Concert!

Saturday night, Dec. 17th.
Prince concert.
2 1/2 hours solid stellar funk awesomeness.
Nuff said!

Cake Pops!

The kids and I had a great fun baking party last night together.  Both of them had Classroom Christmas parties today and needed to take something in to share.  Zachary decided he wanted to make a chocolate cake - completely from scratch he made the cake, made the icing and decorated the whole thing.  Then Brooklyn and I were wanting for a while to try some Cake Pops from the Bakerella Cake Pops book.  They were Santa hats and although not as smooth and perfect as the originals, we thought they turned out pretty good!

Hospitals - Done!

I am done with hospitals.  For the year.  Seriously.

In fact, I don't think I have ever before been so looking forward to a New Year's Eve, simply because it will signal the start of a new year in which I hope to never see the inside of a hospital.  In May I was back and forth to the hospital in Saanichton to visit my sick Grandad who passed away that month.  At the beginning of the Fall I was in and out visiting my Grandma with her broken hip.  We have now charted 4 ER visits with Zachary still without complete diagnosis.  They think arthritis but we're praying against that.  And then at 1:15pm this morning the ambulance arrived to take my husband to the hospital for back pain so intense he could not get up off of the floor.

So, I think I've filled my quota.  Really.  And if anyone argues with me about this I think I will refer you to the ER admission clerk or the lady at Tim Horton's who just yell out "Hi Rachel!" now when I walk through the front door.

Still, there is always a positive side to my life and in mine it's the fact that the Christmas season is here!  For all who know me they know that I l-o-o-o-o-v-e Christmas!  All of our decorations are up minus the tree because we always get a real one.  I've got a cookie exchange next Monday and the school Christmas concert later that week.  AND for the first time in ages I am well on my way through the Christmas shopping!  9 presents done as well as some stocking stuffers.  aaaaghhhhh..... big sigh of relief........

AND TO BOOT - I got the best smoking deal of the Black Friday weekend; a Cake Cricut machine on sale from $450 for FIFTY BUCKS !!!!!!!  That's right you heard me ..... $50 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prepare for some sweet cake experimentation to come........

http://www.cricut.com/cake/Home.aspx

Life thus far.......

So it seems that blog posts have been few and far between lately.  That's for a couple of reasons really.  Time has not been my friend the last few months..... My Grandma broke her left hip and as I'm the only family member on the island there have been lots of days spent in the hospital or driving Grandma from here to there, talking with her nurses etc.  Coupled with this, Zachary has had a few stints in the ER with weird inflammation. The bottom line right now is we have an appointment with the Rheumatoid Specialist to see if he has arthritis.  Hard to believe about a 12 year old, but we'll see how it goes.  Prayers are valued and not refused!

Other than that I've spent a bit of time ramping up the cake business.  I decided it was time to invest a bit more time into it; not the kind of time that involves opening a bakery but definitely being more proactive with advertising, marketing etc.  I've done a couple of trade shows and bridal fairs and the feedback has been great!  (Click "Like" on the Rachel~Cakes facebook page and be entered to win a dozen cupcakes!)

And as for Christmas prep, the decorations are already a-plenty.  I've been decorating a bit here and there for the last week and a half, and it should all be wrapped up by next week.  Doing it all at once is just too exhausting!

My 4 Year Old Nephew has rhythm!

Check out my nephew Jack!

This guy has serious rhythm !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2-GJ5Xrbx4&feature=email

Gene Simmons - a lesson in history

I never would have thought that an episode of Gene Simmons - Family Jewels would have brought me to tears.  But I have to say, if you have never seen the episode where he and Shannon Tweed visit Amsterdam, I would highly recommend that you watch it.

In it you learn that Gene was born in Israel, to Jewish parents.  I don't want to spoil it if you get the chance to see this episode, but I WILL tell you that his visit to the Anne Frank house was so emotional that it made me cry.

It's true.  Some of our parents and grandparents represent history that should not be forgotten.  Watch it if you can.

Hungry.

I am finally getting around to watching Julie and Julia (Meryl Streep as Julia Childs - amazing!), and all I can say is, I'm suddenly hungry and I MISS French cooking.  And I don't mean French Fries, or the odd French item you may have had in a restaurant.  I mean the down-to-earth, eating at a French person's kitchen French cooking.  I miss the meals that took 3 hours to eat, with their courses separated by fresh sorbets and complimented by fine wines.  And as I can't afford to fly back there anytime soon, perhaps I'll just have to settle for cooking up a Beef Bourginoine and cracking open a nice Merlot..........