Preach My Gospel

I thought this cake was so cool, I had to post it on both blogs...

For those familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you'll probably recognize this next image...I volunteered to make this cake for the Missionary Zone Luncheon on 2/5/09 where all of the missionaries from the tri-state area get together for lunch. The image is from the cover of the missionary handbook Preach My Gospel and depicts the Savior just before his baptism with John the Baptist.
Up until the night I decorated the cake I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I had an impression that it should be "Preach My Gospel" related, but I didn't know exactly what. I ended up painting the image onto rolled fondant with brown food coloring and a paint brush. The cake itself was a butter yellow recipe and it was iced with plain white butter cream.

I had to drop the cake off at Carolyn's house for transport to the luncheon. Believe me, I was disappointed that I couldn't be there (I have a day job *groan*), but Carolyn tells me that the missionaries loved their cake... they wouldn't let anyone cut it until they took pictures.

I thought this was an awesome opportunity to do something for the church (besides playing piano). It was a lot of fun, and I got to try out some new ideas for decorating. If nothing else, this is a tasty way of spreading the news!

What is this stuff anyway???

So the cold that has made its rounds through the family has finally made it to "Mommy". At times I wish I'd get sick first so I could get it out of the way, but a friend from work reminded me that mothers always get sick last so that they can take care of the family while the family is sick.

It's lousy luck, if you ask me.

So things that have been going on with the kids...

Audie is a smart cookie. He won't tell you right off the bat, but he is. We had a meeting with his teacher last week... she confirms for us that he can read... he can read very well... he's not as dumb as he tries to make us believe. It could very well be that he was shy when they did the testing, but at least we know it's not in our heads. Knowing this, we agreed that he didn't need the after-school program anymore.

Chloie made a 100% on her last word test! Proud Mom and Dad have already posted the paper on the fridge for all to see. We're working on the "W" words now. She still has a little trouble distinguishing between "where?" and "were". I can see why. Over all, she's doing very well.

Dougie got to take a trip to the doctor's office yesterday for his eye. It looked like someone had punched him in the eye and his lids swelled. It wasn't enough to swell closed, but enough to make me worry. Dr. Dave said it was a common thing (I don't know how common it is if I've never seen it), but that there are essentially infected pores or hair follicles inside his eye that caused this grief. He gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and told us to put a warm compress on it and it should go away. Here's hoping.

Hubby and I are still trying to get everything we can moved to the new house; we've got most of it there already. I'm still collecting boxes from work to aid in the packing and movement of everything in both houses. Next week we plan to get the school and daycare set up in the hopes that this will be a somewhat seamless transition. This Saturday we're planning on going over and unpacking and sorting through as much over there as we can so we'll have less to do next weekend. At least we got the kitchen done last Saturday... whew!!!

This Sunday is Ward Conference, where the Choir will sing "I Heard Him Come". I hope my cold is gone by then so I can participate. I've been working on the hymns for this Sunday's Relief Society meeting. I'm also excited about the upcoming "mini-enrichment" on 2/19/09 (Thursday) at 7pm. We've nailed down the place (Sister Gilbert's house) and it looks like we'll have 12-15 (maybe 20) sisters and friends in attendance... Looks like I'll be baking a lot of cake! So far the reigning favorite is the Triple-C so at least it's an easy cake to bake. :-)

More stuff from the email archives

Male or Female? You might not have known this, but a lot of non-living objects are actually either male or female. Here are some examples:

FREEZER BAGS: They are male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.
PHOTOCOPIERS: These are female, because once turned off; it takes a while to warm them up again. They are an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can also wreak havoc if you push the wrong Buttons.
TIRES: Tires are male, because they go bald easily and are often over inflated
HOT AIR BALLOONS: Also a male object, because to get them to go anywhere, you have to light a fire under their butt.
SPONGES: These are female, because they are soft, squeezable and retain water.
WEB PAGES: Female, because they're constantly being looked at and frequently getting hit on.
TRAINS: Definitely male, because they always use the same old lines for picking up people.
EGG TIMERS: Egg timers are female because, over time, all the weight shifts to the bottom.
HAMMERS: Male, because in the last 5000 years, they've hardly changed at all, and are occasionally handy to have around.
THE REMOTE CONTROL: Female. Ha! You probably thought it would be male, but consider this: It easily gives a man pleasure, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know which buttons to push, he just keeps trying.

Oooo... Krumpe's

My sister 'enlethe' has blogged about them...

My parents swear by them...

Everyone craves them...

Krumpe's Do-Nuts. The fresh warm delights are beckoning to me from home... "eat me"... I can not resist the goodness. http://www.krumpesdonuts.com/

OK, fix met by eating a few do-nut holes. Mmm. Yummy! If you haven't had Krumpe's then you should. Trust me. They're better than Kripsy Kreme. Mom and I were in Hagerstown last night shopping for fabric and cake related items when she turned to me and said, "Lets go to Krumpe's." Knowing we hadn't had any in a while, I enthusiastically agreed.

I was surprised to see that they've started merchandising. Mugs, travel mugs, T-shirts, and now Mother Krumpe's Bread. *pauses to wipe away drool* I'm also told that the line for fasnachts can be up to two hours long before lent. (click here for more info)