I like your cake

This one's for you baby; Figured you'd have a laugh over the post title.

Huh wha? Nobody else get it? Good! It's an inside joke and very rude of me to start things off this way isn't it? oh well.

My big bro John's wife Sarah turned 35 on September 24th!

I should note that Sarah is John's one and only wife. Re-reading that sentence (above the pic) made me laugh, it sounds like I was clarifying which wife I was referring to.

We celebrated on Wednesday because it was the earliest we could get everyone together.
My monkey of a niece Neve started pre-school last week and had her first run in with the law (pre-school laws that is) Wednesday afternoon. She and another peanut were kicking each other under the table, the other kid was pulled away and smarty pants Neve slid down on her chair and kept kicking. Atta girl! just kidding! Have I mentioned that Neve is two and a half? She knows what she wants, when she wants it and how she wants it and isn't afraid to tell anyone. I asked her if she likes the teachers and she told me that she liked one but not the other. Guess who was the one disciplining her earlier that day? ha!

The amount that this child talks blows me away. Those who know me know that I can talk for hours on end and I think it's safe to say that I was even chattier as a child. I'm getting the impression that Neve is a second generation Jaime. She has so much to say she can't get it out fast enough and then gets frustrated when her words are jumbled up and unintelligible. I don't know how many times she was told to "slow down" by one of us in hopes of lessening her frustrations with herself and us. Silly rabbit.

On our wedding day - a shot of Neve playing quietly. Imagine that!

Neve is also learning the art of persuasion. She begged me to stay and play with her when I said it was time to go. She pulled on my arm, whined, made me chicken nuggets (aka a rock) in her little kitchen, told me she loved me, changed the subject, suggested that Uncle Mikey (aka Fred) go home without me and finally resorted to trying to entice me with guilt by proclaiming "I fed you!" (referring to the rock nuggets). I adore that little girl!

So the cake was made by yours truly. I have no trouble admitting it certainly isn't the prettiest thing I've ever made; far from it actually. I love to bake but don't "do" cakes usually. The adventures of the ladybug cupcakes inspired me. It's a boxed sucka so you might say I cheated but it tasted damn good so call me names if you must!
There are a few things I'll do differently next time:

1. I'll cut the top of the cake off so that it doesn't look like the thing is lopsided. My brother asked me if I made the cake myself - smartass. What gave it away?
2. I'll put more jam in between the layers. When I was slathering the raspberry jam on top of the base I thought that I was using too much. I didn't consider the fact that it would be absorbed into the cake. Definitely liked the touch of jam though! YUM!
3. I'll use 'real' cake decorating thingos. I resorted to using a baggie with a corner cut off and although it worked it wasn't ideal and I think I cut too much of the corner off because the 'stream' was pretty thick.
4. I'll make my own icing. I cheated big time for this thing. Next round I'm going to make Grandma's amazing icing. I'll post the recipe following my attempt.

And that's that.