Judge Me, Dear Reader...

Actually, not me, per say, but judge this cake:

Please participate in a short survey about your feelings upon seeing this cake:

a.) That is one sweet looking cake and I would totally pay money for it

b.) The decorations are great, the cake itself looks a bit...saggy

c.) Dear Megan, were you drunk when you tried to level this cake?

d.) Go ahead and submit that sucker to Cake Wrecks. Seriously.

I appreciate your participation.

Here's the saga of this cake:

When we were living in Iowa, I worked across the river in a bakery in Illinois. I was hired as a cake decorator, even though I had absolutely no experience. They were desperate, and I had (during high school, at least) a pretty solid background in art. Turns out that I actually have a real talent for cake decorating. So I'm grateful I had the chance to take on that job, even if the hours were pretty rough and often involved me being on my feet for 8 hours a day.

(One of the cakes I made at the bakery)

Anyway...I've been able to continue to decorate cakes on my own, which is a blast. It's really the only truly creative thing I still do (who has time to watercolor, paint, or draw anymore?). I pretty much just did it for my family and a few close friends, but now the secret's out and I've had a few people pay me to make cakes for them. Cake decorating is definitely not a profitable business, but I like having a chance to do something fun every once in a while. I love having the chance to come up with ideas--since I left the bakery, I have never copied a single cake from anyone else. All my cakes have been 100% my ideas.

(The first cake I made at home, for an elder in our ward)

(The first cake I was paid to make, for Joyce's daughter, Natalie)

Not too long ago, I made a racetrack cake for my friend Amy's son, Ry. This weekend was her daughter's 10th birthday and she asked me to do another cake for her. Of course, I was excited about it, but it also made me nervous.

(She brought little cars to put on the track, but I snapped this before she got here)

At the bakery, 95% of the cakes we decorated were simple sheet cakes. Occasionally we'd get a shaped cake (a football, a giant '1', etc.). But any really complicated cakes (wedding cakes, tiered cakes, fondant cakes) were done by the owner. I watched her make these cakes every week, so I had a good idea of how to do it. I just had never actually done it myself.

So when Amy asked for a two-tier fondant cake, I was excited to try my skills. But the really scary part was that she asked for a crooked, or Mad Hatter cake, like the one below.

(This is probably the best crooked cake I've ever seen)

I had never seen anyone make one, so I found some instructions online. I also made my own fondant, since pre-made fondant is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I thought everything was going pretty well until I tried to put the fondant on. Suddenly my nice, crooked cake was just kind of...lumpy. In retrospect, I should have left the iced cake to harden overnight, plus rolled the fondant out thinner, but I didn't.
I was NOT pleased with how it turned out. I spent a lot of time on the decorations (which I am pretty stinking proud of) to make up for the stupid, misshapen cake. I was embarrassed to give it to Amy, and I didn't want her to pay me. But she insisted that it was beautiful and paid me anyway (thanks, Amy, for the self-esteem boost!). Plus, I got to be there when Emma saw her cake, and she was THRILLED. I guess that's what really matters.

So that's the story of my weekend. I just wish I had another excuse to try the crooked cake again, now that I KNOW how to make it right. Oh, and if any of you want to attempt this, don't use the instructions on cakecentral.com. That's what I used, and my cake was too rounded. I think the sharp angles are much better.

The lumpy cake, in all it's glory

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Three videos of our Monster Man.

First (my personal favorite) is what happens when you hand your toddler your camera because he wants to watch the movies of himself. I apologize for any motion sickness.

Seth's Eye View

The second is dedicated to Aunt Marah, who bought Seth his ride-on car for his first birthday. We wanted to show her how far he's progressed from the days when all he wanted to do was watch the wheels spin.

Seth Rides

And finally, Seth's new favorite activity: yelling at Mom from the top of the stairs. We do this several times a day now.

Seth Lectures

Can it be Spring Yet?

