webbisodes

butterfinger cupcakes

2012-02-18T09:00:00.001-07:00

I used this recipe. They were yummy, but next time I'll probably omit the caramel filling. It made for super sticky cupcakes. I made them for a double birthday party at the Webb's. They were pretty yummy!

life lately

2012-02-16T11:10:00.002-07:00

So, not much has been happening.

Baby has been growing like a weed. I'm excited to take her to the doctor next week and see how much she's grown. She's a pro at eating Cheerios and other small finger foods. She is also a pro at pulling herself up to stand at the couch or coffee table or crib...or anything else within her reach. She is also the most independent baby. She always wants to be on the ground crawling around instead of being held. If we try to hold her, she pushes away until we put her down. When she plays with her toys on the ground and I get down and try to play with her, she pushes me away. She just wants to be by herself. She's so silly. I also went and bought some teeny tiny ponytails so that I could do this:

So cute!

Mr. Webb has been busy with three 12-hour work days on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. Then he stays busy the rest of the week with school, school, school.

I have been busy taking care of my very active baby. This month I also started taking a cake decorating class. I've been to two sessions and have two left. I have already learned so much, and I'm excited to learn even more. I filled, iced and decorated my first cake last night. It didn't look perfect, but it's better than anything I've been able to do before! Hopefully my next one looks better and I'll feel good about posting a picture. :)

I'll leave with with a few more baby pictures and some Valentine cupcakes.

cinnamon swirl cupcakes

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

These cupcakes turned out very pretty, and very yummy. I made them for my dad to take to work for a meeting.

You can find the recipe here. And you should probably make them. They're delicious!

They were also very photogenic, which is why there are so many pictures! :)

pictures, pictures, pictures

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

christmas cupcakes - take two

2012-01-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

I made these cupcakes for our Webb family Christmas Eve party. They were super simple, but very pretty (I think). :)

8 months

2012-01-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Since my cute baby turned 8 months old, I wanted to get down some milestones she has accomplished in the past few months. I haven't been keeping a very good record of her accomplishments, so at least I'll have some here. It's just a lot of rambling, so sorry about that.

She has gone from scooting around like an inchworm to being a full-fledged crawler. And man is she fast! She is also quite talented at crawling around with a toy in each hand. When she gets hold of something she really wants, there's no putting it down for her.
She can sit up from her tummy all by herself. She just figured it out in the past few weeks, and she cheers for herself whenever she finishes sitting up.
She can say a few words. The first word she ever said was "kitty." She can also say: mommy, daddy, hi, and yay. She said "no" once, while I was saying it over and over to try and get Mr. Webb to stop tickling me. And she can almost say "teddy." But she hasn't said it since. Mostly she just babbles with mammas, dadadas, baobabs, and nananas.
She can wave.
I've been putting her on the potty after every nap, and she has gone on the potty a few times. Not that she realizes what she's doing, but eventually she'll get it.
She can almost pull herself up to stand. She's getting really good at it, and probably in the next month or so she'll be able to do it.
She's started eating little snacks, like cheerios. She's not too good at feeding them to herself, but she's getting there.
She has 4 teeth, and is really good at gnawing on things. When she got her first two teeth about a month ago, I didn't even realize it. I was waiting for her to get all grumpy and fussy. But one day I saw her teeth and realized that she is just the happiest baby ever and didn't fuss or whine at all when she cut her teeth. What a good girl!
When I'm not paying enough attention to her, she'll crawl over to where her books are and bang on them until I go over and read to her. It's really cute.

Here's a picture of her vampire fangs that my brother took on his phone.

say bye-bye, binky!

2012-01-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be a lot of pictures. Some of cupcakes, some of my baby on Christmas...but I'm too lazy to load the cupcake pictures on my computer, and I have to ask Mr. Webb to send me the pictures of Christmas, because we took them on his phone.

So instead, I'm going to tell you some of my resolutions. We learned last week in Relief Society that you usually succeed more in your goals if you tell people about them. So instead of telling real people in real life(although I've told my husband, and I'm fairly certain he counts as real), I'm telling you all.

#1 - Baby only gets her binky when she sleeps. I started the last couple days of December, and you know what? She hasn't missed it at all. I want to have her completely off her binky by the time she's one, but we'll see about that...

#2 - I'm probably going to get a lot of people calling me crazy about this one, but I'm trying to potty train my baby. There was a girl in my ward a year or two ago who did this with her baby boy. He wasn't even a year old yet, and she hadn't changed his diaper in months. You have them go enough on the potty, and they start asking to go. So I'm going to do it! Hopefully...

#3 - Lose weight. I don't think I really have to explain this one. Except that I'm trying to lose it by my birthday. That's about 4 1/2 months. Good luck to me!

#4 - Be a better mom. This includes a lot of stuff. Keeping my house cleaner, making meals more often, spending more quality time with both the baby and the husband, etc.

So wish me luck; check up on me if you feel so inclined. And good luck to you and your goals for the new year!

christmas cupcakes - take one

2011-12-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

I made these Christmas tree cupcakes for a Christmas party I had with my friends. They turned out really cute, but those trees broke like crazy. I made 3 times as many as I needed, and I still had to put some broken ones on my cupcakes because they were just so fragile! Here is a picture of my Christmas tree graveyard, and then my cupcakes.

chocolate orange cupcakes

2011-12-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law requested these for her birthday cupcakes. I was at a loss on how to invent them myself, so I took the easy route.

First, get a chocolate cake mix and two chocolate oranges (I got one dark and one milk chocolate). Prepare your cake mix according to package directions. Take 1/2-ish of one of your chocolate oranges and chop it into little pieces. Stir those pieces into your cake mix, and bake them.

While they are cooling, make some orange chocolate ganache. Ganache is super easy, and super delicious.

In a double boiler (which, to me, is a silver bowl placed over a pot of simmering water), melt 4 oz of your chocolate orange (I don't remember how many ounces a whole orange is, but I know that Mr. Webb and I just ate a couple slices and called the rest good). Stir in a 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Stir until the ganache looks nice a smooth. Then dip your cupcakes in the ganache. Let cool, and then enjoy!

6 month stats and videos

2011-11-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

6 month check up:

Length: 25.5 inches (+1 inch since her 4 month)

Weight: 12.6 lbs (+0 since her 4 month)

Since she didn't gain any weight, we're trying some new things, and we'll take her back in a month for a weight check and a second round of her flu vaccine. We've jumped to trying to feed her solid food once a day, to making her eat it 3 times a day. I know she's probably fine (my mom said that all of her kids had similar growth patterns, we were all just long and skinny), but I would feel a lot better if she'd put on a pound or two!

Here are some of the most recent videos of baby.

The first one is baby talking and making gurgly noises.

The next one is baby talking and reading a book.

And these last two are of baby telling her 2 1/2 month old friend the ways of the world. :)

breakthrough!

2011-11-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

After 3-4 weeks of trying to get baby to eat some cereal, fruit, or veggies...

She willingly opened her mouth for some oatmeal today! Hooray! Hopefully things will keep getting better, because I have a lot of baby food in the freezer for her!

caramel apple cupcakes

2011-11-14T09:39:00.003-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated my nephew's birthday. He turned 7 at the end of October (hence the '7' candle).

I usually let people choose what kind of cupcakes they want for their birthday, but this little guy wasn't very picky. He said he didn't care what kind he had. So, I made caramel apple cupcakes.

I've been wanting to try these cupcakes for a few months now, so I was happy for an excuse to finally make them! Plus, I pretty much made them up on my own! I'm more than a little bit proud of that fact.

Would you like to make them? Because it's incredibly easy!

First, mix up a white cake mix according to the package directions. Then add in some toffee bits (I used Heath brand).

Peel and finely dice 2 or 3 green apples, toss them in some cinnamon and sugar, and add them to the cake mix as well. I used 2 regular sized apples and one small one, but I probably could have just used the 2 regular ones. It was a lot of apples!

Fill your cupcake wrappers about 1/2 way full, and bake at 350 until done (I almost never time my cupcakes).

Make some magical toffee sauce. No, it actually is magical. You have to plan ahead to make this. It takes 8 hours. I started mine on Saturday night before I went to bed.

Take a can of sweetened condensed milk, and take the wrapper off. Put it in a crock pot and cover it with water. Cook it on low for 8 hours, turn off the crock pot, and let it sit until the water and can cool to room temperature. Open the can and be amazed! It turns into a delicious dulce de leche tasting sauce (I've never had dulce de leche, but Mr. Webb said that's what it tasted like).

