Birthday cake and cheer competition

This goes under the "better late than never" tab:

Sunday, January 16, was my eldest grand daughter, Kennedy's, 8th birthday.  She also had a Cheer Competition on Sunday, the only one in the San Diego area, and I had planned to attend.  It was in the arena at San Diego State University.  My kids were out of town, so I met up with Kennedy and her teammates at the arena that morning.  Kennedy had a sleepover with a teammate, and the friend's mom did Kennedy's make-up and hair and got her into her uniform and drove them down earlier that morning.  (It's quite a process!)

It was a great performance - everyone on Kennedy's team did a great job, no falls or flubs. 

Kennedy is the little cutie with the blond pony tail, back left.

 Kennedy on the left.  She smiled throughout the entire routine.  So cute. 

The poor girl being raised up is really getting manhandled, but they did it!

 The Finale!  Cheers and Applause!

Aren't they just the cutest little things?  Kennedy turned 8 on this day, and I'd guess the rest of the girls are around the same age.

And here she is - their second First Place Trophy. This is the trophy that will be in the display case where they have their cheer/gymnastic classes.  All the participants got a white participant ribbon, and the winners got a pin.

All the participants also got a "goodie bag," similar to what they give you at 5Ks, etc.  It was funny when these younger girls were opening theirs:  I think they got a headband, probably some foodie type things, then one by one they pulled out a "woman's" deodorant.  They were all saying, What's this?, turning it over, then reading it.  Kind of embarrassing for some of them.  I thought it was kind of funny. One of "those" moments. There were lots of older teams, too, and I'm sure they were the teams being targeted by the manufacturer.

There was also a team of handicapped kids - they were in wheelchairs, on crutches, in walkers, blind, deaf, mentally challenged, etc.  Each team member had a spotter helping them depending on their needs.  It was the coolest thing to see, they did a fantastic job, and you can imagine the applause when they finished.  Still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.  They also won a First Place Trophy, and it was definitely earned.

After the awards ceremony, we drove back to my house to bake Kennedy's birthday cake.  For the first time she made the entire cake - read the directions, helped me fill the measuring cup with the water and oil, cracked the eggs, etc. 

 Pouring in the eggs.

Kennedy even handled the mixer for the first time, but I helped her keep it steady.

 Pouring cake batter into the baking pan.

I have a new frying pan that can be put in the oven, and we decided to try it out with our cake, so we made a large one-layer cake, an upside-down-cake, but with chocolate batter.

 

I had some white frosting, so we divided it into three and made pink, purple and blue frosting with food coloring drops.  Believe me, this cake was a creation entirely out of an 8-year-old's creative brain!  She made three circles, one of each color, outside, middle and inside.
 

Then Kennedy used the "writing" frosting tubes I keep in the cupboard for these events.  First circles outlining the inside two colors, then four purple dots on the pink, and finally her initials in the center:

OMG!  What a beautiful cake!

All kinds of sprinkles later, with "princess" sugar decorations and candles, and we're done.    We put it in the back of the car to take home with her, and headed out to Hometown Buffet, Kennedy's choice for our Birthday Dinner Out.

 Birthday Girl with her Dinner

Poor Kennedy, her parents were out of town all weekend, and she had a sleepover for two nights, Friday and Saturday, then the Cheer Competition and coming to my house for our birthday celebration together.  She was so tired at dinner, I'm surprised she stayed awake, but she was asleep in the car on the way to her house.   A really fun day from beginning to end.

Have a great Thursday evening from Me and My Dog, Katie! :)

My 100th post! And grandson Gavin's birthday

I love milestones, and 100 posts is a milestone for me.  Especially the way I'm posting lately! :)

Last week was my grandson, Gavin's, sixth birthday.  He's in kindergarten this year.  So Gavin came over on Wednesday to bake a birthday cake.

When my grandkids have a birthday, I have them over to bake a cake for themselves and decorate them to bring home for their birthday.  (At least my son's kids.  Kristy's two live too far away, but I bake with them when I can.)  Lots of kids don't help mom bake in the kitchen anymore - in fact I'm not sure my kids helped me when they were little.  I made their birthday cakes myself.  But now that I'm a grandmother, it seems important to let them bake and decorate their own cakes.

Here are Gavin's, from 3 to 6 years old:

 3 years old - blowing out his candle.

 Yummy cupcake!

 4 years old - measuring.

 Decorating star-shaped cupcakes.

 5 years old - this poor cake looked great when it was decorated, kind of...

 Getting ready to blow out the candles!

6 years old - licking the bowl, the best part!

 Decorating the cake.

Beautiful! He carefully drew lines, crossed them, put patches of color - all very carefully constructed.

It's really fun to see how Gavin has grown.  At first I just let him stir the batter, then each year he did more of the prep.  This year I measured, and he did everything else, pouring the ingredients into the bowl, stirring, pouring the batter into the pans, and all the decorating.  I decorated one and he decorated one.  He wanted to take a photo of me holding "my" cake:

Happy Birthday Gavin!

That's a tired Grammy at the end of a long day, but the photo he took of me was actually flattering, I thought. I was pretty beat by this time.  Such tired eyes...   But worth it for the memories!  Notice the professional-like decorated cake! Gavin was very impressed - I love working with kids!  : )  

Then the next night at 5:30 Gavin had a pizza party with a few of his closest friends at his house - here are a few photos from that evening:

  Blowing out the candles.

 Gavin and his sister, Kennedy

Gavin, baby brother Graydin, and Kennedy

And that's it until next Saturday when the REAL birthday party is - a couple of Gavin's best friends couldn't come on Saturday, that's why they had the pizza night.  He's having quite a Birthday this year!

From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone!  : ) 

PS:  If you noticed the difference in my kitchen counters, the first year the tile was an old yellow - from the early 1960s. Still pretty much in good shape, just worn.  The next three birthdays, look at the tile - beautiful.  That's what my company does - refinishing.  Kitchen counters, vanities, bathtubs.  Instead of replacing the fixture, you can have it refinished.  Click on the photos to really see what a difference it made in my kitchen and bathrooms.  : )