Sue Sue's Sweet Thoughts

Neon Pink and Green Cake

2012-02-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Mickey Mouse Baseball Cake

2012-01-31T17:46:00.000-08:00

Little Noah wanted a Mickey Mouse Baseball Cake for his 3rd Birthday. I had a pretty hard time coming up with a design for this one. I used a Ball pan and placed it atop a large sheet cake. I used black fondant and shaped the ears cap and placed them on top of the baseball. I used a grass tip for the butter cream grass, crumbled vanilla wafers for dirt and white fondant for the bases. I also cut out tiny Mickeys from black fondant and placed them around the sides of the cake. I wanted to place ball players on the bases, but could not find any, so I used candles instead. Noah loved it and that made it all worth while!

Bug Catcher Cake

2011-11-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a cute and fairly easy cake I did for a special little 5 year old boy, Trey. He was having a bug catcher party. This was a 3 layer cake iced with butter cream and a fondant handle with fondant lettering. The hardest part was shaping the top layer into a "U" shape for the top of the cage. I used a long piece of floral wire to imprint my screen lines across the cake, that helped to keep them straight. That was it...... thaa daah!!

Lime green for Amy

2011-10-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a little cake I did for my daughter-in-law, Amy's Birthday. Just a little 3 layer lime green with neon blue buttercream. This one was a pineapple cake mix and it was very good!! I might try it again!

We love you Amy!!

Inauguration Cake

2011-10-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

This was a HUGE cake I made for the Bainbridge College President's Inauguration. It was to feed 300 people. It was two 12x18 sheet cakes with two 12x12's placed on top. It was iced in buttercream tinted with Wilton's White Tint, with a little black and green accents. I cut the 12x12 at an angle to show off the sugar screen print of the College Logo. The letters "Don't Quit" were made out of fondant using Wilton's Gum Paste&Fondant Mold Set. I also used a lettering set for the name. So glad it turned out well and was enjoyed by many!!

A.T. Thru Hiker Cake

2011-10-17T05:44:00.001-07:00

My nephew, Ashley Bronza Long just completed his hike of the complete Appalachian Trail. He started in Georgia at the beginning of the trail at Springer Mtn. and hiked all the way to the Northern Terminus of the trail in Maine atop Mt. Katahdin. The complete hike was 2,181 miles! It took him just over 6 months.

His parents and family hosted him a celebration and welcome back party at my house, and of course I had to bake him a cake.

Here it is! First thing I did was make a fondant man figure of Ashley. I used the photo of him that he had made the day he finished as my model. The man was made in three parts. His head, chest and legs. I put them on wooden picks and stuck them into floral foam to dry for a few days while I worked on the cake. I joined them together at the last minute and placed them on the cake. I didn't want to take a chance of it breaking apart. I also made two signs out of Graham Crackers and bread sticks for the starting and finishing points. I had the hardest time trying to come up with the best layout of the cake. Should it be a sheet cake with a trail to a mountain or just the mountain??? I decided to bake it in a spiral mountain shape. Of which I had never tried and may never try again. I could not for the life of me understand the only directions I found online. I baked one large round cake for the bottom. Two regular cake layers for the middle section and three small round layers for the top. I also had a leftover layer in the freezer that I used to apply to the side of the cake to make part of the downward spiral. I got it all put together with a crumb coat and went to bed only to awake to what appeared to have been an Earthquake atop the Mountain!! The cake had tilted and the top had almost slid off. So, I had to hammer wooden dowels from the top all the way to the bottom layer passing through each cardboard round under some of the layers. I iced the cake with brown butter cream and outlined the path with chocolate covered nuts and sprinkled crushed toffee bars as the trail topping. You can't see them but there are icing covered ice cream cone trees around the sides and back of the mountain. I also put dabs of green grass around along with three bears walking along the trail.

Ashley loved it! That made the hard work worth it! Did I say I stayed up ALL NIGHT working on it??? I went to bed at 4:30 and slept until 7:30am the day of the party. I was worn out, but slap-happy!!! What you go through to make fun memories!!!

Horse Cake and Polka Dot Cake

2011-10-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here are two of my best cakes, I think! I can't claim all the glory on the Horse Cake. I had to call in my brother, DARGAN LONG. He's a Portrait Artist. I was having trouble shaping the head of the horse, so I called my brother to come over and help me get the shape right. I cut a pattern from his sketch and cut out the shape from my large sheet cake pan. I iced the cake in buttercream.

Next, is my Polka Dot Cake. I made this one for a friend of mine's Granddaughter. She wanted a Polka Dot Cake. It was fairly easy. Only thing was the polka dots kept sliding down and would not stay in place. I iced it in buttercream and used fondant for the dots. I think I made my dots too thick and that's what caused them to slide. It made it to the party with all the dots in place!!

Pineapple Cake, Multi Color Cake, Car Cake, Fifty and Falling Cake, Forty Cake,

2011-10-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

I made the Pineapple Cake for Grand daughter Lucy's 5th Party. The Pineapple was from a Football pan placed atop two layers. I used some fondant to make the flowers and the top of the pineapple. I hardest part was the design on the Pineapple.

The Multi Colored Cake was made from three different sized round layer pans. The icing was all buttercream. The nice thing was, all the icing was left over from other cakes. That made for a quicker cake to put together. The next cake was a First Birthday Cake for a friends little boy who loved cars. I looked everywhere for a car cookie cutter. Never did find one, so I used a Lady Bug cookie and altered it to look like a car. Only thing about this one was I almost made the top car cake too large to fit on the top of the cake, cutting it close there!!! He loved it though.

The Fifty and Falling cake was no problem. I have made this one many times before. I use a bunt pan that has a large hole in the middle where I placed a woman made from fondant that's "falling" down the hole.

On the next cake, I used the same bunt pan and created a "Luau" theme cake. I placed a sugar print of the couples honeymoon picture on the front of the cake,"in the water". Then made the rest of the cake look like a mountain on an island where the birthday boy is falling down a hole in the mountain. I used cookies placed around the sides of the mountain to give it that Hawaiian look. The funny thing, but humbling part of this cake was, I MISSPELLED FORTY!! I felt horrible!! No one told me until the next day!!! Live and learn!!

Strike Up The Band!

2011-09-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here are my most recent cakes. I made these for my nephew's combined Birthday Party. They both play these instruments at school. They gave me pictures to go by......... and this is how they turned out!! I used mostly buttercream and a little fondant. The strings are made from whole wheat spaghetti.

Joan's 64th Cake

2011-07-31T20:05:00.000-07:00

Go Go is what my sister-in-law's grandkids call her, so I came up with this little rhyme to put on her birthday cake. Loved how the colors turned out. She liked it too!!

Graduation Cake

2011-07-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Can't leave out this one. This cake was actually two cakes. A large sheet cake for the bottom and a graduation cap shaped cake placed on top of the sheet cake. I was pleased how the tassel turned out.

Flip Flop Cake

2011-07-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

This was a fun cake to do and fairly easy too! I actually went to Walmart and bought a pair of flip flops and used them as the pattern to cut out the cake in the shape of the flip flops. I used fondant as the straps and little silk daises as the flowers. It was a big hit with the little girls!!

Funny Monkey Cake!!

2011-07-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

My Monkey Cake.......... well my attempt at a Monkey Cake. I learned a lot with this one!!! I was trying to copy the Birthday Party Plates that were to be used at the Party. The plate was blue stripe with a little monkey face in the center. Easy enough I thought. I baked a large round cake for the base, frosted it in white buttercream, then placed blue strips of fondant as the stripes. Rather than just draw a flat monkey face in the center with buttercream, I decided to place another cake on the bottom layer shaped as the monkey face. I just got my dimensions off and made the face too large. I didn't realize this until I placed the Monkey's hair on the cake and saw right away that it was way too large, but I had firmly placed it on the cake and knew if I took it off the white icing would be in a big mess and time was running out. I was committed then and had to move forward. I continued putting the face on the cake and became dissatisfied with the ears. I should have sliced off some and placed them closer to the head, but again I had already put one on so I put the other one on. Another thing I realized was that my brown icing was way too dark. The only icing color I had was called supper brown. I should have remembered that icing gets darker as time goes on. Well, my brown monkey face got really dark for a one year old's cake. Taking all that into consideration, it turned out pretty cute and they liked it! Next, I made the birthday boy a Monkey Face "smash cake". By now I had come up with a better plan and it turned out really cute. Practice makes prefect!!

Farewell Cake!

2011-07-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

This was the "mother of all sheet cakes"! It was 4 - 12x18 sheet cakes placed side by side then stacked! That was 12 makings of batter, 48 eggs and 3 makings of icing which was 3 cups butter, 3 cups crisco and 24 cups of confectioners sugar! It weighed a TON!! It was a labor of love though. I made this for our Church Worship Leader Jeff Eenigenburg. Jeff and family will be moving to another city and taking on a College ministry of teaching and training students in becoming Worship Leaders.

We were so sorry to see them go, but encouraged he will be a wonderful trainer of future Christian Worship Leaders that will go out into the World and impact others for the cause of Christ as they lead out in Worship!!!

God's grace be with you and your family, Jeff.

We Love YOU!!!

2011-05-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

This cake speaks for itself. If you look hard, you'll notice some of the balloons are standing up. I made them of fondant and used wire to make them standup.

My Huge Easter Bunny Cake 2011

2011-04-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

I made this huge Bunny Cake for a children's Egg Hunt party! It was two large round cakes carved into the shape of the Bunny while the bottom was two large sheet cakes. All was pretty easy except the EARS! I had the hardest time trying to come up with what to make them out of where they would standup and not bend or fall off the cake. I ended up making them out of Rice Crispy Treats covered in fondant with a small wooden dowel inside!

Some New Cakes

2011-02-10T20:52:00.001-08:00

Just a few cakes from the past few weeks. I must say the little small bunny was the hardest to do. It was so difficult to ice. My Grandson wanted the Moby Dick cake. It was fairly easy except the TAIL ! I used RCT to shape the tail, no problem. Then I covered it with black fondant, not too bad. The hard part was making it stand up!! It kept wanting to topple over. I finally had to anchor it in styrofoam. I also used wooden dowels inside the tail to keep it from bending over. I ordered a fishing man and made a harpoon for Moby to hold.. Simon loved it! I later found out it was supposed to have been a "white whale" ! LOL!!

Blue and Brown 50th Birthday Cake. This one was sooooo easy and turned out pretty good I thought. It's 3 small round cakes on top of 1 round bottom layer a little larger. I wanted to use 2 base layers, but the Birthday girl wanted a small cake. This was about as small as I could get it. I used little stencils for the curly design.

Coming up next........Easter Bunny Cake. Stay tuned!!

Here are two new cakes. The Backyardigans cake was difficult to make in that I had to do Buttercream transfers because I could not find any cutout design to use. My bad was when I first did my black outlining in BLACK GEL not regular icing. The gel would not harden nor freeze. Therefore when I removed the waxpaper, it stuck and pulled leaving ragged lines that I had to repair which took FOREVER!

