And here's a wreath for good measure

A lady fom Nova Scotia emailed me last night to ask how much it would be to send it to her. Isn't that cool?!

Here's My Centerpiece, Caitlin

You can add comments, too, Caitlin! ;)
Do you like it?

Christmas from Hawaii

Mmmm! Nummy paper!


Look at the joy in that face!



Packages for everyone!

Fixing mistakes...

In case you're wondering, the mistakes were from the cakes shifting in the back of the van while traveling 45 minutes up I-25.

Last minute touches

We got to the Fine's house early so I could assemble the cake and fix any mistakes before we headed out to the ceremony. And yes, I fixed my hair and cleaned up before I went out in public- and even Tim said I looked very nice at the wedding- and this means quite a bit coming from a man so honest.

The wedding couple!

You can see the whole assembled cake in the background here. I'm really glad it was in the background and not in the forefront- I'm definitely not a professional!

Phew! I'm so glad to have it done!

This was only one of the cakes I did for Nancy's wedding. This was tacked onto the order late in the game just incase there wasn't enough cake for everyone.

Gene Wilder, Johnny Depp and Me!

Yep, we've all played Willy Wonka! The only thing is, I don't have any Oompa Loompas to help me, and tempering chocolate is very time consuming work! (ok, maybe I have one Oompa Loompa, but I don't let her near the hot stove.) I think I've finally made enough chocolate coffee beans for the groom's cake. If I look at anymore chocolate tonight, I think I will be very close to losing my lunch! (This could have possibly been prevented buy not eating the imperfect pieces) :)

Tomorrow's cake agenda- Make all of the mocha pastry cream, simple syrup, and 1-2 batches of the chocolate buttercream- enough to crumb coat the cake.

The kids are getting SO big!

Check out this handsome fella! There are barely words to describe how excited I am to call this little boy mine. He's always cheerful- even at 3am when Mama's not so cheerful! Every week at church, at least one person tells me how much diferent he looks even from the week before. I think that must be because he was so small for so long. And now he fits into 6-9 month clothes! Ha! He'll be 9 months this Sunday. :) He's such a little man- always talking and babbling in his little sing-songy way. He just lights up when he sees Daddy and Mommy (talk about joy in a Mama's heart) and no one can make him laugh like his sister! I wish I could record his hilarious little giggles so you all could hear them! He is so precious to us!


And Miss Dabney is such big girl. She wants so badly to be a Mommy and she's even learning to become a help to me. She had her puppy wrapped in a blanket today and was telling me that he was "Seeping". Do you know she even set the table for me last night? She set out the napkins and the forks on the napkins and put them in the spots where we eat! She didn't fold the napkins, but hey, she's only 2! She's also been dying to cook. And to stir anything- especially the chocolate for the groom's cake. We baked cookies Saturday night and she loved rolling out (and tasting) the dough.

Goodnight Grandma, PopPop, Uncle James, and Aunt Cait!

Dabney loves her new apple pajamas- the big grin comes out when I ask her what she should wear to bed.

Tonight Tim asked Dabney where Grandma was and she said "Hawaii"(sounds like Awaii coming from her) then I turned to her in disbelief and said "Where did you say Grandma was?" and she said "Surfin Hawaii". Our jaws just hung open for a minute before we laughed and hugged her. Hope you all check our blog often- we love our Ohana. And we miss you, too.

The First Autumn Wreath

This is the first autumn wreath that I listed last week. I especially love the pumpkin partly hidden in the leaves and the fact that there are purple flowers in the wreath (and the color seems to work). God is so gracious- we already have a bidder! The second wreath is below in the blog I wrote earlier today. That's Tim's favorite.

God is so Good!

Well, lately I've been really anxious to earn money. The last few months have been tough financially for us and I've wanted to contribute ever since we got married. It always seems like there isn't enough time or supply money to get anything going, but lately, we've prayeed and done research and prayed some more and it seems like God is now granting us favor.

As you know, I love to be creative. There is something that is very fulfilling to me to be able to take time to go to the basement where I've set up shop and make something pretty- either scrapbook pages or quilts or wreaths or anyting else. So, we stepped out on a limb and Tim granted me some money last Labor Day and I went to Michaels for a really great sale. I bought enough materials for my new venture - wreath making. I've always loved making synthetic wreaths for our porch- just something simple to say "Welcome to the Giedds" in flowers. I listed my wreath on eBay last Wednesday and was totally floored when I checked the listing Saturday night and there was a bid (!) on my wreath. Many of the handmade wreaths are very expensive- $60 in not uncommon- but I think I will begin the wreaths I want to sell at $25 + S&H- that way I will still make money and it's not too high a price, and if they think it's worth it, buyers can bid more. We are continuing to petition the Lord about this new moneymaking attempt and we are currently thanking Him that He was the one to bring the buyer. And of course, we are asking Him to bring more buyers and that He would bless my little business.

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Also, our good friend Nancy is finally getting married on September 23rd! Praise the Lord! As Dabney would say "Praisey Yerd"! She has honored me by asking me to make their grooms cake! I'm so excited about this! I baked a total of 8 cakes yesterday and they are currently residing in my freezer until next week when I put it all together. There will be 4 layers (12", 10", 8" and 6")- all chocolate - and they will be filled with raspberry filling and mocha pastry cream with a chocoloate swiss meringue buttercream. YUM! I can't wait. If this moneymaking thing keeps up, I might have to go and buy some professional tools like heavy duty floral shears and a professional cake turntable. :)

I'm so thankful that the Lord is allowing me to be creative and help with the income- this is something I've dreamed about for a long time. God is so good to me.