Weekend get-away!!

This past weekend was our 6th wedding anniversary!! And for the first time in 6 years, Wes and I went on a trip! It was a much needed and way long overdue trip! I'm not really sure why we waited so long to get away, I guess somewhere between I do and the present time, life happened along with kids and work....making it next to impossible to get away. I have been lucky enough to know Wes for the last 9 years. We had a lot of common friends in high school, but we didn't meet until college. We are both from small towns, and I worked at the local mall in high school with almost all of the kids in his high school, but we didn't meet then. Wes and I met through a friend of mine, who just so happened to be his cousin Carrie, she set us up on a kind of blind date. She brought him in one day to the Gap where I was working at the time so we could meet. When we met it was like the universe came to a complete stop, and our future lives flashed before our eyes. And after our first date, I knew with all of my heart that I couldn't spend the rest of my life without him. Of course I had to wait awhile before I clued him into how I felt (I didn't want him to think I was nuts!) So after two years of dating, and a year of engagement we were married! And now we have our two beautiful little boys. These past 6 years have been wonderful, I am so blessed to be his wife. He's walked beside me in the good times and carried me through on the bad times. The last three years have been the hardest for me by far, with loosing three grandparents, having two boys in two years, and watching my mom battle cancer twice...he's been my rock, carrying me through it all. So with the last three years being so crazy, I decided that this year was going to be better! I was going to be better, no more grieving, no more crying every time someone died on TV, no more crazy emotions. So this year I suggested that we go to our family cabin in the mountains and go four wheeler riding! Which he LOVED the idea, Wes is a huge hunter, camper, hiking woodsmen. I swear he should have his own survival show out in the woods! I am not much of a camper, or hunter. I definitely wouldn't survive out in the woods, I am more of a glamper than a camper...but our place in the mountains is one of the most beautiful, magical places I have ever been to. I spent a lot of my childhood there riding four wheelers with my family. The last time I was there I was pregnant with Brody, Wes and I went for the day to look at some hunting land, and he too fell in love with it. I haven't been back since, mainly because it reminds me so much of my grandpa, he died when I was pregnant with Brody. I just haven't been able to bear it. But this is a new year, and I can handle anything with Wes by my side. So off we went...we had the best time, we rode four wheelers all day long, and I got to show Wes all of the fun trails, and how to get to the lake, and show him the big foot sightings! We had such a blast, and it was so much needed. We decided to take the scenic route down there and back, I love going that way, and driving through all of the cute small towns along the way, and eating that good southern home cooking along the way.

This is Wes as we were driving the long way up the mountain! He looks so serious here! haha

This is the view as you are entering the cabin, isn't it amazing. I remember the first time I saw it when I was a little girl, I thought it was so magical. And of course you have to have one cheesin it! This is the cabin my parents built. This isn't the original cabin here, it burned down when I was in high school. Right before my grandpa died my parents built this, I am so glad they did. I am glad we can go back and have a nice place to stay and remember all of the good times we had there.



This is the home of Big Foot!! BEWARE!! There are lots of really good Big foot stories told in this area, lots of weird sightings! I used to be terrified to ride alone in the woods in fear big foot would snatch me!!haha!



Here Wes and I are riding around lake Pappy Kirk!

It was an awesome get away, and hopefully we won't wait another 6 years to do it again!

Wonder Pets PAR-tay!!!

This past weekend we had my little baby's birthday party! He will be turning two on Wednesday, so we had all of our family and our friends out to celebrate. The party went great, the food was awesome, and everyone had a great time. We are lucky that Wesley's family and mine all get along so great and all really like each other. It makes family get togethers much easier.

I am also so very blessed to have such an awesome mother! She came out on Friday and helped me clean the house and make food for the party. I couldn't have done it all with out her. I had so much to do, and the little boys don't make it very easy! They were running around the house crazy, while we were trying to clean and bake.

So here are some of the pics from the party!

This was the dessert bar, it was filled with all kind of yummy goodness! Everyone loved it, and as the guest were leaving I had empty sacks ready for them so they could fill them up with their favorite treats! I should have taken down the mirror and iron scroll above the table but it is so heavy I didn't want to mess with it.

This was Marak's birthday cake, made to look like the Wonder pet symbol. The bottom layer is chocolate cake with honey buttercream filling and chocolate frosting. The top layer is one of my favorites bananna cake with the same filling and frosting combination. I made the same thing for Brody's Birthday cake too, it was so good I was wanting more!

These were one of the desserts on the dessert bar. This is what I call Boomer Sooner Whoopie Pies. They are so delish! It is red velvet cookies with cream cheese frosting.....YUM!

And of course it's not a party with out cake balls. These were a mix of strawberry cake and red velvet cake. Everyone loved them, they were gone pretty fast!

And what's a party with out jelly beans and gummy bears? I bought way too much candy, but it filled up the jars and it looked really pretty....and that's all that really matters at a birthday party! The little wonder pet symbols on the ribbon, I made myself out of punch dots and then I free handed the W.

