Things are falling apart...

So, this was supposed to be Davis's birthday cake. It was going to be a baseball. It was supposed to be a VERY CUTE baseball. But, as you can see, it has fallen horribly, terribly, irreversibly apart. Poor Davis. I am going to have to buy him a fancy cake from the bakery. Poor me. I kind-of pride myself on making my kids amazing birthday cakes. I've never had a cake fall apart on me before. But, this cake officially qualifies as a baking disaster! Danny thinks that I was frosting it with too much force. From the look of the shattered cake, I would have to agree. And if you'd had the week that we've been having, you might have frosted a cake with a little too much force too. Not to vent too much online (I already did that three weeks ago), but we've had some real struggles lately with our neighbors. I'll spare you the dirty details (call us if you want the full scoop!), but the basic gist of it is that we have been threatened, screamed at, cursed at, yadda-yadda-yadda by some punk neighbors of ours. It's culminated in two visits with the police this week, and resulted in a lot of stress for us. I began to frost this cake 5 minutes after our latest episode with the police tonight. Soooo, I MIGHT have used just a little bit too much force. MAYBE. But poor Davis shouldn't have to suffer for the stupid problems some punk kids are causing. Nothing is working out as planned for his birthday. If he was a little more aware of his surroundings, and realized what a first birthday should be, he would be terribly disappointed.
I, myself, am already terribly disappointed. I do not love him any less than I love Macie and Reid. The sweet little fella makes me happier than I can say. His hippo teeth and dimpled grin and little waddle of a crawl are just too adorable! So, I wish that I could help his first birthday be a celebration worth remembering! We wanted to go to the farm (he loves animals) -- but it's supposed to rain. I wanted to make him a super cute cake -- well, you can see what happened with that. I've spent hours and hours searching for the "perfect present" -- and still I don't know what to get him. If you have any good ideas, let me know!!
Sooo, I'll tell you next week if Davis's big B-day turns out to be a flop or not. Before we started having our neighbor issues, this last week was actually pretty fun. Mike and Angela introduced us to Cabella's on Friday night, and the kids especially had a blast. Danny found all sorts of fun guy stuff he wanted to buy. Guns, ammo, tents, sports stuff, etc. Luckily, we left with very few actual purchases. :) If you haven't been, you should go. It's free, and they even give you aracade tokins to play some gun shooting games!
Saturday night we had an impromptu little party with some of our friends from the ward, and Danny grilled up some very delish steaks. They were so delish, in fact, that the our friends couldn't stop talking about them at Tuesday night's PEC meeting! Nothing like hot-tubbing and steaks after a day of hard work!
Then on Monday, Cinco de Mayo, we celebrated FHE with the Judkins (some of our very FAVORITE neighbors! Thank goodness we do have some GOOD neighbors too!). Yummy quesadillas, black bean salsa, Mexican chocolate cake, maracas, sombreros, and pinatas! We had a wild and crazy party (you know how wild and crazy we are, after all), after our conference lesson, of course. :)
Now, here's the weekly FHE scoop:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
DAVIS: Mom thought he was eating a stick in the garden. He was actually eating a worm. I'm not sure that this is a really good accomplishment, but some kids do eat worms on dares or bets. So, maybe it means that he is brave? or that he has exotic tastes?
REID: Said his BIG accomplishment was that he jumped on the trampoline. I'm gonna say his accomplishment is that I finally retired all of his 18 month size pants. Yes, that's right, 18 month size pants. But he's THREE YEARS OLD, you say. That's true. But his little bum is so small that he cannot keep his new 2T pants on without his belt notched up all the way!
MACIE: She read her hardest book yet. And she was asked to be a "guest dancer" for another studio's dance recital at the Covey Center for the Arts next month! When I ask her about her dance classes, she says "Mom, I danced my heart out!" Played her last spring soccer game!
MOM: This was a less productive week... I got my voice back just in time to sing for a fireside Sunday. I almost finished planting the garden with Danny and the kids. I had my back adjusted (after over a year of having a "bad back!") and so far it is working. And I mailed everyone their birthday presents LATE (boo! This is a reverse accomplishment. Sorry to my Mom, baby Cassidy, Mike, and my Dad. If it makes you feel any better, remember what I said about not knowing what to get Davis. Well, by the time I am done typing this blog it will be Davis's birthday, so I am late getting him his present too!)
DAD: Helped Mom plant the garden. Fixed the back door. Having a phenomenal start to his softball season -- leading his team in batting with an average of .769! We love to cheer him on!Go dad!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
We read Elder Ronald A. Rasband's talk (of the seventy), entitled "Special Experiences." The winning quote is, "Remember when you first knew that Joseph Smith was God’s prophet of the Restoration? Remember when you accepted Moroni’s challenge and knew that the Book of Mormon was indeed another testament of Jesus Christ? Remember when you received an answer to fervent prayer and realized that your Heavenly Father knows and loves you personally? As you contemplate such special experiences, don’t they give you a sense of gratitude and resolve to go forward with renewed faith and determination?"