Josiah turned 11 this June! I can’t believe how much he has grown. He picked out his cake by looking at my pinned recipes on Pinterest. Banana Split Layer Cake won out! It was absolutely delicious and so much fun to make. It turned out way prettier than I thought it would!
And the requested breakfast was Sour Cream Doughnuts because…yummy! Honestly, I have become a sour cream doughnut snob. I really don’t like them from other doughnut shops now. They have too much salt. This recipe is just right.
He was super excited for present time.
His want. The kids have figured out my “do” gift scheme. Nerf guns…Can anyone say Nerf Wars at the end of the year?!
Emmie nicknamed Josiah “Bubble” when he decided he wanted her to call her “Bubba.” She kept calling him Bubble…and it stuck. He loves being “Bubble” but has insisted only Emmie will call him that. I believe he’ll change his mind when Tobin starts talking. Anyway, what an appropriate gift bag, huh?!
This kid loves the Lego Architecture series.
A cake as big as his head.
Layered with strawberry and chocolate icing…it was seriously amazing and super rich.
Josiah’s Want: Lego Architecture-London
Need: watch (it’s a fun fitness watch…he loves trying to get in 10,000 plus steps a day)
Do: Nerf Gun
Read: Douglas Bond book
These are the warrior beads we started with Emmie. They’re in order, left to right, and each one represents a year of her life. Yes…that second year was a rather active one. It’s been great to see the beads stay a little smaller since then!
Partying first with Ge & Granddaddy. She was so excited with each gift she opened.
She was so excited with each gift. Her highlight were Ladybug Girl books. When Emmie had her first surgery, my mom and I were walking in the lobby and happened upon a book giveaway. The volunteer told us to grab a book for our girl. I found Ladybug Girl Goes to the Beach and thought it was cute. We sometimes call Emmie’s cafe au lait spots ladybug spots…perfect. Little did we know how she would fall in love with that book. Over the past few years, she has made every single person in our family read the book to her and some of us have to read it over and over. Of course, the girl’s name is now Emmie (originally Lulu) and the dog (who is Bruno originally) is now Tot Tot. She asked for a ladybug cake and ladybug wings. Of course, I can’t stop there…she had to have an outfit just like Ladybug Girl.
My first attempt at using rice crispy treats to sculpt did not go well.
I pulled it off though.
This was the first time for decorating a cake outside of my home. I think I did a pretty okay job considering I wasn’t at home with all my normal stuff.
Ge got some loving from Sweet T.
And Granddaddy got some loving from Lulu. He has decided she is a spitting image of one of their first doggies.
Chess is always a must when they visit.
We celebrated Zoe’s birthday…
And Liam’s
Grandmere helped with our annual pretzel dipping.
Papa & Grandmere gifted us with a 
Tobin got some sweet cuddles too.
Salted caramel chocolate cake…
