Muse

Her Vision Realized

The Set Up:

I'm not even gonna lie... I was intimidated by this cake design.  

The Delivery:

Had Baby not been home directing me, this is where I would have stopped.

I mean look at how faithfully I recreated her unicorn drawing!  Come on!

But to Baby's eye it was still missing some key details.

Way on the bottom of her drawing she has red, yellow, green, and blue 5 petaled flowers.

I REALLY didn't want to mix more icing colors!  So, I enlisted Baby to make them out of jelly bellies.  I am extremely controlling about cake decorating, so just know that took real effort on my part!

But it was still missing something. She insisted she needed those blue cats!  

Enter bento picks I just bought for lunches.  

Phew... that was a close one.

After that, Baby said "That is the best cake you have EVER made!"

 Success.  

(P.S. I have also developed the absolute, hands down, best chocolate icing you have EVER tasted. 

For 100% real. Sweet baby Jesus... I don't even like icing... so I'm serious about this.  It is like if you spread the most superior chocolate truffle you ever had on a cake. I mean it.  More on that some other time)

Daily Doings

Yesterday it was foggy, which always makes me think about how we live on a PLANET... I've been known to ponder that from time to time.  You know, gravity, gases, the whole nine yards. It's a lot to wrap your mind around.  Or sometimes when I'm driving down the road I'll see a tree and realize... dude, that is just a BIG plant... you know?  I mean, yes, obviously, but sometimes I'll see a leafless oak and just be struck at how similar it is to say a dead woody mum. Like a gigantic dead mum.  And it is kind of amazing.  I think a lot about the whole living on a planet thing.  Do you think about that?  It is full on CRAZY.

This week is overwhelming.  Baby turns six tomorrow! (shh... she doesn't like to talk about it... although yesterday she said maybe this year she wouldn't cry on her birthday eve but she is still sad about growing up.... which is a significant improvement over the last two years where she cried herself to sleep.)  To cheer herself she has designed her birthday cake.  Three tiers, orange, with rainbows, unicorns and blue cats... that shouldn't be too hard to pull off on a school night!

Fear not, she's thought of that and has given me detailed decorating instructions.  Check out all those piping bags of different icing colors! I only have to mix 8 custom colors! (at least she knows what she is doing)  I hope she isn't disappointed when her cake is 2 tiers with blue and white icing.  I will make an m&m rainbow but the 3 D cats and large unicorn.... not so sure.

Also, Kid's friend's last day of school is tomorrow.  So that should be awesome.  They have been skyping all the time, which has been great... but unfortunately once she goes back to Korea the time change is about as bad as it can be (14 hours) and that will be very hard for them to keep up with school and bedtimes.  We are going to try on weekend nights to Skype at 8-9 which will be 10-11 in the morning for her friend.  We'll try!! Of course, we can only control half of the equation.  I made a picture frame and printed a picture for her friend to take home.  They also got their Best Friends necklaces yesterday and her friend gave her a barrette her mother gave her before she passed away.  She has a matching one.  (truthfully that was hard!)  She hadn't told Kid that her mother was dead (their teacher told me 2 weeks ago) and she finally emailed Kid and told her about it and said she is always afraid to say it, and she was sorry she hadn't ever told her.  Kid and I cried ALL NIGHT.  That was a very hard email to receive and respond to as a 10 year old.  I know tonight and tomorrow night are going to be VERY hard for Kid and I really wish someone so sweet and kind didn't have to suffer through another hardship.  She is truly such a wonderful person.  So sweet and thoughtful and generous.  Her friend wrote her a letter thanking her for her kindness and telling her she was the nicest friend she'd ever had and her friends in Korea are mean (also made Kid & I cry all night).  I just want to help her with this transition and do everything I can to honor this friendship and keep it going.

(P.S. look at how old Kid looks now!)

Of course, we have to deal with this on Baby's birthday and birthday eve (with elaborate cake decorating!, class cupcake making, etc) and a huge Science test, memory test, & spelling.  Kid's stomach has been hurting so much it is hard for her to do anything when she gets home from school.  I told Kid... fuck it.... I don't even care about her grades this week... just try and enjoy being with her friend and let it go.  It doesn't matter.  We are also letting her Skype all evening and past bedtime while she can.

(Skyping while doing homework together!  Her friend plans to attend Oxford... so... she's a pretty good homework influence!)