The last couple of weeks have been a little crazy. Our school is getting ready for our annual fundraiser, and I volunteered to help. I had no idea what I was getting into! It's been a lot of work, but I've enjoyed it, for the most part. It's just a lot to do. I was given phone lists of people who got donation requests, so I'm following up on the letters and asking for stuff. I've had a lot of success, which makes it easier to continue asking. :) I try to do it during Grace's nap time, so that only leaves me a couple of hours each day to get these calls done. I've been doing it for about a week and a half, and I still have a lot of phone calls to do. 

Some say that things happen in 3's, so if that's the case, I think we're done with break-downs for a while. Before Christmas, our washer went out and we had to replace it. (The transmission was out.) Right after we got back from Ohio, our dryer went out! Then before we could get that fixed, our car started making a funny sound! Ugh! We decided to wait on fixing the dryer and get the car fixed first, since my sweet neighbor offered us her dryer anytime we needed it. I'm glad we did! My awesome dad came up Saturday with mom to bring us some furniture from their house (a dresser and a patio table with chairs), so he looked at the dryer. It was only a $30 fix! Yeah!! He saved me $85 in labor! (I couldn't believe that's how much the local guy wanted. yikes!) It was a huge blessing to us to have that.  The car also only took 1 day to do, which was nice, once we finally dropped it off.

When my parents came, we took Grace to the park, and she loved it! She's finally big enough to play on the equipment (but only with Mommy close behind!) She even goes down the big twisty slide by herself! I've taken her over there a couple times this week, and we had so much fun. I think we'll go today, because John wants to see her in action over there.

I've been busy making cakes lately too. I made one for my grandmother's anniversary. She and her husband have been married 20 years, so my parents and my sister and her family all went up for the weekend to celebrate, a few weeks after the special day. It was fun, and they loved the cake.

Last night, I made a cake for my sunday school fellowship. I got a new cake recipe book for Christmas, so I was trying out new cakes. This one was a banana cake, with chocolate frosting. Our class name is "Foundations of Faith and Ministry". (It's an introductory class for our church, and anyone who wants to serve in the church has to take it.) 

Before Christmas, I made my favorite cake. It was for my Bible study Christmas lunch. I tried a new technique for decorating, called brushed embroidery. I love the technique! (I did it on my grandmother's cake too, on the heart.)

I have really enjoyed making cakes. It's such a fun hobby. Maybe someday I'll be able to open my own cake business.