You can make it on the stove, and it takes only 3-4 hours, but I've heard stories about cans exploding...so I went the safe route with the slow cooker.

After they are completely cooled, top with your magical toffee sauce, drizzle with melted chocolate, sprinkle with more toffee pieces, and stick a popsicle stick in (I used mini popsicle sticks).

For birthdays, I've started making regular sized cupcakes, but then I make a jumbo one for the birthday person and put it in a cute glass goblet that I bought at the thrift store for 50 cents.

The little nephews especially enjoy that I do this!

Mr. Webb and I sampled one before we went to the party. We were just making sure they tasted good, honest!

cleaning updates and recipe updates

2011-11-05T17:02:00.002-06:00

We'll discuss recipe updates first. Remember when I started that recipe blog? And how I actually did pretty good for awhile? Yeah. That fell apart. I do want to try it again soon, though. And I've still been trying new recipes, even though I've not been posting about them.

And remember when I said I was deep cleaning my home? If you don't, that's okay. I forgot, too!

Just kidding, I didn't really forget. I was hoping to get it done by the end of October, but I started with my kitchen. That was a bad idea. After cleaning out and reorganizing all of the cupboards, I was exhausted. But I am almost done with the kitchen. I just have the oven left to clean, and the blinds also. Then the easy stuff like sweeping/mopping and wiping down the counters.

I've also finished the hallway (even though it wasn't that hard, I feel good about it)! And I've cleaned the ceiling fan and blinds in my living room. And Baby has just sat by and been so good while I do it!

Today has been productive, too! I have taken a nap (thanks, husband, for letting that happen), I've cooked, mashed, and put in the freezer some sweet potatoes for baby. I also made a pumpkin roll for ME! Oh, I guess Mr. Webb can have some, too. :) If you've never had a pumpkin roll, you're missing out. If you've never had a frozen pumpkin roll, you're doubly missing out! They are delicious either way, but I love them frozen!

Tonight I'm hoping to clean the blinds in my kitchen and the ceiling fan in our bedroom. Who knows when I'll finally get the guts to tackle that darn oven...

what am i supposed to tell sunday?

2011-10-26T16:36:00.000-06:00

Today on the way to the grocery store, Mr. Webb and I saw this sign in a construction zone:

Double Lane Closure

Tell Sunday Night

Really?

this is not the visitor i wanted to see outside my door...

2011-10-15T20:25:00.002-06:00

Apparently, this little fella...okay - BIG fella - is called a cat-faced spider. And it is NASTY! I found it outside on my porch yesterday, and it was the size of my big toe. SICK! The only reason I know what it's called is because my brother saw one yesterday, too, on a campout. And one of the boys he was with knew what it was called. I looked them up, and they're harmless (but I'm not believing THAT), I guess. But it was huge, and it looked like a crab, so I trapped it underneath a cottage cheese carton so Mr. Webb could see it (and kill it) when he got home.

They're called cat-faced spiders because their puffy abdomen (which I thought was an egg sac, but isn't) has little indents that look like eyes and pointy bits that look like ears. You can google it for better pictures that really do look like cat faces.

Goodbye, cat-faced spider. Please don't come again. You're creepy!

baby updates!

2011-10-11T19:45:00.001-06:00

Lots of pictures in this one!

First off, my baby met one of her pre-birth friends. Just half a year ago, my co-worker and I were both pregnant! She finally had her baby, and we went to show our cute girls off at our old place of work. Look how cute they are! They are going to be best friends.

We gave baby her first rice cereal. Are you wondering what she thought about it? These pictures will answer that question.

Today was day 3 of trying to feed it to her, and now she won't even open her mouth. I'll keep trying for a few days, but if it doesn't get better, I might give up!

She also got her first taste of applesauce. It's canning season, and my mom has 2 apple trees in her yard. So on Friday night we picked apples, and pretty much all day Saturday we cooked and smushed them into the yummiest applesauce ever! I dipped the binky in the applesauce, and you better believe that baby sucked that binky very vigorously! She liked it, I think! Also, we canned 83 quarts on Saturday. More to come this weekend!

These last few pictures are her sad face (I still think it's even more sad when you see it in person), and her 5 month old pictures. She turned 5 months old TODAY!

recent happenings

2011-10-06T11:17:00.000-06:00

I've decided to "Spring" clean my house. In the fall. I'm getting closer to being done with my kitchen - hopefully the hardest room in the house! It's a mess right now.
Even though I drink it year round, I am glad to welcome back hot chocolate weather! I love the rain and gray skies. I wait for this weather all year. My favorite.
Our battery for our much loved MacBook died...and I probably shouldn't say it...but maybe it knew Steve Jobs was going to also. Oh...that was horrible. But seriously, what a coincidence! Anyway, I'm waiting to post on my recipe blog until we get our new one, because I don't want to put my pictures on this computer. Also, my recipe blog is kind of on hold while I'm cleaning my kitchen. because I can't really cook until it's put back together.
My baby is so big! She's about 5 months old now, and she can roll all around the room. I will probably start her on rice cereal in the next few weeks.

That's pretty much it.

are you kidding me?

2011-09-22T22:22:00.000-06:00

So, Mr. Webb and I were talking the other day. We had just seen a commercial for Hershey's Air Delight. Have you seen the commercial or the candy bar in the store?

We just laughed and started joking. I'm not sure if this is exactly what we said, but it was along these lines:

Mr. Webb: "Can you just imagine the pitch meeting for that?"

Me: "Hehe...we're going to put some AIR in a candy bar and sell it!"

Mr. Webb: "You know what would make our chocolate taste better? AIR!"

Me: "We're going to charge people for air."

Both: Hysterically laughing

Anyhow, you get the idea.

I just can't believe that Hershey's stuck some air bubbles inside some mediocre chocolate and are (probably - I haven't actually seen it in stores) charging even more than a regular candy bar for it.

Silly people. Don't spend your money on air. It's already free! Just breathe in and eat some chocolate.

Same thing, people. Same thing.

baby laughs

2011-09-21T14:28:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the angle, but she won't laugh if she can see the camera.

4 month stats

2011-09-14T22:28:00.000-06:00

24.5 inches

12.56 pounds

She did really well with her shots. She had about 4 I think. And this evening when I was rubbing them like the doctor told me to, I was afraid she was going to cry. Guess what? She started laughing. Sometimes (okay, ALWAYS) I love my little girl!

The doctor basically left it up to us to decide when we want to start "solid" foods (I love how they call them solid foods - it's kind of funny). I bought a box of rice cereal on the way home. I'm going to try and hold out until 5 months, but I'm really excited to start her on cereal!

Also, Mr. Webb got me a present a few days ago...

Look how little and cute they are! And also, delicious! Chocolate frogs are welcome at my house any time!

sitting up and helping in the kitchen

2011-09-09T19:41:00.000-06:00

my baby is so cute!

2011-09-06T22:14:00.000-06:00

Getting a haircut tomorrow. Yay! I've been getting really bad headaches for the past week or two, so I'm very excited to get my hair cut and get rid of those bothersome aches! Yay!

Also, I've started a new blog. I know, I know. I do this too much. This one has been a goal of mine for a long time, because of Julie and Julia (great movie). It's a try-a-new-recipe-every-day blog. So, if you'd like to look at it, you may. But it's pretty much just for me, so you really don't need to. I'm just kind of proud that I've tried 6 new recipes in 6 days! :)

First video is one of baby's favorite games. You blow in her face, and then she sniffs and smiles. I don't understand it.

Second video is her ALMOST laughing. She always laughs, and then I pull out the camera, and no more laughs. Story of my life...

today

2011-09-01T15:55:00.000-06:00

recently

2011-08-30T17:36:00.001-06:00

My baby wants to grow up too fast. Within one month, she learned to roll from her back to her tummy AND roll from her tummy to her back. She's a pro at the first, and getting scarily good at the second. This mommy needs to baby proof ASAP.

One problem we have with the rolling is that she does it in her sleep. And then mommy gets a rude awakening when baby screams because she doesn't want to be on her tummy. She's getting better, though. Most mornings when I get her up, she is asleep on her tummy.

She's a very, very happy baby. Especially in the morning. I walk in, see her little face, say "Hi!" And I get the biggest smile ever. I love it!

