Alex's 10th Birthday Sleepover Pary & Cake

If you ask my son Alex what he wants to be when he grows up, he will tell you:

"A Lego engineer/designer, 

 or

a  Paleontologist

or 

an Artist.."

The order  to all the above will vary on a given day, but his 3 dream jobs have remained the same for several years now.  He will be 10 years old on Sunday, March 23rd.

However, since the kids and I will be on the road, on the way to Austin, TX  (to visit grandma Ruth)  on the 23rd, we had Alex's Birthday Sleepover party last night.  He invited his two best friends, Ryan and Billy.  The boys had a fun sleepover and stayed up way past their bedtimes.  In fact, they are all taking long naps this afternoon!

Each year, my kids choose a theme for their birthday party.  This year Alex chose Dinosaurs.  I gave Alex tracing paper and asked him to draw dinosaurs for his birthday cake.  I took the drawing and transferred it to the cake and painted it to Alex's specifications.  Yes, I am taking art direction from my little artist who I think is much more talented than me.

This is our collaborate art effort on cake:

Alex's original sketch.  

Naturally, we had to incorporate Legos into the cake.  The candles are Lego candles!  Most of Alex's birthday gifts are Lego's or books about Lego building.

Back to Blogging!

Usually when I don't blog its because there is really not much new to share.  This time, it's been a lack of time to blog.

Since I last blogged,

Kids went back to school.  Alex is in 4th Grade and Laura in 11th Grade.

I worked 7 days as a substitute PERA at my son's school. I got to spend 7 days with Kindergarten kids.  I was exhausted but I loved it!

My dear friend June and her husband David, came to visit us this
 past weekend from San Antonio, TX.  

June usually gives me one of my favorite birthday gifts....her! 

 I love spending time with June and is one of several people from Texas I miss most. 

But, before the kids went back to school, I started working on several Halloween items.  Of all the holidays, Halloween is my favorite!  

Many of those items are still in progress, but I just took photos of completed items and will start posting them tomorrow and the next day (back to blogging!).

Before I post Halloween pictures, I decided to share pictures of my wonderful birthday gifts.

My daughter baked one of my favorites....Turtle Brownies

 Alex made me a handmade card (little book).  He also created me and him as Lego people.  I, of course, am holding a large camera.  His favorite color is green. My favorite color is purple.

 Laura also created a handmade pop-up card.

One of the highlights of my day is when my family from El Paso (mom, dad, sister, nephews) called and they ALL sang Happy Birthday together to me.  My dad also sang  "las mananitas" (Spanish Birthday Song)...my dad has sang that song to me for the last 48 years!  I also got several phone calls, including from my uncle Efren and received numerous birthday greetings on my Facebook page and via e-mail. Thank you to everyone!

On Saturday, June and I (along with both our families) went to It's Cheaper than Therapy Commerce City. June and I both love to use Sizzix dies in our creative endeavors.

My new dies and a birthday gift from David, Laura & Alex.  I look forward to creating with my new Sizzix Dies.

June always give me great birthday gifts.  Love my gifts. 

I am truly a blessed person.  I had a wonderful birthday.

Birthday Cake for my 16 year old...

20 hours!  That is the magic number.  Laura's 3 tier  Birthday cake was a labor of 20 hours!

Tonight is my daughter's 16th birthday party.  She will have many of her friends over to celebrate with a good old fashion cookout.

Her guests will be able to hang out in the backyard, kitchen, living room and our new playroom/den.  Our old playroom  was really just a mess with Legos throughout and many little boys toys.  All that is gone.  The Legos, many trains and trucks are now in Alex's bedroom and closet.

Now, the new playroom/den makeover has been completed.  The playroom/den also has sliding glass doors that lead to the backyard, just like our dining room.  A new coat of paint (light teal), new comfy sofa, new curtains (sewn by me), new large TV (with the kids games systems - Wii) housed within a new wall unit from IKEA.  A shelf with our favorite board games.  A new game table with 7 different games (change the top to create a different game).  Even a re-purposed coffee table I purchased from the Checkered Corner - painted with teal and then sanded off (love the work Anita did to it).  Hope Laura's guest enjoy the room...I know we will in the coming years.

