Cool, huh?  Alex turned 8 this week and even though he had a Mario-themed cake last year, he requested at the very last minute that I make him a Bob-omb cake this year.  I knocked it out in a couple of hours and he was thrilled with how it turned out.

See, this year he didn’t want a big party so I hadn’t planned to bake a cake.  Instead, he asked if we would take him down to Austin so that he could visit the capitol building, do the Bat Cruise, and eat at Stubb’s BBQ.  I thought we’d just grab a cake or cupcakes while we were there, but when his actual birthday arrived on Monday, I could tell he was in need of a cake.  When I offered to make one and he suggested Bob-omb, I was relieved.  Very little detail, easy-to-cover-in-fondant shape….I’m cool with that.

So…hello, Bob-omb and happy birthday to my big ol’ 8 year old!

When he spotted this guy, he looked incredulous and said, “I didn’t know you knew how to make goombas!!!”

Neither did I, honey.  Neither did I.

We had a big hamburger cookout at the house for him and everyone had a really great time.

There were bubbles…

The wind was nuts!  Just check out Sister Crazy Hair over here…

And a big Silly String fight…

And Silly String in the face…

The the kids gathered around for gift time.  I’ve never seen such a bunch of deliriously happy, tired, sweet kiddos.

The last of the guests left around 10 that night and we left out for a birthday trip to Six Flags the next morning.  Needless to say, this kid had an amazing birthday weekend!

Today I felt like sharing some of my favorite creations with you.

My first fondant experience came when Alex had a very serious ladybug obsession.  This was his 3rd birthday cake:

After I had conquered my fear of fondant and realized it’s really quite easy….I dove in headfirst.

There was a soccer ball birthday for a friend’s little boy:

And a doggy birthday for a little 2 year old boy:

A bridal shower cake to match the bridesmaids’ dresses:

There was a mosaic cake for a shower we had at a paint-your-own-pottery place.

And a sleeping baby cake.

A cake covered in girly things for a 9 year old girl’s birthday:

Cakes are hard work but the satsifaction that comes from creating something so cute and so delicious is worth it.  Hopefully when Elliott is older and realizes that she doesn’t really need to be physically attached to me 23 hours out of the day, I can get back into this fun little hobby.

He requested a Transformers themed party, so I made him a cake with the Autobots logo on top. I’ve never had a cake give me such a hard time, but Shayne and I recovered what we could after fighting with uncooperative fondant for hours.

The birthday boy loved it and that is all that matters!

Elliott and I got in the bounce house to play for a bit before our guests arrived and we all had a great time!

Alex’s classmates came and they all had a blast. They jumped, they played on the playground and half of them ended up playing in mud puddles. It was wonderful, silly, dirty chaos and we all enjoyed every minute of it!

Honestly, there is not much I look more forward to than my childrens’ birthday parties! I hope they always love them as much as I do!