The view from the outside looking in.

I love this. I love our time together.

Self Proclaimed Geek

Here's my deep, dark secret. Ready for it??


I'm a geek. Yup. Self-proclaimed, pretty geeky kind of girl.

Here's one of the many reasons. I really really want a label maker. Like really bad. When I get a hold of one at school, look out! I'm the labeling queen. If I had a label maker, I would label EVERYTHING if I could. I seriously heart organization (not that you can tell lately from my house.) I would label everything, if people wouldn't tease me.

I'd label the canisters. Flour. Sugar. Popcorn. Perpetually Empty Container I I Never Seem To Use. Brown Sugar.
I'd label the shelves in the pantry. Cake Stuff. Icing Sugar. More Icing Sugar. Pasta. Soup. Blender. Sandwich Maker.
I'd label the shelves in the dresser. Socks. T-shirts. Clothes I Never Wear. Painting Clothes. Junk Drawer.

I would label everything. So, I haven't bought a label maker... yet. I did stare longingly at one today in Walmart though. I even picked it up and almost put it in my cart. But then, I did the non-geeky thing and put it back.

Like superman, I will go on day to day, hiding my true identity.

Amanda - super geek girl.

We are family.

We did a photoshoot today for no reason really. We got a lot of great pictures! I think I'm done with studios for a while. I much prefer this casual stuff!

Oh and I know I have lurking readers. I'm intrigued as to who looks, now that I can see how many people are checking me out. Comment! I'd love to see who's reading!

13 Random Thoughts

1. Great day today. Love hangin' out with people on my front lawn, watching kids swim without suits, and eating supper on the driveway. Could it get any cooler?

2. I just made 8 pounds of icing sugar into icing. I am trying a new recipe and Chris isn't home to taste test, so I had to. Now I have a sugar headache. Today wasn't a great dieting day as I had already had cake today and now icing. eh-eh.

3. Dieting. Yeah. I've done really good. But I don't think I've lost much/any weight in the past 6 weeks. I need to just buck up and lose the last little bit. It sucks that I gave into temptation and have started taste testing my cakes and icing. My cakes are dang good, let me tell ya.

4. Mama Mia was a fantastic movie that made me laugh in a way that I haven't laughed in a long time. I needed to laugh.

5. This summer has been FANTASTIC. I'm glad I decided not to work at all, and just hang out with Chelsea and bake. It's been absolutely wonderful.

6. My garage makes me happy. I still have a few more storage things to buy, and a bit more organizing to do, but soon and very soon there will be one, if not two, vehicles parked inside. Woo woo for me!

7. Why did I choose cake decorating as a hobby? Oh, I could have scrapbooked, or done something else a little less tempting, but nooo... I don't or shouldn't eat white flour or sugar, yet I choose to immerse myself in the stuff daily.

8. I need a pedicure, but I'm waiting to see if it's going to work for us to go to Clear Lake. If it works, I'll get a pedicure there. If not, I'll get one here. I just desperately need one.

9. I have a long list of to-do's that don't seem to be getting done. Make curtains for our bedroom. Clean and organize our bedroom. Paint the spots that need touchups downstairs. Clean the tub. Wash the floors. Finish organizing the pantry. Organize the closet space downstairs. etc... the list just doesn't end.

10. August is coming quickly. August 9, I will have been married for 5 years. Wow. Long time.

11. Facebook isn't working for me right now and that irritates me. I will say it loud and (not-so) proud. "I'm addicted to facebook." I'm not even sure why - I just am.

12. I have 4 cakes to do this weekend. Whee!

13. Since hanging out with the DiFran's on a daily basis, I haven't taken Chelsea for any walks... oops. Bad mom. But she has so much fun playing outside and/or in her pool. I love it.

Beaches are a great place for family bathing.

On Saturday, we joined the DiFran's at the PC Beach. It was fantastic. Chelsea loved the water. She would just run right in, while the boys were content to play at the edge of the water. I know I'm an overprotective mom, but really, there was no reason to worry.

You see, Chris was on the scene. The shirt that says lifeguard, the matching trucks, the cool glasses, running on the beach. I knew that my daughter would be safe with this man guarding her life!

Okay, well he's running with a bucket in his hand, so maybe he was just in a hurry to build sand castles with Noah.
Here, Chelsea is sporting her cute green hat that her grandma loves so much. However, when Daddy put her hat on, somehow he managed to flip up the front and the back, giving a throwback to the early 90s.

