More Elfin' around ;)

I'm late in posting this, oh well gonna do it anyway! 

Here are all the other crazy things our silly elf did before he went back to the north pole!

Day 9 

Baby Elf

 Day 10...

Snack attack!

  

Day 11

  

 Day 12

 Day 13

 

Day14

Chimney Inspection

 Day 15

Taking over presents! 

 

Day 15

  

Day 16

The North Throne

  

Day 17

Fishin'

 

Day 18

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to rock out loud for all to hear!

 

 Day 19

Candy, Candy, Candy..

 

Day 20

Hot Air Balloon Ride...

 Day 21

Accident on the Frosty Freezeway...

 

Day 22

 

Day 23

On the final day he was on the mantel waving goodbye! :) 

 

Elfin' around!

So once again it's been a while since I've posted here. I'm gonna do better, I promise.  

I have been posting, it's just been on my other blog, my sweet one...

cakethatblog.blogspot.com

If you haven't checked it out, then you should!  

Anyway onto the point! 

This year a custom elf arrived on our doorstep... 

It twas the evening of December 1st.

I wish I had my camera nearby or that I had recorded it...

It was such a mix of emotions that I had never seen anyone display before.

The doorbell rings, we ask Chrissie to see who is here.

 She comes back and says "I don't know what is going on, but there is no one here."

It rings again...

Once again she goes to the door, this time with two of her cousins that were spending the night..

She doesn't see him at first, but Emma (one of the cousins) does...

Once Chrissie realized there was an elf here, she freaked out!

She tried to shut the door quickly expressing how she did not know why he was here, 

but he needed to go back to where he came from.

"I do NOT want an elf!!!"

She didn't like the idea at all, as a matter of fact all three of the girls were creeped out by his arrival.

The looks on all there faces was something I don't believe I've ever seen.

They were excited, scared to death, curious, giddy, sad, and disappointed 

all at the same time.

Chrissie had misbehaved the day before, so his arrival was a BIG deal to her, 

and she wasn't so sure she liked the idea of an elf watching over her to report back to Santa.

By the end of the evening they had warmed up to the idea, and were starting to enjoy his presence here
on the shelf.
Excitement and wonder filled the room as they began whispering about him!
Soon, you could see the magic of Christmas in their eyes!

She named him "Jake the Elf"
(after her Daddy <3)

So here are some photos of what he has been up to thus far...

I must say he is quite mischievous and creative at times!

The first morning with the elf they woke up to find that Holiday Barbie and "Jake the Elf"

had been dashing around in a one horse open sleigh..

The next day he toilet papered our tree...

She thought this was funny and that perhaps he was

practicing flying going around the tree!

 Day 3 

He made us the cutest sugar cookies! 

She loved this one! 

We found out later that day that it was National Cookie Day!

WIN!

Day 4

Someone's being naughty again...

I woke up to her telling her Daddy quite firmly that...

"Ohhhhh!  Mom is gonna be MAD!"

Day 5

Zip lining to put a star on our decorative trees! 

Day 6

He's cleaning up his act!

She thought this was so funny! 

Day 7

Deck the Halls!

He's found himself a new dream home.

She was thrilled to find him in her dollhouse, and that he had decorated!

 This is it so far, but needless to say we are all enjoying waking up 

to find what clever or mischievous thing he has gotten himself into!

We love our elf! ;) 

 Updates will follow, so that I can keep you posted on the adventures of our elf, Jake.

Subscribe to stay updated! 

 

My Cake Blog!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I also have another blog that I have been working on!  It displays my cakes and will feature tutorials from time to time!  Please check it out and I would love for you to follow and share!  It's cakethatblog.blogspot.com
Thank you and I hope to see you there!  It'll be sweet!

With sprinkles and love,
Krystal

The love/hate relationship

Oh Pinterest, How I love you and all of your wonderful pins! I browse through all of these brilliant, clever, sometimes oh so simple ideas and I become empowered!

