CCA Cheer Camp

The night before cheer camp, Stephanie and I had a fun activity planned for the girls. We put all their camp t-shirts in bags we decorated for them and made them close their eyes until we said "Open!" We love teasing them! Then we had funky little visor hats and flip-flops for them to decorate. We wore the flip-flops out to dinner to Acapulco Joe's. It was a fun night! Here they are posing with their bags...



One of our favorite camp outfits was the pink cheerleader shirt with the zebra print ribbons. They looked so cute...



Steph designed the shirts, and this one was our favorite. It looks like the 7up logo, but it says Cheer Up...Charger Pride, Always Had, Always Will. Cute, huh?!



Here are the girls being silly with their hats right before the CCA Spirit Mania...



We took the girls out in the blazing heat and made them pose on the playground. I think we're a little obsessed with taking pictures :)



We won 1st place in the cheer competition as well as the coveted spirit award. Way to go girls!!

Basement

After the June flood, our basement had some water damage (although we think it already had some damage from before). So one day, I saw Wes carrying out a huge roll of carpet from downstairs, and I thought...Oh no, I feel a big project coming on!! As always, he did a great job. Here is the progression of the remodel...




Wes added a wall to create more storage space.



He had to tear out a lot of the old framing and insulation that had water damage.



Here is our cozy basement. We will be adding recessed lighting,painting the ceiling tiles and of course some decorating. I really love it down there now!

More cakes...

I did this cake for Amanda's (my sister-in-law) friend, Summer. Her birthday was on the same day as Amanda's wedding rehearsal, and she wanted to do something special for her. The cake was a 3 layer chocolate with a yummy Oreo cream filling.




Here is the side view...



I just got my first steady cake gig!! I will be making the birthday lunch cakes for Wes' department at work. This is the first one I did last month. It wasn't as level as it needed to be, but I'm still learning :)



Another view...and yes, his name is Doyle!

2nd cake

Here is my second and last cake for course 1. We learned how to do roses and leaves with icing. My icing was not cooperating like I wanted it to; so I only did three roses and some other random flowers. The green thorn-looking things on the edge are actually little leaves. I kind of threw the design together at the last minute. At least it tasted really good!



I love the pearl dots on the base!

Symphony on the Prairie

Allen bought Kristin a table, along with 4 tickets, for the Symphony on the Prairie's "Simply Sinatra" concert. So she brought me, Jess and Jess' friend, Ralph, along for the concert. It was a lot of fun. The tent lights up with each song and creates a wonderful ambiance. There was also a great singer who sounded just like Sinatra, and lots of people got up to dance to all the wonderful songs. What a relaxing night! Thanks, Kristin and Allen!



The girls...



Jess and Ralph...



If you look closely, you can see me and Kristin trying to swing dance. We were cracking up!

Guys Night on the Lake

While the girls were at home slaving away with wedding decorations, the guys were off to Lake Monroe for the first round of water skiing this summer. Here are Brandon and Wes acting silly while they double ski.



Mr. Steve Smith showed off his mad skills.



Wes made his cuts in the water.



Brandon also made a big splash.



Ken, the veteran, showed the younger guys how it's done.

Hobbies

I was recently asked to do the bride's and bridesmaids' bouquets for a friend of mine. This is the bride's bouquet. It was a beautiful, simple bouquet of fresh red roses. Bethany helped me with this job because I needed some extra hands!



Another view of the bouquet...



The bridesmaids' were simple white roses...very pretty for a spring wedding.



Another hobby that I just picked up is cake decorating. Since I love to bake (and eat), I figured this would be something fun I could do. I am taking classes at Hobby Lobby, and this is the first cake I decorated. Since it was 4th of July weekend, I decided to name my cake accordingly. If I get good enough, I would like to start doing wedding cakes down the road.



Another view of the cake...