Next, we decided we'd enter Chelsea in the America's Next Top Toddler Model contest. She was fierce.

Here she is doing her best runway walk.

And to finish it off, a cute picture of Ari's dirty toes. No worry though. All that sand made it safely onto Heather's towel.

Ahh summer. This is the life.

Cake turned out beautifully. You can read about it at http://www.amandascreativecakes.blogspot.com/.

Life has been smokin' busy. Seriously, lovin' it. I absolutely adore spending time with my Chelsea. She rocks. She is so busy, but sooo much fun. We are outside pretty much all day long, playing on the yard or driveway, or in our pool, or walking or biking.The days are passing so quickly. Pretty much every day, I open Chelsea's Park to the DiFran's and the boys come over to play with Chelsea (okay, well mostly her toys and pool) and H and I get to sit and chat. It's awesome. Awesome. It makes the day so much more enjoyable as the kids are all way happier and well, quite frankly, so are we. Here's some cute pics of our time together.

Here's Ari being his cute self. "Cheese!"

And well, what summer isn't complete without awkward tan lines? Sorry about this, Noah, but your bum is way too cute not to post!

Today we headed to the beach with the DiFran Clan, but I shall blog about that later, because it too will be a picture heavy post and I'm just too tired. So there you go. Something to look forward to!

Coming Soon...

I'm so busy with a cake for this weekend. It's consuming all my time at night.

I have lots to blog about.

Stay tuned.

Day of Fun.

I recently had a birthday and these two lovely ladies were not available to celebrate wtih me on that day. So... we planned a day of shopping in good ol' GF. So much fun was had. First, there was the many many pictures taken, before J told me that I wasn't good at it and she snapped this beauty (while she was driving. - Surprisingly, this is NOT when we were pulled over by the police.)

First stop was Target. Can anyone say good times? It was great. I got some clothes and a ton of icing sugar, cake mixes and Crisco. Then, let the bells ring and the chimes sing, we went to Michael's. I had two coupons. One for 40% off any one item and 25% off my entire order. I was PUMPED. I got a ton of cake decorating stuff for about a third of the price in Canada. I saw this and thought it was cool... (It says Amanda and Christopher.)

So I think that may have inspired H to do this, but I'm not sure.

And, because it was my birthday and every good birthday deserves costumes, we played dress up. Mine is a cowboy hat, but you can't really tell. And why, oh why, do I always smile like an idiot??

Well, after an amazing lunch and lots of laughing, we shopped some more, knocked over displays in the Big K, threw peanut shells on the floor and refused to eat bacon. Oh and H put on quite the fashion show for us in the Macy's changing room, but I'm told I'm not allowed to post pics. Too bad. It was HOT.

I loved the day. It was great. I came away with some good clothes (that fit) and lots of cake stuff. I had a blast with the best girls.

The fight to stay unoffended.

Serious post talk now. This post goes deep.

I've been thinking a lot about feelings; when to acknowledge them, when to voice them, and when to just let things be. I think recently I've started to acknowledge and voice my feelings and I'm not sure that it's always the best thing to do - for me, or for others.

When your feelings are hurt by someone close to you, do you just hide that feeling, or do you say, "hey. I'm feeling hurt..." or "when you said/did that, it really hurt me." I'm really good at doing this in my marriage because I know that no matter what, my husband will (and has to!) stay with me. He can't leave me because of my emotions or feelings. We will always persevere and work things out. But I think with certain people, I'm not confident enough to say, "Wow. My feelings hurt." I'm afraid to voice my concerns for fear that they won't be my friends anymore. I know, I know... if that's the case, they aren't worth being friends with... but I think they are. I'm just wondering why all of a sudden, I'm not confident in my relationships??

When I was growing up, it was always a struggle for me to have friends. I'm not sure why... I was very outgoing, not shy. I know all kids get teased, but it really affected my confidence. I remember going to my grandma's for lunch, or reading a book on the corner of the playground or hiding in the bathroom stall just so I wouldn't have to be alone at recess and have people see me.

In grade 9, I made a close group of friends and that was great. Then I started to make more friends and things were fine. But every once in a while, that doubt comes to the surface. That stupid junior high feeling of inadequacy. Why? Why now when, gosh darn it, I'm a great person, does that feeling of just not being good enough have to come back?

