Day 1 - the making of a Thomas the Train cake

This is the mission. To make a cake that resembles as closely as possible to this toy train. My work is definitly cut out for me, this is going to be the most difficult cake I have ever attempted to make. It is going to take me two days, but hopefully, the end results will be worth it.

Day 1:

The base of the cake is a large 12x18 inch cake, cut into 3 equal pieces. They are stacked one on top of the other. It is a three layered rectangle. I made my own buttercream frosting to go in between each layer and to cover the entire cake when I am finished shaping the cake. I also made my own rolled marshmallow fondant which will cover the entire cake.

Okay, making the cake took 4 cake mixes. I used Betty Crocker Golden Vanilla, yummy!! 3 boxes for the rectangle layers and one for the top of the cake and hump. Buttercream icing was the glue. I put it all in the freezer to set, it will be easier to shape when all the crumbs are frozen enough to stay put. After all that, I started the marshmallow fondant.

This is sticky process, but loads of fun!! I started out melting mini marshmallows in microwave. I greased my hands and counter top generously with Crisco. I put a little powdered sugar with the melted marshmallows and then poured it out on the countertop. After keeping it all in one place I began, with my hands, kneeding and mixing all the sugar in the marshmallows. This was kind of hot, but got cooler the more I worked with it. Gradually I kept adding powdered sugar. Because it was so sticky, I needed Nate's hands to help. Finally it started to form just how I wanted it to. I did have to keep greasing up the counter and my hands because this stuff seriously sticks. This was a very messy task, everything was covered in powdered sugar. After kneeding all the sugar and marshmallow I seperated it in half, covered it in a layer of crisco, then put each piece in it own ziploc bag. You have to let all the air out and then close. Then I put each one in another ziploc bag, released the air and closed it. Both fondants were put in the fridge overnight. Tomorrow starts the decorating, I am so looking forward to the outcome!!

This is the kneeding of the fondant

This is fondant perfectly kneeded and ready to seperate

And this is the fondant ready to go into the fridge.

You have no idea how excited I am that this is all working out. The real test will be tomorrow though.

The life of Joshua, as told by his mother!!

Oh, how it seems like a lifetime ago!! My first little boy; I wanted one soooo bad!! I remember telling my Brewster family that I wanted a little boy, one who was ALL boy. I prayed and prayed for a son and I had the perfect time that I wanted to get pregnant. However, someone else had other plans.

October 2004 is when it all began. We were living in Florida when Nate got a job out here in Ft. Worth. I knew how lucky I was because my family lived in Arlington. Before packing up and leaving our Brewster family, I told them that I wanted to have another baby and get pregnant in February/March 2005. I don't think that I had informed Nate, but he would have caught on eventually. Here's the thing, my husband can walk pass me and bump my arm and *boom*, I'm pregnant. It's that fast and unexpected. My sister in law knew that and she said it would be sooner. We moved October 26th-ish 2004, and I found out I was pregnant in the middle of December2004. Nate's insurance had not kicked in quite yet, so this was a HUGE suprise!!

The Pregnancy:

I knew from day one that I was having a boy. I can't explain it, I just knew. I had my doubts at the sonogram, but when she said boy tears streamed down my face. My 2 girls were thrilled, but no one was more excited than Nate. He was finally getting his son! My pregnancy was great! I felt good, had very minimal weight gain, and carried him all out front. Like my other 2 pregnancies, it was perfect!! I got my mind into boy mode. I started planning his room theme and type of clothing. I bought so many blue things, It was ridiculous. Then came picking names. We knew we wanted to name him after Nate's grandad, who only had daughters. We wanted to carry on the "Palmer" name. So that was his middle name. I had always loved the name Jacob and Noah. So that is what I brought before Nate. We finally decided on Joshua, not one of our names, but one that went really well with Palmer. So Joshua Palmer it was, now we just needed the baby.

My due date was August 28th. My in-laws came in town for the delivery so they were staying with us. It was nice to have the extra pair of hands with the girls. During the first weekly appointment, we discovered that I was already 3 cm dialated. Elation swept over me. Could I really go into labor early? I heard for the next four weeks, "It could be anyday now!". Yeah right, I was 3 cm until they broke my water on August 29, 2005. This is the fun part!!

