Catherine turned 3!

We have been pretty busy the last few weeks. Nick has been working 40+ hours a week. I have been trying (emphasis on trying!) to keep up with my homework. Lillian had a birthday. My sister-in-law had a baby shower. Nick had a birthday. Catherine had a birthday. It's been pretty busy! So, since Catherine's birthday was on a Tuesday this year and I had no desire to cook or bake we took the kids to Bob Evans for dinner. They have a special on Tuesdays, one free kids meal with each adult meal purchased. Catherine got a coupon for a free meal for her birthday, so we only had to pay for 2 adult meals and 1 kids meal! Catherine also got a free sundae for her birthday. It was fun and a nice change of pace.  Nick and I got her one present, the movie Tangled.  She LOVES Rapunzel! 

free birthday sundae!

she got the movie Tangled

After dinner, we went to Toys'R'Us and she got to pick out a toy for her birthday.  She picked out a Rapunzel purse and a Disney princess porcelain teas set.  It's a mini tea set.  She loves having tea parties with her brothers and sister!

Since Catherine LOVES Rapunzel, we decided on a Rapunzel birthday party.  Her party was on Saturday, April 7.  She helped me decide how to decorate her cake.  Aunt Rosie got her a Rapunzel dress, which she didn't want to take off! 

Catherine in her Rapunzel dress

I couldn't figure out what I wanted to for her birthday cake. We actually didn't decide on anything until Friday afternoon. I combined a couple ideas that I found. I really like the cake that I found on Party Crafting, but I wanted to have some sort of tower with the cake. I found a cupcake cake that used ice cream cones for the tower on Cupcake Decorating Supplies. I was really pleased with the way the cake turned out.

The whole cake

close up of the tower

close up of the actual cake

I baked the cakes the Friday night and I put them in the freezer over night.  I made two 5-in round cakes and two 7-in round cakes.  I had enough batter left to make 6 cupcakes.  I used two boxes of Pillsbury white cake mix.  Since Rapunzel's dress is pink and purple, I decided to color the cake pink.  Saturday morning, I cut the tops off the cakes and cut each cake in half, so there was four layers of each cake.  It only took me about 3 hours Saturday to decorate the cake!  I was done with plenty of time to get the things set up for the party and not be rushed.  That's the first time that has happened in five years!  Usually I am decorating until the guests arrive!  Instead of using the tub Pillsbury frosting, I used Country Kitchen buttercream icing.  It taste a lot better than the buttercream I made from scratch and it worked really well when I decorated the cake. 

Catherine got a lot of wonderful presents!  She got a lot of really cute outfits!  I think her favorite things were her Rapunzel dolls.  She got two! 

Catherine with her Rapunzel dolls

She had a great party!  Thank you to all who came and shared her special day with us!  When I tucked her into bed that night she asked if she could do it again!