I can create anything!
I frequently have the "why didn't I think of that?" moment, oh well, now I know.
I am going to do so many things!!! I absolutely love it!
My house is going to look like the museum of crafty things!
That is my idea, don't steal it. No, you can't make the museum of crafty things!
Because that is my invention/pin to come. Don't be jealous either, that's not nice.
Okay fine, you can be a little jealous...
You can't help it.
J/K, But really...
don't hate, just relate!

On to my love hate relationship,

So, I have a plan to start the day
I'm gonna get up and start this beautiful productive day!
Have some coffee, eat something...
then...
get to the plan....

I'm going to conquer the secret mountain of laundry waiting to be folded and put away,
Clean the house, top to bottom,
organize the junk drawer, (you have one too)
Clean all the glass, get those spots on the windows,
sweep the porch, trim the hedges,
cook something delicious for dinner...

And then it occurs, while sipping my coffee
I find myself clicking on the bookmarked tab..
Pinterest, what clever tips do you have for me today,
maybe some clever idea to help with my tasks...
Yea, there are those, I have them pinned under household..
Maybe, a delicious recipe for me for me to cook for dinner...
Then the next thing I know, I'm tie dying a T-shirt with a sharpie and alcohol!
It's fun, but so much for conquering the mountain of laundry!
Next, I'm laughing at hilarious quotes, admiring clothing,
and fantasizing about a beautiful land I want to visit, and planning a vacation.

Now a few hours have gone by... NO WAY! I'm not going to do all that junk now,
Forget "The Plan"
I have to get dinner started. Besides, I wasn't in the mood for cleaning anyway.
Oh well, sometimes it is a total time trap for me, but to be honest,
I love every minute of it!!!
You know it's kinda funny,
I was only gonna look at a few pins...
then a few turned into a whole world of awesomeness!
Next, I'm searching, browsing and oh my goodness,
Can you believe it?
Amazing!
Truly one of my favorite sites!

So where's the hate? I guess there is none,
I got nothing but love for ya!

So while you're there pinning, and we both know you are...
Follow my boards!

Happy Pinning,
Krystal

Welcome to Cafe' de Paris!

On Saturday July 14, 2012 we celebrated our daughter's eleventh birthday!  Hard to believe that she was born eleven years ago!

Chrissie's 1st  Birthday

Bonjour!!!
 It's party time!

I began getting ready for the grand celebration a couple of weeks ago,

 and I must say it turned out quite fabulous!

The party took place on her birthday, Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 6pm.

The theme Chrissie, my daughter decided upon was Paris Glamour Girl. 

Chrissie has always been intrigued by Paris and the Eiffel Tower, 

so this didn't surprise me much, and I thought it was an awesome idea!

We decided to turn our kitchen into a......

Glamorous French Cafe!!!

 The party was very fitting for her and she loved it!

We all loved it!

We then decided on the invitations, in which we went with online Evites. 

I don't think I'll use the same company again though, wasn't happy with the dashboard really.
It wasn't as user friendly as sites I have used in the past either...

Next we began figuring out the menu and decor we would have,

 then it was time to get busy and make it all happen!
(Fun time!)

Chrissie and I also design the birthday cake for I am the cake decorator! 

So I get the privilege of doing it all,

and I do love it!!!

I love parties, and I love party planning. I love decorating, crafting, creating, 

and seeing it all come together!  I think it may be my calling! lol!
I do believe party planning would be an occupation I could embrace and love every minute of!

So here we go with some of the fantastic party details...

I created our own pennant birthday banners with cute accents! You'll notice them here and on the 

dessert table in the pictures to follow.

We placed black tablecloths over the windows and poked small holes through it, 

to give the illusion of stars at night shining. 

 We also had Parisian music playing in the background to help set the feel of a Paris.

I created a backdrop to go behind the dessert/food table. 

The dessert table had a white tablecloth with a pink tablecloth draped over it.

 I choose to do this so that a light could shine through underneath & emit a nice glow.

This would help to illuminate the room some slightly.

