Caleb's Cake- He Turned Nine Years Old

Caleb turned nine years old this past Friday.
He is what he considers a big boy now!

Every year for his birthday except for one
(his 6th) I have made his cake and
decorated it for him. One year it was a
Sponge Bob cake, a helicopter cake with
toy helicopters on it and a landing pad,
the year before last he wanted a football
cake and then last year I made him a
Spiderman cake.

This year for some reason he wanted a

Camo Cake with Army men on it. Nana

(me) went a bit further on that one and

put a tank and a jeep on it also.

He was very excited over the cake I

was able to produce for him but as

the years go by and he gets older, the

request get a bit more complicated to

produce. I don’t do this for a living and

as a matter of fact I don’t really like

doing it. I just do it for him.

You see I am an artist. I paint with oils,

I do crafts and I do photography so a

couple of years ago I thought I could

do cakes. I had played around with it

for several years here and there so I

took a class. I pretty much realized

that cake decorating was not for me…

really fast!

When it comes to mixing the colors I

have no clue. Now that is funny coming

from me cause I can look at something

and tell you what color oil paints to

combine to get that color….but doing

it with the gels you use to color icing is

not the same. I just can’t get it going

correctly and it’s a lot of trial and error.

Not mentioning the making on the icing!

There’s the mixing and getting it the right

texture for what ever you are doing. One

texture for icing the cake, another for

decorating and another for writing.

When I finish a project like this one I have

usually mess up every large bowl I have,

icing is on the walls and cabinets.

Decorating cakes is just not my thing.

I say that but when I look at the finished

project, I am usually pleased. I do okay

once I get over the making of the

icing and the mixing of colors.

Caleb had a party with family and friends

this past Saturday (his birthday was

Friday) and it makes Nana proud

when he thanks me for his cake and

tells me it is awesome.

My sweet grandson came into this

world with Nana right there watching

him enter and having tears in my eyes.

Being there was special for me and

helped to make the bond that Caleb

and I have. Plus, I helped with the

naming of him. His Dad wanted to

name him Tyler Lee but my daughter

was not pleased with that name. I

told her that I like Tyler but did not

care for the Lee. So I suggested Caleb

Tyler (along with some others), the

next thing I knew, he was going to

be Caleb Tyler. Another connecting

to the bond.

My daughter kept asking me what

the baby was going to call me and I

kept telling her Pam, you see, I was

just 2 weeks over turning 40 when

I found out I was going to be a

Granny. I was way to young! But,

I also liked messing with Amber

when she asked. All that changed

when I was handed that little runt,

my words were “come to Granny”.

As he got where he was trying to talk,

he would come out with what sounded

like Nana so that is what we stuck

with. He decided what he was going

to call me! Sounds younger then

Granny anyway. Plus, my mother

has always been known as Granny

and we did not need to confuse him

with me and his Great Grandma.

So…I became Nana. Thanks for that Caleb.

Caleb and his Mom lived with me for about

5 years. He became his Nana's shadow, following

me around from room to room as I cleaned or

worked on a project. He also became Nana'a

little helper. He learned at an early age how

to scrub the side of a toliet (I am sure there

are laws against this somewhere), he was

stripping wall paper at 3. He can yeild a hammer

or a screw driver better then most kids his age.

He can make his bed, changing the sheets..and

do a really good job of it. Caleb knows how to

dust, sweep, mop and runs a vaccum better then

I do. I a nut shell, he is a Nana's helper and a

Nana's boy. Plus...he loves to do craft projects!

He has helped me on one of my oil paintings

and he is always ready to lend a hand.

A new tradition will be started in a

couple of weeks when Caleb’s little

brother turns one year old, I will be

making his first cake. I think I will

go with cutting a sheet cake in

smaller squares and making them

look like baby blocks. Wish me luck.

Thanks for stopping in, please

leave a comment.
Pam