An almost-birthday

Next week my baby girl turns eight. EIGHT! I remember eight quite well and can't quite believe I'm going to have my own eight year old to take charge of. For every part of me that's aching for her baby and toddler days, though, there's an even bigger part of me that's SO proud of who she's become, and looking forward to many more birthdays to come. She truly is my little sunshine. She's so happy and bright. Her school report last week blew me away. Her weakest subject is PE, which made me laugh - she's so her mother's daughter. I try and tell myself not to have too many expectations for her because I don't want her to feel pressurised and I certainly don't want to end up disappointed if she ends up following a completely different path to the one I'd anticipated for her. However, I can really see her doing well with languages and history and definitely English. If my daughter is a well known author in 30 years time I wouldn't be a bit surprised. But if she chooses not to, that's alright too. Because if she ever lost that sparkle and love of life, that would be the biggest tragedy of all.

Anyway, I digress. Lucy requested a Lalaloopsy cake for her family birthday party, and this is what she got.

Jelly Wiggle Jiggle and Sahara Mirage, picking apples

A triple decker Victoria sponge, sandwiched together with raspberry jam and pink buttercream, and decorated with copious amounts of sugarpaste. And, of course, four little Mini Lalaloopsy dolls bought especially for the occasion, which were removed once the cake was cut, washed (I'd used blobs of buttercream to stick them in place), and played with pretty much all afternoon.

Once the cake was assembled and iced in blue, which was the stressful part, the fun bit began. The beauty of this cake is that you don't have to worry about getting the base icing smooth, you can just cover any dodgy bits with little green hills and trees and sunsets!

Suzette La Sweet and Cherry Pie Crust, picnicking on a cloud

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The birthday girl was very taken with her cake, even though there were so many scones, sandwiches, sausage rolls, cherries and so on that she really didn't have much room to do more than pick at her slice. I'm sure she'll make up for lost time on that front :)

Happy almost birthday to my little Lucy Lou. Don't ever change.