I also hung some streamers around our dining room light to create a party chandelier.

My husband painted a great version of the Eiffel tower for the party.

We set up a large table along one wall and two smaller table in the center of the room 

to give it a "cafe style" look and feel. 

Each table had a vase with flowers in the center and I found the some simple paper placemats that went great with the plates and napkins! 

I suspended a pom pom over each table.  I also made a balloon poof decoration that hung from the center of the ceiling and draped outward.  

Here's one of the cakes...

There was also a Barbie inspired cake as seen above on the dessert table.

 Here is the 

Chocolate Eiffel Tower!!! 

Say What? Yep, Chocolate Eiffel Tower!

 Oh my goodness! What awesomeness!?!?! 

 I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get it to hold it's weight, but after a couple of attempts,

Ta-Da!  I did it! It was soooooo worth it!  

My Niece, Lylah conquering the tower!

 and it was delicious!

The Eiffel Tower cake topper is made of royal icing and I will blog a tutorial on how I did this soon!

  The Chocolate Eiffel Tower was made using the same concept, just enlarged a billion times!

<3 Here is our wonderful birthday girl! <3

 Happy 11th Birthday to my sweet, fabulous daughter!  

I love you!

We all had a lot of fun, following the party the young ladies of the party stayed for a sleepover, and they begged me to leave up the decorations so they could play/pretend restaurant.  

I would say this was a very fun party to plan and to attend.  

All smiles here! 

May your day be filled with as much sweetness as our party goers, 

Krystal!

Almost Party time!

Party preparations are under way!

Our daughter, Chrissie is turning eleven.... NO WAY!   

 All I can say is WOW!!!

So, Miss Chrissie is turning 11! Time does fly.  

I find it so hard to believe that my baby is going to be eleven years old. 

 Happy Birthday Chrissie! 

We will be celebrating the occasion in the theme of  "A Glamour Girl in Paris!" which is super fun, elegant and prissy!  Very suiting if you know Chrissie!  She is a very fashionable young lady who brings sparkles to everyone's day! 

I have lots of things to prepare, decorations,  food which is including one fantastic cake and an Eiffel tower made of Chocolate!  I will remain busy this week to say the least!   So, onward to my creative place filled with powdered sugar, lots of imagination, and sprinkled with love!

Pics to follow of the grand celebration to come!  

Chrissie's Surgery

My last few months have been spent with anticipation, hope, worry, and so many other emotions and thoughts tucked in the back of mind. We (my husband, daughter, and I) made the decision for Chrissie, my daughter, to have surgery to help her legs so she could walk better. This is a blessing! Although this is a very positive thing, it doesn't make the anxiety of it any easier. It is a great blessing that the problem she has with her legs and her walk can be repaired. How great would it be if there was a solution to everyone's disability, illness, or issue, a fix... In that aspect of things, we are extremely fortunate. We thank God for that.

So much time went into research, and preparing her for the upcoming challenges she would face. She took it all in and embraced it. She has seriously been the strongest, bravest, most wonderful child through all of this. I have been so inspired by her! I am the Mama to one amazing little girl, somewhat fearless it seems. She understands what she has to do and she isn't afraid to do it!

The surgery, bilateral femoral derotational osteotomy, was preformed on April 11th.

The week prior to this we spent figuring out what we would need, what to be prepared for, explaining details, concerns, fears, and comforting each other. Lots of emotion to say the least!
Tuesday night, April 10th we all went to bed and when the alarm went off, (the day I had stressed over and tucked into my mind for months has arrived!!!) I immediately jumped up in tears and ran to the bathroom so no one would see my moment of weakness. I have felt many emotions and she didn't need me to expose all that. She noticed though and told me it was okay for me to cry and be the chicken, cause she wasn't gonna do it! LOL! WoW! Guess I'm not too good at hiding my feelings! I told her I would take on the job of worrying and stressing out and she could be worry free, she agreed happily and laughed! We had already packed up so now it was time to get dressed, get into the car, and get on the way!

