CAKE POPS

What you need:

A cake mix

1 can cream cheese frosting

Paper lollipop sticks

A Styrofoam block

Yellow candy melt (to cover the cake pop)

Rainbow candy coated chips (yellow= wings, orange= beak)

Pastel wild flower sprinkles (orange = feet)

Black edible marker

Bake cake mix according to package directions in a 9x13 inch dish. Once it has completely cooled, crumble the cake into a large bowl. Mix the can of cream cheese frosting into the bowl (spoon/fingers doesn't matter).

Next roll into small balls and place on lollipop sticks. (I haven't actually made these so you might have to make the balls, then cool in the fridge or freezer for a little while, then add the sticks.) Once on stick place in Styrofoam block to keep upright.

Melt the candy melt according to package instructions. Once cake pops are thoroughly chilled, dip them in the melted candy melt and let cool/dry. To make it nice and smooth make sure the candy melt is in a bowl deep enough to submerge the cake pop entirely.

Once dry you can add the details. Use a little of the candy melt to "glue" on the candy coated chips and sprinkles. All you need is a small dab of the candy melt, use a tooth pick to dip into the candy melt and place a small spot on the cake pop where you want to apply the decoration.

After all that is done add the eyes using your black edible pen.

TA DA! Beautiful, Yummy CAKE POPS!

My sister in law made these and I can't wait to try to make some myself. For more cute designs check out www.bakerella.com there are a ton of cute designs and it will tell you what you need for each of them.

A very Crabtree weekend Part 2: Birthday and Easter

MARCH AND APRIL BIRTHDAYS

We usually don't get to celebrate Kami's birthday while she is in town, but this year we got to. We combined all the March and April birthday's and had one big party! The guest of honor were Cheyenne, Papa, Kami and James.

Chan made this super cute cake out of cupcake. It is a farm with farm animals. Here is a close up of all the animals. Talk about being creative, these are adorable. I loved this and will definitely have to try it out.

What are the little chicks in the background, let me tell you. They are super delicious CAKE POPS! I had never heard of these, until Gerin made them for the party. I'll get the recipe and share it with you when I get it because these were not only extremely yummy and cute, but pretty clean for the kids to eat too!A picture of Cheyenne getting ready to help blow out candles so she can eat some of that pretty cake. Gage is always willing to stick it out when all the kids need some adult supervision. And this is one of those times. We had to make sure all the kids stayed in the kitchen with their cake pops, the Easter Eggs were being hidden. Waiting for the rest of the cousins to be rounded up. Cheyenne loves being the center of attention.Here is the whole crew! We love it when everyone can get together.

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AN EARLY EASTER

We wanted to do as much as we could while Kami and her family was here. So we had Easter a couple of weeks early. Trevin was so cute this year. He knew that the eggs had treats in them and knew to pick the eggs up and put them in his basket, he was really good and spotting the eggs too. He found them everywhere...

He loved it, he even went and hunted in the big kid area for a while. Then when he could find any more there it was back to the little kid section, for a few more eggs. Gage helped Cheyenne find some, until it was his turn to hunt eggs. She was content to sit with her three eggs and put them in the basket, then take them out and repeat!Lexi was so cute and decided to help Cheyenne, she gave her some soccer balls to add to her stash.Like I said, Gage helped Cheyenne until it was his turn to hunt eggs, the "big kid" area is just that big kids, including the adults. Every one under the age of 18 gets a three minute head start then... LOOK OUT! The picture on the right side is Gage taking out Gerin to get to the eggs first. After all the eggs are collected we get to see who got the best prizes. For some that means the money that was hidden for others it is the marshmallow bunnies! Trevin's favorite things were the soccer balls and Cheyenne didn't care as long as she got to play with the empty eggs!HAPPY EASTER!

A very Crabtree weekend Part 1: CHASE

This past weekend Kami and Erwin brought there kids up north, we were so excited to see them. Little Shallon has already grown so much since the last set of pictures Kami sent. Let me tell you... that little girl is gunna be a heart breaker! She is absolutely gorgeous and seemed like a very content baby. Oh yeah, she has super curly hair, I couldn't believe it. I wish I had a picture to show you.

