I stupidly agreed to do a confirmation cake for my church just two days after my son's big first communion party. To some of you who do several cakes a week this may not sound like a big deal but for me it is. I have 5 kids under the age of eight with a 10 month old. I got the cake baked, iced and smoothed the day before the confirmation. I stayed up till two in the morning doing the dove and thought all I had to do was the roses border and words. No big deal. Well that's when the nightmare started! I not only was taking the cake but we were also attending so I had to make sure that everone was dressed and ready by 4:00. I woke up and started on my fondant roses first before my two year old demon child 
woke up. I wanted them to be a deep red but no matter how much color I put into them they still looked pinkish orange. I added so much coloring that my fondant was falling apart. I tried people's suggestions here but I think it was to far gone. So I had spent an hour for nothing. I started making buttercream roses instead.The icing was to soft but I managed to get some decent ones. By this time all of my little ones were up. I pulled my dove out to admire my work and figure out how I wanted it on the cake and left it on the counter Stupid!! I came back to find my two year old eating the bird! EATING THE BIRD!!! I spent an hour doing it 
So I quickly started on another one. It did go faster since I already knew how to do it. By this time it was noon. I got everything ready to go and put my babies down for a nap and still thought I would have enough time to finish the cake. I started the words, no big deal and then when I got to the bottom words I realized I would have to freehand them. I am not very good at that so it took me longer but they turned out okay. I put on the bottom border and discovered that I did not have enough icing to do a top border!!! I didn't have enough time or ingredients to make more. I called my husband and told him he had to come home earlier than planned because I was having a nervous breakdown. 
I decided to get the top edges as smooth as possible and I could just put my roses and some scrolls in the corners. My husband got home we got everyone ready and while he was finishing up I went to put on the roses and paint the rays coming from the dove with luster dust. Guess what I found. My two year old had put the stool from the bathroom onto a chair and pushed it up to the refrigerator where my roses were. He had pulled the tray down and was just about to put one in his mouth when I yelled noooooooo!!!!!!! Yelling at him was not the thing to do because it scared him and he dropped the tray and started crying. The roses all broke and I sat down on the floor with him and felt like crying too. I didn't know what to do, I had nothing to go on the top of the cake and we were already late. I loaded the cake up, grabbed my gold icing and dust and left. When I got to church I ended up putting the scrolls in the corners but it was not what I wanted to do. I had envisioned this beautiful cake that would wow people and possible get me some orders. Instead it turned out like this. I know that the cake is not that bad it is just not in any way what I had planned. Do you know what my husband had the nerve to say on the way home? I should have gotten more done on the cake the day before. Then he goes on to ask me if I had used a different icing because he didn't like it. 
If any of you hear about I bizzare murder on the news were a man was found dead with a bowl of icing over his face please don't turn me in. It was temporary insanity brought on by temporary stupidity. I think I'll need at least a week or two to get over this one. It will take me that long to clean up the kitchen!! 
wow, what a story. I know how hard it is for you to do all that work with little ones.
I had a home decorating business at home with a ADHD child, MY very own DEMON child..lol
I know that you're just begining and I'm not trying to be negative in any way shape or form....but here is what I learned.
1. not to take too many orders, my son wouldn't nap during the day so the only time I had to decorate was when he finally fell asleep and I was exhausted myself.
2. I used to bake the cakes while I made dinner. While I was using the cook top, I had the oven on baking my cakes. They would be mixed before I started dinner, put into the pans, sometimes I would throw the pans in the fridge ( nothing happens to them..believe me..lol ) they would bake nicely while we sat down to eat. I would take them out on the counter while I cleaned up and while I put the leftovers away I'd wrap the cooled cakes and throw them in the freezer.
3. ANY TIME that I had down time, I'd make decorations, basic ones...like flowers. Even though my son was a wild child from the start, for some reason the little kids in the neighborhood thought he was cool, he was a rough and tumble kid and even at a young age would try to keep up with the other kids, so..I'd grab the oldest kid, give him or her a few dollars..like 5 bucks..and tell them to please keep an eye on my son while they all played in the yard...( with me peeking at them every 10 minutes..lol) this was good for almost 2 hours of "down time"
3. I always use the wilton buttercream icing to decorate with, that I could store in the chinese soup containers in my cabinet. Wilton butter cream doesn't need to be refrigerated.
4. when worse came to worse, I'd go to my local cake decorating store and buy ready made decorations! I didn't feel too bad since my prices were so low and most of my cakes were for school functions!
