Kids Cakes and Life...

The story behind the song "How He Loves". It will change your perspectrive!

2010-11-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

How He Loves : A Song Story from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Spiritual Principals on Creativity

2010-11-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.
There is an underlying, in-dwelling creative force infusing all of life-including ourselves.
When we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the creator's creativity within us and our lives.
We are, ourselves, creations. And we, in turn, are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves.
Creativity is God's gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.
The refusal to be creative is self-will and is counter to our true nature.
When we open ourselves to exploring our creativity, we open ourselves to God: good orderly direction.
As we open our creative channel to the creator, many gentle but powerful changes are to be expected.
It is safe to open ourselves up to greater and greater creativity.
Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source. As we move toward our dreams, we move toward our divinity.

-The Artist Way-

Rejoice, Sing, Praise!

2010-11-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sing... to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything. (Ephesians 5:19-20)

Our capacity for knowing God is enlarged when we are brought by Him into circumstances that cause us to exercise our faith. So when difficulties block our path, may we thank God that he is taking time to deal with us, and then may we lean heavily on Him.

-Streams in the Desert-

Growth=Pain

2010-10-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

Stand firmly in the place where your dear Lord has put you, and do your best there. God sends us trials or test, and places life before us as a face-to-face opponent. It is through the pounding of a serious conflict that He expects us to grow strong. The tree planted where the fierce winds twist its branches and bend its trunk, often nearly to the point of breaking, is commonly more firmly rooted than a tree growing in a secluded valley where storms never bring any stress or strain.

The same is true of human life. The strongest and greatest character is grown through hardship.

All your waves and breakers have swept over me. (Psalm 42:7)

-Streams in the Desert-

Cakes by The Sweet Diva

2008-11-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

High School Musical Cake

Stormtrooper Cake

2nd Birthday Cake

Baby Baptism Cake

New Creation

2008-10-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

I love the creativity at our church!

New Creation from on Vimeo.

Funky Cake

2008-09-28T08:16:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest creation... This funky cake was for a baby shower. Chocolate cake w Chocolate buttercream icing and rolled fondant.

One you can't miss!

2008-09-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

Check this amazing video out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5-TpSm1HD

Christmas is on it's way!!!!!!!!

2008-09-07T15:53:00.001-07:00

I had to copy her and add a Christmas countdown to my blog! I can't believe it is already so close!!! YEAH

More postings to come...

The Sweet Diva in April

2008-04-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my latest creations:

This cake was made for my Grandaddy for his 89th birthday! The bottom layer is spice cake, middle layer is lemon and the top layer is orange. All iced with a vanilla buttercream icing and topped with vanilla rolled fondant. Delicious!!!

These super fun cupcakes I made for my mom to take to a dessert party with her home-team friends. The cupcakes are french vanilla with a vanilla/almond buttercream icing. Flowers are made from fondant. They tasted like wedding cake!

This cake was made for a baby shower. Top layer is strawberry and bottom layer is chocolate. Both layers have vanilla buttercream filling and are iced with vanilla buttercream. Fondant overlay gives this cake it's sleek look. flowers are cut from fondant.

This is a happy 4th birthday cake. The cake is lemon with vanilla buttercream filling and iced with vanilla buttercream. Polka-dots are cut from fondant.

Tormato's!

2008-04-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Tormato's are coming? Gavin said.

Monday afternoon was an eventful one. Maybe not as eventful as my best friend's (she had a tornado hit 1 mile from her house) but I was scared! The weather sirens were sounding due to a tornado warning. Something I care to never experience. I had myself, my 2 kids and one of my dogs in the bathtub with a mattress near by for cover (the golden retriever wouldn't fit but he was in the bathroom with us)! Oh, and I did have Kamryn's bike helmet on her. I shouldn't admit all that but I'll be you know what if a tornado hits my house! We are going to be prepared! Of course at that moment I was thinking of all the things we would need in the event of a true disaster. Here is what I came up with... first off you will need a fanny pack from the early 90's. They are huge and will hold a lot of stuff. The reason for the fanny pack is you can strap it on around you, have all the things you will need and have 2 free hands to hold onto a child. In your fanny pack you will need:

charged cell phone
I.D.
flashlight
first aid kit
storm radio

I think that is it... I thought about a bottle of water but if it leaks onto the phone or radio you will be hosed. Also, I was concerned because I didn't have any shoes on. I pictured myself tossed in a field and having to find my way home with no shoes on.

