The Gym is SCREAMING for me!

The day after the delicious freezer jam, I decided to do something else with the delicious blackberries. This time I made a blackberry peach crisp with a brown sugar homemade ice cream. Can I just tell you - why I am not a master dessert chef I do not know. But I killed this dessert - it was so delicious. I put a lot of care into the whole thing and I think you could taste it. I took a few pics of the process. With all the sugar and dessert I am eating I have got to get back into the gym...my next project is a caramel apple strussel pie...yum.

Blackberry Freezer Jam

My friend Lindsay turned me onto the idea of making freezer jam. I liked it because it seemed easy and didn't require the whole canning process that I am wary of trying. I took half of the blackberries that we picked oh so lovingly and made them into freezer jam. I will tell you that it turned out amazingly delicious - we had 2 of Lorne's biscuits left and so we ate the jam on those - total heaven.

Monkey in Mama's Shoes!

Ava is such a little monkey and a joy to have around. Her little personality is really showing and it is a very mischievous, funny and demanding personality. She gets into everything and she really pays attention to what is going on. She also will only do things if she wants to - not because I ask here - she is no performing puppy.
Even though she only says a few words, she is learning a lot and I couldn't help but take a picture when she put on my shoes the other day. It was so stinkin' cute and she had a huge grin on her face. Who wouldn't want to hug and kiss that face?

An Apple a Day

I was inspired to go pick fresh local produce by a friend and so I decided to take the girls on Monday on my day off. I thought they would enjoy it and we would get some yummy fresh fruit that I could make different things out of for the winter.
We drove out to Winchester - about an hour and 50 minutes to go to Marker Miller Orchard since they had the fruits that I was looking for. My goal was to pick peaches, blackberries and apples.Jasmine was super excited when we got there and I was happy to see that the trees were low to the ground so that Jasmine could very easily get the fruit off of the trees. Even Ava picked some fruit on her own. I would highly recommend this orchard for picking.We picked apples first and Ava seemed happy and curious about what was going on and she had fun playing with the apples and even tried to put one into her mouth. Jasmine filled much of the half bushel bag that we got on her own. She was fast!
We loaded the apples and Ava into the wagon and went off to find the peaches, which were on the other side of the orchard so it was a bit of a hike. It was hot and the sun was beating down on us so by the time we reached the peach orchard, Ava had had enough and began her tantrum to let us know she was through.
I left her in the wagon and Jasmine and I picked the peaches. Jasmine was so well behaved and worried over her sister but I told her not to worry, Ava was going to scream no matter what we did. Then Ava began to take it out on the fruit, thrashing her little arms towards our beautiful bags filled with apples and peaches. I had to try and stop her but she remained hysterical.Lastly, we picked blackberries while Ava screamed and eventually made herself throw up a couple of times. We filled almost 2 quarts of blackberries which was a challenge because the vines had been picked through but I had a strong desire to make blackberry jam so we kept hunting.Once we went back to the market, and we were inside, Ava calmed down. Seems she didn't like being in the sun and she was quite pleasant after that. We left Marker Miller Orchards with a half bushel of Empire apples, 2 peck bags of peaches, 2 quarts of blackberries, 6 ears of fresh corn, 1 gallon of Cherry Apple Cider, 1 gallon of Apple Cider, a bag full of Squash and Zucchini and a very tired Ava. It was a productive afternoon!

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Lorne makes the best biscuits...and if he hasn't made them for you, demand it! They are to die for!

Bubble Trouble!

My husband has many talents - one of which is blowing bubbles with Bazooka Bubble Gum. Jasmine and Ava get a kick out of him blowing bubbles as big as his head. I get a kick out of it popping and watching him get it off his face. So the other day he was blowing bubbles and Ava was on his lap - here is what happened...

Shen Yun

My mom, my grandma and I got together for a family girl's night and wen to the Kennedy Center to see Shen Yun - a Classical Chinese Dance company. It was a really great show with a strong religious and political message. The costumes were fantastic and modest - I love how they didn't feel they had to show their whole bodies to be beautiful and stunning. The music was great and the whole evening was very enjoyable. I forgot how much I love going to the theater - since I don't have a lot of time to go these days.

Bye Bye Jan!

We were very sad to have to drive Jan to the airport so he could fly to Germany and go home. We had such a great summer with him and the girls really love him and were taken care of so well by him. He was such a help and brought a peace and calm to the house. He helped us organize things and keep thing clean and helped me at the gym.
Jasmine was felling very distraught to have him leave and is hoping he will return. We hope so too!

The Cutest Girl I ever Saw

was sipping water through a straw!

Cake Post

I know I haven't done a post in a while with the cakes I have made so here are a few I've done this month. Just a couple.

Occasionally Cake Hosts a Birthday Party

We were asked to host a birthday party for a client and friend of ours and so we decided to give it a try and see how it went. We did a cake decorating class where each kid got to decorate their own 6 inch cake and take it home and then they got to eat cupcakes and chips and have soda. I think it went really well. The kids were very respectful and did a good job decorating. I think we would definitely do it again. Did I mention the birthday package came with an apron for everyone? They were super cute!