Cake Thief! (or GrandTom's 65th birthday)

GrandTom was here yesterday celebrating his 65th birthday with us. The boys were ecstatic, as always, that GrandTom was here, and were really happy to be able to help make him a cake. After the cake baked and cooled, I was ready to frost it. I turned one of the round cakes over onto a large plate, leveled the top with a knife, and opened the frosting. Kyle had bought a delicious-looking can of whipped cream cheese frosting, but when I opened it, I discovered that it had clearly been stored above the 80 degrees recommended on the label. It was a yellowy, oily, deflated mess. New icing was desperately needed, so Braden and I headed off to the store for more icing (and ice cream!). We left Garrett playing quietly in his room and Kyle and Tom contentedly watching TV on the couch.

When Braden I came home, this is what I discovered:

I shrieked for Garrett, who came in the kitchen looking all sheepish. I picked him up, pointed at the cake, and said, "did you do this to GrandTom's cake?"

Noooo, Garrett shook his head, and then pointed at Braden. Yeah, right! By this time, Kyle and Tom had joined us in the kitchen and we were all having a difficult time smothering our laughter.

Kyle took Garrett into his room and put him in time out in the corner. Here's where I found him a few minutes later:

And here's where I found Cali, snorting up the cake crumbs from the carpet. Look carefully, and you'll see little pieces of black cake all over the carpet.

Here's Garrett snuggling up to GrandTom telling him sorry for eating the cake.

And here is the cake. It is probably the ugliest cake I've ever made (I ran out of frosting!). The chocolate ribbons on top are brownie icing that I spontaneously bought because it looked so good. I was picturing drizzles of chocolate. Not quite. Tom wanted nuts, so we added chopped pecans to the top.

Here's GrandTom blowing out the candles with a little help from the kids.

Here's Braden enjoying the cake (gosh, he loves posing for pictures!).

And here is the picture that Garrett insisted on taking of the cake.

We love you, GrandTom and are very thankful that you came to celebrate with us!