The #3 cake was EAZY! The only hard part was tinting the fondant black, took forever! I also used fondant to write his name. Fun, Fun! Next is an Easter Bunny Cake!

I made this "Woody Cake" for Everett's first Birthday. I used a new technic called "Buttercream Transfer". It's like coloring in a coloring book, except you use icing instead of color crayons. After your image is "colored", you place it in the freezer until you are ready to place it on the cake. There is a lot more to it, but I'll save you the details. Everett loved it. Happy Birthday Everett, Sue Sue loves you!!
Here is the finished product of my Grill Cake. All eatable but the tinfoil.
Shaggy Dog Cake made from loaf, oval and round cakes shaped to make dog's body, head and paws. I used a little fondant for nose, eyes and bow. Used large and small grass tips for hair. Pretty simple cake.

This was my attempt at making a Tom & Jerry Cake for a 4 year old boy's birthday. I began weeks ahead searching the Internet for ideas, pans and images. I had the hardest time finding something I thought do. There were no pans to be found that suited me. I did find Tom & Jerry face pans that looked cute. I was a little worried because they were made out of silicone and I had never used one before, but I ordered them anyway. Well, when they arrived, I was so disappointed! They were no bigger than the palm of my hand! I knew that would not be enough cake, so I looked further. On ebay I found a mouse pan, so I ordered it. And I also ordered a book on how to do Fondant Disney Characters. When the book arrived, I had a great looking Tom & Jerry cake, but it was way above my skill. So, what was I to do??? The date for the cake was creeping up soon. After much thinking and prayer, I decided to bake the mouse cake from the mouse pan, cut it's head off and bake a Tom head from the little cake pan (had to bake two to make it tall enough). Bake a cake from a round pyrex dish for what I thought I was going to use as the Jerry mouse hole, then try my hand at a fondant Jerry to place in the hole. All in all the plan worked except my Jerry (that took me 4 hours to make) was too large to go in the "hole cake", so it became a large piece of cheese and I placed him on top. I had also baked a large base cake to place both Tom & Jerry and the cheese on, but it was all too large and hung off the sides, so I wasn't able to use that cake at all. With this cake and my Grill cake, I tried my hand at using fondant. Boy, did I learn a lot!!! I got my fondant too thin in some places and the underneath color started seeping through. Well, live and learn. I hope the little boy liked it!

A Shaggy Dog cake is next.

Thinking Sweet thoughts!

Sue Sue

Here are some cakes I've made of recent days. The layer cake was for a young girl who was turning 14. Her only request was that she have 14 candles on her cake. It was a multi colored layered cake of 5 layers. I got so many good comments on it. It was one of the easiest cakes I've ever done. You just never know.

The other items are going to be placed on a BBQ GRILL CAKE I'm making for a GROOMS CAKE. Here you see the Ribs, corn on the cob and a hot dog. All made from fondant. I will place them on the cake tomorrow. The grill will have a pit filled with marshmallows for the fire. So, stay tuned for the rest of the PICS!

Painful Beginning to the Next Five Years

2011-01-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

With my 7 weeks of Radiation over, I was a little apprehensive about the next phase of my cancer treatment. For the next five years I will be taking a chemo-drug everyday. I wasn't sure how this was going to make me feel. Again, I turned it all over to God and tried to leave "it" there! My verse through all this has been Romans 12:12; Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. Once again I began trusting in those words and trying not to let worry and fear over take me. God has been faithful thus far and carried me through surgery, radiation, Thanksgiving and Christmas and I felt I was holding up pretty well.

Since my diagnoses of Breast Cancer in Oct. '09, the surgery and radiation I, nor my doctors, had been very concerned about the fact that almost every week my weight had been increasing. Towards the end of my radiation I began complaining that I had gained about 15 to 20 pounds during these months and I was getting that miserable "fat" feeling and having horrible joint pain. The joint pain was something I had read a little about but the weight gain was not so common. I had just been eating what I wanted and thought it was okay. Some mornings, on my drive home from treatment, I would drive through McDonald's and get a sausage biscuit, nothing taste any better! Had to" keep my strength up" as they say. Well, I was becoming quiet a "strong" woman! My clothes were all too tight, and I had nothing to wear. I was wearing black all the time trying to hide the rolls. My face looked like I had been pumped up like a balloon. I was always pulling at my tops to keep them from sticking to me when I'd sit down. I was just miserable!

With in a week of finishing radiation, I began my followup chemo drug treatment plan. I was first put on a small little tablet called Femara once a day for the next five years. That little pill was Seven Hundred Dollars a month!!! As good as my insurance was, we had no drug coverage. I felt so guilty that I was costing our family so much money each month, but what could I do???

To add insult to injury, For the last year I had been taking a cholesterol medication because of high cholesterol, due to mostly my poor eating habits and I had also been taking a bone density medication for about two years because of thinning bones. Both the medications were another two hundred a month. So, we were putting out around NINE HUNDRED a month on just my medications! I felt like I had to do something, this was way out of control and I was too!

As I began taking Femara, I noticed I had this ever increasing pain in my joints. My elbows, my legs, the bottom of my feet, my back, my hands. I felt like I had Lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. When on the couch, I dreaded the pain of trying to get up and taking those first few steps. Even at night in the bed I hurt. My joints felt so weak. I remember to the day my knee pain started because I was keeping three of my grand kids while their Mother was in the Hospital giving birth to our new grand baby boy, Everett. We were in the yard, it was the second of March. While the kids were playing, I was "squatting" down cutting back some border grass. After I had finished, I noticed one of my knees was hurting. Months later I found out I had torn a ligament that later would require surgery to repair.

As usual, the first thing after I go in for my check-ups, is the "weigh in". I was really dreading to get up on the scales that morning because I knew it was gonna be bad news. "What", that can't be!!! I looked at the nurse and said, "that's my all time high! I didn't weigh that much during my pregnancies"! That was it, I was ready to do something about it! After my check-up, I asked my doctor if he could suggest a diet plan that help me get back to a healthy weight. He suggested I go see a Integrated Medicine Doctor that was affiliated with the Hospital. I agreed and I called for my first appointment with Doctor Mansburger on August, 23 of 2010. That day, Dr. Mansburger listen to me tell him about how I was hurting in all my joints, not sleeping through the night, and at my all time high with my weight. I was convinced that it was due to the Cancer medication. He then began to talk to me in a very matter of fact way. Telling me that most of my problems could be solved by changing my diet. My blood work was showing I had a lot of inflammation in my body caused by poor eating habits. He suggested I follow the, Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet. I had never heard of such a diet, but I was ready and willing to give it my all to fight this Cancer, this pain and the fat! Now, home to clean out the pantry and the fridge and go grocery shopping for my new way of eating.

Never been this OLD!

2010-12-31T05:20:00.000-08:00

Well, turned 60 the other day. I feel the same, but it sounds strange when I say it. It's kinda bitter sweet, more sweet than bitter.

Stay tuned and I'll tell you about my party and post some pics!

My Seven Weeks of Radiation

2010-08-09T03:48:00.000-07:00

This was my routine for seven weeks.

Arrive in Thomasville by 8:45 each morning, Monday-Friday.

Wait in waiting room until my name was called.

This was never a long wait, as they always took me right in. I'd make a quick change and put on a Hospital gown, go out into another waiting area. This was the room where reality set in that I realized that I was a Cancer Patient (again). We all looked "sick" in those gowns. There were both men and women, young and old, some with hair, some not. Some weak some weaker, but all with the same hope that this Radiation would indeed help cure us of this dreaded sickness. It is hard to excepting that we all had to get sicker to feel better. A few times I did get a little frustrated because the Radiation machine would break down just as it was about to be my turn and I would have to leave without having a treatment and go home knowing this prolonged my days of treatment. A few times when this happened, I did get find enough energy to get in a little Christmas shopping and that was a plus.

I remember the first time I walked into the actual radiation room. It was somewhat scary. The machine was so large and overwhelming. I had to step up on a little stool and sit up on a surgical looking table. As I laid on my back, the technicians placed several foamed body forms around my back and shoulders to help hold me in place and keep me from moving off the predetermined radiation targets. I was so afraid I would move and the radiation beam would hit my heart! I tried out several head rest until I found the one that best fit and then turn my head to face the right wall. To this day, I can close my eyes and still see that wall. This position was so uncomfortable, but I thought I can do anything for these 7 weeks if this is what it takes to get better. I later suffered some nerve damage on that side of the back of my head because of the pressure from the "head rest".

It left me with the sensation of the feeling like my skin was tingling or waking up from being asleep. It really had me worried for awhile, I thought the cancer had gone to my brain. Thankfully, weeks after I was finished with treatment, it cleared up and stopped bothering me.

The next scary thing was the noise the machine made. It was so loud with a lot of intermittent clicks while ultra violet beams shown on my breast and underarm. This huge "arm-like" thing would revolve around my upper body as the radiation would radiate the area of treatment. I was so afraid it might fall on me! All the technicians would hurry out of the room before the machine started radiating me and take their places behind the wall well protected. That let me know something powerful was about to attack my body! I must say, the team of technicians were very compassionate and kind people. They did everything possible to make me and all the patients feel comfortable and at ease.

Well, I made it through my 7 weeks of treatments. Other than being very tired and a little skin discomfort, I did great! I'm so thankful my time was not as radical as some. I prayed for so many of my fellow cancer fighters that I befriended those 7 weeks. I often wonder what their story is. I was able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas 2009. I'm so thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ to have blessed me with the strength and well being to make it. I'm also thankful He directed my life and times to see that my Breast Cancer was found early, was a stage one, was removed and my body responded well to the treatment. I give Him all the praise and glory for it all. I pray I reflected His splendor to those I came in contact with during this battle. His presence is a reality in my life and I pray the same is true for your life.

Johnny's 60th Birthday & Cake

2010-05-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Purse Cake for Talia

2010-05-23T20:40:00.001-07:00

My friend's daughter Talia had a pretend sleep-over party and wanted me to make her a purse cake. Here it is. I used a shaped pan. I didn't think just one cake would serve enough people, so I baked the cake twice and stacked it. I wish I had had time to try and stand it upright. I was in a rush this week with end of year school programs and my husbands 60th Birthday Party. You just never know what the week holds when you've committed to bake a cake for someone. Thankfully, I've learned to do a lot of it ahead of time! Anyway, I thought it turned out cute.

Simon's 8th Birthday Cake

2010-05-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

Simon could not make up his mind what kind of cake he wanted this year. He thought and thought about the things he enjoyed the most. Finally he came up with an Army Battleground Cake. For some reason I always seem to mess up a little bit on Simon's cakes. Last year his Whale Cake's mouth closed when it was supposed to have stayed open. This year I noticed the icing wasn't just right. I could not figure out why. I thought maybe it was because I had used some cheaper butter. Next morning it came to me. I had not put any Crisco in the Buttercream Icing!!! What in the world? I remembered I had been talking on the phone when I was mixing it up. I have to have silence when I'm doing a cake and now I'm further convinced of that.