In non-baby news, I am very proud of myself. For the past few weeks, I have not only planned menus, but have actually made dinner almost every night! My recent favorite was one I made just today. Crispy orange beef. So amazingly yummy. Mr. Webb LOVED it! Instead of using plain white rice like the recipe said, I made some brown rice, and then added carrots, snow peas, green onions, an egg, and some soy sauce and sesame oil to make some very yummy fried rice. The recipe took a lot of work, but was definitely worth it!

Also, I have been called as the Relief Society chorister, which I am loving. The rest of the ward loves it too, because they get to hold my cute girl. :)

I had some coupons for 50% and 40% off some bakeware items, so I purchased some things that I hope will make cake making a happier experience for me. I want to make pretty cakes, like this. But I've never succeeded. Hopefully I'll have an excuse to make a cake soon so I can try it out again.

Well, I'll try to put up some pictures next time.

Until then, have a wonderful week!

chocolate cupcakes with chocolate mousse filling

2011-08-23T09:47:00.002-06:00

2011-08-13T19:53:00.000-06:00

Yes, I am dedicating an entire post to Pinterest. If you don't know what Pinterest is, I'll sum it up in one word. Awesome. Pinterest.com has nothing less than inspired me. It's basically a website where you can 'pin' things from any website to different boards. I think of it like having online bulletin boards. For instance, I have a board for recipes, one for crafts, and even one dedicated to cakes and cupcakes. All in all, I have 12 boards.

You can also follow other boards. So if someone has a lot of pins that you like, you can follow that board. The only thing I don't like about Pinterest, is that once in awhile, the website will just decide for you that you should follow someone. Then you have to go and unfollow all of their boards. But other than that, I have loved Pinterest.

Here are some of the things that Pinterest has inspired me to do:

1. Remember my last post, how I took 3 month baby pictures and had the letters above my baby's head? Got that idea from Pinterest.

2. Made THIS brilliant idea. Turn a 12-pack soda box into canned food storage? Although I found out AFTER I made it, that it doesn't fit normal sized cans. I wasn't aware that Campbell's soup cans were smaller than other cans. So that project didn't work out for me.

3. Made THIS no-sew jacket/wrap.

4. Made a bunch of THESE little bows, tied by using a fork.

5. Made Cinnamon Honey Butter. Delicious.

6. Made THIS pasta dish. Basically like carbonara, but instead of putting the egg with the cream sauce, you fry it and stick it up top. It was pretty much delicious.

7. Made THIS egg in a bell pepper slice. I made it for Mr. Webb for breakfast, and he rather enjoyed it. I didn't flip my egg though. I just cooked it a low heat for a long time.

8. Reorganized my cupcake wrappers. Luckily, I already had a container that worked wonderfully! Here are my before and after pictures of my cupcake supplies. See how much my container was overflowing before?

9. Made this paper star. I can't decide if I like it or not.

10. Used a weekly meal planner, and planned about a month's worth of meals.

So, in a nutshell, you should go join Pinterest. Because it rocks. :)

3 months old

2011-08-13T09:26:00.000-06:00

One picture and 2 movies for you to see. I was trying to get her to smile for her pictures, so of course she decided to talk the whole time. But, at least I got some videos of her talking, finally!

baby talk

2011-08-08T17:48:00.000-06:00

Things Baby learned to do this past week:

Talk in "sentences." I can't seem to get a good video of this, because whenever I bring out the camera, she just stares at it. Even if I try to hide it. She always finds it. But she says "ohhhh" over and over and over and over. She said it to Daddy for about 15 minutes straight the other day.
Reach for things and almost grab them.
Stuff her entire fist in her mouth.
Roll onto her side (about last Wednesday).
Roll from her back to her tummy (just last night and this morning).

She's growing up way to fast.

And right now, she's carrying on quite the conversation with our ceiling fan.

need a new use for your muffin tin?

2011-08-02T22:03:00.001-06:00

So, a few days ago I was just browsing around on the internet. I don't remember where I saw this idea, but hopefully I can find it again so I can give credit. But basically, it was called the muffin tin diet. Either at night before bed or right in the morning, fill each cup of a muffin tin with some healthy snacks (ex: carrot sticks in one cup, handful of nuts in another, a cup of yogurt in the next, etc). Then, every two hours you eat one of the snacks. Oh, and you probably only need to fill up 6 or 7. I guess you could fill all 12 and then you'd be all set for two days! Hey, look at that planning! :)

BUT...why put all your snacks in a muffin tin, you ask? That way, when you're ready for a snack, you have a healthy snack all ready to go, and you don't wander about your kitchen looking for something. Because I know that when I search my kitchen, I always end up with a cookie, some ice cream, or something else not good for me.

I've also seen a lot of websites, like this one, that use muffin tins to make meals more fun for their little ones.

Anyway, I'm going to try this out for a bit and see if it helps me eat a little better. Wish me luck!

kiva

2011-08-01T14:57:00.000-06:00

My sister told me about Kiva awhile ago. She said that instead of buying shoes for her birthday, she gave someone a loan. The cool thing is, these people work off that loan and you get the money back. Then you can turn around and lend it to someone else. And it literally changes their lives.

Some people need help starting up a fruit and vegetable stand. Some people need money to build a bigger working space. Some people use the money to get educated. Whatever it is, it really does change their lives. I'm sure they explain it better on their website, so you can read about it there if you have more questions.

Right now Kiva is letting you lend someone in need $25. And you don't have to pay a cent. How cool is that? My sister sent me the link, and I was able to sign up and lend $25. I've wanted to do this for awhile, and I've been waiting until we have room in our budget to do so. But I just got to do it for free!

So follow this link and give a free loan. It's worth it

I can't think of good titles for my blog posts anymore...

2011-07-30T21:39:00.001-06:00

So...I'm basically in love with my baby. She is so cute, and she is learning so fast. She makes so many cute noises. Here are some things I love about her...

Even though I've been having a lot of trouble getting her to fall asleep at night, once she IS asleep, she stays asleep until at least 5 AM, sometimes 8 AM.
Once she does wake up in the morning, very often she will just lay in her crib, happy as can be, talking to herself and bouncing her legs up and down.
She has the biggest and most precious smile. It melts my heart.
She has the saddest sad face ever. Seriously. It makes me feel so bad for her. Best pouty lips I've ever seen.
Just tonight, she figured out that when she flails her arms and legs in the bath, it makes fun noises. So she'd splash, but then it would startle her, so she'd make a funny face after. Then she'd build up her smile and do it all over again.

So, yes. I'm bragging about how ridiculously cute my girl is. Deal with it. :)

And, just as a random thought...

I was driving home from a baby shower today, and I heard a song on the radio. I had heard the band sing this song live on tv a week ago, and if I didn't know it was the same band, I would have thought it was a cover of the song. Their voices had been changed so much.

Sometimes I wonder if artists recognize their own songs on the radio...

And last but not least, some videos. You don't have to watch these, obviously. They're probably pretty boring, and they're mostly for my out of town sisters!

Video #1 is Emma in the bath tonight. Right around 12 seconds is my favorite part - where she splashes and scares herself.

Video #2 is Emma making some cute noises.

Video #3 is Emma rocking on her belly (just the very beginning).

before the baby...

2011-07-16T22:15:00.000-06:00

Before the baby:

I thought I could take a fast shower...and that I would get a shower every day after the baby arrived.
I thought my house was messy.
I thought I never saw my friends.
I thought swaddling would solve all of my baby crying troubles (my baby hates swaddling).
I thought baby swings and seats would help me with my housework (which, to be fair, they did until physical therapy).
I thought that if my baby learned to sleep well at night, she wouldn't ever have trouble after that unless she was sick or something.
I thought we would have more visitors - I am both grateful and sad that we didn't have more, if you know what I mean...

And now for some positives, just so you know that I love my baby! I didn't mean for this to sound so complain-y.

I thought that I would be more naive about babies. I'm not trying to make myself sound like a genius or anything (I still call my mom a lot and look up things online), but I really thought that I wouldn't be as prepared as I turned out to be.
I thought I knew what love was (awww... :D)

And now for some pictures. These are all during her 2nd month:

baby blessing

2011-07-05T20:50:00.000-06:00

We had a beautiful baby blessing on Sunday. My brother told us that baby smiled through her entire blessing. What a good girl. :)

Here is baby in her blessing dress, and following (on a pink blanket) is me in the same dress.

baby pictures and a cake

2011-07-04T09:44:00.000-06:00

Here is my baby at 6 weeks old!

