It was a long, long night...

but I finished my son's birthday cake!

He's seven today, and as I mentioned yesterday, I can hardly believe how fast the years have gone. He requested a Mario cake again—a year has passed, and he still needs his Mario fix!—so I made this one, which is loosely based on his favorite game right now, Super Mario Galaxy 2.

This afternoon, we're going to celebrate his birthday by taking him and his sister to see The Lego Movie. This will be their first-ever trip to a movie theater. They're so excited!☺

This day is shaping up to be a good one here, and I hope you all have a great day, too—and a happy weekend. ☺

On my mind...

No, it's not Georgia I've been thinking about—remember that song?—but I've definitely had a lot of things on my mind this week. ☺

First, though: Happy Thursday, all!

As I mentioned, this week has been a busy one for me. It's been filled with doctor's appointments (mine and the kids'), coughs (both of the kids), and preparations for a birthday celebration. My son will be seven tomorrow. I can't believe it! The years really do pass by so quickly. He's requested another Mario cake this year, so I'll be up all night baking and decorating: fun—and tiring—but definitely worth it!

Last night, though, I worked on my latest prompt for my art journaling course. I've been taking some inspiration from an artist I featured in my Sunday Inspiration series a couple of weeks ago, Hong Yi. (Post here.) She creates her art using unusual materials like coffee stains. I've been working on a tea-stained background for one of my art journaling pages, and so far I'm pretty happy with the results. I love trying new techniques. I'm learning so much!

One other thing I've been thinking about this week is whether I should attempt to participate in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I signed up, but with everything going on in April (namely our new baby's arrival!), I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up with the posting and commenting. Decisions, decisions!

So how has your week been? Any big plans or celebrations? Are you planning on participating in the A to Z? If so, what are your tips for juggling a busy April and the challenge?

Wishing you all a fantastic Thursday. ☺

Where does the time go?

A princess cake for my 4-year-old princess!

Happy fourth birthday to my little princess!

This year she told me she wanted a princess cake, and then she named all her favorite princesses. (It turns out that every princess is her favorite.) After a little more questioning, I was able to find out that her favorite favorite princess right now is Disney's Sofia the First, so that's the one I chose for her cake. The frosting and some of the decorations look blue in the photo, but they're actually purple—one of my daughter's many favorite colors.

As usual, I started my baking after the kids went to bed and was up until around 3 a.m. putting on the finishing touches. I'd love a nap, but I promised my daughter I'd take her and her brother to the children's museum today, so that's what we'll do. I'm looking forward to catching up with your blogs tomorrow!

Wishing you all a happy Wednesday. ☺

The reason I didn't sleep last night (now with photo!)

It's done!

Today is my son's sixth birthday! I was up all night baking and decorating his Mario cake—four layers with buttercream icing and homemade fondant decorations—and right now I think I could easily fall asleep on my keyboard.

Anyway, I won't be around much today as we celebrate our son's big day (and I take a nap), but I'm looking forward to catching up with your blogs tomorrow. Happy Thursday! ☺

Cake!

Today's 100 words:

This year my son wants a Spider-Man cake for his birthday. I've made sculpted cakes before but have never made one using a character cake pan, so I'm a little nervous about how it will turn out. I think if I can just get the cake out of the pan in one piece, the decorating process should go pretty well. It's an intricate design, and I've been told it can take about three hours just to complete the icing. I'm up for the challenge. I enjoy making the kids' cakes. They love them and talk about them all year.

Princess birthday cake

It's nearly a week late, but here's a picture of my daughter's birthday cake:

It's gone now, by the way.

Oink. ;)

A special weekend

Sunday is my daughter's second birthday. Even though I knew it was approaching, I feel like it snuck up on me, and now I'm paying the price: last-minute shopping for gifts and baking supplies, last-minute decisions about what a soon-to-be two-year-old would like for her birthday dinner, last-minute everything... Tomorrow is gift-buying day and cake-baking day, and I'm crossing my fingers that my oven, which has been working sporadically of late, will accommodate a tired, stressed-out mom and bake the cake.

Even though I'm not really a baker, every year I try to make special cakes for the kids' birthdays. Last year, I made my daughter a doggy cake, and throughout the years I've made my son a Motherboard cake (a character from PBS's Cyberchase), a Wubbzy cake, and a Pooh cake. My daughter's cake was the subject of my 100-words exercise this morning:

Growing up, I had birthday parties every year, but I had only one "official" party, complete with friends and games and party favors. I can't remember how old I was, but the pictures show that I was probably turning seven or eight. That year my mom asked her friend to make me a Barbie cake, and I remember how excited I was when I saw that cake for the first time--Barbie looked beautiful in her purple cake dress! Tomorrow I'm going to bake a similar birthday cake for my daughter. I hope she'll be as excited as I was.

So that's what will be happening at our house this weekend: lots of stressing out, but lots of celebrating, too! What do you have planned for your weekend?