Anyway, it turned out just like he wanted it! I even had his teacher comment on how good the "carmel" icing was! LOL!

Here it is!

Pirate and Monkey Cakes

2010-04-13T17:53:00.001-07:00

Here are two cakes I made a few weekends ago. A Monkey Face Cake and a Pirate Cake. I'll get back with the details later. Just pictures for now!

My Radiation Begins

2010-03-26T00:27:00.000-07:00

Recovery time was over. I had healed enough to begin Radiation treatments. What was this going to be like? Will it hurt? Will I be sick? How will I feel during the Christmas Holidays? I so wanted to be able to enjoy the Holidays and make it a fun time for my family. Those were my main reoccurring thoughts day in and day out leading up to my first visit to the Lewis Oncology Center in Thomasville. About all I had been told was that my skin could break down and look and feel like a sunburn and that the treatments would make me tired towards the end of my seven weeks. Yes, seven weeks of driving to Thomasville every day.
Johnny went with me for my first visit. It was three weeks before Christmas. It was going to be a consultation with my Radiologist, Dr. Johnson (?). It was a weird feeling that morning as we pulled up in front of the Oncology Center, this was the same place I had come with my mother for her cancer treatments before she passed away some 19 years ago.

The moment I walked in, the lady behind the desk said, "Welcome Mrs. Dowdy, just have a seat and we'll be with you in a moment." I thought, "Wow, they know my name without even signing in." I must say they are the friendliest medical staff I've ever come across. They continued to greet me that way every week thereafter.

When my name was called, my Radiation nurse explained to me that I would be "marked" that day then come back the next day for my first treatment. The marking wasn't bad at all. Only thing was I felt a little uncomfortable have two men hovering over me drawing on my chest with magic markers! Using my x-rays as a guide, they marked my chest in the areas where I had the cancer and lymp nodes removed during surgery. The markings were to be their guide as to where to apply the radiation. They also gave me several permanent"tattoos". This was so that if (God forbid) I ever had to have more Radiation in the future, they would not give it to me in the same areas.

Back 30 years ago I had to go through 3 months of Chemo for Colon Cancer. It was as bad and you can image. I would have to be driven to Tallahassee everyday, M-F for my treatments. They would administer the chemical drugs by IV on the tops of either hand. I would have to sit there until the drugs passed through my heart. It was an awful sensation. Almost like a heavy weight on my chest. After that they would flush my veins with a saline solution. It didn't take long at all and I would go right back to Bainbridge. Each day I would take a little pan and a towel with me in the car because I would begin to get sick to my stomach and throw up. By Friday, I was so weak and sick I could hardly go. On Friday, they would give me pills that I was to take on Saturday and Sunday. Monday I would begin all over with the same routine. Some weeks would be interrupted by my having a low blood count and they would give me a few days off. I've said many times since then, that I had to get sicker to get better. From what I now understand, patients don't get as sick from chemo these days and the treatments aren't quite as drastic. I think more patients died from the treatments years ago than from cancer.

Praise God those treatments worked and I have been cancer free for 30 years until this Breast Cancer showed it's ugly head!

So, that was my first experience of being marked for Radiation now home to prepare for tomorrow. My thoughts were, if I could go through chemo. I could make it through Radiation too. Lord Willing!!

Dolphin Cake

2010-03-08T00:07:00.000-08:00

Here is my Dolphin cake I made for Lainey this year. I first used a Dolphin pan and sat it on top of a large sheet cake. I also used some leftover cake from another birthday cake I was making to prop the Dolphin up at an angle to look as if he was up out of the water a bit. It worked and I was pleased with all but the waves. I still can't seem to make waves stand with buttercream icing. I did mix two different colors of blue, which I thought gave the water a nice touch. Oh, well I'll keep trying. This week I have a Pirate Ship to make. Any hints on that one?

Lighten McQueen and Ariel Cakes

2010-02-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

Back Home for Recovery

2010-01-31T23:06:00.000-08:00

The trip home was uneventful. I just remember being uncomfortable in the car. The seat belt hit me at just the wrong place. The slightest motion or bump in the road would cause "movement" of my breast, and that wasn't a pleasant feeling. I never realized how much my breast jiggled until I had this surgery. During the weeks that followed, every time I would walk or move about, I found myself holding my left breast trying to keep it as still as possible. Gradually the soreness lessened.

I had never been so glad to get home and in my own bed in my life! But, no way could I get comfortable when I would try to sleep there. I found the best place was the couch. I could prop up on my side with the help of pillows and that took pressure off my left side. It was convenient for my visitors too, not to have to go back to my bedroom. So there I camped for days taking my pain pills and trying to rest. Both were hard for me to do. I don't like medicine and I'm not a good one to rest. But, I tried to do as I was told hoping to get back to normal as soon as possible.

God ministered to me so much during those weeks of recuperating by way of friends and family. So many cards, calls and visits. It really let me know the importance of checking on people during times of need. It was so nice to have people to drop by with food. There was no way I could cook those first few days at home. My daughter-in-law, Amy, would stop by in the afternoon and warm up some of the meals and casseroles that friends and family had drooped over. Then she, the grand kids and son, Jeff, would all stay and eat with us. It was a good time for a visit too. That was the bright spot in my day.

Upon leaving the hospital, my Doctor had told me I would soon be getting my pathology report in the mail. Everyday I waited to hear from Emory, but no call, no letter. I'd pray to not worry and hope that surely the next day would bring some news. It's makes the waiting harder when everyone kept asking, "have you heard anything"? So, I decided to call Emory myself and see if I could find out anything. Let me just say Emory is a wonderful Hospital and their care is excellent, but they lack greatly in the communications department. I think I called for days before I ever got to talk to a "real" person. When I did get to talk to someone, they said they would have to call me back, so more waiting. Finally, after 14 days, my cell phone rang and it was my surgeon Dr. Wood. Wow, was that a shock! I think I was outside doing something under the carport. I was stunned for a few seconds realizing I was talking to him and not some go between person. As I sat down on the back door step, he began to apologized to me for it taking so long for me to hear from my report. His reason was that my report had been sent to someone else, meaning to another doctor by mistake. He continued to say that all my findings were as expected, stage one infiltrating carcinoma with tubular tendencies with no lymph nodes involved. I was so relieved and thankful for the news and he again set my mind at ease by reassuring me that my outlook was very good indeed. All I could do was say, "Praise God", to which Dr. Wood responded, "yes, to Him only goes the Praise". I was so thankful to have a Dr. that loved the Lord too. Another blessing from God to affirm my faith that He was directing my path in this journey.

Now on to recovery and get ready for Radiation treatments coming up in a few weeks.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-27T00:40:00.000-08:00

Yeah! The Gang's All Here!

This was the Family Christmas Lunch at "my house" this year! What an accomplishment, to get a family photo! Turned out great we thought!

Back in Business

2010-01-27T00:12:00.001-08:00

Here's the first cake I have baked since October and recuperating from Breast Cancer surgery and Radiation. I was glad the request was for a Baby Shower Cake. They are fairly easy. This is the style I usually make and decorate, so it was not so hard to come up with an idea or have to do something new. I baked the first sheet cake in my largest pan. I thought about it, and didn't think it was going to be enough cake after it was cut into the shape of the Onesie, so I baked another one and decided to stack them. It turned out huge! Sometimes I just place the onesie on top of the full sheet cake, but it doesn't cut as pretty and the stacked cakes. I first baked the sheet cakes then froze them and cut them out the day before the party. Freezing helps cutting the shape much easier. I put a good bit of icing between the layers. I love to have lots of icing on my cakes! Then iced the whole cake pink. I use a paper towel to smooth my butter cream icing. I try to choose my paper towel with a nice design on it where it makes a nice pattern on the cake. Next, I outlined the cake in a lime green. I'm glad I can now find that color in the Neon icing colors. I put the soon to be baby's initials on the onesie first. But, it didn't seem to fill up the cake, so I decided to print out the baby's full name. I think it turned out well. Looks like I'm back in business!! I have orders for a Monkey Cake and an Ariel cake coming up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

My Surgery

2010-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

Back to the waiting room, this time in a wheelchair with a Styrofoam cup taped to my chest. The waiting room was packed with people waiting for surgery. This was a same day surgery waiting area, so everyone had friends and family waiting with them. I was thankful to have Joan and Wayne there to keep Johnny company because little did we know, it was going to be a very long day. We quickly realized, we were on schedule, but my doctor was way behind. We had brought our iPhone and mac. computers, so we were connected with other family and friends online and were able to keep them posted with updates and it helped to pass the time.

Finally, my name was called. I gave Joan and Wayne a hug and Johnny and I left the room and were taken back to a large room divided by beds and curtains. I was told to get undressed and into bed and the doctors would be by to talk to me soon. The room was busy with activity of patients being rolled in and rolled out of surgery. I was at least encouraged by the fact those I saw going in were coming out. So, the survival rate looked good!

The first doctor was my anesthesiologist that came to talk to me was of middle Eastern descent, with a name like "Gandhi". He was very cheerful and upbeat. Although, about the first thing he said to me was, "what is wrong with your neck?" I didn't know what in the world he was talking about. Then he said, "looks like we may have some trouble putting the tube down your throat when we put you to sleep", "your jaw is short." Well, thanks a lot, I thought. Next, my surgeon, Dr. Wood came by to talk to me. He reassured me that all would go well and went over the procedure with me again and answered my questions. Dr. Wood is a Christian and has a personality that was able to speak words of comfort and reassurance to me. He spoke many times about God being in control and able to bring good from this situation. That brought me such peace. After he spoke to us for just a few minutes there in the "holding room", he said he was running way behind and we would be waiting for about two hours. That's so hard to do. Not so much for me, but I felt sorry for Johnny, Joan and Wayne. Time went by slowly and I met a new anesthesiologist because of shift change. I don't remember his name, but I liked him too and felt assured he could put me to sleep and wake me up with no problem. By then I was so worn out, I didn't think I needed any drugs to put me to sleep! I was beginning to get nervous and had to get up and go to the bathroom several times. Streaking down the hall holding my gown together. I was surprised I wasn't very hungry. I had not eaten since early evening the night before. It was going on 4:30pm and I was to have had surgery at 1:30pm! Not too much longer, a nurse came in and gave me something in my IV that caused me to get very relaxed. A few minutes later, she came back and said, "Okay, are you ready to go? Say your good byes and we'll bring her back soon." She rolled me down the hall and that's the last I remember before surgery. Johnny stepped back out to the waiting room and passed the time with Joan and Wayne. About two hours later my surgery was over. Dr. Wood came into the waiting room to give Johnny the news that all had gone well and I would be taken back to recovery and would be there a few hours. Dr. Wood said that the cancer was small and he had removed the lump and two lymph nodes under my arm.Thankfully, there was no cancer found in either lymph node! Praise the Lord! Next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery and Johnny was there with me. We had to wait there seems like for hours. I had to be able to drink something and go to the bathroom before I could leave. I had no trouble with that. The nurse went over all my instructions for the next few days and said I could get dressed and leave. As we drove away from the hospital I noticed it was 8:30pm, what a long day! I was so thankful it was all over and I had been given a good prognosis. God had indeed blessed me with a successful surgery and had placed me in the gifted hands of Dr. Wood. I felt at peace and that God's hand of mercy and grace had been upon me and my love ones through all this. I felt relief that this much was over and it had been a success. We went back across the street to our Hotel room to spend another night instead of driving back to Bainbridge that night. We said good bye to Joan and Wayne, as they were going do drive back that night. I know they had to be so tired. There's nothing more tiring than waiting. I will forever be thankful for their love and care.