My son is currently running in and out of our house, thrilled to have a new place to explore.

The daffodils we dug up in the woods and planted in our yard last year (not entirely sure it's legal) are making their appearance.(I know it's fuzzy. I was in my pajamas when I took it so I was trying get back inside before the neighbors saw)

And remember this from a few weeks ago?

This is all that's left:

It's a beautiful thing. Soon we'll start planting our little container garden on our deck and trying to figure out how to keep Seth out of it.

I had all these great plans for these sunny days. We were going to go to the park. To go running. To go explore somewhere outdoors. Anything to get out of the house.

Instead, we're sitting in the house with a half-empty box of tissues next to us. It's just not fair.

I Need a Break

It's been one of those weeks.

One of those Saturday-Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday Church meeting weeks.

One of those weeks where I'm vaguely stressed out all the time. (Anyone else feel like trying to get 20+ Young Women to find family names for our temple trip?)

One of those weeks where I think I might have taken on too many piano students. Yet I still feel guilty when I have to turn people away.

One of those weeks where I haven't left the house since Sunday (with the exception of Tuesday night, which had me at the church again).

And it's been one of those weeks where I'm pathetically feeling sorry for myself because Jon will be gone all next week. I hate playing 'single mom.'

Know what sounds good about now?

A vacation.

Turns out I have some good news for myself:

We're going on a CRUISE in May.

I'm so excited. We've been talking about it for a long time. We have some good reasons for going. Our 5 year anniversary is this year, so that's a good reason to go. Also, our birthdays are both in May. Another good reason to go.

But here's the real reason we're going: Seth is old enough to be left at Grandma's house for a week, and there's not another one on the way. If you think I would mix morning sickness with a cruise, you're nuts. Oh, and Seth's still in the 'under 2 fly free' category until July.

Basically it's just excellent timing all around.

I admit, I feel slightly guilty about going. After all, we already went on a cruise for our honeymoon. And with all the flights, it's kind of pricey. But I've been saving my piano money. I'm still using my 20 year old, broken Sunbeam mixer because I didn't want to spend my money on a KitchenAid. Yet.

And I'm really feeling guilty about leaving Seth for a week. Number of nights I've been apart from him since he was born: zero. But the funny thing is that I'm not worried about leaving him--this kid has never had a day of stranger anxiety. He'll be in heaven in sunny Arizona, chasing dogs and cats to his little heart's content. But I still feel guilty.

But I shouldn't. Because this is probably the last chance we'll have to do something like this for a LONG time. As in 'not until the kids are grown and out of the house' kind of long time. So I'm not going to feel guilty.

Many thanks to Warnick, our official vacation planner, who talked us out of a Baja cruise. Also to Joe & Amber who have volunteered to be our taxi service around Miami (I swear we're getting the flights figured out soon). And THANK YOU, THANK YOU to my parents for being willing to put up with a week of an almost-two-year-old running around their house.

How many more weeks until May?

Oh, and my son is adorable. In case you've forgotten.

For My Grandparents

I promised some Seth videos soon, so here they are!

First, Seth being a dork. I am not exaggerating about this car obsession. And I apologize if you get motion-sickness from watching this. Blame Seth.

Second, the animal noises. He has some new ones now, but he won't cooperate for another video.

Some Random Thoughts

It's snowing. Again. I've lost track of how many storms we've had in the past three weeks. Oh, and guess what? More snow scheduled for next week. I only like the snow when we get enough to keep Jon from going to work.



"Runaway Jury" is possibly the stupidest movie I've ever seen. I will never get those two hours of my life back.

(This picture gives me the giggles)

I'm currently reading "A Conflict of Visions" by Thomas Sowell. One of the very best books I've ever read. Even if it is like reading a textbook. And even if it keeps giving me weird dreams about the constrained and unconstrained visions. In case you care: "Runaway Jury"? Textbook unconstrained.

