today, and so on.

Good heavens, I'm tired.

Last night, I descended into cake hell. I did return, and returned intact, but this was the most frustrating cake yet and I almost totally canned the thing, but by the grace of God I was able to fix it ... I've said before that I used to "do cakes" (you can see my old website here)... I don't really "do cakes" anymore, at least via my business, but I am helping a sweet lady with her growing home based baking business out and I started my first job for her yesterday.

I started working on it at about 12pm... it was supposed to be relatively quick, since I didn't have to bake it... I just picked up the layers and decorating supplies and started putting it together. Immediately I noticed some problems. I cannot figure out if the cake was just too moist after thawing and taking on some additional moisture from condensation, and couldn't handle the weight of the icing, or what, but the bottom tier started to crack after I applied all the icing... I quickly got that fixed, but then when I started on the second tier, it too slowly started to get lopsided... I thought I fixed it, but then when I put the top layer (which was a ball - and I had to re-do that one entirely before even trying to stack it) on I knew I was in trouble. Long story short, the middle layer started to totally collapse. I ended up with the ball tier in one hand and a wad of icing and cake in the other at 11:00pm at night thinking I was going to have to completely redo this cake, and I didn't even bake it in the first place... So I came up with a quick solution to take off the top layer of the middle tier, and rebuild the cake with icing and freeze it overnight. This worked, and then additional scultping and tweeking made it even better. It's basically done and we'll deliver it to the wedding tomorrow night. I still have a little work to do. But considering the fact that I almost had to trash the whole thing I am pleased.

when the middle tier was 3 layers... totally lopsided... 

 

the first ball that collapsed under the weight of the fondant... 

the finished cake...

I've been so busy with the cake that I have only had a little time to work on Noah's party. I have some ideas... but it's going to be pretty simple. Tonight I escaped the madness of pre-bedtime routine's to run to JoAnn and buy some card and ribbon to make some pennant banners and other paper crafts for decoration. Here are some of my inspirations:

from hostessblog.com

We are doing sloppy joes for sure... this looks cute :) Love the color scheme.

from mylife-myloves.blogspot.com

if I can find time to do this with clothespins and twine, I will. From wrenhandmade.typepad.com

I just can't believe my sweet Noah is almost a year old. It kind of breaks my heart. The last few days he hasn't been feeling good - on the back end of the strep infection, he came down with a cold, and I am not sure what's going on with him now, other than he is just feeling crummy with a cold, and maybe a little achy. The other thing could be that he is cutting those bottom lateral incisors, which I am leaning towards. He's been up in the night, which is very unusual for him and crying a lot. Last night he was so tired, he went to bed at 6:30, and then was up at 11, and rolling around till about 12:30AM. Poor guy. And since I just weaned him, I am not really producing anything, and nursing isn't much of an option, though I admit I've tried, just to see if it would comfort him. I miss being able to nurse him and it feels so strange. But really, he would NOT wait for my milk to drop, and my supply had so drastically plummeted, I just decided to wean. I nursed my daughter for 21 months, so it feels weird, but he doesn't seem to miss it. I just miss having that as an option when he's tired and grumpy...

I gave him a crushed chewable tablet of probiotics tonight that he took well. I plan to try that a couple times a day to get his immune system back in order. I can't wait until I can do some proper grocery shopping and get some good food to cook for my family.

Daddy and Noah Bear

Anyway, that's it for now... I know I am a bit scattered lately. I have lots of ideas to blog about, but I just haven't had time to organize my head lately with all that has been going on and all that is to come. I'm so tired and I need to go to bed. I hope my Bear sleeps all night tonight as I could really use a good night's rest. Tomorrow we are heading to my mother in law's new house to help her move some more stuff, to get ready for Noah's party on Sunday. Then it's off to deliver the cake and start working on decorations. The other thing is the radishes I planted are ready for harvest and I really need time to pull them and clean them... when am I going to have time for that? All this rain is making my garden super happy and for that I am grateful. <3

Well, goodnight friends. Thanks for reading. Would you mind following me thru Google Reader or Bloglovin if you're a regular reader? I really appreciate knowing who is reading my blog, learning more about you and all that goodness.

Much love,

Brookelyn xoxo