Fun songs post

Hi guys! I'm sorry I haven't been a faithful poster recently, it just isn't one of my top priorities.
I've had so many posts in my head for a while, so hopefully I'll finally be able to put some of them on the blog.

   I have had so many songs stuck in my head recently. Basically at the point where I'm tired of singing the same song over and over, and Kendal stops playing it on the piano, I find a new one. :)
Here is a list of some of my favorite songs, and the ones are most often stuck in my head.
*note* Most of these songs are not Christian songs. I appreciate most of them for their beat, not necessarily for their words. :)

 "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" Taylor Mathew's version

"When You Believe" Sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey

"The Call" by Ragina Spektor


"City On Our Knees" by Toby Mac

"Something That I Want" from "Tangled"

Obviously I don't sound like Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey when singing "When you Believe" because I'm not African American. But I still love the song, and have since I first heard it when the "Prince of Egypt" came out. I love the first two songs because they have such a catchy tune. Tim Hawkins did a parody on "I'm Yours," and we liked the tune so much we looked for the original.
Before hearing "City On Our Knees," I thought I didn't like any of Toby Mac's songs. After hearing it in "The Grace Card" I changed my mind. :)  Even though the words are really silly in "Something That I Want" I think it's so catchy.

Yesterday we got to see Chris Tomlin at Busch Gardens, which was so neat! I took some videos and pictures, so I'll try to post them soon. 

Have a blessed week, 

Kelsey

The wedding cake, and semi-trial wedding cake

(I started this post on the third Saturday of April, but didn't finish it until now)The third Friday of April  I practiced making Grandma's wedding cake.
I used the six inch cake pan I'm going to use for the top tier. This was the first time I've made fondant that actually worked, and I was very pleased to discover it is absolutely amazing to work with.
Friday we had our last Preparing to be a Helpmeet book study  :(   so I decided I could just serve it then.
The actual thing is going to be flavored with almond, and it's going to have a lot more flowers. Kendal forgot exactly what the picture looked like that I was copying the cake  from, and I didn't have time to show her what it looked like. Since she was helping me, and we had about five minutes to decorate it, it ended up with  quite a few less flowers than I had originally been shooting for.
No worries, since it was just a "semi-trial cake." :)

I was really glad I practiced putting the fondant on, because then I knew exactly how smooth it was nesscesary to make the icing under the fondant, and how thick to roll out the fondant itself. On the real thing I changed both.

I was so nervous that something would happen to the cake on the way to the house where the reception was being held. I was also relieved that it was out of the house, because if anything happened to it once it left, there wasn't anything I could do about it.
I thought the picture below was really neat. I took it once the cake was in the car.
Kendal and Dad took it with them on Friday to the house, since they were going there for the rehearsal anyway.
Most people will take extra fondant and icing with them to the location in case something horribe happens, but I decided that everything would be fine,and if all the fondant fell off, then so be it. :)

If anyone is curious to see pictures of the process, just leave a comment asking to see them, and I'll post some. Otherwise I won't since it'll take a few extra minutes to upload.

~Kelsey

Pictures of Cakes We've Made

I made this cake for the three little girl's birthday party this year.
It was the first time I used fondant, and it was definitely an experience. :) It was not a  good recipe, and so it was very hard to handle.
It was something like 2 pounds confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup corn syrup.
It melted really easily, and it didn't hold it's weight well. We  tried to put a purple fondant bow on it, but it ended up looking like a purple octopus(The plan was to make it look like a present). That's why the icing isn't as smooth in the middle, because when we took it off, it left a mark.

We made this cake for a friend at church who has a Thirty One business. She gave us a picture of the winter logo, and that's what we used as a guide.

This is probably one of my favorite cakes we've made.

I baked this cake, and rough iced the brown on. Dad, Kendal and I went to a party that night, so Mom decorated it based on a picture we pulled off the Internet.She stayed up fairly late working on it,and did a fabulous job. It was for the birthday of one of my friends.

This was a cake I made for a little girl, to whose family we were taking a meal that afternoon. It was spur of the moment, and I used some leftover purple fondant from the little girls' birthday party. I think it turned out really cute.

I made this cake for a birthday party for Gavin Larum, Katie Larum, and myself. I was actually going to put chocolate curls on the entire cake, but I didn't have time, so I just put it on the top.

Today I'm going to meet with a lady who does cake decorating, and she is going to give me some tips for using fondant, and how to actually construct a three tiered wedding cake.

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

~Kelsey

You're Tagged!

Here are my questions for the people I'm tagging.

FBI agent or chef?

If you could have any car you wanted, what would you pick? (has to be an actual car)

Vacation in the mountains or at the beach?

Laptop or ipad?

What was the age of your parents when they married?

What is the  color that  you love but can't wear?

Do you prefer skirts or pants?

Would you rather have a debate with someone, or shallow conversation?

