They Call Me Aunt CaCa (I know, I know)

If you know me at all, one thing you've probably realized is that I love my nieces!
They call me "CaCa". I'm fully aware of what that means :) But since it was given to me when my oldest niece was learning to talk I've cherished it. (Even hearing it yelled down the airport terminal when arriving home and seeing Carsyn waiting for me at the gate.) I am that aunt who will talk about her nieces, share stories and pictures, and just anything about my sister's girls.

I LOVE THEM!

I have had some special memories with both of my nieces, and I cherish them with all of my heart.
Before moving overseas my sister and nieces came to visit a lot. My youngest niece, Sara Kate (affectionately known as the Squish) stayed in my room. She was only a little over 2 at the time so she would often talk to me (trying to keep from sleeping at night) with her babblings. Many nights I would give in and take her out of her crib and we'd sit in my bed and read a few books. She's a firecracker so she doesn't sit still too often :) I really took advantage of these moments to sit and cuddle with her while reading her books.
One night with Carsyn (my oldest niece) I was able to go outside and just lay on a blanket in the grass. We looked up at the stars and just giggled and talked. One thing I've always loved about Carsyn is she's silly, but I can hang out with her. We've had a tradition of going to the movies every Christmas since she was two! Even at the age of two she would go sit and watch a movie (a cartoon movie of course), but she's just always been that way. She can be still and watch the stars with her Aunt CaCa and make up stories to tell me as she lays there. That night we saw a shooting star. Carsyn's first ever! and I'm so thankful I was there when she yelled, "CaCa, did you see that!?!"
I remember the day each of them was born. I can remember holding them for the very first time, looking in their precious, chubby, little faces :) and just praising God for them.
This past week I became an aunt (officially) for the third time. Even though the means by which this happened was completely different, the joy, love, and excitement I felt was exactly the same. When my sister and brother-in-law went to court I prayed, earnestly, crying out to God for favor that Levi would be declared their son. I was so nervous and a bit of a wreck the day before wanting so badly for the answer to be "yes" and for Levi to officially be a part of our family.
The day of their hearing I checked my email as often as I could, waiting to hear news. The moment I read Amber's update that Levi was officially declared their's, I literally jumped out of my seat and shouted "THEY GOT HIM!!!" My friend who was with me, jumped up too and we hugged, praising the Lord! I ran downstairs to where some people who had been joining with me (and so many others in this process) in prayer, and announced the news. There was such great rejoicing! We were all so excited!
I don't know exactly when I will get to officially meet my nephew, but when that day comes I'm sure tears of joy will accompany it. He is beautiful and already has a piece of his Aunt CaCa's heart (just like his sisters before him).
I was thinking today over the events leading to this day of joy, and it occurred (once again) what a beautiful picture this is of God's love for us. The scriptures say "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." (Luke 15:7) and then again "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10)
That last verse says "There is joy IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ANGELS". Who is in the presnce of angels?! Our Father! He rejoices over us!
Paul says frequently that when we are saved we become CHILDREN OF GOD. We can call out, "Abba Father". We are adopted and loved beyond anything we can imagine. The day that happened in my life there was rejoicing in heaven! The same rejoicing happens with every persons who trusts in the Gospel!
This past week I got to see a very real picture of that through the adoption of my nephew. The boy is barely old enough to talk and I have seen the beauty of the Gospel so much through his story. This was just another way in which my Father reminded me of His love; that just as there was much rejoicing over Levi being declared a part of our family, the rejoicing over one person who trusts in Christ is even greater! What a beautiful picture of God's love for us!

So, this is one happy "Aunt CaCa" :)

I praise the Lord for my nephew, and for the ways in which my Father continually uses my nieces and my nephew to remind me of the beauty of being His, declared His daughter, and the joy of knowing that it will never change!

Kinda Like Chocolate and Vanilla...Different But Together They Make a Great Combo!

I have a great sister. We are best friends, and I praise the Lord for her often!

While Amber and I are close now though, that has not always been the case. We are five years apart and so growing up we didn't really have much to do with each other. We didn't fight, but we weren't very close either. We were just different and so we did our own thing.

