Thursday, June 26, 2008


My Internet was down all day, so I didn't get to get online to post pictures of the cake we made. As I mentioned a few posts back, Delaney found the "sand castle cake" she wanted to make for an impromptu spend-the-night she had with a few friends (a very late birthday gathering!).

I baked the cake (one large chocolate cake, two small yellow ones), stacked them (large on the bottom, two smaller ones staggered on top) and frosted it (the easy, breezy Betty Crocker way, with canned frosting) then left it for Delaney and her friend Ashley (with some help, of course, from Sydney) to decorate it to their heart's content. And they did not disappoint! When I got home from my appointment, it was decorated in all its glory and they were SO proud of it. And then, when Delaney's two other friends came over to spend the night, they all just oohed and aahhed over it...quite impressed with our creativity.

Here is my favorite photo of the cake, with birthday candles atop it...

And as decorated by the girls...

A few other cute pics of Delaney and her friends...


It's always fun to have my girls' friends over at my house (my motto has always been: if they feel welcome at my house and are here having fun, they aren't off getting into trouble somewhere else! And I feel even more especially strong about this now with McKenna's friends at her age. I love to have 16-year-olds here to the house, because it means I know where they are and they're having a good, "clean" time where I can see them. And, besides, I really do love preteens and teenagers!...Except, of course, when they're up at 3 a.m., still going strong, like they were last night! lol)

Last night did reiterate some facts I know about preteens--

* they can learn all the words to the songs from "Camp Rock" (the latest Disney Channel movie, which starred the very popular Jonas Brothers; I myself am quite a fan of them myself and have found myself listening to their CD in the car even when no child was with me!) in just days (Delaney has already watched it five or six times);

* boys are called "hot" (not "cute," or even "fine," which I think McKenna called them a mere four years ago!);

*even the best of friends can get on each others' nerves at this age;

* but those same friends are very sweet to each other, and they show their affection very easily with compliments and hugs.

Delaney's best friends--these three, but also the six or seven more that she was going to originally invite to her "real" birthday party which got cancelled because of our busy schedule--are very sweet and I'm very much "in favor" of the people she chooses to hang out with. It's such an important thing to develop good friends at this age.

Okay... before this becomes some sort of parenting lecture...let me close out for the night. I will try and pop on tomorrow (Friday) with some words of wisdom (I've got a few topics I want to get off my chest, that perhaps I'll get around to writing about!), or either with some random news about our upcoming weekend (softball! bed jumping! and more!).

13 comments:

Adrienne said...

They did a great job with the cake!!! Glad she had such a good time!

Anonymous said...

That cake is so cute. Good for them!

there's nothing like friends at that age. Don't you think?

Anonymous said...

The cake turned out great! Well done.

Jenster said...

Great cake!!!

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

The cake came out great, didn't it? You may be the coolest mom I know. lol

Kari

Unknown said...

What an adorable cake! I am glad the girls had fun!

Hope your cars are fixed very SOON!

Anonymous said...

I ♥ that cake! Very cool.

Anonymous said...

the cake looks GREAT!
Have fun playing softball...we won our first one & lost the 2nd one...back tomorrow for another round!

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

Hey - your comment link is missing from your latest post (the rant and rave). Or maybe my eyesight is going faster than I thought. lol

Anyway, my favorite Seinfeld episode is The Soup Nazi....NO SOUP FOR YOU! Love it.

Kari

Gretchen said...

Hi,

Great cake, and great mom-ing, Cheryl. It's clear that you've been a great example, and that your kids are very comfortable w/you.

Love what you wrote in the post above (rant). I always tell my friends that a church is a hospital for sinners. We're all sick.

Enjoy your sports-filled weekend. :)

Monogram Queen said...

That is a very unique cake I love it.
Yes good friends are important and i'm like you i'd rather have them hanging at my house, being loud, driving me bonkers than off somewhere getting into trouble.

Dettao said...

very cool cake and I seriously LOVE teenage girls. Miss having them around soooo much. I miss the all night giggling. I miss the talk about boys. I miss the hugs and the gossip and the eye rolling. (and that was just from the kids who didn't even belong to me. LOL)

Dawn Bibbs said...

Oh how I remember those days! Sadly, not with my oldest daughter, as she was CONSTANTLY in trouble and didn't LIKE ANYBODY! :-)

I'm praying things will be different with Jayla.

Love the cake. You guys did a great job.

Glad you had fun, Delaney!