Last Monday'ish' we told Trevin that his Chase was coming to see us. Trevin was so excited and remembered. So every day last week Trevin would ask "Chase here?" I would say "Yes, Chase is coming here, but not til Saturday." Trevin's face would get serious and he would say "OH, not il Saurday." I can't even count the number of times we had this conversation. So needless to say I was so excited to wake Trevin up Saturday morning and tell him, "CHASE IS HERE!" Trevin was very cooperative with hurrying through breakfast and getting dressed that morning so we could go pick up his favorite cousin.

Trevin had come up with a list of things he wanted to do with Chase. One was go to the park, so after a very quick shopping trip it was off to the park. Trevin thought it was pretty cool that Chase was riding in the car with him.

Trevin was walking a little slow and I told him to go catch up with Chase. This was the end result, he caught Chase. They followed each other around the playground. First up was the small slide, Cheyenne loved this one too. I even got them all to wait stop at the top for a picture! I think Gage had a lot of fun playing at the park too. Trevin loves to climb things so it didn't take him long to find this chain ladder. He and Chase were up it pretty quick.

At the top of the chain ladder they found the big boy slide. Which was way too much fun to only go down once!Cheyenne was sitting in the sand watching the boys as they climbed up the ladder, climbed to the slide and came down. Before long she wanted in on the action too. Gage is such a great Dad, he put her at the top of the slide and helped her come down over and over. She loved every minute of it. Trevin and Chase decided to play in the sand next, they made some huge sand piles. When it was time to level the sand back out they decided jumping on them would be the best method. It was a lot of fun to watch. Cheyenne loved playing in the sand. She even tried to eat it, but only once!Next on Trevin's list was playing with his cars on his road. So we came home and let the boys drive the cars all around the little city. They had a ton of fun. Then the horse came out so they could play "Roeo." They did really good sharing, they would take turns riding the horse and playing cars. They weren't very excited about having to stop playing to come eat lunch. But once we got them to the counter their sandwiches and yogurt didn't last very long.

We loved having Chase with us all morning. Trevin couldn't wait to wake up from his nap so we could go to Grandmas house to play with Chase some more.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

We love St. Patrick's Day. I had so much fun dressing everyone up in green. I even got to teach Trevin that if he saw someone not wearing green he got to pinch them. He didn't really get it, but thought it was funny to pinch them when I pointed it out.We spent the day trying to be sneaky as leprechauns while we decorated front doors with Shamrocks and Treats. I say trying because I think we got caught at almost every house. Trevin and Cheyenne aren't very sneaky. After we got home we went outback to play in the sunshine, I absolutely love being outside!Instead of having to head out to work Wednesday night I got to go to the Ogden LDS Temple with our Young Women. They did baptisms for the dead, it was pretty cool, we had 5 girls that had never done it before. After they were done I got to be the one to rush them out of the dressing room... I told them not to worry about it "You all look beautiful, and besides no one is gunna see you." Then when we all got outside, I had them all line up for a picture. I hope they forgive me! I think this will be one of my last trips to the Ogden Temple before they do the remodel. I wanted to be sure we had a picture with everyone and the whole temple. I can't wait to see the finished temple in a couple years.
I love being in the YW program. We always have so much fun!

MORE BIRTHDAY FUN!

Even though we had Chey's official party on Sunday we still had a mini party on her real birthday! Gage came home from work in the middle of the day so we could open presents. Chey was a pro at opening gifts, after having a little bit of practice on Sunday. She is such a little copy cat, I think she is trying to copy all of our "wow, PRESENTS!" looks in this picture. What a Cutie!Trevin loves being a big brother, especially when he gets to 'help' Cheyenne open presents. She wasn't too excited when we finally got it open, maybe it's because she has no idea what a doll is thanks to all the trucks and balls we have at our house...She did warm up to her new doll once it was out of the box, with some coaxing from Mom and Dad. This little cabbage patch doll was actually a gift that my mom gave to me years ago, to give to my little girl when I had one. I was so excited to be able to give it to Cheyenne for her birthday! All of the accessories I found during a Christmas sale and have been storing, I couldn't wait for Cheyenne to play with them. She figured it out real quick. Surprisingly Trevin was the one to show her how to put the baby to bed, and then how to "shush" people while the baby is sleeping. (I think Trevin might get that too much once Cheyenne goes to bed.)Of all the new "girly" toys I think the stroller and purse were the biggest hit... my little mommy diva!

