Birthdays From The Past

Okay, so here's my attempt to reestablish certain posts from the past that have current links to Pinterest. I have copied the text that was written, and I hope that I have the same pictures to go with them. Please bear with me!
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From July 16, 2012 - Shark Party for my 3-year-old!

So this past weekend my baby boy turned three! Since when am I a mom of toddlers? Oh boy!

Well, this time Ryan told me he wanted a shark party, so I said "ok." Sure enough, no one really makes "shark" party items (except Oriental Trading, but what fun is that?) so I had to embark into my creative cabinets. Earlier I posted the invites I made, which I am proud of and everyone loved. I am glad, because most of the time my "creative" ideas turn into sloppy messes with good intentions, bad handwriting and misspelled words (see below). So here are a few ideas that are affordable for everyone to do! Use what you have, make what you don't, buy cheap, little items to help you along the way!


 For the chocolate shells I purchased 2 molds and 4 bags of melting chocolates from Hobby Lobby. Since I can use a 40% off coupon for each individual purchase I paid $1.26 for each mold and $1.96 for each bag of chocolate. So, for $11 all 15 RSVP-ed kids got a "chum bucket" full of chocolate.

The utensil jars are old canning jars I had in my cabinets, ribbon from a previous gift and the dividers are cut up cardboard. Total cost $.97 for the blue set of plastic ware from Wal-Mart.

I made "chum buckets" for the kids to fill when the shark piñata broke open. They loved it and the parents are glad the cups weren't too big! Well, I think anyway.

 Ah yes, the shark cake! I had fun with this one, and I honestly didn't know how it would turn out. I did some cake decorating in 4H when I was 13, and that was all. I earned a blue ribbon for everything I made. So did everyone else! For this I baked two 9x13 pans of chocolate cake. I traced a shark onto wax paper from a book Ryan had, then simply cut along the lines. I used the second cake to make the tail and fins. I used 3 store-bought icings (Pillsbury) to cover the whole thing and to make sure the fins would stay put. This was tricky because it was a warm day, so the cake wanted to come off onto the icing knife. Next time I will freeze the cake first to keep it in place and reduce crumbs in the icing. Although, you'd never be able to tell with the frosting spray paint I got! (Wal-Mart wedding cake aisle, $3 each). I added some blue and silver sprinkles (Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart) and voila! Ryan had his shark cake. A touch of crushed gram crackers and some shells for the final touch.

My husband and I made this sign from a page I saw on Pinterest. Yes, half this party was Pinsperation! And yes, like I said earlier, I can get spelling wrong, even after we thought we had "checked" it. Consession - try concession. Otherwise it was still cute! My hubs is talented when it comes to wood work, so this was all his doing. Cost? $0.














Some of the food we had was a chocolate fountain (a small one we've owned for a few years but never use), cheese, veggies and fruit and pizza. I bought a couple of pizzas a few weeks ago at Costco when they were on sale for $6. If you don't know Costco, then know that each of these pizzas can feed about 8 people each because they're massive!

We also had shark teeth (sliced cheese) and drinks. I made a Lemonade Shark Drink from lemonade and sprite. It was gone before the party was over. Among a few other personal touches, this was a great party and an inexpensive way to do it. We all had fun, the cake was all eaten up and nobody cared if I forgot a detail or misspelled a word. Yay! And on top of it all, Ryan loved every minute because he loves sharks.
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New Website

Okay, so for today I was able to get my new blog for photography up and running. To visit that site for further information, please click here for sweetauguststudios.com

I am still working on this blog and it's current problem. It appears that I may just have to start over with my posts. I apologize for any inconvenience regarding my Pins from Pinterest, or my avid readers!

Technical Difficulties

Sorry if you are having trouble viewing my pages. I recently attempted to switch over my blog to a current email and now I can't see any of the pictures I've uploaded. If this is your same issue, please be patient with me, as I am attempting to correct this ASAP! Thank you! 

Sweet August Studios

So, with many pictures of other people comes the need to protect my work. Can I call it work yet? Well, maybe or maybe not, but either way it is my work. So I knew I needed to create a watermark, which meant that I needed a name. 

Now, I am too stubborn to simply use my name, so after some thought and discussion with my husband I have settled on Sweet August Studios. The meaning of August is as follows: marked by majestic dignity or grandeur (Merriam-Webster). August is also my birth month. It is also summer time. I love summer. I love my birthday. I love the definition. And that is what makes it "sweet."

