Seven Amazing Years

I can't believe it’s been 7 years since Gaby was born!

I still have panic attacks that our little girl is becoming a little, sassy chic. I can only hope and pray that everything Mario and I are doing is to have her become a successful, independent woman. Seeing her mature and change each year baffles me. In my mind she’s still a baby but I know it’s time to face reality. Why does reality have to suck so bad!?

I usually plan the kid’s party on a Sundays, since my mom and uncle work on Saturday. But this year Gaby’s birthday landed on a Saturday and I'm so glad it did! We kept going back and forth with themes, locations and ideas for her party. We checked our local roller skating arena, the ice arena, and nothing. Then the birthday girl’s light bulb went off and a "Super Hero" party was born. I thought it was FA-BU-LOUS! And it screamed her personality to the T; a girly, superhero party.

I started to Google ideas, pictures, games, craft projects, etc. I loved everything I saw and started to save pictures like crazy! Then my light bulb went off and I searched “how to make a cake using fondant”. Hey, why not right? We were making everything else, why not the cake too; the ingredients are cheap, it looked easy and affordable. If our plan didn't work, we would execute Plan B: pick up a cake at Publix and call it a day :)

My DIY ideas were: cake, city skyline, superhero cake, masks, whoopee pies, and expression signs.

Holy. Smokes. MacGyver…what did I get myself into!?!?

The one thing I knew I wanted was superhero capes! What is a superhero with no cape?! We bought 3 different colors of fabric: Purple, Blue and Pink. Each cape was going to have the kids initial with black sparkle felt. My mother in-law made the capes and they turned out so awesome! The kids loved running around in the yard with their cape flowing in the wind.

The next project was the city skyline. I started collecting boxes at work and broke them down. Mario then spray painted them black and painted little yellow windows on them. I then had Gaby cut out preprinted clouds and a moon to put on the wall. She loved helping out, so this was a great project for her and Alex to do together. We also had “Ker-plop”, “POW”, “ZOOM”, etc. signs cutouts for the wall. These turned out great for the cake table and for the kids too.

My final and crazy projects were the desserts! This was the end of me….but I MADE them ALL! And I will say, they turned out amazingly delicious! The cake was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever baked and it literally took 3 ½ days to make. I was literally down to the wire finishing the cake. I made a two tiers chocolate and funfetti cake with marshmallow fondant. I’ve never made any sort of cake- but I was so happy with the way it turned out. Will I do it again? HELL YEAH! I loved every second of it- I cried, I laughed, I got upset but the finish product was my greatest accomplishment. That was just the cake; I also made whoopee pies with cream cheese frosting and individual fruit shortcake dessert for the adults.

I have to say the party was a success- the kids, adults and especially Gaby had a fantastic time. Would I change something about the party? Yes, I would have taken Friday & Monday off! PS. Did I mention I had lost my voice the day before the party!? Yes, I was voiceless and unable to chat away with the guests. It was not cute and everyone took full advantage of it! ;)