An unexpected passing

I received a phone call this morning from my mother telling me my stepfather, Chuck Myers had passed away. He was out on the road, driving his truck in Utah. At this time they are unsure of the cause of death. He would have been 60 on November 6th of this year. I am still in shock really. I just can't believe he is gone. My mother is taking as well as could be expected. I think she's still in shock too. I just hope she will be alright. I worry about her.

Hopefully he went peacefully, in his sleep. He will be missed. Goodbye Chuck.

Birds birds birds!

While I was away on my trip, my husband and sons forgot to water the hanging plant that my stepmom gave to me. So when I got home I set out to save it. I bought some plant food and sprinkled it in the plant and as soon as I did that a bird flew out of the center. I was a bit freaked out so I climbed up to see what I had done and low and behold there was a nest and 4 eggs and one mother bird freaking out. I was really worried that I had just ruined all those lives so I rinsed off the plant food, all the while the mother bird was chirping furiously at me. After rinsing it all off it took about an hour for the momma bird to get back into her nest. A few days later her little birdies hatched and it seems they are all doing alright. She's very protective and she was ready to attack me as I attempted to take a few pictures.

Two cakes in one night...sheesh

Today I decorated two cakes. Jennifer's party is tomorrow and I won't be able to attend so I had to finish hers tonight and take it over to her. It turned out ok I think. She seemed to like it.

After I got that finished and delivered at 8pm, I started on the cake for the contest my sis entered me in at Joann's. It wasn't even close to what I had planned. I had something pretty elaborate but time wouldn't allow due to the crunch of having to rebake them last night. I was a day behind. So I just whipped up something simple since I had them baked anyway. It's cute and simple but I like it. Sheldon called in amatuerish. I agree but then again, I am an amatuer. My little sis is going to take it over for me tomorrow and take pictures of the other cakes. I have no expectations but it is good practice.

The Cake Contest Fiasco

I recently posted about my sister entering me in a cake contest at Joann's. I've had a setback today. I baked all 6 of the cakes I was going to use for the contest and was going to work on the decorations while the graduation cake I am making for Jennifer, my newphew's girlfriend, after work today. Unfortunately, when I got home from work today there was an incident. My youngest newphew, who's 2, pulled out a chair at the breakfast bar and that is an open invitation for my dogs to get up on the counter, Buster specifically. My sister left the house and they had an hour of free time, plenty of time to pull open a box of cake mix and cross over the kitchen sink to the oven where the cakes were. They were sitting along the back of the wall, four yellow and two chocolate. He ate the tops from all but one of the chocolate ones. Why he left just one untouched, I do not know. How do I know it was Buster? The guilty look on his face, the hiding in the corner and the bulging stomach were all I needed to come to that conclusion. Well, back to the drawing board. If I have time to bake the rest after I get Jennifer's cake baked, I will try, try again and hope that I have time tomorrow night to decorate it.

Party Pictures from Illinois

Here are a few pictures...

The cupcakes...

"Where's the cupcakes?"

The ever popular bounce house

They're doing the cha cha slide.

Running from the bubbles!

One of the few pics I have of Peyton and her face is covered!

Finally, I get to eat the cupcakes!

Dylan is finding Nemo!

It's lights out! The party is over!

The cake contest

My big sister works at Joann's on South Hill. While I was away on my 11 day adventure with my baby sister, she signed me up for a cake decorating contest at her store. Mind you I arrived home Saturday afternoon and I just got the paper from her today stating the rules of this contest. I also have only attended one cake decorating course but nonetheless, she has entered me into this contest. I think I came up with a "cute" idea for the theme which is Summer in the Northwest. I'm going to use my new hexagon shaped cake pans which I purchased while in Naperville. (There is a Wilton store there! SO many neat things, so little to spend.) At any rate, I'm going to start making some fondant figures tomorrow after work, while my gigantic cake is baking. This will be a somewhat new experience as I have only made one fondant figure. Oh well, it's all in fun and it will be interesting to see other cakes. Hopefully my sister will take some pictures for me as I will be working during the judging, which happens at noon. Wish me luck!

Idaho, Washington and HOME!

We spent a pretty good night at the Baymont Hotel in Kellogg, Idaho and started out our day with a hearty breakfast, compliments of them as well. Strangely enough, we started out the day earlier than we had all week, 7:40am. Typically we hadn't been getting on the road until 8am. It just figures that we get things "perfected" on our last day. The kids were pretty good and we only had to stop once during out 362 mile trek. We stopped for gas and lunch in Ellensburg. We spent a tad too much time at lunch, but we still managed to roll in to my parents house at about 2:30 or 3:oopm. Let me tell you, I was glad to see a familiar place and more familiar faces. My husband and sons were there waiting for us to arrive with flowers and cards in hand for my sister and I and he even bought cards for the kiddos!

The loading of the truck took the 4 of us about 8 hours. The unloading took us only 2 hours! It sure comes out easier than it goes in! Of course there were 8 of us too! So after the unloading we all headed out to our favorite restaurant for dinner, Puarta Vallarta. It was a really nice dinner, especially since we didn't have to rush anywhere. Two daquairi's sure make things even nicer!