The Birth:

I was induced at 8:00 am. They broke my water and started pitocin. Since I was barely 4 cm they called in the anesthesiologist and gave me my epidural. That's right, I felt no labor pains!! I was progressing nicely, had a moment when my BP dropped severly, but Josh was just in an awkward position. They just flipped me and all was right again. It was rolling onto lunch, so my family and the Brewster's (including Nate) decided to go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. I was only sitting at 7 cm, feeling no pressure just really relaxed. My sister, Charity, stayed to keep me company. They were all gone for about 15 minutes when I looked at my sister and told her I was feeling a huge amount of pressure. The nurse came in and I told her too. She had just checked me and I was at 7, but to satisfy me she would check again. She closed the sheet so quickly and told me not to push. I was complete and his head was right there. Charity hurried and called Nate. The next thing I knew, my mom burst in the room followed by Nate and my mother in law, holding in Zaynah. Everything happend so fast. The room was ready and I gave one push, his head came out. They cleaned and suctioned him. Second push, out came the rest. He was here!!! August 29th 2005 at 12:39 pm I met my son, all 7lbs and 9ozs!! Such an amazing feeling, I held my daughters right when they were born and now my son. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I felt so blessed. As for Zaynah, she witnessed the whole thing, well as much as a 2 year olds mind could comprehend. Although, she had no problem telling everyone that Josh came out of my bobo!! I could not have planned at better birth and the outcome was simply blissful.

Now, here we are 3 years later. Joshua has been such a delight and joy to our family. He is such a comedian. He makes us laugh on a regular basis. Him and I have such a sweet bond, it's true what they say about a mother and son. He could spend hours watching the sanition workers empty our garbage cans, or the lawn guys mow and weed whack. He loves trains, planes, and automobiles. And sometimes I even catch him in my high heels!! I got what I asked for almost 4 years ago, a boy...who's All boy. Happy Birthday Joshua, mommy loves you dearly!!

*his birthday party is on Sunday so I will post something about that then, with pictures!! Tonight we just had pancakes, he got to blow out candles on a cake...a pan-cake... :)

There are no classes to prepare you for this!!!

I had just walked in from picking the girls up from school and headed to the kitchen to get snacks for the kids. They all piled in and scarffed their food. Josh, doing what he normally does, his "job", let the dog out to pee. He followed him outside, I guess to make sure he goes. I thought nothing of it seeing as he does this every single day. Well, we have a little shed/house out there that we keep all the kids toys in. Josh considers this his "jungle gym". He got in big time trouble yesterday for climbing on top and watching the back neighbor mow his lawn, he could have totally fell off and broke a bone. So anyway, the door was shut and I hear a faint cry/scream. I told the girls to open the door and it's Josh screaming and crying. I thought, "Oh, God, he fell off and broke something!!". Nope, he was on top of the roof and couldn't get down and his feet were burning!! The sun had been beating down on that black plastic roof all afternoon so it was burning hot. He, as usual, went out with no shoes on and completely did what he got in trouble for yesterday and climbed that house. He could not get down so his feet kept burning. I grabbed him and ran inside so I could see how bad it was. His feet had already started to blister. He was completely freaked out and crying, it was so heartbreaking. I quickly wrapped them with wet cool towels and then submerged them in a cool bath for about 10 minutes. I was completely in a panic!! I called Nate and my mom in tears, I did not know what to do. After realizing this was bigger than me, I called the doctor and got him in at 4:45 pm. Poor Josh was still crying; I picked him up and loaded him in the car along with the other kids. Nate was on his way home from work and told me that he would meet me at the doctors. After a short wait we were in talking with the doctor. Josh had calmed down and told her what happend, it was cute. She examined his feet and told me that it was second degree burns, but seeing as they were on the bottom of his feet (where the skin is tougher) it's not as bad as it could have been. She washed his feet, gently rubbed burn cream on them, and then wrapped them in gauze. She said that he is not to walk for a few days just to let the burns heal. He was so good, I was so proud. He has been a little frustrated since we've been home, just because he can't walk. I have to change the gauze and re-apply the cream twice a day, so that is something I need to add to my long list of things to do. His birthday is on Friday and his party is on Sunday, but the doctor said that he should be fine by then. I guess I should have taken that "class" on burns before I had children :)

My BFF is trying to kill me!!!

