I'm venturing into new territory.... where there is a lot of green things, especially on my plate. Trying new veggies... new fruits... expanding my palate. I'm doing it for me.... and also for her. She watches me. She eats what I eat. She is my shadow. She is five and soaking in all that is around her. She seasons the veggies (her favorite part!) and then rearranges them (to make a pattern, a big thing in kinder). I roast it and have it for dinner... not forcing her or even offering any to her. She reaches to my plate and inquires about the necessity of the veggies. She asks as she picks up an asparagus, "Will this make you stronger?" I answer, "yes". She looks at it... and then takes a bite and announces quite proudly, "Mommy, I like asparagus!!"

She ran around me tugging at my shirt, laughing, grinning from ear to ear. I snapped away... trying to freeze this moment. Not worrying if the photo is in focus... or if the shutter speed was adequate.... or the fact that I was losing light really really quickly. She was laughing... I was laughing... all the stresses slipped away for this moment. Happy Friday!

I have spent many nights watching the Food Network - especially the cake competitions! I watched in awe how they rolled out the Fondant to create these amazing masterpieces and pray it didn't fall to pieces as they moved the cake to the table. I would literally hold my breath.... and let out a sigh of relief when the cake was safely placed on the table for the judges. Fondant... wow, how cool is that I would say to myself. Never thinking I would or could ever get my hands on that baby. In comes a shopping trip to Michaels.... looking for glycerin (more on that in another post).... I see Fondant, on sale...  really?! Could we? Should we??? I look at Kai... wanna bake a cake? We buy two mini round pans, white Fondant, heart cookie cutters and ... spray paint for cake (YEAH! I know!).

I split the Fondant in two... Kai and I each have our own cake to decorate... I look up every now and then to watch her... she watches me. We sit in silence, totally focused on our "amazing masterpieces". I am in Fondant heaven...

Now...mind you, these are by no means masterpieces for the judges on the Food Network but definitely masterpieces in our household.