Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Birthday Girl

Last week Leah turned five and regardless of my somewhat distracted state she managed to have one wing-ding party (well, three wing-ding parties, but who’s counting).

The Cake
She wanted a butterfly cake and, having made one for her second birthday, I thought “no sweat.” What a silly, silly woman I am.

Two containers of frosting later I had created this hideous orange, pink, and purple butterfly cake (it even sounds bad, doesn’t it?). I was a little worried that she would go diva on me like she did on her third birthday when I attempted the Barbie cake (with the cake posing as a skirt). When she saw THAT one she cried, “But Mom, I wanted the cake from the store!” Forget that Albertson’s uses a dollar-store Barbie while mom used the real deal. Anyway, so I showed her the butterfly cake pre-party to prevent any cake fits. What did my blessed daughter say when saw this ugly cake from butterfly hell?

“Oh, Mom, it’s BEEEautiful!” in this awed voice that nearly made me cry. Of course that wondrous moment was tempered when she added, “Next year can I have a pony cake?”

The Part(ies)
It’s all a blur now, but needless to say after cupcakes with her kindergarten class, a subdued “friend party” with the two neighbor kids and a family party after dinner, my little birthday girl was a little full of herself.

Apparently while I was ran an errand her grandmother asked her to get her PJ’s on. Leah complained that she couldn’t find any PJ’s to which her grandmother reminded her that she needed to go to her bedroom and actually look in her PJ drawer before coming to such a rash conclusion. Leah then complained that her room was a long, long ways away and could grandma please go fetch some PJ’s for her. To which grandma replied, “no.”

“But I’m the birthday girl,” Leah said. “You should get them for me.”

Later she asked me, “Can I be the birthday girl even when it’s not my birthday?”

I wanted to laugh, but really, don’t we all feel like that sometimes? She is currently adjusting to a very, very unbirthday-like existence.


little-girl wear, the antithesis of hoochie wear (dress courtesy Grandma Barnes)

Just last night Leah said, "Mom, I'll never, ever be four again." And looking a little wistful she added, "Now I'll only be five."

*sigh* So true...

15 comments:

erin said...

I am trying to talk Jason into celebrating all birthdays the same day. One cake. Everyone gets presents. Happy birthday Leah. Those dresses are SO cute. Rory's goes down to her ankles but she loves it!

Anonymous said...

The anti-hoochie wear is mucho cuto!

Happy Birthday to a never-to-be-four-again BIG girl!

Anonymous said...

Your daughter is darling and so is the dress. I love her comment about her cake. It's so great when they are easy to please.

Becky said...

Awww....she's adorable. Love the "diva" comment...boy, I know my day will come with my Josie....too soon enough.

She will look back years and years down the road and be so grateful that you put the time in to hand-create her cakes.

Your a good mommy!

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed. My kids are all trained to expect whatever I could find at Albertson's with no preordering allowed. You are a much more organized mother than I am. She is so cute, Shauna! Mary

GustoBones said...

You are brave to attempt a cake like that. I have thought about making a special cake for my kids, but that is about as far as it has gone.

Mrs. Smith said...

Priceless

Maude Lynn said...

She looks so beautiful! Happy Birthday!

Suburban Correspondent said...

Good luck with the pony cake! That's the problem - you do one nice thing, and they up the ante.

Jennifer said...

Adorable anti-hoochie dress!!!! And happy birthday to your girl!

Rachel said...

Birthdays are the best. It is fun to have children to make a big deal about now that my birthday is old news year after year!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!
Very cute anti-hoochie dress!

Alex Elliot said...

Happy Birthday! My son wanted an ocean theme cake. I attempted to make one from scratch and it was so awful that I threw it out. It never baked in the center, but it burned on the edges. My husband went to the store and got a cake and I put the dolphin and turtle sprinkles on it. My son was thrilled. This is why I normally just got a cake at the store!

Anonymous said...

I can barely make a simple 9x13 cake...no layers or anything. I always seem to mess up on the frosting part. Great job, wish I could have been there, jen

shauna said...

suburbancorrespondent, I'm slowly figuring that one out. It's taken me awhile, but...

alex elliot and slackermommy, how old do you think they are when they become difficult to please? I thought when her Diva moment at three that it was all over. Oh that blissful moment when that ugly butterfly cake did the job. Think I've got a couple more years?

Jen, we must have the same cake decorating gene. (I want the gene that Erin's got--the one that does basket-weaving frosting with flowers on top...)