You may be asking yourself, where was Greg during all of this? He was in the garage talking to our neighbor across the alley. Finally, we have been in the tub a while and I call Greg's cell phone for a tornado update and we get the OK to come out. Hello, the SUN was coming out. He so left us hanging in the bathtub!!!! Hey, we were SAFE! :)

And to add to the story:

My poor baby Gavin was trembling. But we thought about this later, Gavin has been thinking this whole time that a tornado was a giant tomato. I asked him to show me a tornado and he brought me a book that had a tomato on it. We then showed him some pictures of real tornado's so he would understand. God love him, he thought a giant tomato was going to get us. Needless to say, he will be terrified either way. My baby does NOT like storms. I am with him.

Kelly Clarkson.... get over it!

2008-03-21T20:36:00.001-07:00

Ever wonder who the song "Never Again" by Kelly Clarkson was written to??? Well if you want to here the response from the guy (David Hodges) she was singing to, then click on "Just a Little Girl" on my play list. Eat your heart out Kelly and don't be so bitter! :)

Snow Hawk & Hanna Snowmana

2008-03-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

I would like to introduce you to Snow Hawk and Hanna Snowmana. You really do get "The Best of Both Worlds" in Texas!

All in the same day...

2008-03-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

This morning we played in the snow and this afternoon we have our shorts and tank tops on playing in the sun. Gotta love the Texas weather!

Cupcakes!!!!!

2008-03-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

I love to make fun cupcakes!

What has The Sweet Diva been up to????

2008-03-02T14:17:00.001-08:00

This cake was for a baby shower for my sweet friend Bonnie Lee!

Brown Polka Dotted cake for 1 year old birthday with smash cake for baby boy!

Cinderella Tea Party cake for my niece Selah and a smash cake for the princess herself!

So what if it's "over"

2008-03-02T13:23:00.000-08:00

So I know we are all over Valentine's but I thought I would share some of our Valentine love! I had so much fun fixing a pretty table for Greg and the kids for Valentine's day! Our menu consisted of...

Breakfast: homemade Belgium waffles with strawberries & cool whip
Lunch: chicken salad w/apples & dried cranberries served on wheat Hawaiian rolls
Dinner: grilled sirloin steak, sharp cheddar (beer based) fondue with broccoli, granny smith apples, sour dough bread and carrots to dip and for dessert we had dark chocolate fondue with marshmallows, angel food cake squares, strawberries and bananas to dip!

I just can't figure out why I can't lose those 10 pounds........

Also attached is a picture of Kamryn's Kinder class party. I had so much fun decorating and making cookie bouquets for the tables. The kids had a great time and felt so special!

Foo Fighters rocked the house!

2008-01-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

Greg and I went to the Foo Fighters concert last night and WOW! The Foo Fighters rocked their little rears off! It was an awesome show! They did about an hour set and then busted into a 30 minute acoustic set which led into another 30 minute rockin set! Dave Grohl has the biggest voice I have ever heard. When that man talks the beams shake in the coliseum! And he is funny as all get out! Vocally he was spot on. It is amazing to me that a man can yell so much yet have an amazing singing voice as well. And what a range he has! If I wasn't a fan before I am now!

Thank you Kristen for Greg's Christmas presesnt! We had a fabulous time!!!!!!

Every mom needs this cd!

2008-01-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

I received this CD as a Christmas gift this year and LOVE it. It is a CD of Lullabies to her new baby! It is a great low key, sweet CD! I would highly recommend it to all moms!

It is Plumb and Blink is the CD title. Happy listening!

For info and to listen to some of the songs go to this link or click on the picture of the CD above:
http://www.plumbinfo.com/

These are a few of my favorite things...

2008-01-13T11:46:00.000-08:00

1. Chanel Lip Gloss in "Twinkle"

2. No. 20 Scented Trapp Candles

3. Kitchen Spice Scented Wallflowers from Bath & Body Works

4. Beauti Control Skin Care

5. Origins Self Tanner (NO SREAKS)!

Stay tuned for my next list of favorite things!

