Four Birthday Cakes

We have finally wrapped up the fall birthday season. While I realize we still technically have 3 more birthdays this fall, they are more spaced out and only one is a kid's birthday. So that means it's time for a birthday cake post.

I have two disclaimers for those who haven't ever read my birthday cake posts. 1.) I am not a cake decorator, nor do I play one on television. I am a busy mom who strives to make cakes her kids like. This means my cakes look homemade and unprofessional.  2.) One of these cakes is not a cake because I let my children pick their birthday dessert. Usually it is cake, but sometimes we have different.

First up is the "not a cake." My new 12-year-old wanted ice cream sundaes for his birthday (which was on a Sunday!). We stuck candles in a bucket of ice cream, and began the melting process.

First "cake" was easy-peasy.

Re-lighting sparkler candles + ice cream = melting ice cream

The second birthday was just one day after the ice cream sundae one. We drove from home after the birthday party to my parents' house where I promptly went to the hospital and spent the evening there with my mother. Then I went back to my parents' house and baked cake. The decorating came the next morning because the new 4-year-old wanted to help.

Can you tell a 4-year-old decorated this?

My dear little daughter wanted "chocolate cake with sprinkles and chocolate chips," and I think we totally nailed it! 

Stunning side view

I did have to inform all the eaters of the cake about my little one's cake decorating method; after placing each chocolate chip on the side of the cake, she carefully licked the frosting off of her fingers. Such a hygienic child.

The third child was my new 14-year-old who ordered, "a chocolate cake." When asked to elaborate, he clarified that he wanted neither chocolate cake nor chocolate frosting. He further clarified that he wanted vanilla cake with green frosting and cherry, blueberry, and strawberry filling.

He was happy with homemade cherry filling. We also added a shimmering pool of homemade cherry filling on the top of the cake. The pictures don't do this "chocolate cake" justice. 

Do you see the shimmer?

A blurry picture showing the many layers with cherry filling

And finally, the new 6-year-old wanted a cake like his brother's from the previous year except with a "P" instead of an "N".  And blue instead of green.

One book cake coming right up!

Lovely antiqued pages

A spine which will make it easy to find on the shelf

And that wraps up our busy birthday season and its cakes. It was a bittersweet season since it surrounded my mother's death, and I was so thankful for the distraction of parties and the happiness of celebrations.

In Case You Were Wondering. . .

We haven't turned our heat on yet. Last week we had one cold day and night when the wind was blowing. I got all worked up and actually wrote a game plan on our whiteboard because I did NOT want to capitulate earlier than last year (which happened to be today, October 22nd).

Yes. A game plan.

What is a game plan for the heat game? Well, I listed all the things we could do to warm up inside the house instead of turning on the heat. Baking squash, putting on more blankets and socks, and lighting candles all made the list. I won't even embarrass myself by listing out (for the whole world to read) all of my great ideas. Let it suffice to say that the entire whiteboard was covered.

So what did the kids do? They ran outside to play and left the door open. Seriously. Some of them didn't even wear a jacket. They did, however, like the baking cookies idea.

Since then, it hasn't felt too cold in here. I'm hopeful because we will have close to a gazillion guests at our house this weekend, and that means lots more body heat and lots of cooking heat.

I am soooooo prepared this year for my heat game. Anybody else playing along?

Five on Friday

1.  Things Kids Say, Part 1. After reading a fairytale ending picture book (at the got married and lived happily ever after part), my 4-year-old said, "I would punch him in the stomach!"

Surprised, I asked, "Why? Don't you want to get married when you're older?"

Her reply was, "When I get married, it will be to somebody who is nice and kind and drinks coffee with me!"

I can't say I don't agree with her.*

2.  Things Kids Say, Part 2. Let's go to the other end of the age spectrum. Overheard recently, "Great! My least favorite-- negative cosines!"