Amber was into things like fashion, make-up, dance, the Royal family (she was a big Princess Di fan!), and socializing. We've always said that my sister could talk to the wall just to be talking. She's still that way, but it's a GREAT part of her personality. She is comfortable with anyone and makes them feel comfortable too.

Me on the other hand, growing up, I was into things like Transformers, Legos, my fashion consisted (daily until about the 6-7th grade) of spandex shorts, a t-shirt, side pony tail and slip-on Keds (NO socks...they were annoying!) My social life looked more like going to catch tadpoles and frogs with my friends on a rainy day or making traps to catch snakes (don't worry we didn't ever actually catch anything).

So I understand how siblings (even twins often) can be COMPLETELY different.

Last week I had the opportunity to be challenged with two sisters who are on opposite spectrums when it comes to their likes and dislikes.

My friend, Liz, has five daughters. Two of them, Emma and Savanna, recently had birthdays. They are two years apart, but their birthdays are only about 9 days apart. Liz wanted to have a party for both of them together, and I LOVE to bake and decorate so I told Liz I wanted to make their cake. And OH! WHAT A BLAST!!!

I talked with Emma and Savanna about what they wanted. I already know these girls fairly well, so I was aware of the challenge ahead of me. Just to give you an idea of my "clientele" here's a rundown on Savanna (turning 6) and Emma (turning 8).

Emma is silly. She makes people laugh all the time just because she is so goofy! She loves Legos, ANYTHING to do with dinosaurs, she wants to be an archaeolgists when she grows up, her favorite colors are green and "sometimes blue", and she is VERY strong-willed and determined.

Savanna on the other hand is the EPIDEMY of a girl! She LOVES fashion, make up, doing her nails, she is sassy as can be, loves pink and purple and ANYTHING that sparkles. In an email I recieved from Liz before moving here she was telling me about her girls and said, "Savanna is 5 going on 35." And that about sums up Savanna :)

They are both beautiful, precious girls!

When talking with them Savanna (who is a bit dramatic...actually "bit" is an understatement) looked at me with pouty eyes when I told them I was making a cake for them together and said, "Uh! That means we have to have a dinosaur cake because Emma loves dinosaurs. I hate dinosaurs." :)

I told her not to worry and asked what she would like. She responded, "Ponies. I want ponies on my cake." Emma with a disgusted face said, "Can you even make a cake that has dinosaurs AND ponies?" I again assured them both that the cake would be fine.

I then asked about flavor (that should be easy), if they wanted chocolate or vanilla.

Emma: "I LOVE vanilla."

Savanna: "I LOVE chocolate SO much!"

Yep...this was gonna be F.U.N!

So I came up with a plan to make a cake they would (hopefully) both like. I have made many cakes before, but not one this big! It was GI-NORMOUS!

I decided to make a rainbow layered cake. I figured with all the colors this would be a good neutral theme for two girls who like completely different colors. I also wanted to give them both their flavors so I decided to make them their own "pedestals" with cupcakes (one with a dino and the other a pony) on top of the main base cake.

My mom sent some cake mixes a while back so I used the chocolate cake mix for Savanna's pedestal and made the rest of the yellow cake from scratch. (The recipe I found was REALLY good, so if you're interested let me know and I'll be happy to pass it on).

I made regular royal icing for the majority of the cake, but used fondant to give each of the girls their respective dinosaur and pony. This was my first experience making and using fondant, and I learned something: fondant and I have a love/hate relationship. It goes like this...fondant LOVES to not cooperate with me, and I HATE working with fondant :)

In the end, the fondant and I found a compromise and I was just happy to be able to give each of the girls what they wanted.

Both Emma and Savanna were EXTREMELY happy with how it turned out. And this of course made it all worth it.

After we started eating the cake Savanna looked at me and said, "Courtney, I can't finish. It's too much sugar." I looked down to see that she had eaten the entire body of her pony! I started laughing and said, "Sweetie, you didn't have to eat that thing. It's pure sugar! It was really just for decoration." Relieved she said, "Okay, good. I think I just want to eat my cake." :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 2 VERY DIFFERENT BUT VERY SWEET SISTERS!