So here I sit, at home in my own chair watching my own television, thinking about heading to bed in my own bed! The only downer to today was my little dog Lady wasn't as excited to see me as I was to see her. I think she's a bit bent out of shape that I left her so long. Of course it could be the fact that I was covered in Dewey Dog hair. She probably figures I've been cheating on her. Hopefully I can make it up to her! At any rate, I am home and so is my baby sister! That's all that matters.

Wyoming, Montana and Idaho

Another day, another couple hundred miles in a van full of children, screaming and dog hair. We set out today at 8am for another day of driving across the beautiful US of A. Our dad had planned for us drive to Missoula today but we wanted to push it a bit farther to make our last day, tomorrow a tad shorter. Mission accomplished. We made it to Kellogg, Idaho by 6pm and that was after a time change, so we spent 10 or 11 hours on the road. I really don't know my head from my ass at this point. I thought today was Saturday but nope thats tomorrow and it will mark the end of our lengthy road trip. Don't get me wrong, it's been fun and I have loved every minute I have spent with my sister. I'm not even sick of her! Now whether she is sick of me is another story.

So tomorrow we will set out for the last day with a hot breakfast of waffles and eggs from our nice hotel in Kellogg. We found a great place that has a pool, takes dogs and serves a complimentary breakfast for a very reasonable price. It's the Baymont Inn and Suites and it's pretty nice! I'd definately recommend it if your planning on going to Kellogg, ID. We only have to drive 362 miles tomorrow. Such a relief from the 600 we drove today. So if all goes well, and it should, we'll arrive home, ah home sounds SO good, by 4pm! I miss my dogs, my boys and my husband, probably in that order but don't tell my family that! See you in Washington!

South Dakota and Wyoming

Today we started off bright and cheery after a wonderfully restful night at a glorious Super 8 in Rapid City, SD. The rooms were clean, breakfast was there and we all slept comfortably with the 6 year old on the floor in a sleeping bag. I traded up to a 10 year old who kept to her side of the bed and didn't really move the entire night! We all woke up refreshed! Our day was filled with sightseeing at Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We were so amazed by Mt Rushmore. I had never been there until today and it was inspirational! I actually teared up during the movie they showed about the making of Mt Rushmore. It was an wonderful! The Crazy Horse memorial I wasn't so impressed with because it wasn't even close to being finished. Only the face was there but I can say I was there. We ate lunch at my brother-in-laws favorite place in the world, Sonic. He'll be pleased we stopped there. My sis and her young ones hadn't ever been there so it was a new experience for them. Then we headed off for our 250 mile drive to Sheridan, WY. Wow what a long drive when you have nothing to look at. South Dakota was much more interesting and beautiful. We didn't get into a hotel until after 7pm but it's a nice one. We are at a Holiday Inn this time and it's gorgeous. The kids even had a pool to swim in. I do fear for their lives sometimes as my sisters and my patience are wearing very thin. Somehow we'll make it, I think.

Tomorrow we are in for an almost 500 mile drive to Missoula, MT. We are contemplating dressing all the kids in diapers to limit our pit stops. Wish us and the kids luck! Hopefully you'll hear from me tomorrow night with all of us in tack. By the way, the dog is still alive too.

Minnesota and South Dakota

Well another day, another exhausted pair of adults. We started out after our less than stellar stay at the Super 8 in Albert Lea, Minnesota. NEVER, I repeat, NEVER stay at that Super 8. They stuck us into a smoking room with 2 double beds because we had the 11 pound dog with us. Aside from it stinking high heavens from the smoke, it just was plain ole' dirty. Both me and my sister slept like crap because she was sleeping with the 2 year old and I had the 6 year old. Riley, who's 2, fell off the bed 3 times during the course of the night and Dylan, who's 6, kept smacking me in his sleep with his arms and legs. I swear a few times I had to lift half of him off of me and put him back over on his side. That boy sure moves around in his sleep. I think he was actually sideways at one point. So after our "restful" night of sleep, we awoke at 5:30am only to find out our shower did NOT work! I was pissed! Fortunately, we had my parents 2 doors down in their luxury queen room, that was dirtier than ours and we were able to use their shower with the moldy curtain. And to add the cherry to the end of our day, the continental breakfast they served was pitiful!

At any rate, we started out just before 8am and headed for Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace. It was a 240 mile drive but it was pretty interesting and the kids had fun. We spent a bit too much time there because Peyton, our 9 year old, couldn't decide what souvenir she wanted. We get a bit too much indecisiveness from that girl even if she is only 9! From there we left our parents as they were headed to Kennebec to see relatives and we set our sites on visiting the famous Wall Drug in Wall, SD. I didn't think we were going to make it there because I honestly thought Robyn was going to kill Peyton. That girl has to pee entirely TOO much. So much drama! We did make it there and spent way too much time there because we didn't end up at our motel in Rapid City until 7:30. We were however, pleasantly surprised to see that our Super 8 we made reservations at (Wild Bill Days are this week), was TONS better than our stop in Albert Lea. It's the Ritz compared to that place! Our day ends with all 6 of us and the dog in one room with 2 queens and we will get up early to head off to Mt Rushmore and then to Sheridan, Wyoming to meet back up with my parents. Wish us luck and sanity!

Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota

Today we left Robyn's house at about 8am after getting all four kids and the truck situated for the long road trip. We ended up with a few pit stops, 5 to be exact, for potty breaks and lunch time. Between the dog roaming all over the van and the 47 inquiries as to whether or not we were still in Wisconsin, we managed to maintain some semblance of sanity. The van however didn't fair so well with 4 children sitting in the back seats. Wow, what a disaster. Needless to say, the older ones, 10 and 9, got a stern talking to about the cleanliness of their areas. We pulled into the Albert Lea Super 8 at about 5pm after having to backtrack about 4 miles because we missed our exit. The Super 8 was interesting. My sister and I have to stay in a smoking room with 2 doubles instead of queens because of Doolittle the 11 pound Jack Russell. It really stinks too. I hope it's not like this the remainder of the trip because we may be sneaking him in after tomorrow night. Screw that smoking stench! We have a full day tomorrow of visiting the Corn Palace and Wall Drug before making it to Rapid City in South Dakota. Hopefully I'll have wifi there too and I'll post how our day went. Now, it's off to bed because I'm EXHAUSTED!

The move continues...

Today we moved almost everything my sister owned into the garage, including her million pound treadmill. My father and I had to move that darned thing up a flight of stairs and across the house to the garage. DAMN, did that have me sweating like a fool. Never have I worked so hard in my life. I think I have worked harder here in the last couple days than I ever have at the post office. But things are going well, we will be ready to load up the truck Monday and we'll be on the road Tuesday morning. I am looking forward to our trip across the country. We'll be travelling through Illinois up to I-90 to Wisconsin and our first stop will be in Albert Lea, Minnesota. From there we'll head west, continuing on I-90 making a stop at the famous Corn Palace, and Wall Drugs before stopping in Rapid City for the night. Thursday we get to spend most of the day at Mt Rushmore and then we'll meet my parents in Sheridan, Wyoming after they finish visiting with Alice's relatives in Kenebec, South Dakota. From Sheridan we head up to Missoula for our last night, and we hope to make it home sometime Saturday evening. Of course this is all dependent on our being able to keep the schedule while traveling with the four kids and the dog. Stay tuned for updates providing I have free WiFi at our Super 8 Motels!

Party Time!

So today was the day of the party. We all got up pretty early considering we went to bed at about midnight last night. The girls helped me decorate all the cupcakes, all 48 of them. They got quite creative making their monster cupcakes. We ended up with about 40 kids here. It was a tad noisy especially since the road workers decided to show up at 10:00am to complete a project that had been in the works for over a month. They assured us they'd only be here for about an hour and a half. Approximately 5 hours later they left. The bounce house and cotton candy was a HUGE hit! We had a few near catastrophies with the bounce house collapsing after too many kids barrelled into the same wall. But all was well again after emptying them out and then letting them file back in again. Only a few minor injuries occurred, collisions mostly inside the bounce house but nothing requiring medical attention. Just an "aww are you okay?" and things were fine again. The day couldn't end soon enough though. It was hot and muggy and we were not only sticky from the weather, but also from making the 30+ orders of cotton candy from our sugar happy party goers. The party started at about noon and was scheduled to end at 5pm. The last kids didn't leave until 7pm. Both my sis and I were happy to collapse onto the couch after ordering pizza. The kids had fun, the adults survived so that's all that matters.

Pictures to follow...

Off to Illinois

So I'm flying out today at 3:55pm to Illinois so I can bring my baby sister back home. I'm so very excited I can't hardly stand it. She moved out to Naperville with her husband and 3 children about 5 years ago and now they are getting divorced. We were the best of friends and saw each other just about every day and since she's been gone we've only seen each other twice. We do talk on the phone alot, but it is just not the same. My flight gets in at 9:55pm and she'll be there to pick me up along with the 4 children she now has (one of my trips out there was for the birth of the youngest). Tomorrow we will be throwing a going away party for the kids, with all of their friends. It will be a 5 hour long hopefully uneventful ordeal. I just hope we all survive it! After all that is said and done, we have to pack the remainder of whatever she hasn't packed, and I'm hoping it's not alot because if my dad shows up on Saturday and she isn't fully packed up, he may just go ballistic. Let's just say he's had a few bad moves with me. I'm not the most organized when it comes to moving. We'll have 2 days to get everything all set up for the move.
We'll be leaving on the 10th for our wonderful 2000 mile road trip with 2 sisters, 4 kids ages 10, 9, 6 and 2 and a jack russell terrier named Dooey followed up with a 26ft moving truck with my dad and stepmom bringing up the rear. Wish me luck!