Perhaps, with this being Laura's 16th birthday, the thought of a simple cake was just not going to happen.  After much negotiations, (yes, Laura wanted something even more elaborate), this is the cake I agreed to make.

 

I honestly had no idea this would require so much time.  Why did it take so long?  

Thursday, 10 hours:

•  Baked 3, 2 layer cakes.  All cakes are from scratch.  Bottom layer is Coconut cake with coconut filling. Middle layer is chocolate with a raspberry filling.  Chocolate layer was time consuming as it required melted chocolate and butter be added to the batter.  Top layer is vanilla with a chocolate Ganache filling. 
• All three layers have a layer of Chocolate Ganache.  This was my first time making Chocolate Ganache.  Turns out it's extremely time consuming when the recipe calls for many chocolate bars to be cut into small pieces!  This cake has 6 pounds of chocolate bars!  Bottom layer (coconut) has a white chocolate Ganache, the middle and top have dark chocolate Ganache.  The Ganache seals the cake and keeps it moist for days.
  
  

Friday, 10 hours:

• Tinting fondant in just the right Tiffany blue is no easy task!  Rolling the blue fondant to cover the bottom part of the cake was a challenge...failed the first time, succeed the 2nd time!  Seems like I spent most of the time kneading, tinting, and rolling  fondant.   Since I work with fondant only once a year (Laura's birthday cakes), I am slow when I work with it.  

The birthday girl is happy with her cake.  She seems really appreciative.  Here are more pictures of the cake:

 Laura's birthday card I made for her.  I gave it to her last Sunday, July 21st ...her birthday.

Laura loves Tiffany Blue Color and Chevron

This year I was a slacker when it came time to make birthday party invitations.  I have made them for her for the last 15 years or so.  This year, Facebook.  Since Laura communicates with most of her friends via texting or Facebook, I had Laura create a Facebook event on her page.  I would like to say I am just embracing technology but no, I just did not have time or energy to be creative.

Although I think the card and cake count as being creative.

Happy 16th Birthday Laura!

My little girl is 16 years old today!

I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  Feeling nostalgic remembering so many milestones.  First day of pre-school.  First day of Kindergarten, so many first days!

Now, Laura is driving a car!  She has her driving permit and is not ready to take the driver's license test only because her dad and mom have not given her the time she needed behind the wheel.  The Wagner's are know to procrastinate.  In this case, I don't think neither of us are ready for all these changes.  I know we have to be, but it is so difficult at times.  This past week Laura logged in 8 hours of driving time.  She is progressing very nicely.  Alex and I have been with her the entire time.  I have to give Alex (my 9 year old son) credit for quietly sitting in the back seat of the car while we literally just drive around.

Laura's next milestone will be to get her driver's license.  I know she is getting closer each day to reach that milestone.  Me...I am still working on getting ready.  Now I know how my parents felt when I was 16 and was so happy to have my driver's license.  That look on their faces ...well, I see it in the mirror now!

Laura is now a Junior in High School.   We are proud of all her accomplishments.  Among them, I am proud to say she is an Honor student.   Two more very short years and she will be going away to College.  The thought is very exciting for Laura....for her parents...all I can stay is I have to get ready but I am sure when the day comes I will be unprepared.

Spring Break in Texas Part I...Dinsosuars, Faberge & Birthday Celebrations

When we left home Thursday early evening, the snow & fog in Kansas slowed us down but the Wagner's kept on going.  We even took a brief tour of Baylor University in Waco Texas before we arrived in Houston, Texas late Friday night.

Saturday morning my little boy was 9 years old!  Since it was his birthday, Alex got to chose where we and the Heddens family would go.  No surprise...a visit to the Museum of Natural Science.  We loved the Dinosaur and Faberge Exhibit.  Saturday evening we all sang Happy Birthday to Alex and enjoyed a delicious cake prepared by Tina, Alex's godmother.  Great photo of both our families (set the camera to take photos on a timer so even I was in the group photo!)