She helped her uncle play Chronology...

And hung out with her Aunt

And now she is 7 weeks old! And soooo happy!

She is so beautiful!

And she's getting really good at tummy time.

In other news, I made this cake, which I think looks like it should start talking and be on Sesame Street...

5 weeks

2011-06-17T17:24:00.000-06:00

Here is my baby at 5 weeks old.

The physical therapist said everything is going fine, and gave us 2 new stretches to do.

And...here is a letter from one of my students I worked with at school. It made me laugh very hard! :)

(click to enlarge)

congenital muscular torticollis

2011-06-13T14:49:00.000-06:00

Well...my baby is a month old. She's started smiling (mostly at Mr. Webb, but I get a few now and then). She loves cuddling with mommy (and daddy sometimes). She makes the funniest face when she takes her Vitamin D drops.

And she's going to physical therapy.

I didn't even know you could go to physical therapy when you are that tiny! But you can. And she does.

She has Congenital Muscular Torticollis, which basically means the muscles on one side of her neck aren't developing. She keeps her head to the same side all the time, because it is uncomfortable for her to put it on the other side.

This means that the right side of her face is getting squished out further than the left side. It means that if we don't fix the problem, it will get worse, and her head will become even more deformed. She'll have to wear a shaping helmet to fix the problem.

So I get to do neck stretches with her at home, three times a day. It is the saddest thing I've ever had to do - sit there and force my baby to stretch her neck while she screams and cries in protest.

But we've already seen major improvement! She'll turn her head the other way now. She keeps her head the right way when we put her in her crib for bed.

But it's been like learning to live with a baby all over again. I had a pretty good schedule down with her. I'd put her in her car seat, her swing, or her baby chair while I got a few things done around the house. No more of that!

The physical therapist gave us some new rules for baby. Car seat in the car only. No swing. No baby chair. She gets to be held, lay on the floor, or lay in her crib. When she's awake, she is either being held, or has tummy time. It's a good thing she doesn't mind tummy time too much. When she's being held, her head has to be turned the right way. If she's on the floor, her head has to be turned the right way.

And my baby is no dummy. She does everything she can to cheat her way into looking the other direction. She is making great improvements, though, and we'll go back to the physical therapist in a few days and see if he sees as much improvement as we have.

Until then - I just hope she knows I love her!

baby stats

2011-06-08T17:13:00.000-06:00

Birth:
Weight - 7 lbs 13 oz
Length - 19 in

2 weeks:
Weight - 7 lbs 15 oz
Length - 20 in

1 month:
Weight - 8 lbs 12 oz
Length - 21 in

3 weeks

2011-06-03T09:23:00.000-06:00

My baby is 3 weeks old. Look how cute she is!

Also, she got to meet her other 2 cousins, finally! I love the picture of my sister helping my nephew hold my baby. :)

meet the family

2011-05-26T17:33:00.000-06:00

Baby has met most of her family. We didn't get pictures of her with everyone, although I know there will be plenty of time to do that. Here are a few pictures...

with grandma webb

with auntie kris

with grandma b

with aunt julia

with grandad

with uncle d

with grandpa webb

with molly :)

with the webb cousins and uncle matt

with issac

with aunt camie

with bradley

with eli - i love his face :)

who does baby look like?

2011-05-16T09:52:00.000-06:00

Baby Mommy

Baby Webb

Baby Daddy

welcome sweet baby

2011-05-13T11:20:00.000-06:00

Sweet baby girl Webb was born Wednesday night at 9:34 PM. She weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces (although this morning she was down to 7 lbs 9 oz), and she was 19 inches long. She has lots of beautiful hair. She is the sweetest baby! She has let me get a lot of sleep during her first two nights in the world. It took her awhile to figure out how to nurse, but she's doing really well now. We will be heading home later this afternoon! I'm excited to see how our cat, Molly, will react to baby. Enjoy some pictures!

one week

2011-04-28T12:22:00.000-06:00

Less than one week, actually, until the due date. I know this doesn't mean she'll be here by then, but it's the only date we have to go off of!

Mr. Webb is taking his last final right now! So she's good to come tonight if she wanted to...

...yeah, right. :)

And it's my happy birthday day! So I'm one year older and wiser, too! Happy birthday to me!

I probably won't post again until after baby is here. But then I'll probably have lots of cute pictures for you to look at! Hooray!

one week later...

2011-04-10T20:23:00.000-06:00

I can't get enough peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Mr. Webb even cuts the sandwich in triangles like I love when he makes them for me. Hehe.

I'm really loving orange creamsicles as well.

I've gone from slip on shoes to flip-flops. The tiny bit of swelling in my feet makes it super uncomfortable to wear anything else. So yes, even though the weather has been crazy the last few days, I've worn flip-flops. In the snow. I don't care!

Baby's room is basically done! We just have 4 small pictures to hang up, and we need to fill out her wardrobe. But if she unexpectedly came tomorrow, I'd feel pretty good about it! We are probably as prepared as we're going to be.

I think I have "pre-nesting." Is that real? I look around and see everything that needs to be done, and then I think to myself..."I'll do it later." It really bugs me that it needs done, but I feel to tired and/or sore to actually get it done. Hopefully some real hard core nesting instincts kick in this week since it is spring break for me!

pregnancy update

2011-04-02T07:13:00.000-06:00

I'm now 35.5 weeks pregnant. I went to the doctor earlier this week, and everything looked good. Baby was (finally) head down! So here are some things that I've never documented, but want to have down somewhere.

Cravings:
1. Oranges for the first 7 months - I just always bought a big bag of them when I went grocery shopping

2. Apples for the month 8 - I've stocked up on these while grocery shopping, too

3. Progresso tomato basil soup (first 3 months)

4. Orange chicken (only once)

5. Cheetos (only once)

I'm sure Mr. Webb could tell you many more, as he's been the kind hearted one who goes to pick them up for me most of the time.

Other things:
1. In the last month or so, I've started squatting down to pick things up, or sitting on the floor before I remember that...I can't get back up by myself anymore. So, if Mr. Webb is home, I say "Emergency, emergency!" And he knows that he has to come pull me up. :)

2. Baby gets the hiccups at least once a day. At least. I thought it was cute the first few times. Now it's just more uncomfortable.

3. I now wear slip on shoes almost every day. It takes too long to put on shoes that need tied.

4. I have to tell all the kids at school not to touch my tummy.

5. Mr. Webb can't wait for baby to come. If you want to know how long I have left until my due date, ask him. Not me. It takes me a few minutes to figure it out, and he ALWAYS knows. :)

momentary relief

2011-03-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Momentary relief for my desert-like throat.

Thank you, Kool-Aid. Thank you freezer. Thank you husband for bringing me an ice cube-sized popsicle every five seconds.

what i've made lately

2011-03-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

I swear I've made cupcakes or cookies or something every weekend lately. Here are some of the things I've made:

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies - Mr. Webb and I both LOVED these cookies! They were so delicious!

Snickerdoodle Cookies - Neither of us liked these. They were very dry, and not sweet enough for our liking. We'll not be using this recipe again.
Strawberry Stuffed French Toast - We were going to make this the Saturday before Valentine's Day, but we ended up car shopping the whole day. We did make it the next Saturday, and not only was it much easier than I anticipated, but it was delicious! We made more the next morning for breakfast!
Chocolate Chip Cookies - I got this recipe from the Webb family cookie cook book. We took 10 cookies to Mr. Webb's family. The 4 of them still living there ate all 10 cookies that night. We brought the rest to Sunday lunch the next day, and only two were left. This recipe went over so well! Here's the recipe!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz package chocolate chips

Cream together sugars and butter. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients, then add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake for 11 minutes at 350 degrees.

valentine cupcakes 2

2011-02-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had my second ever cupcake job. My visiting teaching partner hired me to make her daughter's birthday cake and cupcakes. I was a little bit nervous, because I'm not really a cake person, but I think both the cake and the cupcakes turned out way better than I could have hoped for! They were beautiful and delicious! My mom saved me with her heart shaped cake pan, and the cake was very cooperative and came out of the pan perfectly! Here are a whole bunch of pictures! I took a lot, because they looked so good. :)

valentine cupcakes

2011-02-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I was making these cupcakes, having a grand time, while Mr. Webb was getting his car totaled.

