for things they should NOT feel guilty about (being upset because of lost children, safety concerns, etc)
So, I am calling a do-over. Pastor Tom says that I can do that :)

Here is what I meant to say to EVERYONE that attended (or even did NOT attend) the Great Pearland Egg Drop:

Well, Saturday is what I would call a great failure in many ways, and a great success in more subtle ways. When we were planning for this event, Pastor Tom repeatedly stated that we were stirring the pot in Pearland, and satan was going to hear about it and try to make it fall apart.
And he did, but in ways that I think we did not expect (he is crafty, that satan...)
In my mind I was thinking, "great. NO one is going to come. No one is going to hear about it. No one is going to care. Or maybe it is going to storm and no one will be able to come." The weather was what I was most concerned about.
Who knew satan was planning to make this event such a success that it would get out of control? There were way too many people there. So many, that safety became a major issue, especially after the eggs dropped. (I would like to report, however, that all lost children were returned and that there were no major injuries, Praise God. Not to belittle anyone's concerns who did have a lost child or who's child was pushed or shoved or in any other way hurt. I am only looking at the positive side that there were no permanent injuries.)
So, onto my point. I am going to insert here some lines from the previous post:

I. Love. My. Church.

I love that we are real, and relevant, and I get messages on Sunday that are applicable all week long. I love that while we are "hip," we do not give false hope of a sublimely happy life in Christ Jesus. We are realistic. Sometimes harsh. ALWAYS truthful. I love that while we are compared to other churches in our area that reach out to the lost and unchurched, we do not sugarcoat the Christian life to suck in those who need the real God that we serve. We tell it like it is. We love God, God loves us in ways we cannot even grasp. Life is hard, but it is worth living with Christ in your life. You will make it with HIM. And not only survive, but thrive. But, it is hard.

That being said, I want to say that I, in no way, think my church is perfect. No church is, because it is made up of humans, and humans are...well... not perfect. We were told by the City of Pearland to expect 4,000-6,000 people there, MAX. We did not expect there to be what we estimate to have been about 12,000 people. We did not have enough volunteers, eggs, safety officers, popcorn or cotton candy. I don't know that there is any way we could have expected that much of a turn out.

We only desired so greatly that this event would allow us to show Christ to the community. And this is the very subtle way that this event was a success.

If your child was hurt or lost, I truly hope that there was a volunteer there to be kind and help calm your fears. To pray for the safety of your chld (which, even if you didn't know it, many of us were.) And to react to you with love. And, if there wasn't, I hope that you were able to react to those who hurt you or your child with the love of Christ (cause we know no momma has love for someone hurting her baby! maybe I'm speaking for myself...) (P.S. if you didn't you still have the opportunity to.)

Satan meant to turn this event into a disaster. In many ways, it was. But what satan meant to be a nightmare, God turned into an opportunity to respond by showing his love.

Our congregation does not advocate the pain and fear of lost or hurt chidren, just so that a few people can come to church. (You have to have read the last post's comments to know what I am referring to...) That was SO not the point that I was making when I said that this event was worth ***tiny inconveniences, such as having to wait in lines***

Quite the opposite. We were hurting for those parents with lost children. We winced when we saw a grown man shove a little girl out of the way. We felt the sadness of these little kids who walked away with no eggs.

But I also saw God's love. I saw parents whose children had gotten too many eggs giving some of them to other children with none. (I also saw the opposite, of course.)

So, to the masses out there who came to the Great Pearland Egg Drop and had a miserable time, I am really sorry. This was supposed to be amazing.

Satan showed up, and brought some destruction.

But guess what? God was there too. He was just harder to see if you weren't looking.

I was forwarded this incredible video, and if you like country music, it is going to blow you away. And if you don't, try to suffer through it and listen to the words :)



I hope everyone had a great Easter, and I hope you will stop and think about different ways you may have seen God show up Saturday. And, if nothing else, pray for those that were there who were not so kind. Make it possible for God to be included in your experience, even if He wasn't on Saturday.

NOW, onto my super-cute little Lorelai Kate!

It's amazing how much fun a one year old can have just running around a parking lot!

Here she is in her tutu, BIG bow (as promised) and pink converse:





My girly girl taking a juice break:

Not so sure about that hellicopter...


Okay, it's gone now. Fun can resume.



As you can see, Lorelai was not crazy about the hellicopter. To me, it was all a little anticlimatic. They threw the eggs from the hellicopter out of plastic bags... the anticipation was exciting, though. Lorelai was too scared to go grab eggs after the'copter went away, so she dug her nails in me and screamed for DaDa. Fun times. In the end, though, it was lots of exhausting fun.