Surgery Day: 1st Procedure

2009-11-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law, Wayne had driven up late that night to be with us for my surgery the next day. I was glad for Joan and Wayne to be able to keep Johnny company. The Lord answered my prayer, I was able to get a good nights sleep. I was worried because I couldn't have anything to eat after midnight. Surgery day started off with me being very hungry and having to sit and watch Johnny, Joan and Wayne eat Breakfast. I can still smell the bacon and fresh coffee of that morning. My appointment wasn't until 10:30. This appointment was for placing a guide wire and a needle for the dye into my breast. I had been told I would not be sedated for this procedure and I was more anxious about this than surgery. I could not imagine how much it was going to hurt. Just the thought of this being done while my breast was compressed in a mammogram machine was about more than I could take. I remember praying, "Oh, Lord give me the courage and the strength to endure this procedure." At that time, I really didn't know how important my strength would be. We all sat in the waiting area for sometime then they finally called my name and I went back to a dressing room where I put on the usual hospital gown and was to wait again in small waiting room with a few other women. Most of these women were there to have their monthly mammogram. They all seemed pretty calm. By this time I was ready to get this over with!! "Mrs. Dowdy", was announced, and off I went. I was escorted to another room, met the surgeon(for this) and he went over the details of the procedure with me. Boy, was I relieved when he said that he would "deaden" my breast. Yes! Thank you Lord! I thought, "okay, I can do this." So, the procedure began. First, I had to sit in this desk like chair that rolled up to the mammogram machine. They had me place my breast on the "shelf". I didn't feel like I was quite in the right spot, so I just took it upon myself to kinda raised up on my toes a little bit to get high enough. Then they said, "perfect, don't move!" Well, they didn't know I was on my toes and my bottom was just so slightly off the chair. I thought to myself, "Oh my Gosh, I'm gonna have to stay like this until this is over!" I didn't dare move because here came the needle. I remember saying, "Gees, that's a long needle." "Ouch, that hurts!" "Shoot, you're going mighty deep, I feel like you're going all the way through to my heart." They assured me they were only going to the depth of the tumor. But the pressure felt a lot deeper. It was more like a frightening pressure than pain. By this time, my knees and upper thighs were beginning to shake. I finally told the nurse how I had raised up on my toes and I didn't think I could maintain my position for very much longer, my legs were killing me. Her response was, "Well honey you're in a mess cause you can't dare move, and if I try to adjust the chair, it's libels to jerk your whole breast out of the machine!!" " Just hold on a few minutes more." Oh, Lord, give me strength! Next came the dye wire and another needle. Both were to be left in until surgery. Finally, we were done! I couldn't feel my legs, and I had six inches of wire and about as much of a needle sticking out of my breast, but it was over. And of all things, they covered the wire and needle with a large Styrofoam drinking cup and taped it to the side of my chest. Now, I was to keep my arm up and away from touching the cup so as not to bend the wire and break the needle. What an odd looking sight I was. Johnny could believe it when he saw me. He didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for me. Not a very comfortable position to stay in until surgery at 1:30 that afternoon. Now, into the wheel chair and over to the Hospital waiting room.

Post-0p Day

2009-11-22T19:46:00.000-08:00

We were off! What a morning, packing, phone calls, closing down the house, arranging Sunday School, moving Ladies Bible Study, arranging for Stump, and last but not least..... trying to catch Penny and take her back to the kennel. This time it took longer than usual, she did not want to get in the car. It breaks my heart just thinking about her laying there in the back seat, lifting her eyes up at me. Again, I had to pick her up and take her into the kennel while the "help" just shook their heads at me. You know, the kennel owner, Kimberly, had told me the last time I left Penny, that "I" was the problem and the reason Penny acted the way she did. So, believe me, I felt like a nut carrying this big dog while they all watched me come through the door. As, they drug her across the floor to the back and mentioned again how I would love it if they could find a good home for her. And again the owner said, "no one is going to want a dog that is not socially trained". As I drove away, I just thought, poor Penny, she's so sweet and loves me so much. I just can't give her away. I'll just worry about her later.

I was glad when Joan called to say she could go with us to Atlanta. That would be so much better for Johnny so he wouldn't have to sit all along in the Waiting Room in Atlanta. It was a quick trip up, got checked in our room and crashed for the night. The next day, November 3rd, started off with meeting with Dr. Wood's PA, "Rocky", the name suited her just fine. Good thing I had my cell phone when Johnny and I were called back to the examining room. I had to text message Joan and tell her not to worry. It must have been 20 minutes before Rocky came in. She gave me a good talking to, explaining the procedure of a lumpectomy. Then it was off to across the street for my blood work and EKG. I was done by lunch time so we were free for the rest of the day. Now, a little fun...... shopping and a good restaurant for dinner. Joan and I had a wonderful time in Home Goods, what a store! Then off to the Mall for me some new PJs. Next, we went to Chilies. I was a little worried when we got back to our room and read my pre-op instructions. Oops, eat a light dinner, then nothing by mouth. Oh, well surgery is not until 1:30, so maybe by that time all would be clear.

That night, I spent some time in prayer and meditation, seeking God's Will, asking for His courage, strength to endure the pain and discomfort of the surgery, and also that He would guide the Surgeon's hands. I also asked that the Lord would grant Johnny His grace to "wait and not worry". With that, I closed my eyes and God granted me sweet sleep.

Awaiting Surgery

2009-11-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

Dr. Wood's office said they would call me and set up my surgery date sometime this week. I had hoped and prayed that time would go by fast and I would be kept from worry. It was shaping up to be a busy week and I had much to do to keep my mind occupied. I had picked up Penny from the Kennel and she had two nights at home before my taking her to the Vet's office to be "fixed" where she could not have puppies. She was not happy about that. As usual, it took about 45 minutes to round her up and literally pick her up (which I should not be doing) and put her in the car. I think she knew where she was going because of previous visits. Well, that was done, she was to spend the night, so I didn't have to see about her until the next afternoon. Now, off to the next thing. As I drove away from the Vets. office I remember thinking, I wish I could find Penny a good home, I just don't think I can keep her pinned up in my back yard. "Lord, please help me to find her a home, " was my prayer.

Okay, now on to the next thing. I had planned to bake and decorate Amy a Birthday cake tonight for her up coming birthday on Thursday. I wanted to surprise her and have the cake ready for her to enjoy at her K-group in the evening, so I had to hurry and get it done by 6:45. Why, had I decided to bake her a cake I had never baked before? A Devil's Food Cake, my mother's recipe. I got the layers made okay, but the icing. It was the 7 minute kind. And just as I was in about the 3rd minute, the door bell rang. It was the Dish network man and I had to stop and show him what room, what TV, and on and on. I was stopping and starting with my mixing of the icing and it got runner and runner. Rather than spreading it on I had to pour it on. Oh, well I hoped Amy would like it. I put it on my best cake stand and took it over to Mardi's so Amy could be surprised.

Next, it was time for our K-group gathering. I was looking forward being with my Christian friends at K-group, studying God's Word together and praying together. I was so touched to hear their prayers for me. It such a comfort to know others cared and lifted me up to the Lord. I felt recharged and blessed to know I had been prayed over.

This week was also Ladies Bible Study at my house the next morning. I had thought about calling it off with all the "stress" I had going in my life with this Cancer news. But, more than that, I wanted to "finish well" with our study. During the week, I had contacted all the girls and assured them that to meet with them would be the best thing I could do with my time and help keep my mind occupied. I usually spend a lot of time pouring over Bible Studies trying to find just the right one for our ladies to study. Now, more than ever, I was convinced that God had gone ahead of me and knew just what type of focus my Bible Study should be on for this season. The study we were doing was entitled, "Me, Myself and Lies ". It was all about how our self talk in our minds, can influence how we act on the outside. How the words we say to ourselves can make us "feel". It was how to speak God's truths to our souls instead of the lies of Satan. Anyway, I felt God was going ahead of me preparing my mind for my upcoming trial of facing Breast Cancer. Teaching me (again) how not to worry, not to be negative and all that goes along with those emotions. How to speak the truth of His promises into my soul and then live in belief of them. Thursday morning came and I was ready to be with the girls. Again, God's Spirit was among us and spoke His peace into my soul. One of the ladies asked if she could pray over me and for my upcoming surgery. The precious thing about this was, she was the youngest in her faith and walk with the Lord, but was obedient to what God had laid upon her heart. I believed He heard her prayer and would honor her Faith. Just Beautiful.

Friday had come. We took the kids to the Lake House while Jeff and Amy went on a Birthday date. They later came out and spent the night too. It was good to enjoy time with them and the activity of Grandkids kept my mind occupied for sure! Before I knew it, Saturday was over and another week had gone by. Almost time for Surgery Day.

Sharing on Sunday

2009-11-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten Oct.25th was the Sunday our Church usually asks for testimonies. I could feel the lump in my throat forming and a sudden rush of the jitters coming over me. I must stand and share about how God had been working in my life. The music that morning had taken on a new meaning, the words meant more, bring comfort to my soul. As my turn came, and I stood, and again peace came over me, a calm as I told about how God's Promises were true, and how I could feel His presence with me in this trial. I trusted that I could have joy while placing my hope in Him and longing for the best. I shared a little about how over the last 30 years God had given me good health as I had over come Colon Cancer and I knew I could trust Him to supply all my need as I faced this next battle of breast cancer. I thanked everyone for their prayers and concern for me. It had been so encouraging to me to have such support from friends and love ones during this time. It really causes one to see first hand the value of coming along side others when they are hurting or suffering. Just a simple card, phone call or visit had helped to lift my spirits. It's nice to be reminded of that role in the life of a Christian.

It had been amazing how all through the last 3 weeks I had felt like all this cancer news was about someone else, not me. I had not felt bad at all. From what I hear, that's the danger of Breast Cancer, it's silent for awhile and can get out of hand quickly. I still had not cried about this news either. I'm convinced, it's been God's hand upon me, the prayers of His people for me and my Faith, that He is with me that was carrying me each day.

Now Lord, help me make it through this up coming week as I await surgery.

