Hope's birthday in pictures! proof I am not a cake decorator.and thoughts on doing the cooking.

Happy about her birthday dinner.

here is the group!
it's a tradition to go to Mi Amigo's for birthdays .
we always go there and it isn't the same without my Mom and Gary.
sometimes Lance's mom comes too. not this time.
(i was obviously the one taking pictures)
& ignore Joy looking like a freak.

Joy and my (retarded) brother Gary.
he likes the beanie. even in the summer.

My mom(Joy) and my Joy.

Peyton and Paxton
fresh outta the camera. love that red eye.

With her new webkins puppy from grandma Jones.

Sisters! Liberty and Hope

Daddy's girlin the famous sombrero. everybody had to have a turn. but I'm sparing you the pictures.
6 kids in the same hat that countless others have worn. not just birthday people i think.



Cake time!


i wasn't going to post proof, of my lack of cake decorating skills BUT here they are anyway.
i am not skilled in all things and this was my first official attempt ever. so there we are. and I'll have you know i got the pan last night, started baking at 2 am. and by the time the dang thing baked for the requisite hour, and cooled, and came out of the pan, and everything,
and i blogged a little,and chatted online with my sister who was baking for insane amounts of time last night too, it was roughly 5:30 am. when i finally went to bed. OH YES! insane.

so today after church i had to get the potatoes peeled, and the carrots, and cook them, then make the glaze for the bottom of the cup cake(I'd seen it in a magazine) where you glaze the bottom of the cake with a powered sugar glaze and let dry, so it's covered and looks like a cupcake liner, so cute! Well, it was too thick, then too thin, and then it didn't dry. so when we thought it was dry, we put it on the cake plate, and the stuff underneath smeared down, Then i made butter cream frosting from scratch, and it was too thick, then too thin, and finally we got the right consistency for the decorating, but not before we messed around, making the cake ugly with thick hard frosting.

anyway. the family had to sit around to watch, and since the cake pan holds more than a box of mix, but not 2 boxes, i made cupcakes with the leftover, and the kids got to decorate their own. Lance even got into it. I'm thinking i should have signed us up for the cake decorating class my sisters and brothers are taking.

so there we are, disclaimer that i bet no one even reads since most people peruse the pics, and comment. whatever, it's here just in case. i do not have mad skills at decorating cakes. i tried. and really so not worth the effort. we didn't even eat the giant cupcake yet, we did candles, and then ate cupcakes.

oh and sorry for the white trash birthday girl, she went upstairs, and took off her dress during dinner, and wouldn't get a new one. and yeah that is a diaper. one day does not guarantee success. so i have a cute 4 year old in a diaper blowing out candles. we are classy huh?




this kid doesn't like to blow them out,he just looks at it.

everyone needs to blow out a candle.
here is Paxton with his.
liberty was great at decorating her cupcakes herself.

and the frosting didn't stick over the glaze it kept falling off. and smearing down. good to know for next month. another Birthday coming soon.

and seriously they LOVED the decorating, it has me thinking this is the year for decorating cookies for Christmas. I'm getting brave now.

so the dinner menu this afternoon today was -
Beef Roast(crockpot), mashed potatoes(from scratch),candied carrots, corn, Jello, Rhodes rolls.
it wasn't as delightful for me as i like it to be. lance and i have a theory, it tastes better when you don't cook it all. last week it was better but Lance cooked more of it than me, but today i cooked more.

and i am not dying to eat the cake. i think it's because i made it.
i never eat much when i have baked it. something about it ruins it for me.

so i wanna know,
does dinner taste better when you cook it?
or
when someone else does all the work?



does dessert taste better when someone else bakes it?

do you eat more or less when you are the one baking.

what is your favorite Sunday dinner?

how do you prefer your mashed potatoes? from scratch? or flakes from a box?

EDIT** the cake pan is from Joann's but they have them at Micheals too. and probably any other craft store. ** it was $30 originally but on sale. **