Not really, but the workout she sent should definitly require an oxygen tank. My best pal, Elisabeth sent me this Taebo DVD and this weight workout routine. I was so excited to start. So after the girls were both at school (so no one could laugh at me) and the boys were down for naps I decided to pop that DVD in. Everything started out rythmically well, but then Billy kicked it up a notch. With the front kicks, back kicks, jabs, steps, keep your leg equal with your hips, "cardio", it was definitly a workout. I kept the pace fairly well being my first time with it, but it really showed how completely out of shape I am. This is a good thing for me though, the more I continue to do this, the better I will get at it. I refuse to let anyone see me do it though, it's pure comedy!! I have not done the weight workout yet, but I will try it out tomorrow. Elisabeth, you rock my fitness world!! You heard my gripes and complaints about finding the time to workout and what kind of routine to do, and totally came through. If you weren't states away from me, I'd give you a huge hug!! I love you girl, thanks again!!!

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday...phew!!

Friday:

Started out normally, got up, remembered I didn't have any creamer so I passed on the coffee-blah, got the kids their breakfast, and thought that this might be an okay day. Friday is the one day of the week that I despise, for one reason: Nate works an extra hour which feels like an extra day. So we finished breakfast and I reluctantly began my morning chores. The baby was extra cranky today and I had no idea why, so I just laid him down for a nap. He obviously needed it cause he fell right to sleep. After that is when my day turned for the worse. My children began to behave so badly; arguing, fighting, biting, hitting, shoving, tattling, anything and everything. This went on all day, even when the boys laid down for a nap, well, Wyatt laid down for a nap. Josh was too busy pooping in the bathroom sink!!! After my head spun a few times, I went in the bathroom, grabbed Josh, cleaned both his pooped stained legs, cleaned the sink(dry-heaving of course), and put his little tush to bed. Now keep in mind that my girls were arguing the entire time I was dealing with the "mess" in the back. It was 1 o'clock and I was already contemplating my escape. What happened? Where did I loose control of my day? It was six hours before Nate got home and I was so ready to sell my kids. From about 1:30 until Nate walked in the door was a blur, I remember a lot of yelling, time-outs, and spankings for Josh. He didn't do anything too shocking as before, but there were a lot of temper tantrums. So that was Friday, and I have not looked back. Friday was the day from hell!!

Saturday:

Started early, we had pictures that day. Family ones!! We went to the Botanical Gardens and my sister took some great shots of us. Naturally, Josh continued to mis-behave, so Nate pulled him aside. I couldn't hear what was happening, but Josh came back and was fully cooperative. Miracles do happen!! I can't post any because they are for a Christmas project and it is a suprise. After that my parents, brother, sister, and us all went out for lunch. We all had a nice time laughing and talking, it was really enjoyable. We made it home in time for nap time. The boys had a fanstastic nap and the rest of us just relaxed. I made dinner and we all watched tv. Bedtime came and all the kids crashed. I was like Friday never happend, it must have been a full moon that night or some other crazy weird thing. Saturday was a good day.

Sunday:

We played hookie from church. I needed one more day to relax before my week started and school started. Nate was okay with that, he was tired too. We stayed home all day. The kids were all in good spirits, two out of three days is not bad at all. Nate mowed the backyard and made Josh's day complete. We picked out first day of school outfits, had showers, read stories, and put to bed. The girls were so excited about the next day, but still went to sleep really well. I was excited for them, the day they were waiting for all summer was almost here. Sunday was a great day!!

Monday:

Another early start. Aliya had to get ready first, she had to be there at 10 minutes to 8. We did the morning routine, took a few pictures, and then off to school. I havn't figured out how to put pictures throughout my blogs, so I can't post any. She walked in like she owned the place, very confident. She took her seat next to a little boy named Steven. She started talking to him, "Hi remember me? You were in Mrs. Painters class last year and I was in Ms. Crows, my name is Aliya". The little boy kept his head down and mumbled something like, "yeah, I remember you".
Aliya just kept talking and stopped to give me a kiss and them kept on. That poor little boy. So I left with a heavy heart. I got to the car and broke down, I just needed a good cry. I got home and finished some stuff before taking Zaynah to school. In Keller we have half day kindergarten, so Zayn was in the pm. Before too long is was already 11:30 and time to get her to her first day. She looked so adorable. She was so big and didn't even look nervous. We got to her class and she found her seat. There were already two little girls at her table, so she sat and began chatting. Nate and I knew we couldn't stay forever so we headed out, we gave hugs and kisses. Josh had a hard time, he couldn't understand why his sisters were staying there and he couldn't. I was overcomed with emotion. What a day!! They had a blast! This is going to be a great school year. Monday was an awesome day!!

There it is...my weekend. I am exhausted but overjoyed. Friday was rough, but Saturday, Sunday, and Monday made up for it.