Mountain Stress Relief

2009-11-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

What a nice surprise to go to Helen in the Fall. As we arrived, so did the rain. That was just fine, I love to hear a gentle mountain rain. The Fall color was beautiful even though many of the leaves were falling from the rain. Now, where would we stay? Sometimes when you have no reservation, you get the best room. That was just what God had planned for us. It was huge, big rainfall shower and large deep garden tub with jets. After a nice steak supper, (well, that's not the truth, my steak was rotten to say the least, had to send it back), hot brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce we walked around the town and bought a few things we didn't need, then we headed to our room.

My peace didn't last long. In the middle of the night I sprang up from a dead sleep with a panic attack! It was like the flood gates of doubt had been opened and I was about to drown. All the thoughts of second guessing the Drs. advice came crashing down on me. "If you don't take your breast off, the cancer will come back worse than before", "you know you need to take chemo", " you should have stayed in Thomasville", just on and on. Finally morning came and so did a new attitude. I got my Bible and began to read over the promises of God's Peace. As I began to pray and adjust my thinking and my focus, these doubts and fears left. I decided not to let Satan have his way with me and to steal my peace. So, right then and there, my attitude changed and I began to be dwell on the blessings in my life.

I decided I wasn't going to let that nice garden tub go to waste, so I got in and enjoyed a nice long soak. I was refreshed, renewed and ready to head home. We took our time, stopping at almost every little shop along the way. Johnny was so patient with me. I must say, I was glad to get back home and await my phone call about my surgery date. I was ready to get this over with.

Meeting Dr. Wood

2009-11-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

As my name was called and I stepped into the hall, I noticed a white coated, silver haired man walking towards me. "Mrs. Dowdy, welcome, good to meet you"! It was Dr. Wood. He had a wonderful smile and instantly I was at ease. He ushered me and Johnny into the examining room and after a little more small talk he proceeded to talk to me about my type of cancer.

Because I had so little information on this breast cancer, my prayer had been that the Lord would lead me to an understanding of what type of cancer I had so I could better choose what direction I should take with my surgery. I wanted to know what was the best way to treat this type of cancer. And, I wanted to know if this cancer was related to the colon cancer I had 30 years ago. Did I need to be tested to see if I was a cancer gene carrier? So many questions. The doctors in Thomasville had said to me, here are your options with this type cancer. 1. You can have a Lumpectomy 2. a mastectomy and also 3. you could remove both breast. "YOU DECIDE". Well, no way could I make that decision on my own! I'm not the Doctor! They should tell me what I should do! I remember praying, Lord, I know you don't speak audibly in this day and age, but You are just going have to speak out loud to me and say, "this is what you should do". I don't know what to do, I need Your Wisdom!

As Dr. Wood spoke, he began telling me that 1 out of every 4 people will have some type of cancer develop in them over their lifetime. And that 1 out of every 16 would have a 2nd cancer. (Johnny says those statistics don't add up). Dr. Wood He , "and you are one of those with a second cancer". He went on to say, that because I had been diligent with my yearly mammograms and self breast exams, I caught this cancer early. Breast cancer in women my age and older doesn't seem to be as aggressive as it is in younger women that are thriving with estrogen. That's why it's important for young women to "get those mammograms"!

I told Dr. Wood I was willing to take off both my breast to be rid of this cancer. I just didn't think I could live with another cancer cloud hanging over my head all the time. He just looked at me and smiled and said, "Brenda, this is what you should do"!!! There it was! My words from God! HE had spoken to me! Hallelujah! (I thought for a split second, please don't tell me to go jump of the building, I'd have to do it!) His advice was for me to have a Lumpectomy because this was a found early, very curable and very treatable cancer. He said it might not even be in my lymph nodes and most likely had not metastasized to any of the surrounding tissue.

That was it, decision made. Dr. Wood said he could do the surgery or we could go back to Thomasville and let them do the surgery. Johnny spoke up real quick and said, "we want you to do the surgery"! He said, "well alright, we'll set it up and see you back here in a week or two".

I left from there so relieved and had such peace, I just knew God had set the whole thing up. He will lead us to the right way when we are willing to wait upon Him.

Whew, I was ready for some relief of all this stress. Yes, let's go shopping and do something fun. Johnny was even willing. We headed north up Hwy 400 to the Outlet Mall. We did a little shopping then headed on up to a vineyard called Blackstock, and bought some good red wine. As we were driving on up the hwy. we came to a sign that read Helen Georgia. Johnny stopped and said, "how would you like to drive on up to the mountains and spend the night and forget all these troubles"? Let's do it! What a wonderful ending to a stressful day. God is good!

Off to Emory

2009-10-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

My morning was crazy getting things around the house closed down for a few days. My telephone was ringing off the hook. Even though it was aggravating to hear it keep ringing, it was nice to know so many people were concerned about me and were offering to pray for me. Normally on Wednesdays we have k-group at our house, but thankfully it was easily moved to another location. So, that was checked off. Did a little packing, watered the plants, gassed up the car, and then it was time to try and get Penny in the car. She doesn't like coming to me when I want her to, it's always on her terms. It took me about 20 minutes to trick her into the back seat of my car. Thankfully I found a kennel that would take her for a few days. So, off we go. It was my first visit there myself. I was very impressed as I drove up to their door. Well, Penny wouldn't get out of the car, so I had to carry her in. Then she wouldn't move once she got inside, so I had to drag her by her leash along the tile floor. Bless her heart she was shaking like a leaf. As, I was signing all the paper work, the owner began giving me advice on dog training. She proceeded to tell me how Penny's lack of "social" skills were not her fault, but mine! I have to save this conversation for another story. Poor Penny, I hated to leave her, but they assured me she would be fine. Great! I smelled just like a dog and would have to take another bath!

Sure 'nough, 3:00, and Johnny arrived home right on time. He always does his packing so, he through a few items in his bag and off we went!

Driving up was uneventful. Although I didn't have time to do my toe nails, so I thought I would do them in the car. What a mess! For starters, I couldn't bend over to even reach my toes much less try and paint them. I tried a few strokes, but I got polish everywhere. I decided to wait until we got to our room. The next "car activity" was for me to read the instructions on our GPS and try and figure out how to get the map off the USA and on to Ga. HWY 27. Braden had been fiddlin with it a few days before and we could NOT figure out how in the world to get it changed back!! Well, what do you know, it only took a turn of the knob and they we were! We felt so stupid! Next we had a delicious meal Carrabba's. We ate way too much and complained for the rest of the trip!

Finally we had arrived at the Emory Conference Center Inn, got checked in and settled down for the night. Oh, I forgot my toe nails. Gosh, I've got to get them painted and dried before I go to bed. So, I put one coat of RED on them and blew them dry with the blow dryer and climbed into bed. Wish you could have seen my toes when I got up the next morning, not to mention the sheets. I had smeared red polish all over the sheets. Looked like we had slept with a bleeding mouse or something! I had to hurry, repaint and blow dry! Such important things girls have to tend to.

Johnny and I walked over to the medical building and was greeted with the smell of sausage biscuit and so we had to have one. As we sat there, Johnny offered up the sweetest prayer for me before seeing the doctor.

Lets go up to the 3rd floor and hear what Dr. Wood has to say.

Holding on

2009-10-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

Last night was Weight Watchers. Thank goodness I had remained the same weight for the last 3 weeks. It's been a roller coaster ride between my cancer news, wedding showers, and a mountain get away. Also had a few "just don't give rip" chow downs!

This is going to be a better week, pounds are gonna drop!! I can be encouraged because I looked back and this time last year I had re-joined WW and I was 10 lbs. heavier than I am now.

I am determined!

Let me get up and throw away that candy corn.

Setting Up my Emory visit

2009-10-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Johnny left for work Tuesday morning after a frustrating Monday in Thomasville. He was on a mission I do believe. He wanted to find out more about this Cancer Institution in Atlanta. His first call was to a friend of ours that had had breast cancer and had gone to this cancer center for her surgery. He asked for the phone number and thought what would it hurt to just call and see if I had a chance of seeing a Doctor there in the next few days. With no referring physician, he called anyway and the conversation went something like this. "Yes we can see her in a few weeks". His response was "no, she won't wait that long". The lady on the phone said, "Well, let me see". "Dr. Wood can see her on Thursday, he's our leading oncologist/surgeon". "Yes, we'll take it", Johnny said. " She will have to bring with her her latest mammograms and tissue samples from her biopsy". He said, "no problem". That was it. God had cleared the way for me to speak with a cancer specialist at Emory faster than speaking to the one in Thomasville on Friday. The greater miracle was that this Dr. was also a surgeon that only sees breast cancer patients. Wow! Thank you Lord, just who I needed to talk to! Now, the hard part was left with me to do. It was already getting close to lunch on Tuesday and I needed to hurry to Thomasville and see if I could get all my information to take with me to Atlanta. The mammograms were no problem, the tissue samples were a different story. I had to call two or three places and finally got the right lady at the Hospital. She said it normally took 24 hours to run everything through the proper channels, but if I would be willing to drive across town to the records department and sign the papers and bring a copy back to the Hospital she would start processing my tissue samples. Talk about being on a mission, I was racing all over Thomasville all the while praying God would clear the way and not let people go to lunch until they got my records to me. Finally after a long wait at the Hospital I had all my x-rays and pathology report in my hands. As I was leaving the Hospital, something in my spirit was just not right. Then the thought came to me of how the Doctors and their staffs had been so nice to me and willing to help. I just couldn't leave town until I had gone to each one of their offices to tell them I was going to Emory for a second opinion. That took another hour or so. I felt better and they were all very understanding. Most people would say that was not necessary, but it was for me. Mission accomplished and I was on my way back to Bainbridge. I thought, "forget Weight Watchers, I'm going to the Dairy Queen"! As I drove home, I thanked God for how His Spirit had swept through the day and ordered mine and Johnny's steps just as His Word says He will do. I had seen Him move in the hearts of 3 ladies at the record department that normally only do the consent forms by Fax or mail. They even did it with a smile and wished we well. Now, lets see how God was gonna clear Johnny's appointments and what in the world would we do with our Dog, Penny???

Where I find myself today.

2009-10-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

It's been interesting my mindset each morning since I received my breast cancer news. Today, it's "get another opinion". I went yesterday to talk with a plastic surgeon about a plan for reconstruction if I have both breast removed. It's an easy thing to say, "if I ever hear that I have breast cancer, I'll just have both my breast removed, I don't need them anyway"! Well, I've said that and was convinced that's what I'd do until I began looking at images of women on the Internet that had had that type surgery and what they went through for reconstruction. It's not easy and it's not a pretty sight. My goal is not to have pretty breast, it's to be cancer free. My dilemma is, what is the most reasonable way to achieve that goal? Am I being too aggressive by pursuing taking off both breast? Is that unreasonable? Unnecessary? Too spontaneous? I know that because I've had cancer before, I'm frightened to have it again.