Thus, Sweet August Studios has been born! The next step is to create another page just for my pictures to keep this blog from getting too cluttered. That is not my plan for today.

Reading Through My House

So throughout the years I have gathered a library full of books that I've always intended to read. Many of which I have, while others collected well-intentioned dust. Most of these books are Christian material of the non-fiction nature, but not all of them. So my new goal as I finish one book, is to start a new book (and finish) that is already owned by myself. Free e-books and publications don't help, but for now I will start with my printed papyrus publications. So here I go - I just finished The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul. A wonderful read, and most convicting. And now I have chosen a book that I started a few years ago but probably only got through the first few pages before something new and shiny came along - An Absolute Sort of Certainty: the Holy Spirit and the Apologetics of Jonathan Edwards by Stephen Nichols. Okay, I may have gotten in over my head. Edwards was a very eloquent and wordy man. Maybe I should've started with Clifford the Big Red Dog. Aside from that, I have felt a current need to know my God more and more, and to KNOW His word more and more. The topic of apologetics has had a recent resurgence in my life, and sometimes I actually can tell when God is dropping hints! As for accountability, I shall keep you updated with my reading status. Yawn, I know, but it's more for me than it is for you.

Has it really been nearly 8 months since my last update? Why yes, yes it has. Oh dear. Life got busy, and I got tired. Excuses, excuses, I know, but it's true! So why now, why today? Well, for one, school is cancelled due to extremely cold weather and unforeseen circumstances. Then you ask, "don't you homeschool?" Why yes, yes I do! Secondly, I have the cutest baby girl that simply needs to be shown off to the world. Then you ask, "don't you have Facebook?" Why yes, yes I do. So here we go:


Anna's 2 Month Old Pictures

 

A shot summer, a few birthday parties and trips to the zoo made for a busy and fun summer. Because Anna was so young and Tom used his vacation for paternity leave, we did not venture to the Jersey Shore. However, there will be a trip here in 2014!

  




  

Over this past summer hubs and I decided to homeschool our children. Right now only Ry is of school-age, so we figured starting with him is a good trial period. We joined Classical Conversations, a program with a classical education approach. We meet once a week with other kids who are doing the same curriculum and they get to "school" together. The rest of the week I get to be the principal, teacher, school nurse, lunch lady and janitor. So far I am really enjoying it, and I think Ry is too? As any homeschooling mom knows, there are days where you wonder if you're doing the right thing, if your child is learning and if you're really cut out to be their teacher. The truth is, sometimes kids don't want to do the classwork! Shocker, I know.
   But then there are days where they are absorbing everything, cuddling on your lap and asking to do more and learn more. They are excited to do whatever it is you've planned. I only get my children for 18 years, then they're gone. The rest of their life is away from home learning everything on their own. I love that I get to be a part of their life this way. And the season of homeschooling may come to an end before they reach middle school or high school - who knows? The Lord has specific plans for my children, and He may direct them in such a way where homeschool may no longer be the obedient thing to do. Like I said, who knows? The ONLY thing I know is, is when I graduated college I knew I was never going to be in school again. I was done! Four years later I'm enrolled in a vocational college for Medical Assisting. Okay, after graduating 7 months later as valedictorian I was truly done then. And now? Now I am not only teaching school, but I am pretty much going back to school all over again...from the beginning... Someone tell me I'm not nuts!



 Then came the hot Fall season and with it trips to the pumpkin patch, farms and enjoying our backyard before winter comes. For Halloween Ry and his BFF neighbor were pirates. Brooke and Anna were cupcakes. Adorable. Of course, that night it was cold. We ran from door to door and I barely got any pictures, but it was still fun!



 Over the summer I gained a leadership position with my local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. I am a discussion group leader, which basically means I lead discussions at my table. And by lead I mean chat. Let me tell you how hard it is to get about 8 women with babies and toddlers to start chatting... Not everybody talk at once! No really, we all talk at once. The hard part is stopping. And I love it. I remember being a new mother and hard it was for me. I didn't know what I was doing. I still don't, but I have a better idea of how to manage the chaos that can fill my life. I love these women, and I love being to help reach those mothers who might be hurting and needing a place to belong. Plus, we get free breakfast and childcare for 2 1/2 hours! So with this position simply comes a few more things that are added to my schedule. It brings more play dates, more friends, and more ladies who need help.



