A birthday cake fit for a princess

One of my long time friends, Rachel, has a daughter who just turned four years old. For her birthday, she requested a princess cake - so Rachel decided to hire me for the task. Rachel, her daughter, and I put our heads together and after some internet searching for photo inspiration (other cakes, mainly) decided on a Cinderella castle cake.

(Gulp.)
Deep breath. Hoo boy.

This was by far going to be the most challenging cake I had ever made. Of course, I wasn't going to make an exact replica (I'm not suicidal), but I wanted it to be recognizable. The kicker: due to unforeseen circumstances I was going to have less than two days to make it. YIPES. I had been counting on a week.

One immediate decision was to forego making the turrets and spires by hand using ice cream cones and cardboard tubes (yes, you can do it and someday I will... maybe). For the sake of time, I bit the bullet and decided to go ahead and buy the Wilton Castle Cake kit, which is basically just plastic turrets/spires/roof/door/windows. Thankfully I found it on sale - yes! Whew, that was going to cut down on about 2 days of work. (Keep in mind that I have to do my cakes while G-Bug is usually napping/sleeping or she tries to sneak bites of the "cookie" = anything sweet.)

Now, I had already decided that I wanted the castle covered in little pink blossoms (hel-LO, it's a princess cake!!). So, with the help of my trusty blossom plunger, fondant, white nonperiels sprinkles, and sugar glue....
Ah... God bless the man who invented flower plungers.

Okay, I didn't take many pictures of the actual cake making/icing/fondant covering because - honestly - I didn't have the time to grab the camera. Just use your imaginations. :)

BUT I did get a shot of the pre-fondant turrets - I took this after my dear friend Jen (who came over to help with G-Bug) helped me decide on the placement to maximize visual appeal.

She did a pretty good job, huh?

Okay, I had to break after that for G-Bug's sake - you can see that his part was finished while it was still light outside. Once she went down for the night, it was time to get down to business:

Several hours of grumbling, mixing, cutting, wrapping, dusting, and pasting later:
Hmm... not bad. WAIT. The door is too big!!! DOH!!!!

I used a new chocolate cake recipe and it fell significantly after it came out of the oven. To make it worse, when I inserted one of the top turrets into the cake, the side bulged out and cracked the fondant covering. I almost cried, but I decided it was too late to worry about it and maybe I could decorate it in a way that it wouldn't be noticable tomorrow.

The next morning:
Well, the flowers were definitely a nice touch, and I think it actually made the door look nice. But the castle still seems like it needs a little more UMPH. So... let's make a few more fondant windows for the turrets.

Now THAT's better. Oh, and a "flower vine" to disguise the crack... (hoping no one will notice the huge thumbprint right next to it from trying to save the cake)

And... voila! A cake fit for a princess!

Happy birthday, Hannah - Aunt Donna loves you.
And now she needs a nap.

A reflection of a remarkable woman

Many of you know that Lynn McGary, a woman who has been a personal mentor, friend, and like a mother to me has been battling cancer for about seven years now. And many of you know that her condition became very grave last week and she has now been allowed to go home and spend what time she has left with her family and loved ones.

This weekend Jason and I were able to go and be with her and her family who is so much like my own, and to see Lynn, hug her, and tell her how much we love her. I wish I had been able to tell her how much her love and relationship has meant to me for the last few years, but it would have taken much too long and time is so short.

For those of you who don't know Lynn, she is one of the most incredible people I have ever been privileged to know. She, with her husband Ross, founded a soon to be nationwide organization that ministers to families with children with special needs, Stone Soup (see website http://www.stonesoupnews.com for more information). Her background in child development and education also provided other opportunities to teach parenting and education seminars locally and internationally, as well as draft a book of baby games for babies from newborn to one year old.

Lynn loves exercising and encouraging creativity in others. She enjoys opening her home to others and hosting people with delicious foods and meaningful conversation. She loves God's many creations with joy and wonder: brilliant colors, beautiful nature scenes, and the intricacy of the human body always illicit comments of amazement and thankfulness.

She is also an amazing wife and mother, daugther and sister - she loves completely without holding back and without giving a second thought to herself. I've heard countless stories she's had with her children, many including her ability to turn potentially difficult situations into "adventures." :) Something her daughter Lisa once told me has always stuck with me: that in all the years she has known her, she never recalls a moment in which Lynn complained about something. Oh, to have that kind of legacy with your grown children.

Lynn doesn't know how to love people half-heartedly - she sees every person as having value and being made in God's image. And she seeks to show them how they really matter, to herself and to her Lord. She greets cashiers at her usual grocery store by name and enquire about their mothers, their children. And she really listens when they answer.

Lynn has played a pivotal role in my own life tenfold, impacting every aspect as an adult, a wife, a mother, and a follower of Christ. She humbles me by her matter-of-factness, her openness and lack of ceremony, and her continual giving of herself to others without expectation of recognition or return. She was first known to me as a mom of a roommate and dear friend who we saw at holidays, but over time I was slowly pulled into the "McGary Force" and soon felt like one of the family.

Ross and Lynn were also an important part of mine and Jason's story of deciding to get married, directly and indirectly. :) They led our premarital counseling and taught us by example what marriage should look like: how to love deeply and with honor and respect, how to face challenges as one no matter what, and how to really laugh together and revel in the joys of marriage. They rejoiced with us at our wedding and delivered the charge to the bride and groom during our ceremony and led a prayer for our future together.

Ross and Lynn were one of the first people we called when we found out that we were expecting a baby, and Lynn helped me cope with the first difficult months of pregnancy and morning sickness. They came up soon after Gracie was born to see her, "their first grand baby," as they call her. Lynn was a listening ear during the dark moments of post pardum and offered much counsel as I floundered and fretted as a new mommy. It was also Lynn who talked me through the fears and questions of an ectopic pregnancy, emergency surgery, and loss shortly after Gracie's first birthday.

I wish you could be able to read this and know how much you impacted my own little life - thank you for being such a steady and steadfast presence, always ready with a hug and a kiss and an "I love you, sugar." I look forward one day to see you dance and laugh and sing off key again, free from sickness or grief or weariness... and you will be with the Creator you know and love so well. Thank you for the legacy you leave behind you through your husband, children, brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, students, friends, and on and on and on. We love you and cherish you and all of the memories you leave behind.