After talking with the plastic surgeon, I really wanted to talk to an oncologist. Someone who I felt like understood cancer better than the surgeons. So, Johnny and I went over to the Oncology center there in Thomasville, just see if we might talk with a doctor for just a few minutes. We were told all the doctors were in a meeting and it would be a long wait before anyone could see us. We decided to make an appointment and come back another day. Well, the appointment could not be until this Friday. I was disappointed that it would be another week of doing nothing. We were also told that our insurance company would have to approve my decision before any surgery could be planned anyway, so that meant another wait. It was turning into a " waiting game" and I didn't won't to play!

After we got home that evening I received a phone call from my backdoor neighbor, calling to check on me. She again gently told me how she goes to Atlanta to a breast cancer center at Emory for her yearly check-ups. Her mother had died with breast cancer and she goes there because they have much more advanced ways of detecting breast cancer than the usual mamograms done around here. She has a breast MRI done. I went to bed with our conversation on my mind and thought maybe that's what I should do. I am such a loyal person by nature, and I felt that I would be betraying my doctors in Thomasville if I chose to go to Emory. I realize that's not how I should be thinking about this, but that's just the way I am.

Meanwhile that evening, Johnny was on the internet checking out Emory's Winship Cancer Institute.

I had been asking all my friends and family to please be praying for me to have wisdom about what type surgery I should have. I just was so confused about which procedure I should go with.

Little did I know that by the next morning God's Wisdom would come.

Hearing the "C" word

2009-10-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Oct. 12th, 2009 I was told I had Breast Cancer. I went numb. Even the Doctor said I had no expression on my face and wasn't looking back at him with the face of a woman who had just been told she had breast cancer. I was somewhat prepared because of the events leading up to that moment. I had been for my yearly mammogram a few days before and had been called back for more pictures of my left breast followed by a biopsy. So, I knew something wasn't right.

Turns out that I have Tubular Carcinoma stage 1. It's a rare cancer and not aggressive in most cases. Of that I am so thankful. I still have to decide what plan of action I will take as far as removing the cancer. I have a choice of either a Lumpectomy, mastectomy or even a double mastectomy. I say "double mastectomy" because I have had cancer before. Thirty years ago I had Colon Cancer grade C. I had to have 6 feet of my colon removed and months of chemotherapy. Thankfully, I have been cancer free for the last 30 years until now. I'm so tempted to say "just remove both breast" thinking it will lesson my chances of having cancer in my other breast.

Meanwhile I have been inundated with TMI!! I can't process everything. I'm hoping as I go see a plastic surgeon tomorrow he can help with the decision process. Next I hope to talk to an Oncologist and see what he thinks I should do because of my previous cancer.

I'm holding on to my Faith in the Lord, that He loves me and will not put on me more than I can bare. That He will be my strength and my shield in the midst of this battle. That I can be a testimony of His grace, mercy and show forth His peace that passes all understanding to others that may need Him also. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, You are my hope. I shall not be afraid. I love You Lord and I pray my life would be molded into Your plan for me.

Stay tuned for the battle plan and the victory celebration!

Read Through The Bible

2009-10-01T05:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Today October 1st, 2009 I completed a 2 year journey of reading through the Bible. I was determined I wasn't going to just READ, but prayerfully READ through the Bible. I wanted to take my time and listen for GOD to speak to me through His word. And He did! I also tried to commit the scriptures that spoke directly to my life to memory and record them in my scripture memory 3x5 spiral card holder thing. I was challenged to do this from a Bible Study Method called Salt & Light by Debbie Friley. It's great, you need to check it out on the web. The neatest thing is when you're done, you just start all over again. So, I'll be back in Genesis tomorrow!

Summer 09

2009-09-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, down another pound! Only thing, I had lost that same pound a few weeks ago. Hope to loose two more this week where I can move out of this set of numbers!

Toolbox cake

2009-09-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

I was asked to come up with a cake for a couples wedding shower. They were going to have a home and garden theme. The guest were going to give gifts from Home Depot and such. After much thought, I came up with this toolbox idea. Only thing was that most toolboxes are black or red. One thing I've learned in cake decorating is that you don't want to serve an all black or all red cake. Everyone's mouth and teeth get so stained with the color. So, I made a little trip to our local Home Depot and scoped out the toolboxes to see what other colors might work better. This is what I came up with.

I baked three sheet cakes, trimmed them down to the right size, layered them with some icing, and covered the cake with yellow buttercream icing. I tinted some fondant and formed the handle and latch. I covered my board with wood grain contact paper. Then I found a small tool apron and stopped by the Dollar Tree and bought some tools to fill it with. Next time, I want to try making the tool out of fondant. I was pleased, I hope the shower couple was.

Get'er Done!!!

Summer 09

2009-09-22T04:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I knew it! I gained back 1.8 pound! What should I expect after the way I ate all week? I didn't really eat too much, I just made wrong choices. I'm gonna do better this week. I've got some new friends that joined this past week, and I'm determined not to let them out do me!! We'll see! The pressure is on!

Thirty Years

2009-09-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

On September 14th 2009 I celebrated 30 years of being Cancer Free!! I feel very humbled and very thankful also. God has been so gracious to me. He healed me, of this I am very sure. My cancer was colon cancer. I was a 28 year old wife and mother of two young boys. The cancer was in the next to the last stage of spreading all over my body and most likely bringing my life to an end. As God allowed me to go through this trial, He also drew me to Himself and into a loving relationship with His son Jesus. Over these years, I have been richly blessed by Him in so many ways. I have come to love His Word, my prayer and worship time with Him, and to look for His activity and involvement in my daily life. He has blessed me over the years with a loving husband and two wonderful sons. And to add to that, more blessings have come my way through these sons as they brought two beautiful daughters-in-law into our family followed by 6 precious grandchildren (and another one on the way this March.)! Oh, what I would have missed. So much living and life have filled these last 30 years. Thank You Lord for answering the prayers of those who love and care about me. These years have been such a gift to me. I can't image what You have in store for me in Heaven. I pray my life has brought honor and glory to You, my Lord and Savior. Thank you Jesus!

Summer 09

2009-09-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

Yeep pee!! I lost 2lbs!! And, all total I have lost 11 lbs. I have yo yoed for the past few weeks with the same few pounds. Maybe this time they are gone. I'm not sure I mentioned it, but what has helped is that I'm walking 3 miles on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. I hope I can finish out this decade soon!! When I get out of this decade, I'm going to post a new pic.

Fallen Giraffe Cake, oops!

2009-09-12T15:29:00.001-07:00

Things were going well for my Standup Giraffe Cake yesterday, so I decided to add a little larger nose and add the yellow icing. Then the added neck section began to move and lean forward, then the legs sections began to spread apart, the head fell off and then it all came crashing down!! This was the first cake I've ever had to just fall apart and have to be put in the trash. There was no saving it! It was for my granddaughter Lucy's 4th Birthday Party the next day!! What was I going to do?? At 8:30 pm that night I decided I would have to start over with a new plan. No way was this design ever going to stay standing, must less travel to Tallahassee the party. I decided to make a shaped Giraffe cake. But, I needed a template to cut it from. I made some calls looking for one of my artistic family members to come over and draw me a sketch of a Giraffe for the cut-out cake. I found Jeff and he came over and drew the pattern for my next attempt at Lucy's cake. At 3:30am I finished this creation of her cake. I had about 4hrs. sleep. We got up early and drove the cake down to the Tallahasse Museum where she had her party.

What mattered the most was, Lucy loved it and we had enough to feed all the playground visitors as well as her little party guest!

Lessons learned on this one.

1. I used a Lamb pan, it leaked the batter out while cooking. Need to secure it together better before baking.

2. Need to careful about the balance of the body. Adding the nose caused it to lean forward and fall.

3. Cake batter needs to be from a pound cake, not yellow cake. Would help give the cake more firmness.

4. Body section needs to be placed on leg section after it has been transported to it's location.

5. A Lamb pan is for a Lamb, not a Giraffe!!!

Shark Cake

2009-09-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

I lost some sleep over this cake. I knew how I wanted the cake to look, but I couldn't come up with how to engineer the Shark head. I thought and thought and finally came up with this design. I used a football shaped cake pan, baking two layers, both top and bottom. I put icing between the layers to help hold them together. Then I stood it up and cut it at an angle on one end so it would sit with his head up. I placed some of what I cut off under his mouth to help hold the head up. Later I covered this area with the blue icing to look like waves and to help hide this "prop". Then I cut the mouth open, praying it would stay open. I then placed the shark on top of a large sheet cake and iced it blue for the water. I wasn't really satisfied with the way the water turned out, but I was pressed for time. Maybe I'll do something different here next time. I used black icing for the eyes and gills. The teeth and finn also a bit trying !! First I tried using a sugar cookie for the finn, but it was too heavy. I ended up using a graham cracker cut and iced. Next came the teeth. I first tried to use candy corn, but too short. Marshmallows, too big and sticky. I finally used fondant and cut and shaped each tooth. Whew wee, glad this one turned out and he kept his head up all the way to the party. Happy Birthday Andrew!

Double Birthday Celebration!

2009-08-31T19:21:00.001-07:00

After taking the summer off from cake decorating , I jumped back in with a Sponge Bob and Cheerleader cake that I made for John Adams and his cousin Kate McRae. The family gathered at the McRae's, enjoyed pizza and John Adams and Kate each enjoyed their "own" cakes!

Victoria Secret Bustier Cake

2009-08-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

VaVaVoom! I had a little fun with this cake. It was for a Bridal Lingerie Shower. I shaped it from a large sheet and baked two small bowls for the "cups". Added a little lace effect around the edges and a little down the middle. And there you have it!

Summer 09

2009-08-31T18:56:00.001-07:00

Alright, I'm back on track! I lost 2.2 lbs this week. It helped that I walked 3 miles this morning. I hope to start walking three times a week and I hope to reach my first 10 pound goal soon. It's been a slow go, but it's going.

Summer 09

2009-08-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, I buggered up! I gained this week. I was so disappointed. A whole pound and a half!! I thought I could eat the same as everyone else. Before I knew it I had eaten three "bad choice" meals in a row. I've not done much better this week. I just got back from a seated dinner and was not in control of what was placed before me. Thankfully I have until Monday to make some adjustments. Hope I can do better. I'll check back in on Monday night and file my report!

Summer 09

2009-08-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight I moved out of one group of numbers and entered into another. Would you say I left a decade? I'm down 8.6 lbs. all total in six weeks. I'll take it considering I had a weekend in Atlanta and ate out Friday, Saturday and Sunday! I hope to do better this week, if I can keep myself home! I know it's coming off slow, but it's coming off!! I'm beginning to tell a difference in my clothes. I have almost moved down a pants size.

Summer 09

2009-08-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

Yea! down 2.7 pounds! This week is looking like another hard one to stay on track and have the time to plan out my meals. My plan is to just eat less when I can't control what my choices are. Maybe next week will be easier because our Summer time activity will slow down after this weekend. I hope I can control myself Thursday night because it's John Adams' Birthday and we are having two of my favorite things........ Birthday cake and Pizza!!! I've been reminded several times this week how the "Choices" (not just with food) we make in life are so important. I pray I will make "good" choices this week.