This is just peeps on a stick. It was so easy and so fast to make. I got the idea online, luckily Marak's birthday is right around Easter...otherwise it would have been impossible to find peeps!

So glad the dessert bar was a hit, and we didn't end up with too much food!

Marak had a great time at the party, he loved all of his toys! He even started to cry when it was time to sing happy birthday because he didn't want to stop playing with his toys! And after the party Wesley's mom was sweet enough to take the boys for the night. So Wes and I cleaned up the house (it took me 4 hours to clean up just the toy room!), and then went out for dinner, and picked up a bottle of wine and came home and watched our shows in the wonderful peace and quiet! It was fantastic!

Snow

It's snowing here in Oklahoma!! And for me it came just at the right time. Right in between Brody's birthday and mine. However the snow isn't stopping so my birthday may be ruined a bit, but that's okay because Brody's was awesome!! We had all of our family over and some of Brody's nearest and dearest friends over. Okay so maybe it was my nearest and dearest friends and their sweet little children. But it's only inevitable that our kids will become best friends too. The party was great! I made and designed my first dessert bar for the party and it turned out so cute! I was really wanting to take a lot a good pictures of it so I could post them but I ended up getting so busy with the party that I didn't take one darn picture of it. Luckily my Aunt Nancy was the only one to get a pic of it.

Its taken from kind of far away, I wish I would have gotten some up close. But it turned out so good, and it was such a hit!! We had sour apple gumballs, strawberry cake pops, birthday cake, ice cream, rice crispy pops, orange slices, and some candied trail mix. It was all so good!! Brody loved it, he is such a sugaroholic that it was perfect for him.

This is Wes and I with our sweet little Birthday Boy!! Not sure if you can tell from the pictures but we had a dinosaur Birthday party!!

This is the Birthday cake I made for my sweet Brody. The bottom layer was German chocolate cake with marshmallow cream filling, and chocolate frosting. And the top layer was a little more riskier, I really wasn't sure if anyone would like it or not, but I loved it so wanted to make it. It was Banana Cake with the same frosting and filling! It was so delicious. It is kind of like Banana bread, but with a cake consistency......it was so yummy!!! The party was so much fun, I love being around our friends and family. It was a good day, the kids ended up falling asleep from a sugar induced coma...it was lovely!

Christmas time is here!

Tis the season to be jolly!!! This is one of my favorite times of the year! Pretty lights, Christmas decorations, stockings, and lets not forget all of the wonderful Christmas FOOD!! Really I love any holiday or any other day when I get to bake. I love to try new things and bake something absolutely delicious for any gathering. This year I have become obsessed with red velvet, and all things made red velvet style. Anything from red velvet cake, red velvet cake balls, and something I am especially excited to try out red velvet brownies. I will be making them for one of the holiday gatherings this year!!! This week (I know I have been a slacker in the posing department, but really I am going to do this) I am going to post a recipe that I am excited about making .....and who knows if your really lucky.....I will even post two in one day!! Today it is Red Velvet Brownies!! I will let you know how they turn out as soon as I make them, but for now here is the recipe...it was featured in this months Southern Living magazine (one of my favorite magazines...since I'm a southern belle!)

Red Velvet Brownies
1 4oz. bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
3/4 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1oz. bottle red liquid food coloring
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
small batch cream cheese frosting
white chocolate curls to garnish

Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom and sides of 9" square pan with foil, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over sides. Grease foil.
Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwave safe bowl at high 1 1/2 - 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30 second intervals. Whisk in sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. Stir in flour, and next 4 ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
Bake at 350° for 44 to 48 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack. (about 2 hours)
Lift brownies from pan, using foil sides as handles; gently remove foil. Spread small batch cream cheese frosting on top of Brownies, and cut into 16 squares. Garnish with chocolate curls.

Small-Batch Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz. package cream cheese frosting
3 T. butter softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/8 t. salt
1 t. vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter together until creamy, gradually add powdered sugar and salt, beating until blended , stir in vanilla.

Hope you enjoy them...I know I will :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here!! This year I have so many things to be thankful for...for me the thing that I am most thankful for is my wonderful husband. He has endless faith in me. So when I told him my crazy plan to stay at home with the boys, instead of saying your crazy!!! NO WAY!! He went with it! And even when our plan didn't quite work out like I had planned, he didn't even complain he just said we will figure it out... and then he did! Staying home with the boys is probably the best gift he has ever given me, I am loving it! Even thou we don't get to see him as much as we would like, staying home is working out really well for us. The boys are happier, and so are Wes and I, it was the best decision we have ever made.
Our house is smelling so wonderful tonight! I have lots of sweet treats baking tonight for our dinner with my mom's side of the family tomorrow! This year we will be going to my Granny Ree's house and to Wesley's mom's house on Sunday for another Thanksgiving celebration. So that means lots, and LOTS of great food to eat!! We are very blessed in our family with some very wonderful cooks, over eating is a huge problem when we get together! Which can be a good thing sometimes.
So in honor of Thanksgiving what are you most thankful for this year??? Here is my top 10 list....
1. Wesley~his love, support, endless faith, strength, & kindness

2. Brody & Marak~ their love for us and each other, sweetness, stubborn, onry, & kindness. For their timing, they came when I needed them most and didn't even know it.