Sunday, we attended Mass (Palm Sunday) and had a great time hanging out with the Heddens.  Staying with the Heddens while we are in Houston is always great fun for everyone.  The biggest challenge is having the kids go to sleep because Laura and Alex don't want the time spent with Zach and Jayme to end.

Monday we got to spend time with some of our old friends in Houston, including the Rogers Family and the Wilson Family.  Took lots of great pictures of our friends.

 After dinner with the Wilson's, we drove back to our old street on Emerald Isle.  Several of our old neighbors were out in the culdesac.  It was really nice to see many of our old friends and neighbors from our old street. 

It has been almost 7 years since we moved.

It had been almost 7 years since we had seen the Reeds, the Buggs, the Constants and the LeBlancs (although we had seen Cathy about 4/5 years ago).  Took a great group photo which I hope to post on Facebook later (have not downloaded that photo onto my laptop yet).

I wish I could post all the great group photos I have taken of Alex's birthday and time with old friends and neighbors in Houston, but it has been my practice not to post personal photos on my blog due to my husband's work. This is one of those blog postings where I wish I could share those photos but I must remind myself I can't.

So here are the photos I can share:

On Tuesday morning, we left Houston and drove to Austin, Texas.  We got to spend the day with my mother in law and brother in law.  Today, we also got to spend the day with them, but in the evening all the Wagner's gathered together to celebrate Alex's birthday.  We enjoyed a small chocolate cake with Ruth (mother in law), Richard (brother in law) and Chris and Haleigh (nephew/niece).  It was a sweet family gathering, our first one since last June. More great family photos taken (again, wish I could share them on my blog)

Tomorrow morning, we will visit Grandpa Wagner at his final resting place.

Tomorrow afternoon, we have plans to have lunch with our friend and former next door neighbor, Cindy in San Antonio.  By tomorrow evening, we will be with Junebug (in San Antonio)!  One of my best friends ...my sister of the heart.  We will be at June's home Thursday and Friday night.

I am looking forward to my day with June on Friday!  It will be a girls day!

Alex's Sleepover Birthday Party

My little boy is almost 9 years old.  His birthday is March 23rd -- next Saturday.  As luck would have it, we will be in Houston, TX on his birthday.  Alex was born in Houston.  We will be in Houston with his godparents (and our dear friends) on his birthday, the 23rd!

Tina is already planning on making Alex a birthday cake so we can all celebrate his birthday next Saturday.  It will be great as both families cherish the time we get to spent together, especially since we moved to Colorado over 6 years ago.

Last night, Saturday the 16th, Alex had his birthday party.  It was extra special because it was the first time he has had a sleepover birthday party.  We limited to 2 friends, which was not a problem because Alex has 2 best friends.  He, JR and Ryan had a great time.  The boys enjoyed pizza and treats for dinner.  They created a huge GeoTrax display, played with Legos and watched Diary of a Whimpy Kid and Diary of a Whimpy Kid: Dog Days movies.  Suddenly we would hear 3 boys laughing out loud at the same time while they watched the movies.  Their night ended with a pillow fight.  This morning they ate breakfast then enjoyed an indoor easter egg hunt with bright sport theme plastic eggs.

Alex absolutely loved his party and has been very appreciate.  Always makes a parent proud when your kid is appreciative!


As it is tradition with me, I decorated Alex's birthday cake.  This year's the theme was Lego's (Lego City).  Anyone who knows Alex knows that is his absolute favorite thing in the world (and Star Wars, combined them, well you get the picture!).  He wants to be a Lego Engineer when he grows up.  He is an extremely creative and funny kid.

Now, I also have to mention that Alex has always celebrated his birthday with his grandpa Wagner.   Usually, we would see his grandparents in Austin during our Spring Break.  We would get together and he and his grandpa would share a cake and we would all celebrate both birthdays.  Sadly, that will no longer happen since we lost his grandpa to Cancer last June.

