So fun to be 4!



Batman Cake #2 - Walker's 4th Birthday



Batman is back ... and much more detailed I might add! I was so excited when my friend Mary asked me to make a Batman cake for Mr. Walker (the cutest boy who just turned 4!)  ... not only do I like Batman (and yes, the 1st Batman movie with Michael Keaton WAS the BEST ... hands down!) but creating a Batman cake is awesome! Probably the best thing about the cake was, of course the memories it brought back of my sweet Hank (Hankie, Hanker, the Hankenator) when he turned 4 AND had a Batman cake! So fun to think back of my baby Hank (who is about turn 6) and his BIG 4 year old birthday.

Batman Cake #1 - Hank's 4th Birthday

It seems like I was just checking into the hospital to have him and now my little love bug is in Kindergarten and about to be 6! I'm so thankful for Hank's sweet, sweet spirit and passion that I just can't wait for many, many more ... Happy FUN 4th Birthday Walker!



Oh to be 10 again....

I can totally remember being 10 and in the 5th grade ... well, at least some if it, but I do remember my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Bove @ Overland Park Elementary and thinking that our class was almost the top of the class (you know back in the olden days .... elementary school was K-6 and then it was junior high ... now that's another blog post .... terrified in 7th grade!) Okay, back to 5th grade .... new school subjects & switching classes, walking to school (when it was safe), making those cool "glue" finger nails with dried glue (that of course we made inside our metal desks), the rumor of the "clown in the black van" driving around picking up kids, playing tetherball and wishing I was really good at tetherball on the playground (which I never remembering winning ... there was always one girl (Nikki) who always won and was super cool), wishing I was cool and friends with the "cool girls" .... funny, thinking back on all these things and realizing what really matters now and how not much of that was important. I want to explain all these things to Hannah & Hank so they don't worry about what kids say and do but guess some of it they have to go through and make those decisions for themselves. I'm just always in "protective mode" and want to shield them from the pain and getting their feelings hurt.  

However, they are so happy go lucky and pretty resilient & thankful they are good at holding their own ... so enough about me and being 10 but more about the birthday @ hand! Happy 10th  Birthday Devin! Hope you had a fabulous party and welcome to your tweens! Which btw ... totally NOT ready for my baby to turn 10!

Birthday Blessings....Party #2!

Well...Miss Ava Maria should be good & worn out from her second 1st birthday party...what a blessed little girl to have such a loving family & friends to help her celebrate her big day! A girl can never have too many birthday party celebrations ... right?  I remember getting ready for Hannah & Hank's first birthdays ... what kind of cake should I make? what should the theme be? what should they wear? how many pictures can I take of the cake, the party table, the decorations and of course H&H digging into their cakes (the best part!) .... ahhh, nothing like 1st birthdays and of course, they just get more fun from there.  Hard to believe we'll be celebrating Hannah's 8th birthday & Hank's 6th birthday in a few months and not much has changed for me ... still thinking about the cake, theme, etc., but now I get valuable & creative input from H&H ... and that's the icing on the cake! 

1st Birthday Love

One of the many things I love about creating cakes, cookies and cupcakes are the stories & celebrations behind the design. I love the emotion and passion people have about their children and how their celebrations have no bounds. Today I had the joy of creating one of two 1st birthday celebrations ... party #1 was a "smash" cake and celebration cupcakes for Ms. Ava Maria who is turning 1. Ava Maria is a miracle child as her mom and dad have been through many challenges to have their Ava Maria blessing along with their other 2 children. As I sat & listened to Ava's mom share about her journey, my heart went out to here and I found myself loving my own two blessings more .... if that's possible.

Trying to not get emotional, I took notes on how Ava's goodies were going to be decorated for party #1 ... right down to the last squiggle. Who knew I could feel so blessed through baking ... thank you mom for letting your legacy shine through.

Thinking about mom...

Mom & I walking her last Ovarian Cancer Whisper Walk  Sept 2006

Although I haven't been super busy with cakes & cookies ... not a day goes by where I'm not thinking about my mom and wishing she was here. It'so hard to even type how much I miss her, let alone talk about it. It's been 3 1/2 years and seems harder to me for some reason. Maybe it's because of the peeps growing and changing so much and how I loved sharing all of it with my mom ... she loved to listen and of course, weigh in on all of their happenings.

Mom with Hannah & Hank & Cousin Devin

My mom would love that they love God & Jesus ... Hannah asked one day out of the blue, "mom, is everything better with God?" On one hand, I about feel apart, but then on the other hand, I felt like it was mom reminding me how good God is through my baby.  My mom loved celebrating their birthdays and of course, was always the first one to arrive and wondered where everyone else was.  My mom would love how they are learning @ church and school and all of their accomplishments. My mom would love to watch them sing @ church ... motions and all ... I always see so much of her in H&H when they're singing.  My mom would love that they both started school and would've been there for their 1st big days...maybe that's why there seems to be more emotion on those first school days because I'm thinking my mom will never get to see all this or their school programs ... part of her legacy living on. 

Mom & baby Hank - December 2004

My mom was amazing and sometimes I wish I would've told her more ... I don't think I really realized all her & my dad did for us growing up until I had a family of my own.  As I'm changing sheets for the 3rd night in a row and doing laundry (which you know is just what we do as parents), I'm thinking, wow, my mom did all these things for the 4 of us day in ... day out ... and I never heard a word of it. All I know is I always had clean sheets, clean clothes, a clean house and food on the table.  Vacations were always something that just magically  happened whether by car, airplane in a tent, hotel ... and now after my husband & I have planned and executed, for the most part pretty seamlessly (only getting lost a few times and ending up in a lousy hotel) vacations, I truly am thankful for all my dad & mom did for me.

What a selfless example of unconditional love my mom was and I love how her legacy is living on through her grandchildren. Thank you for the sweet reminders mom. Love & miss you.