Missed

In my blogging gaps of late, I have missed a few things.  One of them was sweet Josie's birthday.  She is now three.  I can hardly believe my baby is such a big girl now. 

Do you see the shovel in her hand?  I told my mom not to bother with toys.  This girl is outside constantly.  The shovel was her favorite birthday present. 

This hat and glasses was part of her gift from Nathan and I.  We also bought her a Dora backpack and a watering can for when she's playing in the flowerbeds. 

This was her birthday cake:

I tried the fondant cake again.  First problem:  I need new cake pans.  The layers need to be taller.  I love Joanna's stripes, but my cake wasn't tall enough for that.  However, I bought good food coloring this time and the colors were exactly what I was after.  Originally I had planned on doing flat flowers all over the top layer and butterflies in the middle, but the butterflies proved problematic for me, so roses it was!

After I cut the cake, my sister-in-law asked if I had taken a top-view picture.  I hadn't, so I took one.  This gives a better view of the flowers.  They did turn out cute.  

Okay, so you know how everyone says you have to make a heavy pound cake, or fondant won't work?  If you do that, you end up with yucky cake and really sugary frosting.  Well, it's a lie!  I made my cakes right off the box.  Then I froze them.  I also made a real buttercream frosting, so it would be fluffier than frosting like I usually make.  The cake was delicious and so was the buttercream.  Some of my family didn't like the fondant, but there was plenty of yummy cake and frosting under it.

So, this brings me to the real question.... Do I like fondant cakes better?  Honestly, I think the answer is no.  It takes forever and makes such a huge mess.  They are cute, but not necessarily cuter than a cake decorated with frosting.  (Especially since I found that buttercream recipe that pipes like a dream.) 

As soon as we sat Josie down to sing Happy Birthday, she started eating fondant flowers.  We couldn't get a decent picture of her because she was so distracted by the cake. 

(I'm looking less-than-fabulous, but then again, I had just spent all day making that cake and didn't have time to beautify before the party started.  Oh, well.)

At three I usually potty train my kiddos.  I realized the other day that Josie can't dress herself.  It's not because I always help her, because I don't.  But someone always helps her.  It's usually Mazie.  I've been making an extra effort to have Josie dress herself and told Mazie she could help her pick out clothes but not put them on.  Yesterday the girls went running down the hallway for clothes.  Josie cam out with one arm through her dress and her head stuck in the other arm hole. 

"Mom, can't!" she said.  This might take some work.