Seven Quick Takes Friday

I have been meaning to link up to
 Seven Quick Takes Friday 
for quite a while...

We'll see how it goes!

1

We handed in our Homeschooling portfolios on June 29th...

you'd think I would have gotten them picked up by now : (

Too many activities going on...

Play Dates for instance...

2

Went to see Despicable Me with the kids and a friend

on Wednesday...I really enjoyed it..

I loved the accents and critical Mamma's change of heart...

It looked very PIXAR-ish to me...

Very sweet story in a "fractured fairytale" way.

The Minions are hysterical! He He He...

3

We have to start baby-proofing again...

Lumpy is ready to go...

This week he pulled himself up at the ottoman

and took a "cruising" step...

He also crawled a bit and

can scootch himself around pretty well.

Add the LONG ARM of the BABY and we are in TROUBLE

4

The biggest trouble is the fact that my house is covered with these

and these...

Also those adorable little erasers in many shapes..

not to mention marbles and action figures...ugh!

All choking hazzards to a baby who

puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!

5

I missed doing anything for the

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel...

I should get to the local

Carmelite Monastery for Mass,

but probably won't...

I have lost my momentum lately in my prayer life...

By the Grace of God I can get back

on track SOON...

6

Scooter and her best friend are going to

a camp in New Hampshire the last week in July...

so much to do to prepare...

It is called Morning Star Camp &

 is run by the Sisters Slaves of the immaculate Heart of Mary...

They have Latin Mass every morning and must wear

modest clothing and swimwear!

(I have one more swim dress

to make for Scooter before she leaves)

While there, her best friend's mom & I

plus the rest of my little ones

will be staying @ two hours south at the

St Benedict Abbey in Still River, Mass...

I have been wanting a retreat forever...

just not sure how the little ones will do...

Pray for us Please!

7

Lumpy O'Toole has acquired another nick name...

He makes these hilarious noises that sound just like

Chewbacca from Star Wars...

and he CHEWS EVERYTHING...

Plus he grabs anything he can from your hands,

so his Father has dubbed him:

Chewba Grabowski

He just Devours books!

Sometimes he DOES go to sleep...just not very often...

Chewba really liked his babysitter at VBS this year!

Can you believe he will be EIGHT months old next week???

Pax Christi to you all!

I've Got to STOP watching Ace of Cakes

The Last Day of Vacation Bible School....

The Theme was Son Quest Rainforest...

Our DRE retired several days before, but

graciously stayed with us 'till the last day.

She and her husband

(one of our Deacons)

were in charge of RCIA

when my husband came into the Church.

I wanted to do something special for her...

The kids and I had a great time...

Snorkie made the lizzard and aligator...

Tilly made the Jaguar and Ant Eater...

Scooter made the flowers

and painted them with food dye details

She also made the Toucans and one Parrot...

This thing weighed a TON.

Luckily I have a lazy susan just the right size.

It was Brownie on the bottom,

yellow cake in the middle

and carrot cake on top....whew!

I Love Making Cakes

I just realized that I never posted any photos

of this year's Birthday Cakes!

Tilly's Birthday is November 30th...

Since Lumpy was due on the 26th,

we decided to do her party at the Beginning of the Month.

Her American Girl Doll (Mia) is an ice skater...

So we did a skating party.

That way I didn't need to do much.

This was my first attempt at "sugar glass"

I over cooked it so it was yellow,

but I thought it was cute and it tasted like caramel.

The lower "boards" were white "chocolate" candy.

The ice was Fondant and the decorations were

drawn on with food dye markers!

The cake was brownies.

One of her "Pollys" stood in for her and "Mia" .

All of her guests brought their dolls, too.

Snorkie is Star Wars obsessed.

I bought the pan that you use to make a perfectly round ball

this is the Death Star with Luke and Vader circling...

they are made from candy melts.

The cake is covered with fondant and the decor

was done with the food dye markers.

We put it on the bottom of a cake server turned upside-down.

This was yummy

and my first attempt at home made Fondant!

Very easy and much better than the commercial stuff.

Scooter is still trying to talk us into getting a dog.

She loves Schnoodles...

This is the one she got.

I used the "Teddy Bear" cake pan and

altered it as needed.

Eyes, ears, nose, paws, etc. were fondant

painted with black food coloring.

I used a combination of chocolate and vanilla icing.

This is our most recent cake

It was for my best friend's little boy.

The kids got to help by making most of the animals

Snorkie did aligator heads, snakes and birds.

Scooter made the elephant and giraffe.

Tilly made the whole lion family (we didn't eat them)

We used green candy melts for grass and tree leaves

and sugar cones for the tree trunks. Lots of fun.

I'm loving the fondant!

Blessings All!