One down, one to go!!

Yesterday was Kendall's birthday party with all of our family out at our cabin. We had such a great turnout...about 25! Therefore, that meant that I spent a LOT of time in the kitchen all day Friday and Saturday morning. Normally, I would have ordered a big 'ol cake from Giant Eagle (they have really YUMMY frosting). But this year, my dear daughter told me she didn't want to pick out a cake from Giant Eagle. "Would you please make me a special cake just like you make for Daddy's birthday?" How could I say no? She has never asked before, and I am perfectly capable of making cake! So I told her that we could sit down and pick out a special cake together and I would make it. Yeah... not a well-thought-out plan. It skipped my mind that we would be having such a large crowd for lunch and cake and ice cream...and 25 people makes for a lot of cake, because well...everyone loves cake! So, we picked out 3 different cakes (that I had never made before, I might add) to make...a banana split cake, a sour cream chocolate cake with super fudgy frosting, and a red velvet cake. I was the CAKE QUEEN this weekend! They all turned out totally yummy, but I will say this...that chocolate cake was R.I.C.H.!!!! The banana split cake was a total surprise as to how yummy it was! I made a cream cheese frosting for that one and it had strawberry preserves between the layers....Mmmmmmm. And the red velvet cake wasn't as dark as it probably should have been because I ran out of red food coloring...but the frosting was to die for! That one was everyone's favorite!

The kids played like crazy, and of course, refused to eat lunch. I had made beef and noodles, spinach salad, and my mom brought a seven layer salad and homemade bread. It was soooooo good. We barely had any food left, and the kids didn't even eat!

We also had a couple of friends come with their kiddos. Shawn, Deetra, and Shea, and Chad, Beth, and Riley came, as did one of my bestest friends, Heather, with her kids Ethan and Sophie. That's me with Heather down there on the side, and Kendall with Ethan and Sophie right below.

It's so nice that they made the trip up...they live a little over an hour away, but we really make an effort to get together as much as possible.

Kendall got all kinds of great gifts...kids have the greatest stuff these days. She got craft stuff, a new coat and snowpants, a boombox, a new clock radio, some games, a purse, an ant farm, money (of course), and we got her a telescope for starwatching! We're off to the library this week for a book on stargazing. How much fun will THAT be???

Now today we are off to the Dublin Rec Center for Kendall's pool party with the girls from her class. The Rec Center has an AWESOME pool, and I hear they do great parties...and let me tell you it was totally reasonable...$65 for 2 hours of swimming and a party room. They supply everything! That should be lots of fun! So I made cupcakes late last night for that...and I will be using the leftover frosting from yesterday (if I can quit eating it! LOL!). Look for the pool party pics tomorrow...


Happy 7th birthday, Kendall-Bug! We love you!