7 Months Old

   All the while Anna is just growing and growing. She is so happy. I truly love a happy baby. The only time she cries is in front of me, so no one is the wiser! I've had fun taking a few pictures (okay, a million pictures) of her and the kids. My love for photography has been reignited by my ability to purchase a new camera 2 years ago, and now a couple of new lenses and editing software. It's fun for me. It's my thing. So when you see 20 pictures of same thing, just smile and nod.

5 Months Old

 

Then came winter and Christmas! It was rather busy, but a fun time of course. Ry got the toy car he asked for (Jeep Powerwheels), Brooke got princess stuff, and Anna got her first doll. Ry gave Santa a big hug, while Brooke is still rather shy. She also doesn't like the Chic-Fil-A cow, and would only get so close to Cinderella when she had the chance. Ah, to be 2 years old again! And now, trying to remember just how hot some of our summer days were, I am sitting here in weather that is about -5 right now (not including wind chill), longing for those hot days again. It was so cold, in fact, that Tom's Green Truck just couldn't run anymore and he broke down on his way to the airport today. Thanks to a good friend and AAA, Tom got to work and Green Truck is tucked safely in our driveway awaiting a diagnosis. Yippy! And this, my friends, is what homeschool is all about. The planned day goes caput, and we spend the morning learning life lessons about cars and helping people when in need. We also got to look at planes take off using Ry's binoculars. 



 

Anna, Emalie and Brooke awaiting Christmas...apparently in a swim suit

Nana and her girls at Christmas

 

Now it's 2014, and I certainly hope to keep this blog rolling as much as Coloradoans are now rolling joints legally. Yes, that's happened in the last 8 months. Also, the Broncos had an AMAZING season! They broke all kinds of records and beat all kinds of teams. They won the AFC championship game and went to the Super Bowl! Ahhh, it was awesome. And then it was time for the kickoff...and the rest is record-breaking history! The only problem is that the history was made by the other team who was able to demolish our offense. We lost. Bad. It wasn't even a good game. And that sucks. Bad. I blame in on Joe Namath. He had the privilege of tossing the game coin. When the ref handed him the coin Namath tossed it super high. The only problem is that no one called heads or tails yet. That was probably the toss that would've set the game in the way of the Broncos. Instead, they had to re-toss, and the Seahawks won, deferred, and it was all over from there. The only thing that went the Broncos way was the safety the Seahawks scored against them. They were lucky it wasn't a touch down. And that was the first 12 seconds into the game. You get the idea.

Studio Amy Luna family portrait shoot

       My son just turned 4 this past week! Oh how little he was once, but now he's like a little man. His sweet disposition and calm character has turned into a boy who loves to wrestle, destroy and conquer! So it was only fitting that he asked for a pirate party. Here are the pics from his party - mostly of the Jake and the Neverland Pirates cake I made for him, as per his request!

 I found some small figurines at Target that I was able to put on the cake. They are simply toys in the toy section. I opened the box and used them instead of wrapping them, including tick-tock croc.

 This is my little pirate-man. Dressed with a treasure map shirt and headband, he's ready to "parrrrty!"

Get it?!

 The sails were simply made using Microsoft Paint. I just made blue stripes and printed it on paper, then stuck them on a small dowel rod. This cake was quite easy to make, despite my initial thoughts. How it was assembled below:

 I baked two 9x13 cakes. Once they were cooled, I stacked them on top of each other and cut out the shape of a boat. Then in the middle I cut out a piece to make the deck where Jake and Hook are standing. I then used that piece of cake to make the upper deck where the candle is sitting. I "glued" them all together with filling (icing) and then froze the cake so I could ice it. I put on one layer of chocolate icing, then froze it again for about 30 minutes so I could easily spread the top layer of icing. Being July, it gets warm and the cake and frosting try to stick to eac other. This makes for a cake that falls apart while I'm icing it, thus the freezing! Once I was done, I made yellow frosting using coloring and piped it onto the edges, I added the Life Savers, Rolos and chocolate Twizzlers. I then made blue frosting to pipe the water at the base of the boat...excuse me, ship! Once that was done I added the figurines and sails, and we were ready to parrrrrty!

 I used an old sign from last year's shark party to make the pirate sign. I also made my husband write the words so it looks like a pirate wrote it! ;) We blew up black balloon and used golf tees to stick them into the ground - a cannon ball path! The picture shows the path and Papa Pirate using his scurvy-ladened cell phone. 

In the end, all the kids got booty bags filled with plunder to take home. It was fun and I know my son loved it. I, too, had fun, but mostly in making the cake, which is something I love to do. My husband cannot even fathom a day where I go to a store and order a cake! (Shhhh, it will happen one day!).