Birthday and a Cake Disaster

Yep. We had one of each. Today is Birdie's birthday but we celebrated at our Wednesday night dinner. And there was a birthday cake disaster.

Birdie LOVES all things Halloween. She always has. Her favorite color is orange and she wore the same pumpkin costume for Halloween three years in a row because she loved it and wanted THAT one and wouldn't let Mimi make her a new one EXACTLY like it. Birdie might be a little bit stubborn. Or, she knows what she likes.

The first year she wore the pumpkin costume. 

The last time I took care of little ones and prepared a birthday celebration was way longer ago than I wish to remember so trying to do it Wednesday while taking care of Baby M was...interesting. And exhausting. And resulted in a birthday cake disaster.

I'm pretty sure this was the second year. Year three is MIA.

Because Birdie loves all things Halloween, she often wanted a Halloween theme for her birthday. Well, not often. Always. So I made Halloween themed cakes for her birthdays. She loved the pumpkin shaped cakes. Have y'all made these? You make two bundt cakes and put them together to make a pumpkin cake? They're pretty cool. My first one wasn't the best but the kids LOVED it. Here it is---

And that's the cake shape I intended to have for her birthday celebration on Wednesday night. Didn't happen. Oh, I made the cake. I stacked one on top of the other and I iced the darn thing. HOWEVER, it had been YEARS since I made this cake and I forgot that you have to trim the bottom of the bundts to make them sit flat, one on top of the other. Baby M, Tucker, and I set off to play and read and have loads of general fun---

I tell everyone that Baby M was trying to sound out a word. Ha! 

When I came back, one-half of the top of the cake had split off and fallen onto the kitchen counter. I would have taken a picture but my thoughts were on the disaster NOT on taking pictures. Sorry.

My mind was racing when suddenly I realized when a cake disaster happens, just make a trifle. So I did. And we had trifle cake. And stories. And lots of poking fun at mom. Which I loved. Because, family.

The good news is that, around here, a cake disaster is not a big deal. The disaster was salvaged, there was a funny story to tell, lots of laughs were had, but the best thing of all was sharing this moment with family. What good is a cake disaster without people to share it with? What good is telling a story without an audience of loved ones? What good is being able to have a few laughs without family to share them? It's called- love laughter.

Still laughing at the cake disaster. 

 And what makes a birthday more memorable than a cake disaster?! This will be a stand-out birthday when we discuss birthdays. Which we do from time to time. "Hey! Do y'all remember the time Mom tried to make Birdie a pumpkin cake and it ended up being a trifle?!" Hilarious.

Happy Birthday, Birdie! 

We survived the cake disaster of October 2016!

Family. There's not a single one I'd rather have than the one with these goobers (including the two who were MIA). We love hard. We play hard. We live hard. We laugh hard and often.

How many people do you know who would love your cake disaster more than the original? Call us because we will!

Happy Birthday, Birdie! Somebody loves you. IT'S ME! :)

Head over to Create With Joy and join in the Friendship Friday! You might see someone over there you know. ;)

How to Have a Family Dinner in an Empty Nest

It's so easy! IF everyone, or even one of them, lives close enough to come by the house. Yes, I've brought back Wednesday night dinners.

Wednesday night dinners are even better now that Baby M takes part!

When I was growing up, we had dinner at the table every night. Even when we were teenagers and brother T had football practice, we all ate together AFTER football practice. It was the same when the lovelies were growing up- we had family dinners every night. I've never known dinner any other way. Until the nest emptied. Not that I don't enjoy eating with Tucker but all he really wants is what's on my plate. He is a bit lacking in conversation. Unless you prefer one-sided conversations...  While it's true that I do love solitude, dinner time is not the time for sitting alone watching television. Dinner time is a time for interacting with one another, laughing, sharing your day...

Be careful, though. Hilarity is likely to ensue...

I hosted these fun dinners after the last lovely headed downtown to attend the College of Charleston and things were, at that time, too quiet around here. Every Wednesday night, the two lovelies who lived downtown would come over with a couple of college buddies to eat dinner. They got a home cooked meal, and I got entertainment. And noise.

Because someone will pick up some junk mail and start the ball rolling by reading a blurb from the advertisement and it's ON! Seriously, it was hilarious, y'all. 

Now that one lovely is living at home and two are living within 20 minutes of home, I decided to bring back Wednesday night dinners. And the ones who live 8 hours away? We rub it in...I mean, we put those goobers on speaker or Skype. Just like we did with Birdie when she was in grad school in Texas. There are good things about technology, y'all!

These two were MIA. But we rubbed it in real good. 

What if your all-grown-up-kiddos live too far away? Try hosting for some college students who are far away from home and could use a surrogate family and a home cooked meal every so often. If you'd rather not have college students, look around your neighborhood or church or senior center for folks who would enjoy having a meal with friends. It's almost like the supper clubs some churches have around here. I like the idea of hosting some college students just to give them a family-feel and maybe give their parents some relief knowing their kiddos have a surrogate family close by they can turn to if needed.

While the ad discussion continued, Baby M showed zero interest in her shape cards. 

Regardless of who comes to these dinners, it's always nice to have a meal with others and enjoy some conversation, laughs, and good food.

Goobers. The lot of them. 

Oh, what was on the menu? I was so busy trying to remember to take pictures of everyone that I forgot to take any of the food. We had breakfast. My grandmother did that sometimes when I was growing up and I loved it! The lovelies enjoyed it when they were growing up, too, so I decided to prepare a breakfast feast for dinner.

Have you brought back family dinners?


Peace, Peeps!