Birthday Celebrations

In order to save time, I will condense our August birthday celebrations down into one post.  You can thank me later.  ;-)

Also, can anyone tell me how to photoshop my counters so they look clean?  

Luke - Age 16

Luke turned 16 on one of those fast-moving days right before we left for vacation.  I looked down and it was 6:00.  I had no cake, no time, no plan, and everyone had meetings that night.  For the first time in my life, I stopped at a bakery and bought a birthday cake out of sheer desperation.  (It's true that we have occasionally ordered a DQ ice cream cake for a celebration, but that was on purpose.)  Thankfully, I had been to the bank and picked up his birthday present ahead of time.  ;-) 

One thing about Luke, he really doesn't like everyone making a big to-do about his birthday --- nor does he like anyone taking pictures of him smiling at the camera - or in the general direction of the camera.  So he was happy with the low-key celebration.  Within the week, he had used his gift money plus his savings to buy a new (used) Les Paul Electric Guitar.  Not only is Luke a great guitar player, he is generous, caring and thoughtful.  I'm really proud of the man he is becoming. 

Cupcake - Age 8

On the day we left the beach, Cupcake turned 8.  We had already given her our gift, as it was useful on a long car trip.  So, on our last full day in Florida, we took her over to the local hair-feather shack for a little decoration.  The big kids gave her a hair feather for her birthday.  We had planned to let both girls have a feather - so Cupcake got two, while Sugar got one.

She's liking the feathers.  :-)

That night, my friend and I made an ice cream cake for her celebration.  Then Sugar helped to decorate it.  It was a cookies and cream, hot fudge, crumbled oreo, ready-whip, butterfly cake.  Not the fanciest cake I've ever made, but it was one of the most delicious.  :-D  YUM!  

 Cupcake loved celebrating with our friends. 

We were concerned about the timing of everything with her birthday.  There was just no good way to work things out.  We had to give her the gifts early and we had to pack up and leave the day of her actual birthday.  The frenzy of getting everything out the door early has always been a major trigger for all her worst fears, combined with the disappointment and letdown of no gifts...It was a nuclear meltdown waiting to happen.

  On birthday morning, Cupcake did okay.  We had meltdown, but it was not nuclear.  It came from deep within her, but she pulled out of it and was fine by mid-morning.  

I am so proud of my Cupcake!  She has grown so much and learned to trust us in so many ways.  It's little things like this that make my heart glad.  :-) 

Steve - Age Middle

 On August 23, Steve turned another year older.  Once again, it was a crazy day full of activities ending with meetings for everyone.  I picked up a cake at the grocery store on the way back home at the end of the day.  A store-bought cake again!  Aack!  Well, the shame wore off pretty quickly.  It was a good looking cake.  And delicious too.  :-)   At the end of the day, Steve was proud owner of two Steven Curtis Chapman concert tickets.  I hope he picks me to be his hot date to the show.  :-)

Hang on.  We're almost done....

Sugar - Age 13

Sugar turned 13 at the end of the month.  For her birthday, I took her to the mall and had a gal at one of those expensive make-up counters show her how to properly apply real make-up so as not to look like a sleaze-ball.  Then I bought a small fortune in non-sleaze-ball cosmetics.  :-)

 

It was such a fun time with my young lady.  She is so beautiful, it takes my breath away.

Sugar wanted to bring a cake to Sunday School to share with her friends.  She had an elaborate idea about a beautiful cake with lilies on it.  (I know very little about cake decorating.)  So we went to H*bby L*bby looking for fondant lilies.  Instead, we found the perfect alternative for a fun cake for decorating dummies like me.  It's called Sugar Sheets Edible Decorating Paper!  She got all creative on me again!  We bought two sheets for $4 each.

As it turned out,I had too many things on my plate and I did not start baking until 9:00 pm Saturday.  At 11:00 we began frosting.  Then we had to call in help from "the engineer".  Thank goodness my husband is a sugar engineer, as well as, electrical.  The paper was really easy to work with, but going around the side of the cake was tricky.  Late into the night, we finished the cake.  But it turned out great, don't you think?  And it was delicious too.  (I had just a small piece of the leftovers.) 

Almost Done

 

Here she is on birthday morning, opening gifts from the other kids.

Phew!  That's a lot of birthdays!

Strangely enough, I can't figure out why I can't lose any weight.   

Or why the bank account is empty.  

Or why I'm so tired all the time.  ;-)

Blessings to you,

Mamita