We arrive at the time we we're told to get there (my plan wasn't to be too early because I didn't want Chrissie sitting around the hospital with all the anticipation of what was going to occur soon), but due to someone's scheduling mistake, we ended up waiting for quite sometime. I was told to arrive at 11:45, so we were a few minutes early for registration and all. They call us back to check vitals and then ask us "Why are you so early?" I explain that I was told to arrive at this time, then they realize that they are the ones who messed up! The O.R. wasn't scheduled until 2:45!!! What! Are you kidding me? I have a nervous, hungry child and we have to wait 3 more hours! Yep, we sure did. We did puzzles, colored and other activities to pass the time until the time arrived.

We go back to put on the dreaded hospital wear (my daughter says she is going to create fashionable hospital wear one day) and Chrissie gets upset, she has her moment. Who can blamer her? We console and comfort her and each other, and then it's time to go back. Originally when I had spoke with the pre-care nurses, anesthesioloists, and the surgeon they had told us we could be with her until she went to sleep. This was not the case, so Chrissie got upset again, but then she pulled herself together and went on down that hall to do what she needed to do. I fell to pieces, my heart was broken for her. This is so much for a child to go through. I said another prayer and went into the waiting room to wait for the next 3 hours. The longest three hours of my life... I could not wait to be back with my baby again (I am aware she is 10, she is still my baby). The doctor came into the waiting room and told me how great she did! I was so proud of her and of him, so hugs for everyone!!! :)

We then go to recovery of course, then up to her room! SHE DID IT!

So, she doesn't like the hospital room any better than the ugly hospital gown, and she just wants to go home. She got a little upset, which was expected, she had been through so much! She then slept alot and did so great! The little patient who constantly smiles! She exceeded everyone's expectations in all aspects! We stayed for two nights, then we came home!

Yay! We're home!
The outpouring of love has been tremendous! When we arrived home she had 22 cards waiting for her in the mailbox, and before we ever got home, her wonderful cousin Beth Willett called and offered her an Ipod touch 4! She was so thrilled! Thank you to all you wonderful, generous, considerate, caring people! God Bless You All! We <3 you with all of our hearts!

She has done great with pain and being stuck between the bed and a wheelchair and is doing so wonderfully! She can't bear any weight whatsoever for 8 weeks! That is quite a long time, especially for a kid. So far, so good!

She just amazes me!!! :)

Updates to come! Keep prayers coming for recovery!

Preperation...

Yesterday we had to go UNC Hospital to meet once more with the orthopedic doctor who will be preforming surgery (Femoral De-rotational Osteotomy) for Chrissie, our daughter, on April 11th. His name is Dr. Edmund Campion, and I think very highly of him. We only had a few more questions to ask him, he gladly answered and he promised he would take good care of our baby during surgery. :)
He told her how nice her room would be and told her it was okay to be afraid and/or concerned. She is being so super brave. She has had a few moments of tears, and worry. I, on the other hand have had numerous, and I'm sure there are many more of those moments to come in the upcoming days for us all.

We then took the transit over to the main hospital to talk to the anesthesiologist about the process and options of the morning of surgery.
See that smile on her face! WOW, what a brave and inspiring daughter we have!

They gave us the different options of anesthesia, and we will discuss it more the morning of. They also said it is possible to give her an epidural to help control her pain for a couple of days while she is in the hospital.
We are all excited for the outcome of this surgery after the rehabilitation, especially her.

In the meantime, we are really excited for Easter and Easter weekend! There is lots of fun ahead in the soon to come days!

I will be updating frequently here and on Facebook.
Thank you for your continued prayers.

I'm a Prankster!

Hope you had a great April Fool's Day filled with fun! We certainly did. Saturday night, my husband, Jake and I stayed up late to prepare for the morning to come! My daughter Chrissie and my niece Emma were in for quite a few surprises! Oh the anticipation that was in the house that morning when they started to get up! I'm going to mentally walk you through the fun and laughter that was had in our home this April Fool's Day!