Would you rather go horseback riding or go have tea at an expensive tea house?

Have you ever been to an amusement park? (Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens, etc.)

Do you want to go sky-diving?

Okay, those are your questions,and here are the people I'm tagging. I think it's actually supposed to be eleven people, I don't know if I'll be able to think of that many.

Abigail Taylor

Gavin Larum

Katie Wilson

Homeschool on the Croft

Munck Sisters

Anna

Oliver Alexander

Graham Donahue

Daniel

Matthew

Yesterday, Today, Forever

Okay, that's eleven people.... I have alot of blogs on my dashboard, but about a third of them haven't posted for at least six months. *Clears throat* and two  of the people I picked haven't posted in two years! Is it a rule that you have to pick people who are actually connected to the blogging world currently? *hmmm*
Hope y'all have fun with it!

~Kelsey

My Tag

Here is my tag from Our Family View From Us Two
I was just now reading their blog, and realized I had been tagged... thank you, this should be fun.

1. What color are your eyes? They are a blue green, and my left eye has a brown spot in it...funny, cause genetically I'm not supposed to have brown eyes
2. Do you enjoy reading? Wow, you must be joking! From my point of view, if someone doesn't like to read, they're weird :)
3. Sweet Frog or Coldstones? Sweet Frog, or the Skinny Dip
4. Have you ever been given a surprise party? No, I haven't
5. What is you favorite TV show - I love Lucy, Undercover Boss, Restaurant Stakeout,  Roy Rogers etc. ? Definitely not Roy Rogers, I've seen plenty of that to last a lifetime... I love Lucy is one of my favorites
6. Have you ever broken one of your bones? I'm not sure, definitely not a major one, but I might have broken one of my toes this last Fall.
7. What is your worst fear? Wow, that's a hard one. Not very many things scare me. If I had to pick one though, it would probably be a roller coaster's track to break and I'd have to suffer a painful death. But since there is such a small possibility of that happening, I ride them anyways. ;)
8. Subway or Zero's ? Neither
9. How many siblings do you have? Well, come November I'll have NINE! Whoohoo! (I'm really excited) I'll have to change my blog title to "Second Oldest of Ten" :)
10. What is one of your bad habits? forgetting to thaw supper meat in time
11. Do you like flying? (In a airplane that is) Never have 

Well that was lots of fun! I've been studying up for my grandmother's wedding cake, and here are some pictures of the basic idea.

It will be three tiered, and the flowers, which will be more like the ones in the  first picture, will be a dusted on pale blue instead of pink, to match Grandma's dress.
Hope you enjoyed the tag, and later on I'll think of some people to tag.
Have a blessed week!
~Kelsey

The finished results

Isn't it pretty? I was very pleased with the results! Mom and Kendal did the white decorating, Kendal smoothed out the frosting once I put it on, I baked the cake, and made the icing. We're a good cake making team.  Mom bought some edible gold dust and I decided to add it to the leaves. It was a nice addition, I think.

Speaking of additions, we have a new addition to our family! It's too early to know if it's a boy or girl yet, but I think it's a boy...

















It's a parakeet! We got it for Dad's birthday, on the third day of Christmas. (Dec. 27th) We  had originally named it "Mack,"after Mack Powell. Mack Powell is the band leader of "Third Day," a Christian band we like.Then we decided to name him "Woodstock" from the Peanuts cartoons.
Most of the time I forget and call him Mack, though. :)

Doesn't he have funny little chicken feet? They almost look like dragon feet up close.
Isn't he cute? He is quite tame, and enjoys riding around on our shoulders. The only problem is that he is so tame, he isn't afraid of anything. That includes walking around on the floor upstairs. He likes to pick up the loose hay from the guinea pigs from the floor, and the only way to get him off of it is to pick him up like a chicken. He doesn't really seem to mind though, and the only thing he does is make funny squeaky noises. ;)
Have a good week,
Kelsey
This is also my fiftieth post!

Today

Today I have lots of things to do.
That is actually quite unusual for a Saturday, because we mostly just hang out and play games.
Tomorrow, though, we have a family coming over for  lunch, so I'm making the food today.
I was in the process of making a chocolate cake, but found out we didn't have enough eggs, (I need twelve, and only had four) so the process was paused for a while.
Mom and I have gotten into making and decorating cakes recently.
I usually use the same recipe, and then we go online and look for photos of decorated cakes.
We just use whatever photo we like as a guide, and it's worked quite well. Mom is a very good cake decorator! I'll post some pics soon of the cakes we've made.
Our grandmother is getting remarried in the late spring this year, and  she asked Mom and I to make her cake! I'm very excited, and have a few designs picked out already.
I really like what I guess you would call "stylish" cake designs. Wilton has some nice techniques, which are good to use, and they have nice flowers that are good to. But I don't really like their cakes as a whole. I like a little more "modern" designs, while theirs are a little more "old fashioned."
It might just be that I've watched too many cake competitions on the Food Network. :)

This is the cake we are using as a guide for the cake tomorrow.
I'm going to make mine round, though, and with a brown background and white leaves.
I hope y'all have a blessed week!
Kelsey

I Love This Song... and T-shirt war

 

I haven't seen the actual movie yet, but I've met two of the actors! (that counts as something , right?)