Now that Cheyenne is ONE she thinks she is a pretty big girl. Her new favorite activity is to sit on the stairs, usually at the very top, which makes me a little bit nervous. I guess this is just the start of her claiming independence. Hopefully she will master coming DOWN the stairs soon and then I won't have to worry as much.
After our little party Dad had to go to work and the rest of us went to meet up with friends at the park! Libby was born just 3 days after Cheyenne. We love getting together to play and with the nice weather I hope it happens more, they are gunna be great friends. Bella helped us keep an eye on the two of them, she is so cute! (I love all her piggy tails, she is just a week or so younger than Trevin.) Cheyenne loves to walk back and forth by the railings. She is always so excited to be outside, I think we will be at the park a lot this spring and summer.

Trevin loves to climb anything and everything. It didn't take him long to find this ladder at the park. I think it's safe to say he isn't afraid of heights. Trevin was even willing to stop for a couple of minutes to take some pictures with Cheyenne. I can't wait to see how much Cheyenne grows and learns in the next year! We love her so much!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY

Time flies! I can't believe my baby girl is ONE! I decided a while back that I wanted to have a LADYBUG themed party, I think it turned out really cute.
I had so much fun making the invitations. Cheyenne was such a ham when I got out the camera to take her pictures. We had all kinds of lady bugs at the party. I guess that's what happens when you start planning a party 3 months in advance... Here is the kitchen, just before Cheyenne's guest started to arrive. Trevin loved helping put the streamers up, I think he just thought it was cool to stand on the table. The little lady bugs on the counter are magnets that we gave to all the cousins at the end of the party.

Next up the cake... I saw a cake like this one the internet a few months ago and it's what gave me the idea for a ladybug party... I think it turned out cute. Fondant is something I'm trying to learn how to do, but I can't get that perfectly smooth look that the professional do. I guess I'll keep trying and maybe settle on semi smooth. We made a ball of rice crispies for the head and then covered it with more fondant, the rice crispies stayed nice and moist!

When all Cheyenne's birthday guest arrived we opened presents. She got some really cool touch and feel cards and a book (she loves to sit and read books). She also got a lady bug doll, a bubble blower(YEAH!), here own wallet and cell phone, and clothes for this summer... lots of clothes... and her very own piggy bank. Talk about being spoiled! Cheyenne loved the attention and reactions she was getting from all her little cousins. She really liked playing with her new toys and the tissue paper, but the time had come for her to eat her very own cake! She wanted to grab the candle the whole time we sang and then when it came time to blow it out she just stared at it. I'll give her credit for trying to blow it out, the only problem is that her blowing is just making an "O" out of her mouth. No worries she had plenty of little kids there that were willing to help her out. She was a little shy about digging in, even after she had a taste. She would reach for it then, look up at Gage and pull back when she saw he was watching. Even with us telling her to eat it, she wasn't falling for that kind of trap. Nate decided he didn't want to wait to see a mess and picked up the cake to stick it in Cheyenne's face...She didn't like that at ALL! While we waited for her to calm down we served the ladybug cake with ice cream! It tasted really good even if it wasn't perfect on the outside, the taste is the important part. With out all the attention Cheyenne decided to dig in."Yummy... I think I can fit this whole handful in my mouth."Before too long she was a mess and was loving every bite. She even decided to start offering it to her guests. Some for Grandma and Papa and Chief... ...even Travis gets some!She started to slow down when about half of the cake was gone. And I decided that was enough cake for one day! But I couldn't resist a few more pictures of this precious face... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEYENNE! Thanks to everyone for the gifts and celebrating her day with us!