Bird nest cupcakes

About a month ago, I went out to our front porch to water my hanging plants.

As I pulled the plant down to water it, a bird flew out of the pot. I thought that was kind of strange, but didn't think twice about it until I saw what was nestled inside:

Levi's birthday

My baby is 7!

When Levi said he wanted a Mario birthday party, I was stuck creatively. The last time I had any experience with Mario was when I was in junior high. I was addicted to Super Mario Bros. and would play that video game every day after school until I rescued the princess. I haven't played since. I usually do a themed cake for my kids' birthdays, so I wasn't sure how I was going to do this one. But then I saw these guys:

Alien Cookies

Did you cry at Toy Story 3?

I did.

My oldest is only 7 and I'm already thinking about how sad it's going to be to say goodbye to him when he decides to leave the nest.

So when Andy's mom walks into his room after he's packed for college and says, "oh, Andy...", I almost lost it. My two oldest boys were sitting next to me, and I'm so glad it was dark in that theater...

On a much brighter side, I couldn't get enough of those cute, little aliens.

"The claw..."

We were getting together with some of my old high school friends and all of their kids, so I thought I'd make some alien cookies the weekend after the movie opened.

Strawberry picking

Pop Quiz:

What is one advantage of lots of spring rain in Minnesota?

An abundance of beautiful and flavorful strawberries!

Fourth of July Cake

Happy 4th of July, everyone! To honor this holiday (keeping my deployed sister-in-law in mind as well), I made a cake. I can take no credit for the cake, however, as I completely copied it from another blogger I am addicted to (iambaker), who was inspired by yet another blogger (17andbaking). Don't you love blogging? I do! Before you see the cake, please read my disclaimer: I am a novice cake baker/decorator. I also happen to be somewhat of a perfectionist. So of course I found many flaws during and after the creation of the cake. But I still had a lot of fun, especially trying a technique I've never done before. AND I know what I'll try next time.