Princess Aurora

I made this cake on Halloween night after trick-or-treating had come to a close. Yes, right after I had finished with the Halloween Wedding cake. It was an out-of-this-world crazy week! The skirt part is the cake, for those of you who may not have ever seen a cake like this. This was for a little girl, Emma, in our ward who was having a princess birthday/tea party. Emma requested a sleeping beauty cake. Rory was invited and dressed up as Sleeping Beauty, which is very fitting for her since she is also Aurora (Princess Aurora Ashlyn Leavitt).

Trick-or Treat!

Here's some pictures of Halloween night. Glen and I had a lot of fun dressing up with the girls. Glen was Hercules. His costume was definitely the winner! I was a witch--cackle, cackle, hee hee hee hee hee. Rory was bat-girl. She saved our lives several times that night. Isabella was a ladybug. She's always my little buggy. We did the trunk-or-treat thing this year. Rory trunk-or-treated her heart out, but Isabella stayed with me while I handed candy out. She wouldn't leave my side, even though I was a scary witch! :)

Halloween Wedding

Last week I made a wedding cake for a Halloween wedding held on Halloween night-something I never thought I would do.  The wedding guests had to go through a haunted house to enter the haunted wedding.  There were corpses, skulls, cobwebs (you get the picture) everywhere!  It was pretty morbid.  They had all kinds of drinks on ice in a coffin which I thought was pretty clever.  Rory came with me and Glen to drop the cake off and she was scared.  The funny thing about Rory is that she likes being scared.  She went through the haunted house twice and was really upset to find out we weren't actually staying for the wedding.  The bride and groom provided the lovely "love never dies" wedding topper.  

I'm glad there are people out there that will do crazy things to give us all a good laugh, cuz I know I would never do something like this!  But it was without question a lot of fun making the cake for such an occasion.

Rory's 5 Years Old!

Rory's 5th birthday has come and gone. I can't believe she's already 5. Time flies and your babies grow up. I know 5 is still so little, but it was just yesterday when I held her angelic and bold little spirit in my arms for the first time. She has been such a blessing and joy in my life. We have our moments, but each day she has brought new and wonderful things. She puts a smile on my face at least 20 times a day. There's never a dull moment with her, and she consistently says very profound things for such a little person. It's been so fun for Rory to be in Boulder City near all of her cousins, especially on her birthday. She misses Walnut Creek and her friends there, but she has a lot of advantages being so close to grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins. I love my Rorykins!

My New Love Affair: Yum!

Ok, I've found a new love in life, and you'll never guess what it is. Water. Yep, you heard me right. I said water. But this is not just any water. It's Chocolatemint Water from Metromint. Metromint first made (and still does) all kinds of mint waters like Peppermint, Spearmint, Lemonmint, Orangemint, and Cherrymint by using reverse-osmosis water, pesticide-free mint, and different essences (orange essence, lemon essence, cherry essence, etc.) which are basically essential oils. And now they've "turned water into chocolate". It basically tastes like the water version of Andes chocolate mints, if you can try and imagine that. It's not like eating chocolate, of course, but it's good-not to mention zero calories! However, it is pricey, so I don't get it all the time. But after a long hard day of chasing kids around, it's great to sit down, kick up my feet and quench my thirst with a nice refreshing bottle of chocolatemint water. Mmmm! What will they come up with next.

Friends

Here are some great quotes on friendship:

Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
GEORGE WASHINGTON

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

To find a friend one must close one eye; To keep him, two.
NORMAN DOUGLAS

Always set high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you.
SAMUEL JOHNSON

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
WILLIAM BLAKE

A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON

I have no trouble with my enemies. But my ******(goshdarn) friends,...they are the ones that keep me walking the floor nights.
OSCAR LEVANT

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.
MARLENE DIETRICH

I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing.
KATHERINE MANSFIELD

Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.
GEORGE ELIOT

When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.
EDGAR WATSON HOWE

A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not be endured with patient resignation.
BERTRAND RUSSELL

"Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookies of life"
ANONYMOUS

How to Help your Child Avoid Psychological Scarring from other Snotty Kids

Something has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. There's a little girl in our ward who is mean to Rory on a regular basis. She tells Rory that she can't sit by her and that she doesn't like her. She also ignores her on the playground at school, and won't say hi to her, etc. But every now and then she treats Rory like they're best friends. This then gives Rory hope, since, for some reason, she really likes this girl and wants to be great friends with her in the worst way. So, it's a vicious circle. Rory talks about it on a regular basis, so I know it's affecting her. I'm not sure I'm giving Rory the pearls of wisdom that I hope to when I have talks with her about it, and I don't want this to damage her self-esteem for life. I usually tell her that she should just play with Maren (her best friend) or the other little girls that are nice to her, and that she shouldn't care what this other little girl thinks. But I don't know if she really gets it. It's a simple concept, but complicated to a four year old. What would you tell your child if this were happening to them? It seems to me that this girl is a manipulator. She knows that Rory really likes her, and she uses that to her advantage. And I've seen her do this with other friends of hers as well. It's like she's the ring leader of all the little girls in her primary class. She's got all of them wanting to sit by her by being the mean girl. I don't get it. Help! What should I tell Rory in four year old language?

Easter Sunday

I just wanted to post some cute pictures of the kids' Easter egg hunt on Sunday. It was a beautiful morning, and that Easter Bunny did a great job of hiding the eggs! It was especially fun to watch Isabella, since she really had no idea what was going on. She just thoroughly enjoyed carrying her basket and following Rory around. Rory was a good big sister and put some eggs in Izzy's basket for her. It's so fun to relive my childhood all over again through my children!

Isabella Claire is ONE!!!!

Yes, it's true. My little babe is growing up too fast! She's already ONE. They get big so quickly, it's scary sometimes to think about. Izzy's birthday was Friday night. We didn't have a big party, just the fam. We were going to go down to Boulder during her birthday, but at the last minute decided not to. For Rory we've always had a huge Woodbury/Leavitt family party, but it was kind of cozy having a little one. Although I'm sure Izzy misses all of her grandparents and aunts and uncles, she does have a tendency to not leave my side when we get around family that she hasn't seen for awhile. So, I don't think it was too disappointing for her to miss out on a big family bash. :) It suited her little home-body personality just fine.

First we had a little KFC dinner to start the evening out right.

Then we brought out the presents, which were a big hit!



And then we had some cake. The tradition is that I make the kids specialty cakes for their birthdays...
even though we just hack into them and destroy all the hard work within seconds. :) But look at those smiling, satisfied faces. It makes it all worth it!

And then into the bathtub they went. Then we all snuggled up together on the couch and put on a good movie. The kids were asleep within 5 minutes (SWEET!), we put them in their beds, and Glen and I snuggled up on the couch and finished the movie.

What a great birthday celebration for everyone.

Back Online

Rory and best friend Maren
I've been meaning to post this picture for a long time! Aren't they so cool.

It's so good to have the internet again. We moved apartments about 3 weeks ago and we've been waiting to get our internet up and running. What did we do without the internet years ago? Probably a lot! Rather than sitting in front of our computer screens, we were involved in numerous activities that required more than finger muscles. Oh well, that's what aerobic classes at the gym are for, right? Well, it's so great to be back online. For those of you who thought I was ignoring your emails and blogs, I was actually awaiting the day that I could comment and email. You'll have to hold me to this. :)

Cute Pics of My Angels

These pictures were taken in Boulder City, NV.

Yeah, I know there's a shoe in her mouth! :)

These pictures below I already posted, but they are cropped so you can see their faces better.

Mike and Tami Tied the Knot

Last night Mike (Glen's brother) married his sweetheart Tami at her parent's home in Boulder City, Nevada. It was a beautiful ceremony, and it made me want to get married all over again, to Glen, of course! Glen and his brother Chris were the groomsmen, and Delaney, Mike and Tami's daughter, was the flower girl. What an adorable little lady in red. Rory, Izzy and cousin Olivia were no doubt some pretty additions to the wedding! Here are some pictures of this fantastic evening:

The lovely couple

Glen and Chris

Mike, Glen, Chris

Tami making her appearance with son Parker, and Delaney leading the way

Minutes before the union is official

Delaney the Great

Grandpa Charlie and Isabella

Rory taking her first drink! (of sparkling cider that is)

Olivia and Rory

Dad and Izz

Little Jokesters

Pretty Littles

It's official! Mr and Mrs. Leavitt