Dallas Museums

My parents came to visit us over Valentines Day weekend.  We had the best time with them!  We started the day off by going to The Dallas Science Museum, Planetarium and the Children's Museum.  The first picture is the famly by the Cotton Bowl.  The last one of the boys is this fun sidewalk art that is in the middle of a big pond and you can walk all over the place.  Very cool.
Ben, the boys and my parents in front of a huge Mammoth.
At the Science museum they have so much hands on activities: Caden and Mimi moving a structure, Ben and Noah building with blocks, Mimi and Noah playing with magnets and Popie and Caden playing with them as well.
The Children's Museum was their favorite!  They got to dress up as firemen and play in a fire truck.
Here they are playing with music, and building things.  
Here is another piece of artwork you can walk around...love Noah's pose...
They also had a farm where you could shop for fruit and veggies, ride John Deer "tractors", milk a cow and also go rock climbing.  They had a blast.  What's sad is we have lived in DFW for a good 6 years, and this is the first time going there...oh well...now we know it is here and we will be going quite frequently:)

After the museum we ate at the Olive Garden and then the girls went shopping.  My sweet Mom was trying to get me excited about having another boy.  We did find some cute boy clothes!  Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day as well!

On a sidenote...what did I do wrong with my collages?  They are so small and there is all that white background???

I {Heart} Fondant

Last night I went to a cake decorating class (thanks for teaching it Tanya!!  You are amazing!).  It was all about fondant.  Can I just tell you that I have fallen in love?  I actually dreamnt of fondant last night and all the amazing things I can do!  Now as you look at these pictures, keep in mind that it is my first cake with fondant...no laughing.  Tanya even gave recipes for Marshmallow fondant...which actually tastes pretty good.  The chocolate fondant tastes like tootsie roll.  The Wilton kind smells like chemicals...I can't bring myself to try it!  
Anywho...I will be using fondant more now.  I am no longer scared!!  I can't wait to buy all the fun cutters and stuff!  OH the possibilities:)

Sidenote...I'm not going to lie to you....my cake tasted amazing.  I had to dig into it today...cake has been a major craving!  It was a white cake with an almond kick to it, lemon curd filling 

(yum-o) and an almond buttercream frosting.  I was in heaven!!

Its....

Another Boy.  

Caden's reaction:  very excited

Noah's reaction: "Ahh man...I wanted a girl"

Dad's reaction: Alright!

Mom's reaction:  cried

We are very grateful to have a healthy baby boy coming soon.  My prediction...July 4th.  But I was wrong about it being a boy.  Who knows.

Next Stop...the Tooth Fairy

This is my little cutie with all his teeth.  This will be the last time that I get to look at this cute little face for a VERY LONG time.  It is kinda sad.  I wasn't expecting this day so soon.  Thanks alot Noah....Anyway.  We went to the Dentist today and Caden had to get his tooth pulled (I posted the story of why a few posts ago...) because the root was fractured (when they pulled it out, the tooth was in two pieces...ouch).  Thankfully this boy was soooo excited!  He can't wait for the Tooth Fairy to come.  He wasn't nervous or anything.  What a big boy.  Here is the after picture:
He still looks adorable!  Right now he refuses to swallow, so he is drooling all over the place.  When he does try to swallow he makes it as loud as possible (it really grosses me out).  He luckily is not in any pain!!  The Dentist said there is a possibility that he might loose the tooth next to it in 6 months since the bone was wiggled and jiggled.  Which means that he will have the top two and bottom two gone all at once. How cute.  Anyway, I'm so proud of him for being such a big boy.  
Now, Noah can't stay out of the picture for too long.  He seems to crave attention.  He was in his room just a few minutes ago and came running to me telling me he put "gum trash" up his nose. I looked and did not even see anything up there, it was that far up there and flashbacks started to come to mind. (Yes, I know...he has some fettish with the nose, first the bead, now this...the boy has issues).  LUCKILY he now knows how to blow, so we were able to blow that bad boy out.  He is now banned from beads and "gum trash", I am adding gum to the list as well.  

Personal Progress Folders

I was looking at Sugardoodle the other day and found these little Folders and new I had to make them!  As some of you know I am in YW, a church organization, and I spoke with the other leaders and we decided to make these for the girls for New Beginnings.  At first is was for their b-days, but they got way to excited about them and they kept getting bummed out when they realized they had to wait till their birthday.  So, we decided to give them out a bit early.  The YW seem to loose their books quite frequently, so we thought it might make them keep them in one place!
Let me tell you how fun it was to figure out a pattern for these...so if you want the dimensions, I will get off my lazy duff and measure for you.  But I can tell you that I bought 1/2 yard increments (so 2 different fabrics, 1/2 yard each) and I was able to get 3 out of the amount.  Hope this gives you an idea for any of you in Young Womens!  I love sugardoodle!!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Lately my biggest crave has been cupcakes.  I seriously can't get enough of them.  I dream about them.  Ben, unfortunately is not a cake type of guy.  He just humors me.  I asked him if there was a kind that he may want and he asked for these.  I had been searching for a recipe for awhile and couldn't find one that I thought sounded good enough.  Then, I went to my friend, Ashley's, blog and she had just posted these.  Bless you!!  They are soooo good!  I hope you enjoy them!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. cocoa

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

2 c. water

2/3 c. oil

2 tsp. vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients and pour wet into dry ingredients.  Fill each muffin tin 1/3 of the way with cake batter.  Put 1 TBS filling on top.  Then cover with more cake batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  

Filling:

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/3 c. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 c. chocolate chips

Beat first 4 ingredients together, then add chocolate chips.  

Enjoy!!