Don't get me wrong. I have some AMAZING friends right now that I know God has placed in my life for very definite reasons. These girls are encouraging and welcoming and loving and funny and just all around good times. I have an amazing husband who loves me unconditionally. But I think it's just that I know some friendships have their seasons and they aren't the friendships that stand the test of time. I am just so loyal to my friends and want those friendships to last forever. I still hurt for friends in my past who I'm just not close to anymore. It makes me sad because once we were so close and now we barely, if at all, speak to each other. I know it comes with growing up and changing and that's great, but sometimes, I still mourn for these friendships.

So back to feelings... I like to tell people my feelings. I tell people that I love them, and how awesome they are, and I tell them how I'm feeling, even if I'm hurting or sad. I know they can't fix the situation, but there's just something about putting it out there.

But not everyone likes to hear this... I know it's hard to hear that we've hurt someone in some way, whether it was intentional or not. But I like to tell people so that we can deal with it, clear the air, and become stronger. But what if that isn't how others like to deal with it... what to do... what to do....

Canada Day, eh?

Yet another day at home with Chris and Chelsea. I could get used to this!! We had a great day at home, playing around and then we went downtown for Winkler's Canada Day festivities. Although we felt a little let down because there really wasn't much there, Chelsea really loved the petting zoo. (If you click on the picture with the chick and the duck, you can see clearly Chelsea's wart on her finger. Doctors won't touch it because she's so young. Pharmacists won't recommend anything. Got any good home remedies??)

At home, Chelsea is keeping me rather busy. She has these walkie-talkie phones and is talking on them all the time. Perhaps she's giving me a glimpse into the future??



And her latest climbing trick. I went to the bathroom and came out, and there she was playing with the light switches. I almost had a heart attack (and then of course, grabbed my camera!)



One last picture from Canada Day. I'm not posting this because of Chelsea. I'm posting it because of the man in the background of this picture. If you have a special someone in your life who chooses to pull his socks up so they reach his shorts, just tell him no. No, no, no.

(Oh and Heather needs to come home. I miss her.)

Fun in the Sun

Today has been a special treat. Chris was home from work today (and tomorrow) AND he didn't sleep in until noon (as he usually does on his days off.) We went for a bike ride and did all sorts of things outside. It was an awesome day. I love my family!

Here's Chris and Chelsea (and Maggie) playing under the pool canopy, on the driveway.


Chelsea played with the mop on the driveway for a long time. I kinda felt like the evil stepmother while Cinderella worked, but whatever makes C happy, makes me happy!



Chelsea "walking" the dog. Maggie HATES going with her and will sit down and dig in her heels. Chelsea will pull as hard as she can until Maggie walks. It's fun to watch!


And of course, Chris and I. This is about the 4th picture we took. First one, Chris's smile was dorky, second one, his eyes were squinty, third one, he wanted to show his teeth - so this one, he's trying not to squint his eyes AND show his teeth... lol. He looks a little scared!

Free.. free at last!

Well, things should slow down now. It's been CRAZY busy and the past few weeks have just flown by! I've been teaching and making cakes and now, I'm just down to making cakes. I love that summer is here and I don't have to work, but am already dreading going back full-time in September. The thought of going full time for a whole year is too much right now.

So I won't think about it. Instead, I'll think about this summer. Chelsea and I have already been enjoying the sun and the warm weather.

I always have a lot to blog about, but when it comes time, my mind goes blank.

Busy busy me

I'm still here. I've been busy with cakes. I've started a blog just for cakes. It's here: http://amandascreativecakes.blogspot.com/

I've got three cakes to do this week, and I'm looking forward to them. I love cakes!


I'm also busy with wrapping up the school year. Gah. So much to do, so little time! But then it's summer! Yay!

He-ey, it's my birthday!

I'm wearing pink flip-flops to work today. (My mom would call them thongs, but rest assured, I am not wearing a pink thong.)

They are obnoxiously loud. Louder than any flip-flops I've ever owned. It's not just the slapping on the floor, but it's also this weird squeaky noise. I've very aware of myself as I walk anywhere today.

squeak, slap, squeak, slap.

Latest Cake....

This cake uses the long loaf pan from Wilton. This is the picture on the Wilton website that I was copying. I knew I wanted to use brighter colors. This was my first attempt at using royal icing (that's the really hard icing on the cookies.)


This one took a while. One day to make the cookies. One day to ice the cookies, bake the cake and make the chocolate icing. One day to ice the cake and add the flowers. The cake itself didn't bake as well as I would have liked, because I was short one egg and I improvised, but then the cake didn't rise as it should have, so I learned a valuable lesson. Even if it is pouring rain, I need to go get the egg!

I'm really pumped with how this turned out!