3. My family~immediate, distant, and even in-laws!

4. My courageous mother~ her strength, faith, wisdom, dependability, love, & her ability to move mountains with her prayers.

5. Blessings~ For all of the unexpected ones we have received.

6. Acceptance~ The ability to accept things I have no control over and the strength to move past.

7. 25 years~ The time I had getting to know one of the most wonderful men on the planet...my grandfather.

8. 2 in 2~ having 2 boys in 2 years

9. Chocolate- It's just a daily necessity

10.Timeouts!~ Like Chocolate it is a daily necessity with a 2 year old and a 1 year old. :)

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Potty Training

We have hit a milestone here at the Seymour house. Our oldest little boy has begun an adventure of a life time, well at least his biggest adventure so far....Potty training. I was not so sure what to expect going into it, or really the do's or don'ts of training someone to potty. And since I stay home with them, and Wes is working a lot, I knew it would be mostly up to me to get him trained. My biggest fear of the potty training was what to do when we go in public?? Since 75% of the time it would just be me with the boys, and Marak is SO hard to keep still or even to get him to listen. Marak is what I like to call a runner, as soon as he gets the chance to be out of the shopping basket or stroller, he runs for dear life to get away and explore. So after several weeks of pottying at home and having him be able to tell me when he needs to go, and not having any accidents, I decided to test it out in public. I decided my best shot of this would be late morning when everyone is at work. So we went to walmart.....as soon as we got there I asked Brody if he had to go and he said yes. So off to the bathroom we went! And as I guessed, as soon as Marak was down and in the bathroom he tried to make a run for it. But after a stern talking to and giving him the stink eye he complied and watched his big brother go potty! It was a success!! So now going out in public with a potty trainer isn't so bad. Brody has really done very well, and we have had only 1 accident in 2 weeks! He is even taking naps in underwear. I am so proud of my little pottier!

Cakes Cakes and more Cakes!

My second week off work, has been a very busy one. I have had more cakes due this week than I ever have had before. Which is really exciting, because I started off the month not having any due.

For some reason I just love this photo, it pretty much sums up how my week went. In case you are wondering in the buckets is frosting and fondant. In the walmart sacks is cake mix, and all of the rest of the stuff on the table would be cake boards, cake sketches, and other misc. cake things.

The week started off with my little brother's 16th Birthday. And what else would a 16 year old want for a cake?? Monster Energy drink cake!! When I asked my little brother what kind of a cake he wanted he said, "Monster!" So I immediately think of the big blue/green monster from Monster's Inc.....Sully! And I thought, he is SO weird!!! Why in the world would he want a Monster's Inc cake? That is SO un-cool! So as I prepared to make him a Sully cake, my mom called and I was talking to her about it, and she clarified he wanted the "Monster Energy Drink" as a cake. Could you imagine me showing up with a huge Sully cake in front of all of his friends, he probably would have never talked to me again!! In my world of Dora and wonderpets, if you tell me you want a Monster cake, I am just going to think of that big blue/green monster! Sorry! That's just how it goes around here!

This is a close up view of the wedding cake I made for Wesley's sister Danielle. I must admit I wasn't too excited about this one, I just could not envision it. But it turned out so pretty.

This was Wendall's grooms cake. He is a hunter if you couldn't guess. My boys loved this one! They stole the deer off the cake when we were cutting into it. Hee hee! This cake was by far one of my favorites because I actually got to eat this one and it was so delish! It was chocolate cake with a chocolate mocha maple frosting. And it was so moist it just melted in your mouth....Divine!




This is the full view of Danielle's cake. Turned out pretty good, it even survived the way down from the house. The wedding was about an hour away from our house at a Lake. This cake was Vanilla with Buttercream frosting. Classic Wedding cake!

And for those of you not on the Twilight Saga bandwagon. This cake is a Twilight cake, it is based off the four book covers. I made this cake for my dear sweet cousin Jadynn, she turned 8 this year and loves Twilight. So I was really excited to make this one, because I too love Twilight. This cake turned out better than I thought, I had no idea how I was going to make the chess piece or the apple.

And last but not least.....this lovely little cake is one I made for a baby shower. This one kind of grew on me, I would have loved it more had it been in fondant. I am getting so used to making cakes in fondant, that I really don't like just the plain buttercream ones anymore. But this one turned out just beautiful and simple. I love the colors in this one. Very classy!