Luckily it wasn't his fault, and he was fine. But now we're looking for a car again. I loved that car. It was ours. We owned it. No more payments. But I'm also excited to get a new car!

Pictures for your viewing pleasure (I made the cupcake stands!):

butterbeer cupcakes

2011-02-07T18:09:00.002-07:00

I made the Harry Potter inspired butterbeer cupcakes, using this recipe. They were very pretty and very, very delicious!

cake batter bark

2011-01-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

So, even though this was delicious, I was disappointed because it did not taste like cake batter at all. I even put in twice as much cake mix as the recipe told me to. But it just tasted like milk and white chocolate with sprinkles. It is really pretty, though!

subway art

2011-01-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

I've come across this blog which I adore.
It's called Craftily Ever After.
And it is so fun.

Often, there will be a free Holiday print out that I've started to love. I keep a picture frame in my living room to fill with the most recent installment of someone else's creativity.

Here is the Valentine's Day version, which I am anxious to put up!

your laugh for the day

2011-01-18T08:00:00.001-07:00

music

2011-01-15T08:00:00.010-07:00

Without music life would be a mistake. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music. ~Gustav Mahler

Music is the universal language of mankind. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Here is one of my favorite songs, Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate. My favorite part of the song starts at 5:25.

garden plans

2011-01-13T08:00:00.017-07:00

Mr. Webb and I have planted a garden for the past two years, and have loved it both years. We've had successes, and we've had disasters. But we are planning on a garden again this year, and I've been a little excited about planning what I want to try this year.

This year, we're going to grow a few things we grew last year. Like cherry tomatoes, large tomatoes, green peppers, anaheim chiles, jalapenos, and peas.

We're also going to try a few new things. Maybe some carrots (tried last year and failed), some green onions, a lemon cucumber (tried two years in a row and failed), basil, spaghetti squash, and garlic.

Mr. Webb also spent some time this past fall digging up our flower patch and burying more tulip bulbs than you'd imagine. So hopefully in a few months, we'll have tulips out our ears! I can wait to see the gorgeous flowers and eat my yummy produce!

my to do list

2011-01-11T08:00:00.001-07:00

Every year in January, I get inspired to set goals and try being a better person all over again. Usually I don't last long on my keeping my goals, but I always try. I try at other times during the year, too, but obviously January inspires me more than most other months.

Although the new year has only been around for 10 days, I've already been doing pretty well with my goals this year! I made dinner every day last week, and Mr. Webb and I have only missed one night of scripture reading so far!

One of my bigger goals was to trying new things. Whether it be recipes, crafts, or games, I just want to be more open to trying things.

Mrs. Mordecai over at Be It Ever So Humble wrote a post yesterday about creating things, and made a list of things she has already created this year. So I thought that since I'd been looking around for new things to do, I'd make a list of things I want to create. Here are a few of the things I want to try out this year:

Sew a Purse - I bought the pattern and fabric last year when I purchased the fabric for this no-sew purse, but I haven't made it yet. My mom said she'd help me out, so hopefully in a week or two it will be done.
Cake Batter Bark - I love cake, but cake batter is super delicious, and something I've missed immensely since I've been pregnant. So this recipe is definitely something I'll be trying soon!
Cupcake Stands - I shouldn't have to tell you about my cupcake obsession. I love them. The end. But if I can make four or five of these cute stands, then the pictures of my cupcakes might look more professional. Maybe.
Greeting Cards - Making cards is something I've done for quite awhile. I've always loved to make them. Birthday cards, usually. But last year I don't think I sent out more than 2 cards. So this year I'm hoping to get back into the groove of making and mailing everyone birthday cards. Let me know if you want one. :)
My Own Recipe - I like to cook, but I am a strict recipe follower. Except with chicken. If it's chicken, I just through some seasonings in a bag, shake and coat the chicken, and plop it in the oven. But I want to make up at least 2 of my own recipes this year. We'll see how that goes.
Butterbeer Cupcakes - As an avid Harry Potter fan, I don't feel the need to explain why I want to make these.

I'm sure I'll add more to the list as the year progresses, but for now, I think that's a good start!

chocolate cupcakes with caramel glaze

2011-01-08T08:00:00.006-07:00

I haven't made cupcakes in quite awhile, so when my coworker reminded me that it was my boss's birthday, I was very excited to make cupcakes! She wanted either chocolate or lemon cupcakes, and since I already had the ingredients for chocolate, I went with that. I looked up a caramel frosting, but it turned out really runny. So I just decided to use it as a glaze! And it was deeeeeelicious!

pregnancy ups and downs

2011-01-06T08:00:00.038-07:00

A few people have asked me if I'm going to write a post about how my pregnancy has been going, so this is me writing a post about how my pregnancy has been going.

baby's face

baby's feet - my favorite part of the ultrasound

baby's bum and legs - it's a girl!

I'm almost 2/3 done with my pregnancy! Yesterday I hit my 23 week mark. So basically...I haven't really recorded my experiences anywhere. No journaling or anything. I'm so bad! But I'll put a few things down here for now.

My first 3 months were better than most people get to experience. I only had morning sickness for a few days. It didn't last long, because I figured out very quickly that I only got sick when I didn't eat. So really, I never actually threw up! Just a few dry heaves. Gross. That was too much information. Sorry. So, other than that, it was pretty awesome.

Pregnancy Downers:

head and back aches
being hungry ALL the time
the awkwardness of clothes being either too big or too small, but never actually fitting
never being able to get enough sleep to feel not sleepy when I wake up
not getting to eat cookie dough or cake batter or runny eggs

Pregnancy Ups:

being able to eat food ALL the time and not feel guilty
not being too sick like most people have to be when they're pregnant
craving healthy foods instead of junky foods
having a baby inside of me. that moves around
almost getting back to my pre-marriage weight in my first trimester

the christmas season

2011-01-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

Firstly, and most important, we found out on Dec. 15th that we're having a baby girl! If you didn't know we were having a baby...well...now you do! She'll be arriving sometime around May 4th. Meet our little baby!

A little bit before Christmas, we got a LOT of snow. Sure, it almost completely melted the next day, but it was so fun! Plus, we have an amazing family who helped us shovel out.

We had a great Christmas! Our cat, Molly, had lots of fun with the wrapping paper! Mr. Webb and I woke up early to do our own Christmas, then we drove over to his family's house and had Christmas breakfast and gifts with them. When we were done there, we went to my family's house, had a second breakfast, and opened gifts with them.

I'll try to be better at blogging, but I make no promises!

that time between thanksgiving and christmas

2010-11-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

My life has been uneventful lately...but I will post an update soon. For now, some random pictures:

I want more of this...

and I love this!

i love free stuff!

2010-11-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

I just got back from grocery shopping, where I was able to get:

1 gallon of milk
1 bag of tangerines
1 big bag of cereal
bacon
orange juice
1 dozen eggs
english muffins

for...

UNDER $4!

Thank you, coupons for free stuff! :D

a smile

2010-11-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

A smile is like the sunshine;
It brightens up the day.
It gives the eye a twinkle
And chases frowns away.
-Children's Songbook #267

oh, look! i found some pictures!

2010-10-18T17:12:00.000-06:00

Awhile ago, Mr. Webb and I went on a $60 date for...oh...about $26 dollars.

Yes.

It was basically amazing!

Here are some pictures of our bowling skills. :)

dinner from a garden, a bag, a can, and a lime

2010-10-05T16:44:00.000-06:00

I haven't been very good at making dinner lately. I did superbly at the beginning of the school year, and made it just about every day. But the past few weeks I've slacked off. About week or two ago I did make something delicious! And I pretty much made it up by myself.

One of the regular meals at our house is pasta with cherry tomatoes that have been roasted with olive oil and herbs in a frying pan until they split. Simple. Easy. Just the way I like it.

But it was sounding a little boring while I was making it...

So I simply popped open a can of black beans and mixed them in with the tomatoes. Then I squeezed the juice of one lime (could have used two) over the tomatoes and beans, and let them heat through. Instead of Italian seasoning with the tomatoes, I used garlic salt, and some salt and pepper.

Then you just mix that in with just under a pound of pasta (maybe 3/4 pound or so), and voila! You've got a simple meal that we thought was pretty dang good! :)

blah

2010-09-23T18:19:00.001-06:00

blah blah blah blah.

blah blah.

blah blah blah.

That's me right now.

blah.

