Texas Bluebonnets 2013

I'm going to interrupt my Easter postings to share these bluebonnet pictures we took on Monday. This field was gorgeous & full for bluebonnets!

We found a tree stump already out there and it worked perfect for the girls to sit on...except Scarlett. She was NOT having it. She refused to sit on the stump and barely tolerated sitting in the middle of the flowers. Something about this whole thing scared her.

Proof Scarlett does actually cry. And we are done!

Concordia's Annual Easter Egg Hunt

We have made a tradition out of going to Concordia's Annual Easter Egg Hunt (which is held the Saturday before Easter) since we first moved here and it is always so much fun! This year they had 17,000 eggs and it only takes 2 minutes for it to be over!!!

Scarlett spotted an airplane while waiting

Reese & Meme

Emma found her BFF, Zoe :)

"Look at my nail polish"

"Look at MY nail polish" ...these two crack me up!

Zoe fits right in with all this cuteness!

Mommy, Meme, & the girls

Good Friday

It's that time again...

Egg dyeing time!

Their finished eggs...

After good egg dyeing behavior we enjoyed the perfect weather for some playtime! Check out Scarlett's "mad smile"...

Emma kept trying to kick my camera...

Scarlett playing fetch from a safe distance...

It was absolutely a Good Friday!

Bunny Butt Cake

Last year for Easter I made this Bunny Butt Cake and several friends have been asking about it for this year. I can't seem to find a blog post about it in my archive so I'll walk you through it now!

Believe it or not ... I totally winged this cake. I had no instruction when I was making it. I had merely seen pictures of it from other people.

You will need:

• 1 box of cake mix (any flavor)
• Prepared batch of Buttercream Icing (or any favorite icing)
• 4 XL packages of Kit Kats
• Easter M&Ms
• Prepared fondant (either store bought Wilton or homemade marshmallow fondant)
• Coconut shavings (optional but I think its so cute this way)
• Pink & Green Food Coloring

Bunny Butt Cake:

Mix the cake mix according to package and bake two 9" round cakes. Once cakes are cooled and removed from pan, place one cake on the serving tray. Add a thick layer of icing to cover the top surface of the cake and then place the 2nd 9" round cake on top of the previously iced 9" round cake. Then frost the entire cake (top & sides). It doesn't have to be smooth and pretty because it gets covered with candy. 

Next, break your Kit Kats into sections of two and just simply stick to the sides of the freshly iced cake (the icing needs to still be wet). 

For the fondant bunny butt:

The actual butt is just a half circle of fondant. So try and make a ball to desired size and cut in half. I just shaped the feet by hand to be oblong with a slight narrowing at the toes. For the tail, make a smaller ball of fondant and cut in half to make a 1/2 ball again. I used a butter knife I believe to kinda just "stab" the tail in all different directions to make a fluffy texture. There is no reason to be perfect here. 

Grab a small amount (ping pong size or less) of fondant and add a few drops of pink food coloring to dye it pink. Hand shape the foot pads and apply to the feet with a dab of water. 

For the green grass:

I placed coconut shavings in a ziplock bag and added free food coloring and just shook it until it was dyed green. Spread around the base of the cake...easy!

All you have left to do is assemble the bunny on top of the cake. Simply place the butt piece down onto of the wet icing first. Then add the remaining pieces. If the fondant is sticky enough, just stick the tail & feet on. Otherwise, use a dab of water to get the pieces to stick to each other. 

Then pour M&Ms around the bunny butt until the cake is covered!

I tied a ribbon around the Kit Kats since I was traveling with it so that they wouldn't fall off. You are done!

*Note: the Kit Kats will go stale within a day or two so try not to prep too far in advance. The fondant bunny butt can be made a week before. It will stay soft if kept in an airtight container or it will get very firm and hard if left out unsealed.

Enjoy!

How's Bailey?

Yesterday Bailey had surgery to removed the Mast Cell Tumors that were growing (& bleeding) on her side.  I was kinda shocked by how large the incision was but they had to remove the surrounding tissue too in an attempt to get all the cancer.

The girls were so sweet to her and loved on her. Reese picked a flower just for Bailey!

We decided to not send the tumors for pathology grading. We can't do anything for her if its inside her already. If the cancer was just localized to her skin, then hopefully the surgery buys us a lot of time. No matter what, the tumors needed to be removed...they were growing larger and bleeding.

She doesn't seem to be in pain. She never whines or tries to mess with the incision. We did put an old Tshirt over her so that Harley would leave the incisions alone.

Scarlett's 15 Month Stats

Guess who is 15 months!

I am!

Scarlett loves playing Peek-A-Boo...

You can't even tell she just got 2 shots! She got a hold of Reese's Doc McStuffins ... guess she made her boo boos feel better ;)

15 Month Stats
Weight: 22lb. 9oz (48%)
Height: 31in (69%) ... this one was inaccurate though...she was very squirmy. We measure her at 32"(90%) which is more on track with her 12 month stats
Head: 18.7in (89%)

New words are: "good girl", "ouch", "shoes", "up" & "tickle tickle"

We are bottle free as of last month but unfortunately picked up a bedtime paci habit instead. The paci never leaves her bed. We will break this in a few months but felt like getting her off the bottle was more important.

Scarlett is literally the HAPPIEST little girl! Can't you tell from these pictures? She is always smiling, playing, & laughing! She has no problem keeping up with her sisters.

You are our little angel, Scarlett! We love you more than words!