Rosalin's 1st Birthday

Rosalin had her first birthday on the 16th, and oh boy did we have some good times! She got us up by 6:30 in the morning (of course) and we decided to let her open the presents from home in the morning but wait until her party that evening to open the gifts from us. She was in a pretty good mood but really had no interest in opening the gifts, just looking at the package. I ripped a hole in it big enough that she could see what was inside and then focused all her attention on pulling out the blanket instead of opening a bigger hole to make it easier. She got a nice fuzzy blanket and a beautiful new bracelet, with some awesome cards (Thanks Everyone!!). That morning Spen had to go to school so Rosalin and I focused on having fun, making her ladybug cake, and getting ready for her party. For breakfast Rosalin had an endless supply of jam on toast with orange slices which she loved and then off to the tub for her to get nice and clean before the fun began. Spencer started working on the burgers while Ros had her nap and I tidied the house. After Spen left for school and Rosalin got up we made a fort in the living room out of her new blanket and had a little picnic of ritz crackers for her morning snack.

Just before lunch time I started making her cake with a 13x9 chocolate cake (Ann Rigedale of course) for the ladybug body and a new circle pan with a push out bottom for the head. I even bought oreo cookies to use at the spots on the back. We don't have a mixer so mixing the cake was a bit of a chore, and I wasn't able to get it quite as smooth as I hoped I would be able to. I stuck the first cake in the oven and hoped for the best, after checking the cake and seeing that it was almost done I poured the batter in the round pan to be as efficient as possible with the transition. I took out the 13x9 cake and realized that it wasn't nearly as fluffy as I hoped it would be and several flour balls had floated to the top making it pretty nasty looking. Trying not to get discouraged I went to put the other cake in the oven. I saw there was some batter on the counter but didn't worry about it as I had done a hasty job of spooning the batter from our ginormous mixing bowl into the pan. I got the circle pan into the oven and turned my attention back to Ros who was about starving for some lunch. As I started to get some soup and toast going for Rosalin and I, I smelled something burning and looked to the oven only to see chocolate cake batter dripping out the door and onto the kitchen floor. Knowing I was about to be in trouble, I stuck Rosalin in her high chair so that I could focus all of my attention onto the kitchen. I opened the door and using our tea towels (we don't have oven mitts) I tried to pull out the cake that was dripping all over the oven, the floor and the counter. There was chocolate cake batter EVERYWHERE! Meanwhile, the soup is boiling and splattering all over the stove and toast has popped and is just getting colder and tougher by the second. I dumped the cake batter back into the mixing bowl, wiped up the chocolate off the floor, turned off the oven and left the door open to cool down. I decided to ignore the mess behind me and Ros and I sat down to some soup and toast. I messaged Spencer with an SOS to come and make a birthday cake, and he skipped his afternoon class to come home and help his domestically challenged wife. He made a cake while Rosalin and I played and at supper time we headed over to the Oldfield's house to have her party with a hot, un-iced cake and a bucket of icing.

While Rosy played and Spencer started BBQing burgers, I iced a chocolate cake with white icing and got crumbs all mixed through it. Tabitha Best asked if I had made a cookies 'n' cream cake and I decided that that was my silver lining of the whole cake fiasco and just pretended that this was my intention for the new cake. I iced it and stuck a oreos all on the top and the cake was done. Supper was delicious, all of the kids were crazy and cake was awesome. Rosalin got a little scared when we turned off the lights and a group of people sang her Happy Birthday, but with a little help from Willow the candle got blown out and it was time for cake. The cake was delicious of course, and after that we opened all of her presents and cleaned up the mess. Ros loves playing with the kids and after staying up too late and having lots of good times we headed home and put the munchkin to bed. It was a really good day. Love to all.

Lovin' the new bracelet, if you ask her about it she'll just lift her hand up in the air. If she sees it not on she'll bring it to you and hold her hand out until you fasten it for her.








A little nervous about everyone singing to her.


This is the best picture of the cake. Just a sheet cake with vanilla frosting and oreo cookies all over the top.



This is Pearl Best. She is adorable, and we think she looks just like Jade.