I can't say I don't agree with him, too.*

3.  Misheard Lyrics. I found out Sunday night, thanks to the display on our van's dash, that The Marshall Tucker Band sings the song "Heard It in a Love Song"-- which I always thought was "Purdy Little Love Song."

I was inexplicably so let down, disappointed, etc.

4. Black Beauty.  Although I used to watch the old tv series on Nickelodeon early in the morning when I was a kid, I'd never read the book. Since we own it, I thought several years ago I might use it as a read aloud, but somewhere on the great internet I read how snooze-worthy it was. It remained untouched by me until we chose it as a homeschool book club pick.

This week I picked up the book and enjoyed it. Was it my favorite book? No. Was it a little bit preachy? Yes. But still, it was enjoyable.

5. Random Picture. Because I think I'll never catch up on what I want to post on this blog, I'll throw in a random picture that's been waiting on the desktop.

Amazing lightning storm in summer

*Yes, these are things I wanted to share with my mother. I am so used to grabbing the phone when the kids say or do cute things. I don't think I'll be saying this with every blog post because 1) you'll think I'm depressed, 2) I want to focus on a few things that aren't tinged with sadness, and 3) it will get old real quick-- BUT there's a whole lot of sadness blanketed over everything for me right now. If I'm not missing my mother, I'm missing our dog Calvin. 

Sheesh. I can't stand it when life throws the bad things at you so fast. It was about 17 years ago that both of my grandmothers passed away on two consecutive days. Throw in a couple more deaths that year, and it was just no fun. 

So why am I telling you all this? Well, I guess I know life goes on. Somehow God will carry me through it all and fill me up with joy. Eventually. If you're in a similar situation in your life, hang in there; He won't fail us.

She Was the Best Mom

Last week my mother died. I'm not certain I really feel like writing much about it yet. September has been a blur of hospital, hospice, and loss.

And birthdays. September is always birthdays for us.

Birthday craziness

In the midst of death, life keeps marching on. I am trying to find my footing without this lovely lady.

I am thankful for many things during this time. My faith. Her faith. Family by birth. Family by baptism. Sleep. Kind words and cards. Silly children. Steadfast husband. Distracting birthdays. Pictures on the computer so I don't have to dig through shoeboxes.

I am thankful that I have no doubt whatsoever about what my mother felt about me. We were on good terms, and I have no "mommy issues."

My sweet little mommy loved me!

It is an understatement to say that I loved her and that my heart is breaking for missing her. 

If you can, give your own mother a hug or card or chocolate; you won't regret it ever.

Neglected Summer-- Reading

This was a summer of reading for me. I read more this summer than I have read (I'm guessing) for the past 10 summers combined. I guess that's what happens when your baby no longer wears diapers? I have had no time to take tons of pictures of my reading, but I do have a couple of pictures to share.

First, you should know that this was "The Summer of Jane Austen" for me. I read all the complete novels and thoroughly enjoyed each one for its own reasons. My favorite? I really don't know. I will have to read them all again, I guess.

Second, I read something completely out of my comfort zone. It was a book my husband was reading, and it was a mystery/detective novel. I also read another one by the same author. As I felt I was steeping myself in British literature this summer, this fit right in.

I think my favorite picture book of the summer involved the flower which is one of my favorites and, unarguably, my husband's very least favorite-- the dandelion. If you have a dandelion hater in your family, this is the picture book for you.

And I read other stuff (see the word "neglected" in the title of this post).

But let's get back to Jane Austen. First I gobbled up the books I had in my house. In one of them I found this delightful bookmark. 

Have you ever seen a more delightful bookmark? I thought not. By the way, if you know anything about the history of the booksellers this advertises, I'd love to know, too. When did The Book Store in Hagerstown close?

I would like to add that I actually was not the last in my family to finish the library's summer reading club program. There have been many summers which I have not even completed it. 

He Was a Good Dog

Things Kids Say

This morning my 3-year-old (who has not enjoyed bug bites this summer) said, "Mommy, when winter comes the bugs turn into snowflakes."