I met Rusty Martin Sr. and his son, Rusty Martin Jr. who plays Dylan in the movie.

Mom and Dad saw the movie in theaters, but decided to just let us kids watch it when it came out in dvd.

We do have the movie soundtrack though, and I quickly memorized the words for "Couragous" and "When we're together,"  which is my favorite. :)

The video below is hillarious, it's done by the same guys who did the Taco- Bell song.

If you have younger brothers or sisters, you might know these guys as the "Bentley Brothers."

Tell me if you like it!

~Kelsey 

A Funny Video

We saw this video on youtube a while ago... too funny!

A quote (by Kendal)

Although I am not one to go around quoting books and such, I do appriciate good quotes. Here is one that I really like:

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renenwed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien

I think it's fun to say, and quite clever. If anyone has a favorite (or a few favorite) quotes that they would like to share, please comment!

Laminin (by Kendal)

I saw this video a few years ago, and I still can't get over how neat laminin is. If you hven't heard of laminin, here is the video. It gets off to a rather slow start, but hang in there, because this is really cool!

 

Wow! So, now that you know...
Earlier today I was in the CFA break room, just talking to one of the guys I work with about biology and science in general. (It turns out that this guy has a biology degree from William and Mary.) So, then this other guy comes in and jokingly tells the first guy that he should analyze the molecular structure of chicken. Then the second guy's face lights up, and he says, "Oh, last night in church, I learned the coolest thing! There's this cell called laminin, and you know that verse about how Jesus holds all things together?" Needless to say, the biology guy thought that was amazing. :)
Well, I hope all of you are having a great week!
-Kendal

Quick update

Thank you for praying for Joshua! The apple came out on Saturday, on it's own.  We were all very thankful that we didn't have to take him to the ER, which would have caused him alot of pain, and Joshua is back to his normal, happy little self. : )
~Kelsey

what is it about belt buckles?

While in Floyd, on vacation this year, I found this huge belt buckle. Tell me what you think. ;)

(No, my hair wasn't quite that long, I was bending over. I've had it cut quite a bit shorter since then)

Isn't it ginormous? I don't think it's a real word, but it's one of my favorites. ;) I considered buying it, just for fun. I almost regret it.:) Anyway, one word you could use to describe it would be "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." this is a real picture, it isn't photo shopped.

You guys can pray for Joshua, 'cause on Tuesday he shoved a piece of apple up his nose and it's stuck there. It is causing Mom quite a bit of worry, because if it slides out a little farther, it will block his airway.

I hope you guys have a great rest of the week, and later on I'll post about the actors from "Courageous" that visited our church Sunday.

~Kelsey

"I See the Light"... 2

Here is the video that we posted yesterday and had to remove. The inappropriate thumbnails that followed the previous version have been delt with. My appologies to anyone who saw the 1st version. As a first time youtube user, I had no idea how important it is to tag, describe and categorize your videos! 
For those of you that didn't see the other post, this is a video of a friend and I (Kendal) playing "I See the Light" from Tangled. Rees Ward is playing the violin, Christian Ward is turning the page for me (at one point I mistakenly nod my head and he almost turns it- too funny. :) ), Kelsey is videotaping and I'm playing the piano. Enjoy!

Recipe~ Creme de Menthe Brownies

Don't worry if you don't have any creme de menthe on hand, I've never used it in this recipe and it turns out great each time. :)

                                   Ingredients

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter ( 1 stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

                                                  Directions for brownie layer

In a saucepan, or double boiler melt chocolate chips and butter over low heat.

Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well after each addition.

In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring well. ( at this point you may add 3/4 cup chocolate chips to batter, but I prefer it without)

Pour into a foil-lined, greased  9 by 13 pan

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 min.

                                                         Ingredients for mint layer

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons creme de menthe or 1 tablespoons mint extract

                                                      Directions

 Beat first butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl, then add powdered sugar and mint extract

Spread mint filling over cooled brownies

                                                         

                                     Ingredients for chocolate ganache

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

                                                  

                                                            Directions

Bring whipping cream to boiling over medium high heat

Remove from heat and add chocolate chips -do not stir

Let stand for five min. and then stir until smooth

Let cool and then spread over the mint layer, this is the final layer

I usually put the brownies in the freezer for about thirty min. before attempting to peel off the foil or cut the brownies. I hope you enjoy them! I've made then quite a few times, and it's one of our favorites. I got it out of a  Better Homes and Gardens magazine. ~Kelsey