.
His cake -- he has wanted a "gingerbread house cake" ALL YEAR. He came home from China in January and had never seen one before. I think there was a gingerbread house in an ad in one of my cake magazines, and he saw it when I was figuring out what to do for Mary Pearl's birthday last February. Ever since then, he has been fixated on gingerbread houses, and so here it is... Nathan Jade's gingerbread house chocolate mint birthday cake!!!

The guts --- this is the sheet cake all cut up -- before it all started sliding apart because the roof trusses were just too darn heavy. (This recipe is a seriously dense fudgey cake! Heavy!) So I took off the roof parts, kept only what I needed to hold up some graham crackers for the roof and we all had a little bit of cake on Friday night. LOL
TA DA!!!!!!!


And then the guests showed up!! Sixteen kiddos in all, including siblings (who are ALWAYS welcome at our parties), and one very excited, Happy Birthday Boy!
The cash register was a big hit. Funny. This is Sydney and Toby. Syd is one of Emily's best friends. And I would go insane without her mother.

More cash register times... We are really lucky because we had an actual break in the weather, and so for a lot of the time, the kids actually WENT OUTSIDE and RAN AROUND IN THE YARD!!!! I was in shock!!!



Everything is ready for the party!!! The second cake was cherry chip from a mix (the only mix I buy because it's so good!) with a homemade mint chocolate buttercream frosting.
All we need are some guests...

And then the guests showed up!! Sixteen kiddos in all, including siblings (who are ALWAYS welcome at our parties), and one very excited, Happy Birthday Boy!
The cash register was a big hit. Funny. This is Sydney and Toby. Syd is one of Emily's best friends. And I would go insane without her mother.Girls hit the girls' room...

More cash register times... We are really lucky because we had an actual break in the weather, and so for a lot of the time, the kids actually WENT OUTSIDE and RAN AROUND IN THE YARD!!!! I was in shock!!!

Mary Pearl caught Mama -- a rare photo of the party planner and cake decorator!!




















































































































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