Ice Skate Cake

2008-01-07T19:21:00.001-08:00

With this cake "simple" is the key word. I was inspired by a little girl who loves to ice skate in her pink sparkly dress! The rhinestones add the perfect touch of elegance and the feathers on the cake board make it dreamy! A perfect touch for a 6 year old girls ice skating birthday party. For the party favors I made ice skate cookies to coordinate with the cake.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Barn Cake

2008-01-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Here is this weekends creation. A barnyard themed party for a 1 year old birthday! There is a little sheep that you can't see hiding behind the barn. The smash cake was the perfect accent! The bottom layer is French vanilla cake with an almond buttercream icing, the middle layer is chocolate cake with raspberry filling and rich chocolate icing and the barn is French vanilla cake with rich chocolate icing. All detail was made with rolled fondant (made from scratch). The smash cake is a French vanilla cake with buttercream icing. Happy birthday William!

Latest Creation by The Sweet Diva

2007-12-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

This has to be one of my favorite cakes yet! I have to give God all the credit! The cake is a vanilla flavored cake with buttercream icing and covered in rolled fondant (made from scratch). The horses face has some dimension to it that the picture failed to capture, and on the side of the cake there is a rope fondant bow with a giant light blue rhinestone in the middle (I am the queen of b-dazzle). I was nervous to have to make a horse but not anymore! I surprised myself! I promise you, if you asked me to make a sketch of this horse on paper, there is no way I could do it. I have no idea how I created that out of fondant.... I'm telling you, God directed my hands!

For more fun cakes go to The Sweet Diva web site!

Rockstar Bacus

2007-11-30T14:10:00.001-08:00

Wow, so I don't post for months and then I post 3 times in the last 48 hours....

So I thought I would share a picture of my "rockstar" Gavin! My friend Candice at Sweet 200 in Deep Ellum rocked Gavin's hair out. To complete his look she added some aviator sunglasses and a hip scarf. Gavin added a cherry Tootsie Pop to the ensemble. Needless to say, he is one cool dude!

Our Trip To D.C.

2007-11-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

Our family has had a busy last few weeks! We decided to take the fam to the nations capitol. Greg's brother Kent lives in D.C. so we decided to crash his basement for a week (which happens to be 10min. walking distance to the capitol!) It was a blast! It was so nice to have a local to show us around the city. Kent works for Senator Dole so he was a great source of information. He was also able to get us in on a tour of the White House and the Capitol. It was amazing! We were able to visit many of the monuments and museums as well. The kids weren't so into all the history just yet so we took a little road trip to Hershey Pennsylvania, oh ya that's what I'm screamin ... where the Hershey Chocolate factory is, and let the kids have a day at the Chocolate factory. It was very Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ish! They had the litte cars that looked like boats that took us through a tour of the factory and showed us how the choclates are made. It's a dream come true!!!!

One of my favorite things about the trip was getting to experience a a real fall! The leaves were absolutely amazing!!! The colors were just brilliant! Litterally breathtaking. It's one of those "God is amazing and so cool!" moments. You know He had to have so much fun making all those colors in the trees. Hmmm, he must have run out of color for Texas..... we came home to green and brown trees.... Anyway, if I continue writting I will have a Blovel and I swore I would not be a Blovel Blogger!

In Closing:
What a fabulous time with the family and thank you Kent for showing us around and letting us have your bed!!!

Hanna Montana

2007-11-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our sweet friend that HOOKED US UP with Hannah Montana tickets! Let me just say the show was absolutely amazing and I have never seen so many pink fireworks in my life! Not to mention our seats were fantastic! I have to give props to Miley Cyrus. The girl has incredible talent and seems very well grounded. The show was full of screaming girls with Hanna wigs. In fact, there were some moms dressed up as well. That was a little weird.... It was fun to see all the cute outfits Miley/Hannah came out with in her multiple wardrobe changes. The dancers were super energetic and cute as a button.

The Jonas Brothers were the opening group. I must say, I could live without the squeaky voice of a young man who is going through serious voice change. However, the little screaming girlies just LOVED them.

All in all I give it 2 thumbs up! :)

Project Blogger

2007-08-16T07:42:00.001-07:00

My new project is "project Blogger" really I am doing this because I can't figure out how to log in to all my old blog stuff so I decided to start a new one. And truly the only reason why I care to do that is so I can post on my friends blogs!!! Maybe this will be the start of me becoming a consistent Blogger. I don't think I would count on that but we can give it a whirl.

Make it a great day!