The Princess and the Frog........birthday

AREGASH turns 4!!!

this was a very important day,

as most birthdays are.

i'm pretty sure that she thought she would be a grown-up 

by the time she turned four.

birthday morning starts with a gift from her brothers.

we gave her a choice of any place to eat and because she doesn't know the name of businesses, she just chose pizza. 

 so pizza ranch it was.  

they announced to the entire restaurant that it was her birthday and invited everyone to sing to her.  

the gal got her name right, but it got really quiet when it came to that part of the song.....and then some giggles.

after i let her "party" in the hat i thought of all the lice going around the schools. ugh.

more gifts from her adoring family

after months and months of waiting to turn four so she could have her ears pierced, she almost forgot 

that today was the day.

 

heading into the mall to have her ears pierced......a year-long promise

  

her brothers made it pretty special. 

 cole even ran through the mall to get her a cute sucker 

for after.

we had been really honest about the pain that comes with this so i think she was pretty well prepared.

 there were no tears, but i could tell that she was holding back

 just a bit.  

she complains about the tenderness now, which makes me happy that we waited until now to do it.

after......

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THE BIRTHDAY CAKE

 we had a great afternoon celebrating her birthday, but there was still a cake to be made.

there's always smiles when a person gets to make their own cake, right? 

well, until there is no choice. :)

her choice...sky blue for the bottom cake

i really wanted to make the perfect, extravagant cake 

for aregash.

i've done my share of great cakes for her brothers and i wanted this to be special.

so frosting is ready and cakes are divided in half and filled with pudding.

pudding filling...yummo!

 and then she wanted to take MY picture.

anyone who makes cakes knows what a process it is.

there is soo much more to do.

 and the party was the next day.

i usually divvy up the work between three days.

not this time.

frosting the bottom cakes

TIME FOR THE DREADED FROG.........

when aregash said she wanted a frog cake i wasn't sure where it came from 

(maybe because her favs color is green?),

 but i intended to give her one HOPP'N cake.

i don't like using fondant on my cakes because it tastes horrible and people have to pick it off anyway, 

BUT, i wanted to do this for her.

so i stewed about it for a week and begged everyone i could think of to do it for me. :0)

i have to say....

it was kind of fun and i think it ended up being the best part of the cake!

side view...not finished

he's missing something.....but what?

almost done....and a lily pad

and when i decided to do an amazing cake i knew it had to be more than one layer......

so the top cakes were filled with strawberry pudding 

(per A's request).

when they were stacked it seemed a little lot tall. and the cake was super moist,

which is great for taste, 

but not for construction.

ready for the second layer

 the frog topped off the cake......

and that's where the problems began.

it was wayyyy too heavy.

i set this cake on top of the blue-bottom cake.

everything began to slide.

and then i removed the top portion from the bottom portion---see fingerprints

and then the inevitable happened.

and the tears.

and then the ugly cry.

8.5 hours later.

i was tired.

i was done.

the bottom cake was ruined too.

and my hubby said he was going to buy a cake at the store.

if you know me, you'll know that wasn't happening.

i love him soo much for just letting me sob into his shirt.

i left the room for awhile.

i came back and apologized.

i added a pound of frosting to the bottom cake.

it wasn't pretty. 

and it wasn't my best. 

 but it was frosted. 

finally.

and then i cried myself to sleep.

my failure

the next morning i woke up and started decorating.

here's the FROG (very well known as the damn frog)

i kinda like him.

i think i'll keep him......seriously. :0)

i was pretty pleased with myself.

if anything else i had a pretty cool frog..

his backside

and the finished product..........

all done

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THE PARTY

 the birthday girl with her cake......

which she adored.

....he has fangs to keep his "roof" up

 i think she's happy

time to pin the tongue on the frog! 

she picked out her birthday dress cause it looked "froggy"

 got it!!!!  maybe peeked just a little. :0)

and the pinata......

can you believe we found a frog??

the loot.

no candy in this pinata.......

lots of fun bugs and frogs!

time to blow the candles out.

 

and all the friends and cousins.

little friend makeda

best buddies, reece & keira

she had a great time which makes me feel like i hit a home run as a mama.

i have always been known for making things over-complicated,

but i would do anything for my kids.

and when it truly came down to it i think i just really wanted to please her.

thing is......it doesn't take much.

that's what i love about my kids (most of the time),

is that we raised them to be appreciative for the little things.

and she is no exception.

birthdays are a time for me to do something really special for each one of my children.

this year has been one of the most difficult i've ever had and i guess i felt like i could make up for all of the "hard" in just one day.

when in reality the fact that we are a family,

 and we have each other, and we have love

should really just be enough.

and it is.

lesson learned again.

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY little girl!!!

i am excited for every new day with you....

even when it's NOT your birthday.

i love you.

mama