The girls get up and start scrambling around! The first thing I have them do is go to the kitchen sink to wash their hands. This usually takes place in the bathroom but I had something up my sleeve...
Following a light shower, I tell them to go to they should go to the bathroom, this is when I hear a scream and apparently this was discovered...
This prank is accommodated with a flat plastic spider rolled up into the toliet paper, so it will come spiraling out at just the right moment! LOL! Oh the screams followed by laughter...

So onto the kitchen, where at this point they are starting to get paranoid, with good reason, Jake and I tell them to get some bowls and fix themselves some cereal...
The night before I had switched out the cereal. Chrissie swings the cabinet door open to get the bowls and out comes a huge plastic rat from Halloween! She ran backwards yelling then began laughing, and telling me "that is enough MOM!!!" "Knock it off!" ! Of course, I will....
Yea right!
So Emma begins to pour the cereal, and this is what's for breakfast...
Then Chrissie gets the milk out of the fridge and it's orange! "What's this?" LOL! It's carrot juice, and it is great with dog bone cereal! EWWW!
"Okay, Okay, I'll get you some cereal." I tell them, and I do... You should've seen their faces when they finally think it's over and they dig into their bowls and it's frozen.
They think I've super-glued their cereal! It was hilarious! At last, we let them eat!
Now they should go brush their teeth. There is mustard toothpaste awaiting them, but they don't trust anything at this point... So they caught me on that one.

Later that day my daughter gets the silverware out for our dinner, this is where she finds a plastic hand lying in the silverware tray! She screams and laughs some more!
Then she gets to the dining room table where she finds this...
OH NO!!!
Oh My, this isn't good at all!
"Chrissie, what have you done?" I ask...
"I didn't do it!" She begins repeating! She started to freak out a little when we began to laugh, Once again, she had been got!!!! :) Too much fun! I can't wait until next year!

Also that day I did a pretty challenging April Fool's Day 5k! Water balloons, squirt guns, Popsicles, an inflatable obstacle course prior to the finish line, and tons of hills!
WOW!
I did it!
This is me:
Here is the obstacle course:

This concludes our April Fool's Day of 2012, it was a fantastic!
Another blog coming soon!
Thanks for reading!

Rated R... well sort of

A big HELLO to you! What an already eventful or busy weekend it has been. It has been unique and fun for sure, and it's only Saturday night! I have lots more in store for tomorrow, which is... dum dum dum.... APRIL FOOLS DAY! YAY! How exciting that it is totally appropriate for me to be ridiculous and pull pranks like a pro tomorrow! Watch out now, you've been warned. I seriously can't wait!
Pics will definitely be on the way!

Just so you know,
♪♪ Sometimes I feel like somebody's watching me...♪♪

LOL! Yes, I know sometimes I am a dork, but that's ok with me!

One of the first things I worked or did this weekend was pretty fun, I made a cute
Yo Gabba Gabba cake and cupcakes!
So as many of you know or may not have known, Friday was National Cleavage Day! WOW, what a revealing day!
How did you celebrate?
You did celebrate right?....
You pushed em' up and held em' high at least...
Well perhaps your curious how I celebrated, or maybe you're not, either way you're gonna find out if you keep reading... I played with boobs all day! I couldn't keep my hands off of em'! No kidding! I am sooo serious..... but it all started with balls. WHAT!?! Yep, that's right, you read it correctly... And I have pictures to prove it! Are you ready for this?
See, it wasn't all that bad, it could've been worse. Confession: Those are some tasty balls... I mean boobs! OK, I should keep it together.... but the sad truth here is... You like it!
Don't be jealous, you can make tasty balls, I mean boobs too! ;)

So, here is the hot voluptuous outcome of my day!
Cake Pops!

I am so good, I can even make cake sexy!!! Come on now, You know they're hot!
Happy Belated National Cleavage Day!

Now onto planning my pranks and having the sillies, and a 5k to run! :)
Fun, here I come!
You can't have too much fun right?... We shall see... ;)