SUMMER 09

2009-08-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

Every little bit counts. I'm down a half pound. Doesn't sound like much but that's the same as loosing two sticks of butter off my body. It was a hard week because I had helped host a Bridal Luncheon and I ate cheese cake, had the family over for lunch and ate out a few times. All total I've lost almost 6 pounds according to my WW tracker. Let's see what this week holds for me as I spend it at the Lake with the kids. It's strange, but I feel like I've lost more by the way my clothes are fitting.

Just by posting my progress on this blog has helped hold me accountable and seems to be what I needed to get my mind right to do this.

Summer 09

2009-07-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

Progress:

This week I was able to drop a little over a pound. It was hard though. I was at the Lake with family and one of the main themes at the Lake is "what are we going to eat"! I was able to eat some of what we cooked and had the will-power to eat only a tiny bit of the sweet stuff. This week I have already made it through an ice cream social and have a luncheon coming up on Saturday. We'll see how it goes!

Summer 09

2009-07-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Progress this week:

I'm down 2 1/2 lbs. Had to rejoin Weight Watchers and Curves and doing a mind adjusting Bible Study!! Taking a lot. Crush, Capture and Concur! Three new "power words" I'm learning.

With less of me,

Sue Sue

SUMMER 09

2009-07-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

I made it! Here I am 30 lbs. lighter! It took awhile. On and off for the rest of 2009, but in Aug. of 2010, I got really serious! Now to keep it off! Yeep Pee!!!!!

HERE I AM AT THE LAKE HOUSE POOL. I'M GONNA USE THIS PHOTO AS MY BEFORE PICTURE. I'M ABOUT READY FOR YOU TO SEE LESS OF ME!! MAYBE THIS WILL HELP MOTIVATE ME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT MY EXTRA POUNDS I'VE FOUND! I NEED SOME ENCOURAGEMENT AND MOTIVATION TO GET ME GOING!! STAY TUNED AS I DIVE IN. CAN'T BELIEVE I'M POSTING THIS!

SUE SUE

Pokiemon Cake

2009-06-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a cake I did for Braden's 9th Birthday at his request. More later.

Polka Dot Cake

2009-06-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

This was my first try at using fondant. It was pretty easy to work with. This cake was made for Kendrick's Graduation/18th Birthday. Our family had a gathering at Dargan and Kelly's home to celebrate. We also celebrated our brother Daryl's 60th Birthday that same evening. We all had fun eating and listening to Kendrick and Charla play their favorites on the piano and joining in with some singing.

Princess Castle Cake

2009-06-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a Princess Castle Cake I made this past week for two precious little 4 year old girl's Birthday Ball. I wasn't sure how to cover the ice cream cones with the fondant, but it turned out fine. I got the color right this time with my icing. The windows are made from Hershey Bars. I baked four square sheet cakes of two different sizes. Fun fun!!

Grandboys having fun!

2009-05-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

I'll be writing about these boys later, pictures say enough for now!

Butterfly cake

2009-05-23T18:49:00.001-07:00

This is a Butterfly cake I made this weekend for a dear friend of mine, Mrs. Jean Wingard. It was her 80th Birthday. Jean is such a special lady to many of us at Grace Church. She has always been our source of "how to throw a party" the correct way. She has all the right recipes, knows all the "how to's", and how to do things the proper way when having a ladies party. She has helped many of us women at Grace marry off our children by helping with their wedding party given by what use to be "Ladies of Grace". Thanks to Jean, we at Grace Church were know for our beautiful parties held at the Grace Fellowship Hall. Oh, such wonderful memories. That's not to say the lovely showers and teas aren't still happening because we had one such event today at First Methodist Church in honor of Mrs. Jean's 80th Birthday. It seemed only fitting to honor her on her special day and try to give her a party where we ladies could kinda show her our love and gratitude and have a little "pay back" for her after all she's done for us and our families.

I had been told Jean loved Butterflies, so I decided to bake her this Butterfly Cake. I knew there was about 100 people invited so I needed to bake a pretty large cake. The bottom layer was two 12x18 cakes joined together making one large bottom layer. The Butterfly was cut from one 12x18 cake. I had found a color sheet of a butterfly on-line and had Johnny blow it up using his office printer. I then cut out my pattern from that outline. I discovered a neat trick of using dark icing to trace the picture, then flipping it on to the cake which left a perfect outline of the butterfly on my crumb coated butterfly cake. Then I just filled in the different section of the wing with the different colored icing.

Here are the lessons I learned from this cake:

Don't start off with too much color because it darkens as it sits.

Always cover the board with a slick finished paper. Especially the board that's under the stacked cake.

Need a box cutter to cut the cardboard and a better way to cut the wooden dowels.

Hope I will remember all that for the next cake which comes up next weekend! It's gonna be a Princess Castle!!

Anyway, here's my Butterfly cake!

Grandgirls happenings

2009-05-22T20:12:00.001-07:00

Here are just a few snap shots of my granddaughters as they wind up their school year. Of course little Elizabeth has not been in school, but she has traveled the highways running Katherine and John Adams to school and after school programs. She had a little "mishap", one of her front teeth fell out. Well, there is a story behind that as to why. When she was just learning to toddle around the coffee table, she bumped her mouth nearly knocking out her front tooth. It ended up barely staying in, but she kept it for a good while until last month when she bit into an apple. So, she's our little "snag" right now. But she's cute as ever!!

Katherine finished up the third grade in Moscow. She is 9 years old. Here she is in the photo at her end of the year ice skating competition. She won a 1st and a 4th place ribbon. Lucy is seen here at her Pre-K (3yr) program. It had a Western theme where they all dressed up like little cowgirls and boys. She sang some cute songs and enjoyed an ice cream party outside where a clown made them little puppie dog balloons. The other photo shows her at her other 3yr. program at Miss Katie's school, as she calls it. They sang some songs and we had more snacks than they could possibly eat.

I'm now looking forward to having all the Grand kids here in Bainbridge for the Summer. Jad, Lena and the kids will travel here from Moscow in a few weeks. We hope to have our Lake House finished by then where we can make some fun Summer memories together as a family!!

Next comes the Grand Boys of Summer. As soon as I can round up some photos of them.

The Making of a Hot Dog Cake

2009-05-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

I had a request for a Hog Dog cake this weekend for a little boys 1st Birthday. I knew it was going to be a busy week so I planned ahead. I shopped early in the week for all my cake supplies, baked my cakes and made the icing. So I felt like I had things under control. The problem was I just could not figure how to make this Hot Dog cake. I kept going over and over in my mine how to put it together. I found myself lying awake at night trying to figure it out, for crying out loud!!

I decided to bake three 9x13 cakes and freeze them so they would be easier to cut and shape. Well, this morning I got the cakes out of the freezer and stacked them one on top of the other, putting icing between each layer. Then, I just stood there and looked at the cakes wondering how to cut them into the shape of a Hot Dog. I knew if I cut wrong, I had no time to start over. I chickened out!! I called my brother Dargan, who is a professional portrait artist, to come to my rescue. Praise the Lord he came and carved the Hot Dog out of the cake like he does it everyday!

Here's the process. I think if I had to do it over, I would make it longer, and not as tall.

As you can see I also made a "smash-cake" for little Jack to have all to himself.

Simon's 7th Birthday!

2009-05-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Simon's 7th Birthday (a little early) by going to the Movie "Earth" with about 8 boys from his 1st grade class. At first we were going to just pick-up a cake from the DQ, but I couldn't stand the idea of me not baking a cake for my own grandson! So, at the last minute this morning I decided to bake his cake. He had told me he wanted a Whale cake. Well, I had no idea how to pull that off in just a few hours. So, I got on the internet and found this idea. Thank goodness I had all the ingredients and did not have to leave the house for anything and that saved a lot of time. This was probably the fastest cake I've ever made, and to some degree it looks like it. It wasn't my best, but the boys enjoyed it!

better photo

2009-05-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Onesie Cake, again

2009-05-02T05:08:00.000-07:00

I had a request for a baby shower cake this week. I used the same design that I had used once before of this onesie cake. The first time I did this cake, I took an actual onesie and laid it out and traced out the shape on some paper then cut out the pattern. This turned out to be a very busy week, so already having the pattern came in handy and saved some time. I took this photo with my cell phone, so it might not be the best photo.

I hope they enjoyed the cake and it went well with the theme????

Next will be Simon's Birthday, then my nieces Graduation, followed by an adult Butterfly Cake for a sweet ladies 80th birthday.

Pool is done!

2009-04-29T13:39:00.001-07:00

Here it is! Yea!!

Lake House swimming pool

2009-04-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

Yeah! We are so excited our swimming pool went in this week at our Lake House. I'll have more pictures later. Can't wait to jump in. Oh, but now I've got to learn to swim first! :-o

Horse Cake

2009-04-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a Horse Cake I made for a little guy that was turning 5. He was having a Horse Party. It was actually a cake I donated in the Winter Fest. back in November. It went to the highest bidder. It's my way of helping out the school with something I can do myself to make a little income of my own.

Pursuing More of Jesus

2009-04-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

My Bible Study group just finished studying Esther, and it was so convicting. I need to be more willing to make a stand for Christ in this crazy word we live in! If you've not "done it", I suggest you do.

Our group didn't won't to stop meeting just yet, so I found a six week study to carry us through until school is out. It's called Pursuing More of Jesus, by Anne Graham Lotz. I love her teaching. This study is based on the Gospel of John where Jesus is teaching His disciples as He is approaching His last days with them. Everything Jesus had to say in His Word is important, but I wanted to explore what He focused on as He knew His life here was done, ( for awhile anyway). I want more of Him in my life and to be able to recognise His voice in my ear instead of the "chatter" of this world and the whispers of Satan.

Come join us...............

Kitchen taking Shape

2009-03-31T07:21:00.001-07:00

Here's a new pic of our Kitchen. You can see the wall paneling has it's second coat of a light olive paint on. We've got one more to go. Wayne has begun putting down the tile. Next, the appliances will go in then the counter top. We've added a new window, eye ball lights, new fan and revived the old ceiling. Our last thing will be to give the cabinets a good cleaning and shine treatment. Last night was about our 9th painting trip out there with about twice as many to go. But, it's looking good and hopefully it will be ready for us to spend the night one night soon!

Stay tuned.

Lake House is Shaping Up

2009-03-09T07:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some before and after shots. You can see the new windows and new cedar siding. The added screened porch on the back ( lake talk it's the front) I can't wait to enjoy the porch. We've closed in the double garage and made two small master bed/bath rooms. Now we are painting inside.......pics to come.

Going, Going, Gone!

2009-02-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

Well, that's the way it's done! Old Oak Tree is down and gone! It took two days. I was real pleased with the job the men did. The yard was left in pretty good shape. They had to take down one section of our fence, but put it back with no problem. Now, all is left is getting use to it being gone. Ah, sweet sleep in the bad weather and no more sweeping the yard!

