Spirit Assembly & Cake Business

I want to start this post with how AMAZING this school year has been...not only for Kacey but for Kayleigh as well! Last year, Kacey struggled hard through 3rd grade. She struggled with doing accelerated work, she struggled with managing diabetes on her own at school and she struggled with keeping up with the class after she missed so many days from illness and diabetes. By the end of the year, we were BOTH just burnt out! When she started 3rd grade, she was only about 6 weeks into her diagnosis. We both went through a rough time because we still had not had enough time to really get the hang of a schedule, much less a schedule for school. We had school nurse issues in the middle of all of that and we were VERY happy summer break arrived. Over the summer, Kacey had time to really "bond" with Herbie. We had a chance to change basals and really get on a schedule and see what worked for us. It was a nice break and it really took us a full year to accept all these changes that had entered our lives. We could also have the time to do all of this without school getting in the way...finally! By September, she was READY for 4th grade! I was very familiar with the teachers since the teachers she would have were teachers when Kayleigh went through 4th grade there. The parent/teacher relationship was already established! As a matter a fact, one of her teachers actually taught Frankie in 2nd grade!! ;) So we were thrilled with her teachers and she was more than ready. She is completely independant when it comes to taking care of her diabetes at school. She tests her own blood sugar, boluses for her own meals (snack & lunch) and only goes to see the nurse when shes not feeling well. Her teachers are not involved in her care since she manages all of this. I check Herbie when she comes home to see what her blood sugars were on days she forgot to log. It's just easier for everyone in the long run and Kacey wants it this way. She got her report card this week and it revealed one A and 4 B's!! HONOR ROLL!!! I wanted to cry! She is doing such a great job and she is really loving school this year. Now for some MORE great news....yep, theres more! We got a letter in the mail from her principal. No parent looks forward to the day you get a letter addressed "To The Parents of Kacey West". I got a knot in my throat as I opened the letter. "Dear Mr. & Mrs. West, I am pleased to inform you that your daughter, Kacey, has been selected as Student of the Month for October......." HOLY COW!!! Out of the entire 4th grade, Kacey was chosen for the month of October. Could it get any better? OF COURSE!! Kacey entered a photography contest last month at school. She won 2nd place!!! Her photos will now be sent to compete with all the other elementary schools in our county :) Very cool! She had no idea she'd won this award so it was priceless to see the shock on her face. I found out 2 days ago by accident from another teacher but I kept it a secret and took my camera to the assembly since I was working today.

Now onto Kayleigh....

She also got her report card this week... 3 A's, 2 B's and 1 C. Her C was in Spanish 3 so I'm not concerned in the least! She's having a great year this year. Last year was her first year in English Honors and she's never been a reader so she struggled through the class with a C. The class is a weighted class so the C really counts as a B...but seeing that C really bothered her. When it came time to do her schedule for this year, she begged me to let her go back to regular English, even though all her friends were in Honors. I signed the papers willingly. I hated seeing her so unhappy in a class! This year she's rockin' this English class and actually has a 98 A average :) Yep, we made the right decision! Her favorite class this year is Culinary 1. Those of you on my Facebook have already seen some of the pics of her cakes. Shes got her own site on Facebook and shes shown off her cakes but this is the first time we've been able to show off her Culinary art. In her school, the Culinary class actually runs a cafe. Anyone is welcome to come and eat in there and I'm going to make it a point to go eat sometime soon. All of the kids get a daily grade in class. Your performance counts as the grade. Everyone gets a chance to run each part of the cafe....hostess, waitress, cook (main course, sides and desserts). She took this class because she'd already had such a passion with cake decorating and lately she's been on the dessert station and this is what she produced today......

This is cheesecake with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Yes, she added the whipped cream border on the sides. AMAZING!!! And it looks delicious!!! Her teacher gave her an amazing compliment and he told her she was very mature for her age and she's going to go far. That drove her up to another level of confidence. :)

Last night, she built this.....

Its a two teir cake. The bottom layer is 12 inches round and 6 inches high. It's a yellow butter cake with chocolate Bavarian cream in the middle. The top layer is 8 inches round and 6 inches high. It's devil's food cake with chocolate Bavarian cream in the middle. Both tiers are covered in a layer of buttercream icing that is hidden by ivory fondant. There is a ribbon around both cakes and it's topped with rolled roses that are dusted with pearl dust. This is her first cake to make like this and she's pretty stinkin proud of it! Heck....I'm proud of it!! Her ultimate goal is to own her own bakery and decorate cakes full time :) but she said she will work with a catering company until she's able to do that. Right now, she's got her own little business going with word of mouth and she's had a cake to make nearly every week for the last 2 months. I keep telling her.....Practice makes perfect! Look out Cake Boss! Hahaha!

OK....now that I'm done sharing accomplishments....

Just a reminder, there is only a few more days to sign up for the Secret Santa Family Exchange. If you haven't signed up and want to play, NOW is the time to do it! So far we've got 15 signed up. If your name is NOT on the list below then that means you haven't registered with Elfster and you need to go to the link in the previous post to get on the list.

Names for the Exchange:

Jill (Organizer)

Amy L.

Amy S.

Chasiti

Hallie

Jennifer

Joanne

Kathy

Laura

Meri

Nicole

Ronda

Shannon

Tracie

Wendy

(All in ABC order, just like Elfster lists them...haha!)

Now, to answer Shannons question...We will find out on Monday who the family is that we're buying for. I click the DRAW tab on Elfster and it shuffles us all and sends us our family. I won't know who got who so it's up to you to remember who you have to buy for ....LOL! You will find out who bought for you when you open the package and they reveal themselves. I thought it would be more fun to keep it a secret than to know who was buying for who. Hope that helps :) Any other questions....just ask! :)