Tomorrow should be better, right? :)

but i can't wait until i'm 8!

2010-09-13T16:26:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month, we were able to see our oldest nephew (on Mr. Webb's side of the family) get baptized! He was so excited, even though he left directly after to go to the doctor with a terrible ear infection. He kept telling everyone that Satan was just trying to stop him from getting baptized, and he wasn't going to let that happen!

Following are pictures of (1) the Webb family, (2) the baptized boy's family, (3) Mr. Webb and I with the cute boy!

peanut butter hi-hat cupcakes

2010-09-12T11:20:00.000-06:00

My sister sent me this recipe from Baked Bree, and I knew I had to try it out! I made them a week or two ago, took them to Sunday dinner at the Webb home, and they were a HUGE hit! They don't look super impressive, but they taste delicious! My frosting was a little bit too thin (which was my fault, because I was too lazy to add more powdered sugar and thicken it), but after it sat in the fridge for a few minutes, it was hard enough to dip in the chocolate.

friendly fun!

2010-09-03T19:23:00.001-06:00

So earlier this month, one of my friends from high school came for a visit. So we made this into an excuse for a get together! We had yummy food, and one of my friends brought a slack line, so everyone had fun trying to figure that out!

update

2010-09-03T16:59:00.001-06:00

Onions and I are still not on speaking terms...

epistle to an onion

2010-08-31T20:30:00.001-06:00

Dear Onion,

I know that I like to cut you up into little diced pieces, saute you, mix you into my pasta, and then proceed to eat you...but why, oh why must you be so cruel?

I do not enjoy the tears that stream down my face as I slide my knife through your many layers.

Do you not understand that this is the purpose for which you were made?

Hoping to be your friend,

Mrs. Webb

my favorite recipes

2010-08-28T14:22:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been trying to use up my cake mixes that I have in my food storage, but I do have a few cake recipes that I love.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake - This cake is delicious! I fill it with vanilla frosting and it tastes like a high class hostess cupcake.

Brown Butter Cupcakes - This is one of my all time favorite recipes! I found this recipe when I was looking for a good cookie dough cupcake. I followed their recipe, but I did not put cookie dough filling in the middle of the cupcake. I also tried their cookie dough frosting, and even though mine didn't turn out like theirs, it was still delicious!

Frosting Recipes

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 to 6 tablespoons milk

Cream butter until light. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Add milk. If your frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's to thick, add more milk.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Follow the above recipe, but instead of using 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, use 4 cups of powdered sugar and 1/2 cup baking cocoa. You may also need a bit more milk.

I'll try to remember to keep linking to or posting new recipes as I try them out.

frosting tips - part one

2010-08-26T16:23:00.000-06:00

I decided to start my frosting tips with 2 easy techniques. The first is the swirl, the second is the rose.

For both techniques I use a 1M tip. It looks like this:

You can also use any tip with a large opening. I've also done this with just cutting off the end of a pastry bag, and not using any tip.

For the swirl, hold the decorating bag/tube at a 90 degree angle to the cupcake like this:

Then pipe around the edge of the cupcake, working your way into the center. Once at the center, stop your pressure on the frosting, then pull the decorating device straight up. Your first layer will look like this cupcake on the right:

For the second layer, do the exact same thing, but start further in from the edge. It will look like this when you are done :

Congratulations! You've just created the swirl! It's just that easy!

The rose is equally as simple. It is one layer, and instead of working from the outside in like the swirl, you start in the center and work your way out to the edge. Ta-da! You've just created this:

first cupcake job

2010-08-25T15:28:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I completed my first paid cupcake job. I made a dozen cupcakes for a bridal shower my friend was throwing for her former roommate. She specifically asked me to make my chocolate cupcakes that I'd posted on here before, but this batch turned out way better than either time I had made them before. Take a look for yourself!

better cupcake pictures

2010-08-24T18:04:00.000-06:00

Here are the pictures of my nephew's 8th birthday cupcakes that I took on my camera. They don't have the skittles on top, because I put those on at the last minute.

release

2010-08-23T17:18:00.001-06:00

It was probably December or January when I discovered The Hunger Games. I borrowed it from my family. I had heard about the book before, but it sounded like a bizarre plot to me. However, it was Christmas break and I needed a good book to read. So I began reading the Hunger Games.

And I did not stop until I was finished with the book.

Then I was thrilled to find out that my family also had the second book, Catching Fire. So the day after reading Hunger Games, I switched it out for Catching Fire. I began reading this second book in the series.

And I did not stop reading until I was finished.

Okay, that was kind of a lie. I was back at work the day I started Catching Fire (which would make it January...), so every single break I had (3 minutes or 30), and all during my lunch hour, I was reading Catching Fire.

As soon as I was done, I went online to amazon.com to pre-order Mockingjay, the final installment of the Hunger Games.

This book will be arriving at my house tomorrow, and you'd better believe that as soon as I get home from work, I will be reading that book.

Last week I went to Border's and, in all my nerdiness, I purchased a Mockingjay keychain (they are the only place that has them, fyi).

I am ridiculously excited for it's release, and I'm glad I'm not getting it at midnight tonight, or I might be sorely tempted not to go into work for the two or three hours I'll be calling to set up appointments for preschoolers' parents. I might also be sorely tempted not to make my dozen cupcakes that I'm getting paid for. And I might be extremely tempted not to get any housework done, which I need to do before Wednesday comes and I'm back to work full time.

If you haven't read the Hunger Games, do it! I've not met one person who has read them and not liked them. But I'll be really sad if you take my advice and read them, only to find that you hate them...

8 year old birthday cupcakes

2010-08-19T16:20:00.000-06:00

So, this picture isn't really that good (Mr. Webb took it on his brand new iPhone 4), but I'm not going to upload the better ones yet. I'll post them later.

I made these cupcakes for my nephew's 8th birthday. They're white cupcakes, filled with cinnamon cream cheese filling, and topped with buttercream, sprinkles, and a fizzle skittle. They were quite delicious, if I do say so myself. :)

In other news, I got my first paid cupcake gig. I know, it's not technically a gig, but that's what I'm calling it. Thanks to my awesome friend who made this happen!

And another friend (the sister of the first friend, coincidentally) asked me to give some decorating tips on my blog, so hopefully I can get to that soon!

free books!

2010-08-07T20:02:00.000-06:00

I just read a message from a friend, and thought I share this info with all of you.

If you have an iTunes account, you now have access to many, many books read aloud. If you go to the iTunes store, one of the tabs at the top says iTunes U (this stands for University). Then type in lit2go, and voila! A great list of books to listen to!

I love read aloud books, although I usually like to listen to books I've already read so that I know what's going on if I stop paying attention for awhile. However, I am downloading The Scarlet Letter from iTunesU, because I've wanted to read it for awhile. So now, I'm going to "read" it.

They also have nursery rhymes, fairy tales, poems, and other fun things to explore!

I'm excited to get started!

michigan - day eight

2010-08-04T17:27:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday we headed home. On the way down to Detroit, we stopped at Hartwick Pines State Park. It was the only thing we did that day, other than drive and fly, but it was awesome! It was so beautiful.

And here are the pictures:

michigan - day seven

2010-08-03T08:26:00.003-06:00

Tuesday was our last day before leaving for home, so we (me, Mr. Webb, my sister and her husband) headed up to Mackinac Island. I don't remember anything about visiting the island when I was little, but I do remember I loved it.

The island is very small - something like 8.5 miles around the whole thing - so there are no cars allowed. People either walk, bike, or take a carriage. The only way to access the island is by ferry (unless you're made of money and want to fly into their private airport). So we took a ferry over to the island and started our day.

First we went to the visitor's center and got some tickets to go see Fort Mackinac. While we were in the visitor's center, I was very tempted to buy this shirt, but I didn't.

So we went up to the fort and explored it for a few hours. We watched a reenactment of a court martial, we saw the barracks, and we took some goofy pictures.

After the fort, we went and got oven baked subs for lunch, and they were delicious! Then we walked up and down the street and checked out the shops until it was time for our carriage tour.

The carriage tour was awesome. The first half was in a cute red carriage, and we were taken past the shops, the stables, the grand hotel, and all the stuff at the main part of the island. Then we were let off the carriage, at which point we were able to go to a butterfly house. It was the coolest experience ever! I was able to take a bunch of awesome pictures, which wasn't too hard when the subjects were very cooperative! :) But it was fun to walk through the butterflies and have one just land on you.