Today would of been Grandpa Wagner's birthday.  March 17th is St. Patrick's day, but is was also Richard Wagner's birthday.  We miss you and think of you everyday.

Laura's 15th Birthday Party Cake & Decorations -- Candy Theme!

Friday night (July 27th) was my daughter's 15th birthday sleepover party.  In my Hispanic culture, a girl's 15th birthday is very important.  Typically, girls will celebrate by having a Quinceanera which is really just a huge party.  Laura may of liked a huge party like a Quinceanera, but that was just not going to happen.  But, what I could do is make her birthday cake extra special.  I know, it does not compare to a Quinceanera,  but that is the best we can do.

The story about her cake started on her Laura's birthday, July 21st.  I posted on her Facebook page a birthday greeting.  While I was posting it I decided to add a photo of a candy theme cake from a Pinterest board on her Facebook page.  Laura loved the photo so much she told me, on Facebook, that she wanted THAT cake.

I can decorate cakes but this cake was HUGE!  I told her I would try and it would not be exactly the same but I could do something similar.  While we were shopping for supplies, Laura found that exact cake on the cover of Wilton's 2012 Cake Decorating yearbook.  She was so happy because she figured now that I had instructions I could make her that cake.  Even with instructions I told her it would only be two layers, not three.  Once she agreed on the changes we got to work.  Here is the cake from Pinterest.

Here is my version....Laura's 15th Birthday Cake:

The birthday cakes I decorate for my kids birthdays are truly a labor of love.  I don't decorate cakes often enough so it's a slow process for me.  This is the biggest cake I have ever baked and decorated.  The bottom layer (Lilac) is an 18 inch round.  The cake pan is a half circle because if it were a full 18 inch circle, it probably would not fit in my oven!  Thank goodness I found a local store that stocks just about everything a cake decorator would want.  I got great advise and many supplies at Cake Crafts.  Two days were spend creating the decorative elements, baking and decorating this cake for Laura...but, it was worth it.  Laura loved her cake and in the end, that's what this was all about.

Since her birthday theme was Candy this year, I had fun creating a candy shop type of display for the party.  Laura created a cupcake liner garland and did most of the work on the ice cream cone decorations.  Twinkling white lights and paper lanterns decorated the patio.  Laura's friends had a great time just hanging out, watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics, eating candy and watching movies into the early morning.

Sometimes I wonder where the time has gone.  Really, it feels like it was just yesterday when I held Laura in my arms and she was just a baby.  Now, she is talking about taking Driver's Ed course because just like a typical teenager she has her sights on driving....I am not ready!  Will I ever be ready for all these changes that come too quickly?

15 Lollipops created from fondant...

Candy dots, ice cream cones, cupcakes...Laura's favorite colors are tiffany blue (teal) and purple.

Laura's crafty work

Laura cut the paper cones, selected the fabric, cut the fabric circles.  All I did was sew the ruffle and hot glued it on. 

Candy display was just fun to create

love the colors ...candy just makes people happy!

Cupcake paper garland - Laura's work.  I created a candy garland using a pendant shape clear bag.

The party guest got to take all the candy they wanted home

Happy 8th Birthday Alex!

Today is my baby boy's birthday.  Don't tell him I referred to him as my baby boy because he is now 8 and does not like the word baby associated with him!

We had his birthday party with many of his 2nd grade friends at the Elvis Cinema last Saturday.  On March 17th, St. Patty Day -- also known as Grandpa Wagner's birthday, Alex had his birthday party.  Today, we travel to Austin Texas to spend time with the Wagner side of the family.  This is our Spring Break vacation.   Alex will get to spend part of his birthday with his grandparents and tomorrow, we will have a small family birthday party celebration  in honor of  Alex and his grandpa.

