Happy Birthday to Me

This is a portrait of me . . . in frosting.  Just in case you couldn't tell.

My children apparently think I am turning gray.  They would know since they would be the cause.

I gave my crew the challenge of making me a birthday cake this year.  Usually, I don't get a cake.  And usually, I'm fine with that and we have some other delectables.  But this year, darn it, I wanted a cake!  Mostly, I was curious to see what Shaggy and the girls would come up with.  But I also wanted to see what it would be like to eat a cake without being responsible for the tremendous mess it left in the kitchen.  I was not disappointed in either respect.

Everybody helped a little bit, even if it was only to help themselves to little fingers full of frosting.  But the brains behind the operation were K and S.  Initially, they both wanted to make a camera cake.  I can't imaging why.  But the idea was vetoed because it seemed too hard.  I can relate to that, let me tell you.  There are some craaazy cake decorators out there.  And I am not among them, just in case you couldn't tell.

S was super excited about creating this cake.  She was itching to begin decorating it days before it was even made.  It was strange being on the other side of that, but very fun to witness.  It was also interesting how adamant K and S were about keeping me out of the kitchen.  Something to which I had absolutely no objections.

The cake is the spitting image of me, I dare say.  I just needed to go find my candy necklace to put on.  But best of all, we got to eat me after we took this pic.  I'll be the first to admit that I was pretty tasty.

It was a memorable birthday even if my kids had to keep correcting me when I was talking about how old I am.  And Shaggy gave me the best present ever.  I love to try to figure out ahead of time what someone is giving me.  But this one remained a complete mystery until I opened it.  A new camcorder--to replace the dinosaur we have been using for the last 13 years.  Which can't hold a charge.  And whose microphone broke.  And whose tapes are crazy expensive and very hard to find.  Yeah, it was time for an upgrade.  It sure would have come in handy for our movie makin' a couple weeks back, but I am so excited to have it.  It is so deliciously small, it blows me away.  And the features, and the touch screen . . .!  I may even have to set aside my beloved camera to capture more video footage because this baby is going to be fun to use.  Three cheers for new technology!!

And four cheers for my budding cake decorators who have a very fond place in my heart, which is swimming with flowers and butterflies.