Good bye, Old Friend!

2009-02-26T09:26:00.001-08:00

This is our old oak tree in the backyard. It has provided many hours of swinging from his strong limbs. The Grand kids have especially enjoyed their swings that hung there. One day we were able to throw a rope up and tie onto one of the high limbs and attach the kids a swing. It was amazing how high they could swing. It was a little scary to be honest. The sounds of laughter and the smiles on their faces made it worth it all!

Little did we know, that over the years, the tree was catching water in the top and it was slowly rotting in the middle of the trunk all the way down to the ground. As you can see, it left a huge rotten hole in the bottom. To make matters worse, the tree was leaning towards our bedroom. All that doesn't make for a good night's sleep on a rainy night! Last week we had a horrible wind and rain storm and I decided then and there that would be the last time I stayed awake worrying that I would die from the tree crashing through our bedroom! So, today the tree men have arrived, all the swings have been taken down and the saws are a buzzing! So sorry to see him go :-( Thanks for the memories. You were a good old friend to all who enjoyed your presence. Oh, my, the yard is going to be so sunny now!

Remembering Riley

2009-02-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

This week it has been one year since our beloved pup, Riley passed away. We still miss him so. He was such a big part of our lives for nearly 13 years. He was a true member of our family and gave us such joy. He was a loving friend too. Always there ready to greet you with a wag of his tail as if to say "please sit down where I can get in your lap". He loved his early or late evening walks around the block, especially with Johnny. He was always ready to ride where ever we were going. And he hated to be left home alone. He welcomed each grandchild into the family with love and affection almost as much as Johnny and I did. Everyone was his friend. He was a wonderful dog and we wish he was still here with us. But, he's here in our hearts and thoughts almost everyday. We miss you "pup".

Three Cakes in one Weekend

2009-02-15T17:50:00.001-08:00

Along with the "Camp Rock" cake I made this 50th Anniversary cake for some friends and also this "Cat in the Hat" cake. Now, that one was a challenge. It took me several tries until I felt I had the layers secure enough too keep from falling over. I placed each layer on a card board and then drove a dowel down through all of them including the base board. I used three large sheet cakes to cut each layer of the hat out of. I also used a good pound cake recipe to give the cake firm layers. I'm glad these are behind me and that God blessed me with good cakes and that I got each one done on time. Now the fun of cleaning my kitchen!!

First of Three

2009-02-13T06:45:00.001-08:00

Here's my first of three cakes I'm making this weekend. It's my take on the latest fad with the kids, "Camp Rock". I sat the guitar on a sheet to be sure it could feed all the little girls, cousins and adults that will be celebrating Lainey's Birthday. Now on to a Heart shaped 50th Anniversary Cake.

Lake House Project

2009-02-11T14:04:00.001-08:00

Here's our new home away from home! Yes, we finally have a vacation get away. Well, it's a fixer upper but that makes it all the more fun. Johnny and his sister, Joan went in together and bought this house on Fish Pond Drain a few months ago. They bought it on an online auction when they placed the winning bid, fun too! Now, the real fun has begun with fixing it up. It was a two bedroom two bath ranch style home with a double garage. We have turned the garage into two (small) master bedrooms. Here in the photo is the added screened porch that will give a great view of the Lake and many hours of enjoyment in the days to come. We are covering the exterior with cedar board and batting to give it that "cabin" look. I hope to post more before and after shots in the days ahead. Until then, I'll be on the dock fishing! ( wishful thinking)LOL

Aunt Sue's 90th

2009-01-31T20:42:00.000-08:00

What a happy day this was! Can't believe our Aunt Betty Sue has turned 90! She can't believe it either. She has always collected china shoes so I thought I would make her a "shoe cake". We had invited all her family and friends, so I thought I might better make two cakes instead of one. Each of these are two sheet cakes iced together into one large cake. So, four cakes in all.

Oh Deer!

2009-01-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

Look what my son Jad did this morning. He shot himself a Buck! A big one too. Over 200 lbs. Nine point, I think.

Jad had been getting up early, just about every morning since he arrived here from Moscow, and going deer hunting with his friend Jim. It paid off today when he finally got him one. It just made his holidays in Bainbridge all the more enjoyable. I think he dreams of days like this when he's cooped up in his office in Moscow. Way to go Jad! We are looking forward to some good meat soon. Now you can check this off your "to do " lists.

2009-01-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

All In The Family

2008-12-28T02:41:00.000-08:00

What a day! Finally a good Family picture of everyone!! This took some effort, but it was well worth it when you get these results. It was a beautiful day and the kids all cooperated the best they could. We all actually had fun being outside and afterwards we went in for lunch and family gift exchange. Grandmother GIGI was especially thankful for the gathering. The day after Christmas all the adults went out for a nice dinner and an early celebration of her 8O Birthday! We are all so thankful of the many blessing from GOD this past year. And so thankful that we know Christ as our LORD and SAVIOR!

My prayer is to know HIM more this New Year and make HIM known to others.

Christmas Card 2008

2008-12-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

What an effort! Getting the clothes, and getting everyone together. Having them sit still and put on a "happy face" all at the same time!

This is what I got!

Well worth it! What a blessing and what joy! Love'em all!

Merry Christmas

Sue Sue

Reindeer Cookies

2008-12-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

Now, this was a fun cookie to make. So easy too! Just buy some nutter butter cookies, M&Ms and mini pretzels. Stick everything on with royal icing and "there you go"! The kids love 'em!

Cute Cat!

2008-12-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

Here's Lucy with her painted face at the Grace Christian Academy Winter Festival. She loved it and it was really cute on her!

Cookies Required!

2008-12-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

This was my first cookie baking of the Christmas Season. These are my Christmas Trees. I used M&Ms for the Christmas lights on the trees. Most times I just use sprinkles, but I like this idea better. These were made for Grace Christian Academy's Winter Festival fund raiser. I couldn't believe people paid $4.00 for one of these! I've got many more to bake before the Holidays are over. I hope I can keep from licking my fingers! I don't want to use all my Weight Watcher points on cookies!

Bob The Builder

2008-11-18T05:03:00.001-08:00

Here's my attempt at a Bob The Builder Cake. It was pretty fun to do. I baked the mound in a round glass bowl. Then cut it down on one side. I covered it with icing and patted it down with crushed graham crackers (mixed with butter and sugar). The road was also covered with crumbs. The log pile was from stick cookies and the rocks were cereal covered raisins. Then just frost it with your grass tip add a little border and there you go!

The Next Olympic Champ!

2008-11-15T13:19:00.001-08:00

Here's our Granddaughter, Katherine performing her routine for the Judges. One gave her a 2nd place the other a 3rd place. She did great! She's doing really well with her skating lessons. She is 8 years old and lives in Moscow Russia.

Fist full of Dollars (Russian Rubles)!

2008-11-11T06:09:00.000-08:00

I found out Jad was speaking at a "Young Business Professionals" meeting in Moscow. I see he's got a fist full of Rubles! I hope they are worth more than our dollar these days! He better hold on to them!

Weird

2008-11-01T09:19:00.001-07:00

You'll have to click on this to really see the photo. It's so weird to see your son's photo on a Russian seminar brochure as a speaker! I haven't got a clue what this is about??!!! I think maybe some young business men's meeting? I need to call and get more info.

Aunt Sue

2008-10-27T11:42:00.001-07:00

This is my dear Aunt Sue. Isn't she a beauty? She'll be 90 in Feb. '09. This photo was made this past Sunday at the dedication of the Kirbo Regional Center at Bainbridge College. She and my late Uncle Red were life time friends of Mr. Charles Kirbo, whom the Center was named for. She had such a good time visiting with the Kirbo family and other friends. I'll write more about my "Sue" later..........

All good things must come to an end.

2008-10-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here we are, saying good bye to our wonderful New England vacation. We had a nice time looking at God's Creation and it's beautiful display of Fall color! Now it's back to the real world!

New England Vacation

2008-10-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

[Sorry about this "side-winder" photo. I don't know how to fix it.] Each year Johnny and I try to take a trip after his long hours of Tax Season are over. So, this year we went to New England. It's somewhere I've always wanted to visit. I just love that time in History, the sites, landmarks and beautiful colonial homes. I had the hardest time trying to narrow down where to go. We started our trip by a visit with our friends, the Powells in New Hampshire at their Lodge and Campground location. They were so gracious to put us up in a little log cabin. There we did a morning hike over their property and drove around to all the best sites. Next, we drove to our "Leaf Package" we had booked, two nights in Kennebunkport, Maine at the White Barn Inn and two nights at the Windham Hill Inn in Townshend, Vermont. The Inns were wonderful and the leaf color was breath taking! We discovered there wasn't much to see or do in Kennebunkport but eat! And we did! While in Maine, we drove to York and enjoyed taking part in their October Fest. It was fun to mingle with the local folks, to hear their funny accents and to hear their comments on ours! Then we drove across Maine and New Hampshire to Vermont for our next stay. There we enjoyed another hike, more Fall color, more food and exploring more covered Bridges and quaint little towns and Taverns. It was a great get away. And most of all Johnny and I enjoyed our time together!

Tractor Pulling Pumpkins Cake

2008-10-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

This one kept me tossing and turning all night trying to figure out how to make the tractor and wagon out of six little loaf cakes I had baked the day before. I kept designing it in my head while trying to go to sleep, knowing I needed a good nights sleep, but also knowing I had to have it done the next day. So, I just got up in the middle of the night and start trying to arrange the cakes until I came up with what I thought would look like a tractor. Sometimes, my best creations come in the wee hours of the morning. Then I'm half dead all the next day. Another hard thing was making sure the scale of the tractor and wagon would fit on top of the sheet cake I had already baked. I knew I didn't have time to bake another one.

I used store bought donuts as the wheels, pirouette chocolate cookies (Pepperidge Farm) to attach the wheels and wagon, crumbled Graham crackers for the road surface, and candy pumpkins in the wagon.

Well, here is the finished product! You learn as you go!

Yard Art

2008-10-08T18:23:00.001-07:00

I'm getting tacky in my old age, so my husband tells me. I just love (some) yard art. This is one of my favorite things in my yard. It's two boys at play. They are made from iron frames. I have them placed right where I can see them from my kitchen window. They remind me of our sons, Jad and Jeff. The one doing the hand stand is Jeff and the one with the kite is Jad. They make me smile, how 'bout you?

Class of 1968

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

This weekend was my (and Johnny's) 40th class Reunion. Not many of our classmates were able to make it, so our numbers were way down. We met at the Country Club for a Bar B Q dinner and a good time of visiting each other. Earlier in the week we were able to spend extra time with our friends, Patsy and Wesley Hargraves. Here I am with friends Barbara Mathis Snipes and Mary Miller Scarbrough. It's so good to catch up on each other's lives. It was clear to me how important it is to make time in this busy, selfish world for relationships. They must be nurtured, just as our relationship with our Heavenly Father.