The birthday cake is one of our family traditions.  I decorate a cake with a theme that reflects my child's favorite thing.  This year, it's all about Star Wars and The Clone Wars for Alex.  He loves Legos...or many who know him well will say he is obsessed with Lego's because that is all he seems to play with these days.  So can you imagine the joy in my child when you combine Lego's and Star Wars!  Priceless!

Using food colors and brushes I use exclusively for painting cakes, I painted one of Alex's favorite...R2D2.  Alex would of like Darth Vader on the cake but I did not think I could paint Darth on the cake since it is hard to work with black on black on a canvas like a cake.  Thankfully, Alex was very happy with R2D2! 

 When I saw the Star Wars fabric at JoAnn's, I knew I had to purchase it.  Alex loved the idea of making little bags for his friends.  The bags had many Star Wars theme birthday treats, including a candy light saber.

 Keeping with tradition, along with a birthday cake, I also make special popcorn and Hershey chocolate wrappers for my kid's birthday parties.  The birthday boy was very happy with these:

On another note, a movie Laura and I have eagerly been anticipating is out.  Actually, midnight last night.  Laura asked to go see the midnight release of the Hunger Games but I had to say no...it's a school night.  You would think saying no to her would be easy but it was not!  I wanted to go see it at midnight too!  Laura and I have read the all the books...love them, as disturbing as they were, LOVED them.   Maybe we will see it while we are in Austin. 

Staci's Birthday!

Last week was Staci's birthday.  Staci also loves all things vintage.  As a matter of fact, it is Staci who introduced me to the world of felted wool and vintage.  Staci has a natural ability to see an item in it's current condition (old, dirty, broken) and have a clear vision of what it can be...how it can be re-purposed! My friend truly has talent.  Staci's favorite colors are turquoise/teal and browns/natural.  With this color palette, I made several of her birthday gifts.

Usually, I make most of my birthday cards but I decided to give Staci a vintage card I found some time ago.  The colors were just right and it just reminded me of her.

 Gift wrapping is part of the gift.  I used a large vintage plastic doilie, burlap ribbon and one of my felted wool butterfly pins.

 I have found several vintage muffin tins in recent estate sales.  I cleaned it up, added some silver alcohol ink then added vintage and new trinkets.  Very similar to the one I made for Lisa's birthday, just a different color palette.

Instead of using knobs for the handles, I used unique vintage wooden bobbins.  I found many of these bobbins at an estate sale.   I debated purchasing so many because it added up quickly, but I decided to buy most of them since these were items I had never seen before...so glad that I purchased them.

 I only had a small lampshade with bones. I found it on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  These Chan-dies are fun and unique.   I love combining vintage materials with new materials.

 

Birthday Gifts - Lisa's Birthdy

I just realized I missed blogging about my friend Lisa's birthday last month.  Her birthday was on February 22nd and on that day we got to spend a fun day together.  We went to Park Meadows Mall, shopped at several of our favorite stores.  Had a delicious leisurely lunch.  It was so nice to spend the day with a friend...celebrating her birthday.

Lisa and I share many interest. We like many of the same books, movies and TV shows.  She also loves vintage things, so some of her birthday gifts would include vintage materials.  Creating birthday gifts for my friends is one of my favorite things to do.  Like me, one of Lisa's favorite colors are purple/lavender and silver...so that became my color palette for many of her gifts.

Her birthday card:

It was fun to decorate the gifts with doilies, fabric strips and of course, butterflies and birds.  I added one of my felted wool butterfly pins to her package.

 This was fun to create.  Old muffin tin I purchased at an estate sale along with some vintage and new trinkets to fill the muffin pan.  I added knobs to each side of the tin. 

Added one of my paper butterfly magnets and felted wool flower pin.

This is one of those projects I have been wanting to create for some time.   This is one of the many projects taught my Margie Romney-Aslett's class Spark Your Christmas.  An old lampshade with "bones."  They are harder to find since most lampshades do not have the wires going vertically.  Took off the fabric exposing the wires and just had fun adding vintage lace & trims, fabric strips, vintage rhinestone button.    This one  I made for Lisa.  Tomorrow I will post the one I made for me...same color palette.