Sadie's Birthday

Our little girl turned SEVEN in January!!! Unbelievable.

Sadie is a happy, creative, energetic little girl and we are so lucky to have her in our family. But it makes me feel old knowing that my BABY is 7. Where did the time go?

The wait to open presents was KILLING her (see left) but it was worth the wait (see right). She was ecstatic as always about her gifts. It doesn't take much to put a smile on her face.

I share this picture to tell a story. I bought that shirt (displayed on the back of the couch) on clearance last year. It is a "7 Year Old Birthday" shirt. I thought it was a fun idea (and I think it cost me $2). Sadie had already gotten dressed that day -- she and Renae dressed alike -- so she didn't wear it on her actual birthday. No big deal. We were having cousins over for cake and ice cream that night so we cleaned up all the family party mess in a bit of a hurry. The next day Sadie couldn't find her Birthday Shirt. We searched high and low. Days went by. We put out a bounty on the shirt (this is where Mom says -- I'll give a dollar to whoever finds the shirt). No luck. I was so upset. Where did it disappear to? What good is a Happy Birthday Shirt when it isn't even remotely near your birthday? Sigh. Well, we did eventually find the shirt in the office, stuffed in a desk drawer. Go figure. It was weeks after her birthday but Sadie still wore the shirt with pride.

The next story is about this cake and the amazing man who made it. Sadie's daddy!! This cake looks AWESOME!! There is no argument there. It is phenomenal. But to me, what is even more impressive was the process that it took to get to this cake.

It began as a piece of "concept art" drawn by Sadie. She has done this in the past -- drawn a picture of what she wants her cake to look like. I would usually just smile and then tell her what I could actually do (make a rectangular cake and stick some toys on it as seen HERE). But this time she went to Daddy...the professional baker. And he can never say no to his little girl. We had been watching a lot of cake decorating shows on Netflix lately so Sadie's ideas were big (and 3-D)...but Eric wasn't daunted. He dove right into the project head first. So here are some of the things that amazed me about this undertaking:


A) Eric decided to make the chocolate cake from scratch (using a recipe, not a box cake mix) -- that alone is beyond me.
B) When the cake turned out a total flop -- dry and hard -- he didn't cry, or get angry, or throw a fit like I would have. He just threw it in the trash and started over -- trying a new recipe. Yep...a total do over.
C) He came up with his own design concept. How to make a Pet Shop out of cake?? He looked at a picture of a Monkey Pet Shop and just created it from there. He has an artistic flair I can only dream about.
D) He made his own from scratch frosting to "dirty ice" the cake. It was scrumptious.
E) He made his own fondant (the shiny frosting that you roll out) FROM SCRATCH!!! Who does that???
F) Did I mention that he did all this while maintaining a calm, patient, even pleasant demeanor??? I think he actually enjoyed it. That blows my mind. I would have been stressed out to the max!
G) He gave up an entire Saturday to make this masterpiece for his little monkey. That is devotion.

Happy Birthday Sadie --  We love you!!