Sunday was Jenna’s 10th Birthday! What a fun age 10 is.
She didn’t get a party this year, but did decide to get her ears pierced, so Jenna and I went to the mall to let the ear piercing professionals at Claire’s pierce her ears. She was very brave and didn’t even hardly say ouch.
Here she is with her newly pierced ears.
We also went out to Applebees with the whole family. Since it can get very crowded there on a Saturday night and we didn’t want to have an hour long wait for dinner, we scheduled a lunch date. It was nice.
For her cake, Jenna wanted an owl cake. Not wanting to disappoint, I found SUCH a cute owl cake!
But you know how these cake designs go…they look SO easy in the directions, but when making the cake, there are so many variables. Maybe the cake is not so dense and it doesn’t hold up very well, maybe the frosting isn’t thick enough, maybe things fall over.
I had baked the cakes, and my girls really wanted to help frost the cake. Which was good, because then I could shift the responsibility on to them and hopefully ease my stress (cake decorating REALLY isn’t a talent of mine). 
We got him all assembled and decorated, but then he started leaning. And leaning more. We kept trying to prop him up with shims of cookies and additional chopsticks stuck through the middle.
“What would Duff do?” I said to the kids in somewhat of a panic. Jenna was in the other room listening to our conversation, and she must have REALLY wondered what was going on with our cake.
Finally we decided to prop up the plate so that he could stand a little straighter. And the frosting didn’t seem to be stiff enough and I was worried that his eyes might just slide off his face. As soon as the cake was done, we called Jenna in from the other room so she could see him before he collapsed.
She was thrilled. She actually put those orange dots on the owl’s tummy herself. And what do you know? The cake did not tip over, collapse, or have have his eyes slide off. Success!!
When we look back at these pictures, I’m sure my girls will remember the “fun” we had making this cake together, and hopefully they will laugh at the memory.
I hope it was a wonderful birthday for my dear little girl, Jenna. She is a joy in our family and we LOVE HER VERY MUCH!
You are such an amazing mom….and Jenna looks beautiful with her pierced ears. Man, they grow up too fast.
That sounds really fun decorating the cake, and it looks quite good. The extra effort you go to is astounding!
So Happy Birthday to Jenna. I hope she wore her Disney jewelry!
Nice earrings. I hope she can wear them without being allergic.
My opinion is that you DO have skills. I never would have even attempted such a feat. Impressive.
I think it’s funny how red her earlobes are!