The second half of the carriage ride was fabulous as well. The guide was very punny. My sister liked him, but I think he was slightly over the top. We got to stop and see Arch Rock, we saw the main cemetery as well as the military cemetery.

When the ride ended, Mr. Webb and I hoped over to Murdick's - the original fudge shop on the island - to get some fudge to take home to the Webb family. It was hard to choose a fudge shop, since just about every other shop on the island was a fudge & candy shop.

The we took the ferry back to the mainland, drove home, and had hamburgers and corn on the cob for dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Tomorrow, the end! Day eight!

michigan - day six

2010-08-01T10:56:00.004-06:00

Warning: This post will have a lot of pictures, and probably not too much writing (which is just how I like it).

Monday morning we drove around to look at some cool houses, and then we stopped at Thorne Swift. Thorne Swift is a nature preserve, and we were especially lucky to visit the morning after it rained. There were so many cool kinds of mushrooms that had popped up, just for our viewing pleasure.

After eating lunch, we headed back to my aunt and uncle's place in Petoskey, but not for long! My uncle took me, Mr. Webb, my sister and her husband to Charlevoix where we were able to go sailing! It was a lot of fun. The only problem I had was that, due to having to take Dramamine to avoid getting sick, I actually slept for a long time on the sail boat.

After sailing we walked down by the main street shops in Charlevoix, which were a lot like the shops in Petoskey. Then we met my mom and my aunt at the Weathervane for dinner.

After dinner, we walked around Charlevoix to look at some adorable "Mushroom" houses, a.k.a. Hobbit houses. You can read about the architect and see his houses here. I will also post the pictures I took, of course! :) He also designed the restaurant we ate at.

Tomorrow, day seven.

michigan - days three, four and five

2010-07-31T12:38:00.005-06:00

On Friday it was rainy, rainy, rainy! Since we couldn't do much, we headed to the local grocery store to get a few things. For me, it was cupcake supplies for the next day. After we dropped our stuff off at Grandma and Grandpa's, we headed to the Petoskey movie theater to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It was a pretty good movie, and delicious popcorn! :) After the movie, we went to lunch, and then ate some amazing gelato for dessert. I had burnt caramel and chocolate flavored gelato. The burnt caramel was incredible!

my sister, brother-in-law, and samson the cat

mr. webb and the youngest cousin

We spent the evening with a pre-family reunion. A few people came to talk. Mr. Webb, my sister, my brother-in-law and I played frisbee for awhile, until we got to sticky and sweaty to go on. That humidity is crazy! Mr. Webb and my brother-in-law also had fun climbing the tree.

Saturday was family reunion day. I spent the morning baking and decorating around 70 cupcakes. That's the most cupcakes I've made at one time, so it was a bit intimidating, but turned out just fine. Unfortunately, after the first round of cupcakes, the ants decided they deserved the rest. So a good amount of the cupcakes got thrown in the garbage. :(

The family reunion was good. It was fun to catch up with family that I haven't seen for seven years! I especially loved playing ladder golf, although I was always on the losing team. What does that say about me...I wonder.

mr. webb, me, my mom, my sister, my brother-in-law

my grandma and her big sister

On Sunday we went to church with my grandparents, then came home and relaxed for the day. I love just sitting on the deck and looking at the beautiful flowers and garden in the yard.

Tomorrow, day six.

michigan - days one(ish) and two

2010-07-30T10:40:00.004-06:00

Mr. Webb and I were able to go to Michigan for a week to visit my family. We flew out with my mom, my sister, and my brother-in-law last Wednesday. It was a long travel day. We flew into the Detroit airport (only one layover), and then drove about four and a half hours north to my Grandma and Grandpa's house.

giant basil from grandpa's garden

On Thursday, the fun began! We spent the day with my Aunt, Uncle, and two little cousins in Petoskey. We walked up and down the streets, stopping wherever we wanted to shop. My favorite shop was American Spoon Foods. They had delicious jams, spoon fruits, and salsas. I knew they were delicious, because you could sample just about anything! Mmmm, good! We left the store with the yummiest blackberry spoon fruit, mango habanero salsa, and cherry peach salsa.

My adorable cousin playing "barbles" with Mr. Webb and my brother-in-law.

We ate lunch at a darling little place called Roast and Toast. While we were eating our delectable sandwiches, wraps, and soups, the LDS missionaries came in, but they left before ordering, so we didn't get a chance to talk to them.

After lunch and a bit more shopping, we walked down to Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful view.

After a wonderful day of walking around Petoskey, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.

Tomorrow, Days 3 and 4.

july birthday cupcakes

2010-07-20T19:48:00.000-06:00

I made these for my father-in-law and brother-in-law's birthdays. We celebrated the birthdays on Sunday night, and I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, white chocolate shavings, and a yummy addition!

My cupcakes turned out absolutely perfect...

Here's the final result:

Last week, I also got a new camera! It's a Sony TX7 Cybershot. And it takes cool pictures like this:

And I made this super awesome no-sew purse, minus the pink flower. But, by a pure coincidence, I did happen to use the exact same cloth! Funny how that happened!

words of wisdom from winnie the pooh

2010-07-09T20:36:00.002-06:00

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully, "it's the same thing" he said.

give away

2010-07-08T09:31:00.000-06:00

Check out this SWEET give away!

patriotic cupcakes parts 2 and 3

2010-07-07T09:33:00.000-06:00

I got a call Saturday night. 3 dozen cupcakes to decorate? Why yes, thank you! Picked them up on Sunday. First batch was for the 4th of July celebration at the Webb's home. They were basically the same as the first, just different colors:

I made a second batch on Monday for my family's celebration. Instead of regular cupcakes, though, I decided to make Bakerella's cake pops. I made mine star-shaped, and they turned out pretty good, although not as perfect as Bakerella's do... :)

patriotic cupcakes

2010-06-25T14:24:00.000-06:00

I finally got to try out my edible glitter! I just finished making a batch of cupcakes, and they turned out even better than I anticipated! I'm so pleased with how these cupcakes ended up!

First I started off by melting down some white chocolate candy melts, and transforming them into the following:

Then I proceeded to turn these:

And this:

Into these:

Finally, I topped them with the white chocolate stars, and here is the end product:

burnt butter cupcakes

2010-06-24T20:16:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I made the yummiest burnt butter cupcakes. I did follow the recipe for the frosting as well, but it did not turn out like it should have. The problem was in the safe-to-eat cookie dough, not the heavy cream. :)

The other problem I had with the recipe was this...despite their amazing instructions on actually burning the butter, mine never solidified like it was supposed to. But I used it anyway, and the cupcakes turned out just fine.

Despite the difference of looks in the frosting, the cupcakes still turned out delicious! Instead of putting chocolate chips in the cupcake batter or the frosting, I simply put some mini-cupcakes on top of the cupcakes. I also didn't put cookie dough in the middle of the cupcakes. Just kept them as is.

This may be my new favorite flavor of cupcake. So yummy!

my latest

2010-06-17T20:01:00.000-06:00

Here is my latest Peter Pan item which I am coveting...

Too bad it's crazy expensive...I mean...it's a clock. Seriously. An extremely cute clock, yes. But a clock.

fun at the zoo

2010-06-08T21:00:00.001-06:00

Today I went to the zoo with my mom, my dad, my big sister, my little sister, and my niece and nephew. We had a lot of fun, and I took a lot of pictures! Here are some of my favorites (click to enlarge).

my summer so far

2010-06-07T17:32:00.000-06:00

My chives:

Mr. Webb took up the grass along this fence line:

And we've planted a bunch of flowers. We have a lot of different kinds of lilies along the fence, some yellow snapdragons, some pink and magenta dahlias, and (after this picture was taken) we planted coral pink and orange zinnias all along the border, some pink geraniums, and some dianthus plants.

My sister and her two kids are visiting for a few weeks. My niece is extremely adorable.

But my nephew doesn't like being made to have a picture taken with his little sister.

A week ago, we had Mr. Webb's little brother and sister over for Sunday dinner. I made these awesome cupcakes with a decorating tube I got for my birthday. They turned out awesome!

thank you, icy hot!

2010-05-27T21:32:00.000-06:00

The school year is wrapping up, and this end brings...lots of fun activities at work!

Yesterday was the faculty vs 6th grade softball game. I got a lot of bugging from my coworkers about having to play, even though I am really, really bad at sports! So, being the good "sport" (haha, I'm so funny) I am, I played.

