MARIA REALLY NEEDS HER LITTLE SISTER TO COME HOME.......

......so she'll have someone else to play princess dress up with..........

Poor Dawson!

Just a couple of updates:

*I'm still resisting my chocolate cravings. In fact, I have some days I don't think about it much.

But there are other days.................... I don't know how many bags of Hershey Candy Coated Eggs Mark has put away......(and by put away, I don't mean placed somewhere for safe keeping). He loves those things! I have to admit, I do too. I knew the Easter candy season would be tough but so far so good!

*There is starting to be movement for some cases in the final stages of the adoption process. That's good news for all of us. Even though nothing will happen for us until after our court date in June, it's good to know some cases are starting to be processed again.

I have made plans to go to Guatemala next month. I have a woman who is going to make an appointment for me to meet with our judge. I just want her to know, we're not giving up. I want her to see my face and associate it with one of the many files she has stacked on her desk. I'm also planning on going to PGN to remind our investigator, June is right around the corner, and he needs to get that investigation finished. Maybe I'll find out it's finished when I get there..............probably not, but maybe.

That's all for now.

Please continue to remember the kids in Guatemala, and their waiting

families, in your prayers.

THE CASTLE CAKE WITH PRINCESSES ON IT, WATER AROUND IT AND A MERMAID IN THE WATER..........WHEW!

Well, my Saturday, that I had hoped to dedicate to cake baking and decorating, didn't go quite like I had planned................what a Surprise! Kelsey had a track meet she forgot to tell me about. Of course, it had to be an hour away and one of those that lasted most of the day. We left home at 10:00am and got back home at around 4:30pm. I didn't get started baking until around 7:00 and finally got to bed at almost 5:00am Sunday morning...............but the cake was done!

I started out with two 12" square cakes and a 10" stacked together. I had baked the 6" but it was cooling so while it cooled, I started on the towers.

Each tower was 11 chocolate chip cookies sandwiched together with icing and then covered all around with icing. I cut the corners of the cake off so the towers would fit against it and I stacked and iced the cookies on a pancake turner to make it easier to move while I iced them and to put them in place.

I topped the towers with cakes baked in a Wilton pan that is used to make the dress of small doll cakes. I would rather they had been more pointed and I was going to shape them that way, but when the time came, I decided they were fine the way they were.
I finished icing, placed the princesses and Voila! It was done!
Maria loved it! Unfortunately, for me, she's already planning her next year's cake


Now if you're wondering what happened to the mermaid, well, I wasn't real happy with the way she turned out so she didn't receive a front and center placement. She is, however around the side, in the water, leaning against one of the towers.




It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. If you have a little princess in your house who wants a castle cake, Wilton has a castle cake kit with all of the little pieces and parts you need to make a princess castle...............................but where's the challenge in that?

Another Year Past!

Our little angel, aka little devil.............aka little princess..............aka little artist................aka little fashionista...................aka little bull headed bundle of energy (yes, she's all that and more)
turned six years old on Tuesday! It's hard to believe so much time has past. It's also hard to believe by looking at her (because she's so tiny) that she's six years old! But she is so proud of the fact "I'm not five anymore!"

I'm finally starting to believe Kindergarten may be an attainable thing for her next fall. She's come a long way in her language skills (although she still has a long way to go). Other Kindergarten ready skills are starting to show themselves and I'm hoping with some work over the summer, she'll be up to speed.

We haven't had her birthday party yet. That will happen on Sunday when all the family can come. She wants to have a princess theme (not a surprise!). She also has her cake all planned out. She's requesting a castle, with princesses on it, a mote around it and a mermaid in the water of the mote. I mean, come on...............no problem right?!?! What ever happened to a regular cake with candles? The Cake Boss..........that's what happened. She watches that show with Kelsey and now she thinks anything is possible. Well, you'll have to check in next week and see what kind of concoction I come up with.

To be continued.........