Seth has taken to imitating every word we say. Some stick and become new vocabulary words (hot, cold, dump truck); most are one-hit wonders (chives, belly button, monster truck).

I'm looking for new recipes. Please share. Specifically meatless main dishes, Asian, or crock pot. Oh, and bread machine recipes.

(Yes, this is my exact bread machine. And I love it.)

I finally used my bread machine to make bread. I've had it a year now (I use it all the time to make dough) and figured I should give it a shot. First loaf: brick. Then I read the instructions. Second loaf: fabulous.

(This is NOT my exact rice cooker. But it's pretty darn close.)

Why did I wait 4 years to buy a rice cooker? For only $13 I could have saved myself SO much trouble. Or maybe I'm the only person who can't cook rice. I swear to you I can cook rice EXACTLY the same way EVERY time, and heaven only knows if it will be sticky, crunchy, or perfect. But not anymore. Perfect rice, every time. (I sound like an advertisement, don't I? Well, it's the TRUTH!)



I can't do Tae-Bo. I can get either my feet or my arms going. Not both. And definitely not at tempo. Why did I ever think I could dance?

Speaking of exercise: anyone have any good cardio workouts I can do indoors (as in 'at my house' not 'at the super expensive gym that I would never go to because I refuse to exercise in front of anyone except Seth') ? Because I'm not busting out the jogging stroller in 2 feet of snow.

(I have no idea what this is. But I bet it makes an awesome noise.)

Seth is working on his animal noises. He knows the lion, elephant, cat, cow (well, he says "boo" instead of "moo", but it's close enough), and monkey. I've tried for days now to teach him that a bear says "grrr", but he just keeps saying, "Bear! Bear!" and then giggling at me when I growl. He also knows what fire trucks, trains, and airplanes say. My personal favorite? "Seth, what does the doggie say?" Seth: "No! NO!" (complete with finger wagging). Thank you, Aunt Kenna, for that one.



We went to Olive Garden today for our Valentine's date. We came to the conclusion that from now on we will both order the Braised Beef and Tortelloni every time. One of us always gets it, but then the other person ends up unhappy because their dish is never as good.



Speaking of restaurants: Red Lobster stopped serving Lobster Bisque (quite possibly because it was so rich that it was killing off their patrons). And the past two times we've eaten there, the always-delicious rolls were just kind of blah. So now the only reason we go there is for Endless Shrimp. Red Lobster--your stupid 'health conscious' menu changes are losing our business.




I've been really good about keeping my New Years Resolution about eating at least one serving of veggies every day. But I'm starting to think that I'm negating the benefits of eating all those spinach salads by smothering them in Caesar dressing (which, believe it or not, is WORSE for you than Ranch, my other love). The weird thing is that it's the 'one FRUIT a day' that I'm struggling with. If only potatoes were a fruit...



I just finished reading a book that advocated eating only things that were grown within 15 miles of where you live. I think this is an exceptionally stupid idea. Because I would rather die than give up avocados, and there are no avocado trees between me and Florida. What a stupid book.


Seth is doing really well in the nursery, 80% of the time. The problem with being an only child is that 95% of your life is spent in a nice, quiet house. So when we shove him in a tiny room with 12 other kids, he can't handle the noise and a kind nursery worker ends up taking him in laps around the building while he sobs. I'm assuming by kid #3 these kinds of problems disappear of their own accord.


I wasn't kidding around when I titled this post. And it's still snowing.

Lookin' Out My Back Door

We thought the 6 inches of snow last weekend was impressive. And then the 5 inches on Tuesday. But even combined together, those two storms amounted to less than half of the snow we got today. Our official yardstick on the deck says 22 inches of snow, but there were deeper patches out front.

"Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn"This is Seth immediately after stepping off the front porch and into a snow drift.
He didn't think it was as funny as we did.

Our cul-de-sac, mid-blizzard:

Believe it or not, that is our car buried in that drift.

And that is our son, who is also buried in a snow drift.