The first half was good, because I was in the out-outfield, and didn't really have to do anything.

The second half was okay. I was the last to bat, and when the bat connected with the ball, I wasn't quite sure what to do. But I made it to first! Someone else, who was already on base, got out.

But, as the day wrapped up, I knew something was wrong. I couldn't bend over. I couldn't turn my body sideways.

Yes, although I am only a young 22 years old, I threw out my back. The only thing keeping me alive right now is that glorious IcyHot! Thank you, modern medicine! :)

PS - despite this entire post sounding like a giant complaint, I did actually have a lot of fun!

happy birthaversary!

2010-05-25T15:14:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Mr. Webb and I celebrated his birthday!

It also marked our two year anniversary.

HOLY COW!

hehe - birthday card from my big sis

Has it really been that long? It feels like 2 weeks.

Not really. :)

So I stayed home from work, and we celebrated by going to see Iron Man 2, eating out, and getting frozen yogurt. Oh, we also played Super Mario Brothers Wii.

Since we got married on Mr. Webb's birthday, I like to tease him by telling him "happy birthaversary!"

I love him!

Oh, PS, this is what it looked like yesterday...

new project

2010-05-19T15:32:00.003-06:00

I've seen a few other people do this, and I've always wanted to give it a try, so here it goes.

I've started a new blog, where I'm going to take a picture every day and post it.

threesixtyfivepictures.blogspot.com

Check it out or don't. I'm doing this mostly for myself, so I don't really care. My first two pictures are pretty cool, though. :)

a wedding and a garden

2010-05-17T19:14:00.001-06:00

#1. A Wedding

#2. A Garden (specifically, my garden)

current pet peeves AKA things that make me go "WHAT!?!"

2010-05-12T19:09:00.002-06:00

1. THE DOUBLE DOWN "SANDWICH" FROM KFC

What's wrong with a sandwich, you ask? The fact that it is not actually a sandwich, and is actually this:

source

Are you kidding me?! Apparently, cheese and bacon smushed between two pieces of chicken qualifies as a sandwich. Are you ASKING to die a terrible, artery clogged death? One more thing...can this even taste good? I mean, I like chicken, I like cheese, and I like bacon. But put them together, all three protein, with nothing else? It sounds disgusting to me. I'm just sayin'.

2. HAVING TO READ LANGUAGE ARTS TESTS OUTLOUD

Indeed, end of the year testing is in full swing. For the past few weeks I've been providing accommodations for ELL and Resource students at work. Don't get me wrong, it's not the reading out loud part I have a problem with. In fact, I enjoy it one hundred times more than sitting and listening to a kid read the test to me. The part I hate is when I have to read things like this:

Which is the correct way to write sentence 13?

A. I goed to the store yesterday.

B. I did gone to the store yesterday.

C. I has went to the store yesterday.

D. I went to the store yesterday.

Seriously? It's unethical to read the questions in such a way that the student can tell what the right answer is, but unless they allow us to preview the tests and be prepared, how can I read these and not stumble over the poor grammar? Try it. Try reading this out loud without pausing because it sounds so funny. Yuck.

3. SONG LYRICS

Let me just give you a few examples, and keep in mind it's not necessarily the singer, but the lyrics I can't stand.

Example A comes from the current teenage heartthrob of the moment, Justin Bieber's song Eenie Meenie featuring Sean Kingston. This is, in fact, the opening line of the song.

She's indecisive - she can't decide.

Alright, alright. Maybe America isn't quite as bright as it could be, but seriously? Do you really need to explain indecisive? But wait! It gets better. A few lines later...

You can't make up your mind, mind, mind, mind, mind...

Okay. I didn't know what indecisive meant. I was still a little confused after you told me that she couldn't decide, but now it's all cleared up. Indecisive means that you can't make up your mind. Oh, excuse me. Your mind, mind, mind, mind, mind.

Example B I'll leave to Rob Paravonian to explain (ps if you haven't seen his Pachelbel Rant, check it out - it's hilarious). This comedic singer delves into the "deep" lyrics of the Friends theme song. If you watch this, only watch until about 1:30. The second set of lyrics he analyzes is...well...risqué. I love that word.

Of course there are many more examples. I can hardly even stand to listen to the radio these days. But, dear reader, I've decided to bore you no longer. Especially if you've actually read everything up until this point. That's commitment. :)

Thanks for letting me rant. I'm a ranter. The end.

book review

2010-05-10T14:54:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading the City of Ember series. There are four books in the series:

source

The City of Ember, The People of Sparks

The Prophet of Yonwood, The Diamond of Darkhold

I loved the series. I was only disappointed with the third book (Yonwood).

The first book is about Ember, and underground city built when the world was at the brink of destruction. Their electricity is failing, their food supplies running low, so they have to find a way to get out.

The second book is about what happens after they find their way out of the city, and how they learn to get along (or not get along) with a small village they find.

The third book is actually a prequel to Ember, and takes us back to the time that the world was about to be destroyed.

The fourth book jumps back to the characters from the first two, and concludes the story.

I found it funny that the book I didn't like as much was the one that included different characters and was set in a different time.

I'd recommend the first, second, and fourth books. You'll understand them just fine without the prequel/third book. There are one or two things you'll connect back to the prequel if you've read it, but it would do no harm to just skip over it.

you've had a birthday...

2010-05-03T16:05:00.000-06:00

Yeah, yeah. It was my birthday last week. Yipee! :)

I had a fabulous time. Mr. Webb took me to dinner (even better than normal because I ate FREE for my birthday)! Delicious!

Both my family and my in-laws held Sunday night parties for me, and both were yummy and fun!

And now that I'm one year older, I am infinitely more knowledgeable.

HA!!!

excited!!!

2010-04-28T20:00:00.000-06:00

I am really, truly, gigantically excited! Yesterday we finalized our plans to go to Michigan for a week this summer with my sister, her husband, and my mom. I get to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I don't think I've been back there since elementary or junior high school. My grandparents came out for my wedding two years ago, but I've not seen them since.

cousins in grandma's backyard

Can't wait for july to come!

my favorite recipe

2010-04-23T19:34:00.001-06:00

I love this recipe! It's fast, easy, and delicious! I like to serve it with roasted asparagus, seasoned with lemon pepper and garlic salt.

Lemon Pasta

1 pound of pasta

2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

zest and juice of two lemons

3/4 cup heavy cream

parmesan cheese

Cook pasta.

While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large pan. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, and salt and pepper. Add lemon juice, heavy cream, and a ladle of the pasta water. Bring to a bubble.

When pasta is done, drain and put in serving dish. Pour sauce over pasta and stir to coat completely. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.

source

webbisodes

butterfinger cupcakes

life lately

cinnamon swirl cupcakes

pictures, pictures, pictures

christmas cupcakes - take two

8 months

say bye-bye, binky!

christmas cupcakes - take one

chocolate orange cupcakes

6 month stats and videos

breakthrough!

caramel apple cupcakes

tags

cleaning updates and recipe updates

what am i supposed to tell sunday?

this is not the visitor i wanted to see outside my door...

baby updates!

recent happenings

are you kidding me?

baby laughs

4 month stats

sitting up and helping in the kitchen

my baby is so cute!

today

recently

chocolate cupcakes with chocolate mousse filling

pinterest

3 months old

baby talk

need a new use for your muffin tin?

kiva

I can't think of good titles for my blog posts anymore...

before the baby...

baby blessing

baby pictures and a cake

5 weeks

congenital muscular torticollis

baby stats

3 weeks

meet the family

who does baby look like?

welcome sweet baby

one week

one week later...

pregnancy update

momentary relief

what i've made lately

valentine cupcakes 2

valentine cupcakes

butterbeer cupcakes

cake batter bark

subway art

your laugh for the day

music

garden plans

my to do list

chocolate cupcakes with caramel glaze

pregnancy ups and downs

the christmas season

that time between thanksgiving and christmas

i love free stuff!

a smile

oh, look! i found some pictures!

dinner from a garden, a bag, a can, and a lime

blah

but i can't wait until i'm 8!

peanut butter hi-hat cupcakes

friendly fun!

update

epistle to an onion

my favorite recipes

frosting tips - part one

first cupcake job

better cupcake pictures

release

8 year old birthday cupcakes

free books!

michigan - day eight

michigan - day seven