Bake Sale 2012

 Every year at the GRDC dance recital there is also a bake sale and auction as a fundraiser for a charity. This year it was for Operation Homefront. I made these cookies:

 For Christmas, Melodie's Great Aunt Natalie gave her ninja cookie cutters. She loved them and could hardly wait to use them. The opportunity finally came with this bake sale. One of the numbers the kids were dancing to was "Kung Fu Fighting", so I turned the ninja cookies into karate cookies. The only difficult part was then I had to do a face. I think they turned out pretty darn cute!
 I also made cotton candy cupcakes. I used the recipe from bakingdom.com. She makes them into a Harry Potter themed cupcake by making a Honeydukes tag. I didn't do that for the bake sale, but if I ever do a Harry Potter themed party I would definately make them. The cupcakes were a little more dense than I like, but the flavor was great. I love how the recipe uses real cotton candy and not a flavoring. I think I'm going to try them again with a different base recipe (or maybe even just a box mix).

CANMT Trip: Dallas and My Birthday

Our first Texas BBQ meal was yummy. The fried pickles were so addicting. I know! Fried pickles!

The kids were exhausted but full of enegy at the same time. That made for an active lunch. The Hunts went home, and we headed back to the Gamlen house. On the way we saw some Dallas sights.

Informart - modeled after They Crystal Palace

American Airlines Center - hockey is played here!

The Grassy Knoll

Southfork Ranch - Where "Dallas" was filmed. Actually not in Dallas. It's in Parker, TX, very close to where the Gamlens live.

Jennifer made Dr. Pepper cupakes for my birthday.

That was so sweet of her! I'm not sure what recipe she used. I know she changed one up a bit. I'm now on a quest to find the best one out there! After the kids went to bed I opened a few presents that Rocky brought and that my sister gave me when we were in Mesa, AZ.

Then we got things ready for Easter. Jason had the cute idea of leaving a carrot for the Easter Bunny along with a note. In return the Easter Bunny left a note and Easter baskets.

The Easter baskets

The note Jason wanted to leave with the carrot, the response, and the filled eggs waiting for the next day.

Harry Potter Adventures

 I am so glad that even though the books and movies are all finished, Harry Potter love hasn't stopped. This week alone we participated in two Harry Potter themed activities.
 But first some background on the kind of Harry Potter fans we are. Rocky and I have read all the books (this says something since my husband is not the reader I am). We also saw and now own all the movies.
 I went to a book release at a book store.
 We went to midnight showings.

We would even let Melodie hang out in line with us until bedtime. We didn't do this in the beginning because she was too little. But the older she got, the more she didn't want to miss out.

 I've made Harry Potter cupcakes.

We've been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Florida.

Now that was amazing! We loved everything about it. The attention to detail was superb. And now there's going to be one in Hollywood! That is such exciting news.

 So you can see we are fans. As fans we look for things to still connect with the story of Harry Potter. Which brings us to Pottermore! We had a friend who was one of the beta testers. But I tried to stay away from looking at things about it until I could get on. And now we can. Rocky and I have both made it through the first book and are anxious for the second to be available. I got my wand (a 12 1/2" maple with a dragon core) and I have loved making potions. I wish there was a way to earn more galleons. But the big news is the sorting. I thought for sure I was going to be sorted into Slytherin. I ended up in Ravenclaw!

This did surprise me a little. But as I read the description by J.K. Rowling it fit. I'm thrilled with my house and am trying my best to add to the house points.

And Rocky was sorted into Gryffindor!

I expected this. What I didn't expect is that he was actually given a choice. At the end of his sorting he was asked if he would rather be sorted into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. 

 To celebrate Pottermore and the sorting a friend and I made Butterbeer Cupcakes. They were fun to make and turned out great. The frosting is very sweet.

And so our Harry Potter adventures continue. We look forward to more Pottermore, showing Melodie the rest of the movies, reading her the books and Harry Potter in Hollywood. Thanks J.K. Rowling!