Fleur de Aleta

Dear Son, You told Daddy upon his return home from a three day business trip, "I didn't make Mommy upset, not even one time."  Before Daddy left, he told you to behave and be extra good, because Mommy wasn't feeling well.  I had a sinus infection (which I'm still coughing from, but a thousand times better than last weekend).  My parents were out of town at the time, Daddy was away on business, but even with that.... you going to school and Mommy going to work and being sick, well, we managed.  But yes, I'm thrilled to say you were an extra good boy. I can't believe that in a few weeks you will be four years old.  You were such a sweet baby, loving cuddles and falling asleep holding strands of my hair.  Even as a baby, you loved to smile and see us make silly faces.  Now, as a boy, you enjoy making the silly faces, jokes about farts (boys, what can you do), and giving hugs and kisses. Just recently I watched a television show... there was a mom an...

I didn't have a real recipe to follow for the chocolate buttercream icing, so I went based off of what I know about buttercream and winged it.  I'm writing for future reference in the hope that I can "wing" it again. Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups butter at room temperature 1/3 of a Hershey cocoa 16 oz container 2 bags of 2 lbs powdered sugar 2 1/2 cups of hi ratio shortening splash of vanilla (1 tablespoon) splash of chocolate extract (1 tablespoon) splash of wedding flavor (2 tablespoons) hot creamer mixed (1 cup boiling water, 1 cup coffee creamer) - use 9 tablespoons of this Directions: Cream butter and hi ratio shortening in mixer Add vanilla, chocolate extract, wedding flavors and hot creamer in mixer After those are all mixed together, add Hershey cocoa - mix at low speed - should mix into a dark chocolate - you want this to be dark because when you add the sugar, it will lighten in color and chocolate flavor. Continue mixing at low speed and add in the powdered sugar...

Dear Son, We are ending another year, saying Goodbye to 2016.  This year your ability to understand what's going on around you has grown in leaps and bounds.  This Christmas, it wasn't just about the wrapping paper or the bright lights.  It was about Christmas, Baby Jesus, giving and receiving, Santa and being on the "nice" list, the consequences of your actions, writing letters to Santa (Oma was a big help in working with your writing skills) and singing joyful songs. At your school Christmas performance, you sang loud and clear, did the hand motions (for instance, hands above your head for "antlers") and even deepened your voice to represent Santa.  Your teacher told us before how you do great with knowing the words to the songs and how loud you are when you sing... it's one thing to hear it from your teacher, but really cool to see it in a performance. Your behavior at school is fantastic!  You rarely have your banana in the yellow.  Though one ...

Gregory's class had a Christmas party.  I brought a fruit tray and a Christmas tree cake.  I found a cheap Christmas tree pan at the grocery store, sprayed it so nothing would stick and filled it with the cake recipe that I like.  I had just enough icing to make the green tree.  While at the grocery store, I looked for the regular size M&M's to be the decorations, but only found the large M&M's - the kids loved them!  Super easy cake to decorate and make - I used a large tip to pipe the green - so it wasn't time consuming at all.

I knew I wanted to do a Thanksgiving Day cake for Greg's family gathering.  I saw some pictures, even cakes that look like an actual cooked turkey, but it was a long work week for me and time was limited.... no time to carve a cake to look like a cooked turkey. This picture was my inspiration: However, it was made of fondant and I'm not a big fan of fondant.  So I took the idea and turned it into buttercream and had some fun with the method of making feathers using a piping tip.  It was fun and had a 3D look because the layers of feather went on the last layer.

Dear Son, The news, on the television, the Internet and the radio, are consumed with the recent election.  You asked about Trump.  I told you that he won the election as President of the United States.  You said, "I wish I could win President."  One day, if you still want to, I know you can.  You also said you want to be a doctor, a veterinarian and a teacher.  As a child, you have taught me and healed my spirit in so many ways. You love to talk.  Oma once said on the drive to Baton Rouge to visit relatives, "I knew when Gregory was asleep because he stopped talking."  You are so creative, such a joy to listen to. One morning, Daddy said, "Look the moon is out even though the sun is up."  I said, "Why do you think that is, Gregory?"  You tilted your head, "The moon is out because he is still tired and he is yawning." When Mommy showed you the soft lavender lilies behind the large leaves, I asked you, "Why do you think the l...

I haven't baked much for Gregory's school this year.  But the school asked parents to make small cakes for the Pumpkin Palooza this Saturday for the "cake walk."  While making the cakes, I had to also make cupcakes for Gregory's school.... how can I bring cakes to his school if he doesn't have treats in his class.  So, it's not my best work... I baked everything and made the icing and decorated all in one evening.  By the time decorations were done, I was ready to call it a day.

My parents' anniversary and my mom's birthday are in the same month.  Fortunately, I had some flowers pre-made still and used pink and purple dust to give them color.  

I was a nervous Nelly doing this cake.  A month ahead of time, I made the flowers out of fondant and gum paste.  I used toothpicks, when I should have opted for wire to better secure them in the cake.  I used gold dust to give the flowers a golden sheen. My mom had her original cake topper - yes, 50 years old!  She requested that I paint the hair of the bride white, because my mom's natural hair color is white and has always been that beautiful color.  I touched up the gown that had some yellow in it from age, but it didn't require much work. This was the first time doing a cascade of flowers; first time doing a tier cake of three levels and first time using malt straws as support for each level.  I decorated the bottom two layers at home, with the middle section in quilt fashion and gold sugar balls.  I finished the cake at my parents home, because I was worried about transporting it.  Here are the pictures. Something to note:  The roses on ...

Dear Son, Today you had speech therapy at one school.  Then Oma and Opa brought you to your regular school and you saw (and pet!) bugs and then tonight ~ you went to your first Karate class!  You are so awesomely well behaved while having a very long day.  Proud of you, my boy. But I'm getting ahead of myself.... School is in full swing and Mommy is really behind in writing to you.  Catch up time!  Let's focus on school for a while.  Here's your first day of school picture: I could see how comfortable you were being on the St Augustine Episcopal School grounds.  You recognized schoolmates from last year and loved seeing the new toys in the room.  You and Carsen teamed up pretty quickly to play.  He was in your class last year and summer camp. Each morning, I watched as you ran into the classroom.  You went straight for a particular table; I could tell you were intent on finding something.  During the parent/tea...