In Him who was raised from the dead so that I might live,
Katie

Happy Easter!

Lorelai and Tilly

Here are the girls both squeezed into a basket full of balls:

For some reason, they wanted to be in the crib...

and here is Lorelai all tuckered out from a day of fun with Lindsay and Tilly:


These girls are getting SO big!
Next week's blog: Easter Fun (and one RIDICULOUSLY large bow.)

How to: *updated*

****For those of you who do not have AMAZING craft stores nearby (seriously though, how do you live???) Here are some links to joanns.com... Online shopping is my best friend/worst enemy. Just click on the item and it will take you directly to the website. Make sure you read my note a few rows down to save $!

Edible markers (please do not actually eat the marker. hehehe)

Candy Melts

Lollipop sticks

Clear bags with ties (If you want to package the cake pops individually)

Daisy Sprinkles (chick feet)

Candied chocolate chips (beak, arms) ...okay, so I didn't find these, but I also didn't look that hard...

***Most, if not all of these are Wilton brand, and if you buy 2 or more Wilton items you automatically get 20% off. AND, Joann's sent me a promo code to get free shipping. The code is: EBD095 and it expires 4/5/09***

I. am. awesome.

Original Post:
I read all three of these posts and just combined the knowledge...she shares different tips in each post, so read all three:

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/08/hope-these-put-smile-on-your-face.html

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2007/12/red-velvet-cake-balls.html

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html

Here are the basic steps:

Buy your favorite cake mix, can of icing, THREE bags of candy melts, Lollipop sticks (the thinker, the better...they come in different sizes,) edible black pen, the different sprinkles necessary for what you are doing (p.s. if you are making the chicks without eggs, you do not need white candy melts, only yellow!) and flat styrofoam. Make sure you don't buy styrofoam that crumbles everywhere. I did.

Bake cake according to directions, let it cool completely on a wire rack;
Once cooled, crumble completely and mix in the ENTIRE jar of icing. (Bakerella says she uses most of the icing, then adds as she needs it...I only used 80% of the jar and wished I had used the whole thing for better stickiness.)

Roll mixture into quarter size balls (You can use a melon scooper if you have one.)

Melt just a few candy melts, dip the stick into candy melt, then stick into ball about halfway. Freeze for a few hours?

Remove from freezer, melt the rest of the candy melts, and dip. Really cover them as much as you can and use a deep bowl or cup to make it easier. Hold the stick in right hand and tap your wrist, not the stick, with your left. (You dont tap the stick b/c the cake will fall off, and you use your left hand b/c for most people it's weaker.)

Stick into a styrofoam sqaure to dry. No need to refrigerate. Once they dry completely, put them in an airtight container.

Read Bakerella's instructions closely, also!


What I learned from experience:

Buy more candy melts than she lists... I bought 2 bags of candy melts, and I probably would have bought 3. It will make way too much, but it makes it easier to dip the cake pop without having to scrape the bottom!

I made the cake, crumbled it, mixed in the icing, and refrigerated overnight. Next time, I will go ahead and put the sticks in (you have to dip them in the candy melts first!) and then freeze them for a little while. My cake pops kept falling off of their sticks. Bummer.

I used cake decorating gel in black for the eyes. It was too goopy and never dried! I wanted to put cute little plaster bags over the cake pops, but I couldn't do it without smearing the eyes. I didn't buy the edible pens b/c they only came in a pack of like 6 for $8, and I'm cheap. What can I say.

I should have really rolled the balls into quarter size, not tried to see how big I can make them...

p.s. You do not have to buy the paramount crystals listed on the Easter chick ingredient list. They are only to thin out the candy melt if you have to heat it repeatedly. You can use shortening to do this. The exact amount is listed on the back of the candy melts. I got most of the ingredients from Michaels.

Let me know if you have any other questions! They were really easy to make, just be patient while you are dipping them in the candy melts...sometime you have to wait for them to dry and redip a few. TOTALLY worth it.

Cake Pops Rock.

Okay, so i really, really enjoy baking... if:
I can make whatever it is I'm making very well (who likes to put in TONS of work only to have it called average??),
AND whatever it is I'm making is very pretty or fun.
Two words: Cake Pops.
These Easter Chick cake pops themselves aren't hard (especially now that I know what NOT to do...) however the decorating was a little tedious with a 1 year old running around. They are amazingly delish, and I got the idea from Bakerella (thanks for the link, Jodi!.) She has lots of good ideas that I plan on trying out.
Here are some pics of these little bites of heaven:







(p.s. Lindsay- I didn't even have to "Bring on the Eyes" in these!)
Little Miss chowed down on this one and begged for more every time she caught sight of them from then on!
She is still the cutest thing I've ever made. :)