(Okay, he's actually just walking between two drifts)

What do good parents do when they don't have a sled?
Rig up a white trash sled using Tupperware and a jump rope.
It worked pretty darn well, too.

Needless to say, we will be enjoying a churchless Sabbath tomorrow. And considering the two feet of snow still on the road, I'm hoping to enjoy a Jon-workless Monday, too.

Let it SNOW!!

Since we were basking in the 70 degree Arizona during the big "2 feet of snow in 24 hours" storm in December (absolutely no regrets about that one), today was Seth's first time playing in the snow.Of course, he's been miserably sick: perpetually runny nose, fever, terrible cough (part of this is teething). But did that stop us from bundling him up and letting him run around for half an hour in the the cold? No way. We have our priorities.We weren't sure how he'd react--Seth HATES the cold. He cries when we change his diaper, insists that we warm up his milk before he'll drink it, and refuses ice cream. Much to our surprise, he LOVED it.

What to do first?

What IS this stuff?

Some patches were up to his knees

Slides are way more fun in the winter

Best. Day. Ever.

He didn't want to come in, despite the fact that he was coughing up a lung and had snot running down his face (nice picture, isn't it?)

We had about 5 inches when we were outside playing, and it's still coming down. But we are definitely NOT hoping church gets canceled so we can sit at home in our pajamas. Because that would be wrong. Very wrong.

(Keep it coming!)

An Honest-to-Goodness Miracle

Seth just saw my picture on Jon's desktop.

Guess what he said?

"Mama!"

And he just ran up and gave me a kiss.

I love being a mom.

PS--So there, Uncle Timmy! I hope he's almost 12 before you can get him to say YOUR name.

I Am Resolved...sort of...

First of all, let me just sing the praises of Colorzilla. If you mess with your blog as often as I do, this little tool is absolutely essential. I'm in love. (Side note: you have to be a Firefox user.)

Second, my resolutions for 2010. I'm writing these down so I have to be accountable to someone other than myself.

My thoughts on New Years' resolutions:

Jon doesn't believe in them, and I completely understand. If you need to fix something, just fix it. Don't wait until the New Year. However, those of us with less self-discipline like having a fresh beginning (like a new year) to catalyze our resolve.

My resolutions aren't big things. I'm never tempted to pick things like "create a more peaceful home" or "become more spiritual." While those are nice, wonderful resolutions, they are totally undefinable. There's no way to measure peace or spirituality, which makes it hard to know if you're doing things right.

My theory is this: stick to the concrete. You want a more peaceful home? Fabulous. Now what can you actually DO to create one?

I'm also not a fan of gigantic leaps forward. Ideally, yes, I would love to spend 30 minutes every day studying my scriptures. I can resolve that all I want, but it's not going to happen. So I start small. Last year my goal was to read the scriptures every day. One verse, one paragraph--didn't matter. I think I was 100% successful. This year I'm pushing for 10 minutes every day. And I can honestly say that I've already blown it, but that's okay. Resolutions shouldn't be about a perfect track record: they should be about creating new habits.

So here are my resolutions for 2010:

#1 Read my Book of Mormon for 5 minutes every day

#2 Pray every morning and evening

#3 Smile every day

(If the above resolutions sound familiar, odds are good that you're working with the Young Men/Women.)

#4 Read my scriptures for 10 minutes every day (including the 5 minutes of BOM above)

#5 Exercise at least 30 minutes every week
(See what I mean? Definitely not pushing myself here.)

#6 Eat at least one fruit and one vegetable every day. Make sure there's a veggie with dinner every night.
(Thank heaven I love spinach salads. Otherwise this resolution just might kill me.)

So there they are. Like I said, I've already blown them all, but I'm still trying. And if I succeed, next year I'll push a little harder.

Baby steps, people, baby steps.

And if I had a Wii Fit I'd totally exercise more than 30 minutes a week (hi, sweetie!).