I learned these things after about 5 years of stressing, struggling and nervious breakdowns..lol
I hope that this helps! but I know how hard it is having little ones around.
oh..and one final thing..how I taught my son not to mess with my cakes.
When I'd level the cakes, this is where I'd put the ugly flowers on and that was HIS to eat. Everytime, he was told..OVER AND OVER again..
"This one is for you, and this one ( the nice cake..lol) was for so and so...when it's your ...insert ocassion here....I will make you one just like it. It WORKED...after a while. As he got older he was always happy to play (DESTROY..LOL) someplace in the kitchen to let me finish because he knew he would get his "share" as soon as I finished!
I really didn't do more than one to three cakes a week because I really needed to keep an eye on my son, but I did these cakes to keep my sanity! lol
edited to add!!
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CAKE!! My goodness you get that quality with your little kids running around?? I can imagine what you will do once they understand and leave mommy alone!! You are awesome....SAHM are my true heros!! lol
WOW, WOW and again...WOWSER! you have NOTHING to worry about...the cake was simple, elegant and to the point. I think that adding the roses would've taken away from the STRONG MESSAGE. With the simple scrolls on the cake all eye are drawn to the center of the cake where your message is to be found!
Take care!
WOW! im sorry, i have a little one too. except mine is smart, and knows what to do, to totally mess the cake for me. he laughs when i freak out! and he's only 1 1/2. but my recommendation is to bake your cakes, and freeze them. it works. also, find icing reciepes you like, and make them atleast 1 week ahead of time. but make sure, they will last. oh yeah, and about decorations! thats a great idea, to make them ahead of time if you can.
Oh, your story takes me back to when MY 3 kids were little ones...all I can say to you is...relax...they DO grow up....and if you think THESE years are tough....WAIT UNTIL THEY'RE TEENAGERS!!!...LOL...THAT is when the REAL devil horns come out!....there....feel better?...lol
Monica, you are absolutely right! The other night I had a cake class and all my DH had to do was supervise the kids' baths (we don't have to bathe them ourselves anymore... woo hoo!!) and make sure they were in bed by 9 o'clock. Well, I get home at 9:15 and they are just starting their baths (we have three kids!) and by the time everything was said and done, it was just after ten when they were all finally in bed. The next morning, I go to get my youngest up and she throws a hissy, my son who's day depends on a food nights sleep messed around all day in school, and my oldest daughter was yawning all day. My husband says to me last night when he came home from work at 5:30 and our youngest was fast asleep "If you don't wake her up, she won't sleep tonight!" Talk about wanting to crown the king of the castle!!! Anyway, shel slept all night long and woke up so happy and cheerful... my baby was back.
Mariak, Sorry to hear about your cake. However, don't be too hard on the man. After all, he's JUST a man!
Debbi
First of all.. The cake is just beautiful!!!!! Your writing was great and the dove. just amazing..
Now your husband.. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
sorry men to that to me.. They make me laugh.. Cause we all know Murder is not an option... the bowl of icing on a dead man.. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!! I cant stop laughing!!!!
You did a nice job on the cake, it's beautiful! As for it not looking like the one in your head well.. I didn't see that one. ; )
But I totally understand what you mean. : )
And my son used to hang onto my legs while I was trying to decorate a cake. My husband was supposed to be watching him. Thank goodness he is old enough now I don't have to worry about it, LOL. But yeah I remember those days. There were quite a few tears (and those were my tears, LOL)
I was completely anxious reading your story and I felt sooo badly for you when you wrote about the roses and icing and all that stuff....UNTIL...I actually took a look at the cake. OMG!!! It's lovely...perfect...no roses needed. Just FYI....I don't just write nice things...ever...unless I mean them.
As a matter of fact...your whole gallery is quite impressive. Imagine what your cakes will be like when your kids are grown....
P.S. I know exactly where you got your "theme" for the first birthday cake. I used the same party-ware for one of my cakes!
Nice work....and thanks for the laugh....
I understand your pain too..lol. I finally had to invest in a baby gate for the kitchen until the kids were older. No one in while I was there but guess where they stayed. At the baby gate watching me...lol.
Beautiful cake!
Back when my kids were small, many years ago, my life saving thing was the playpen. I don't see people using them much now. I always had gates too. With 8 kids the only way to keep my sanity was to know where they were, and know they were in a room or pen where they could not get hurt. This came in handy when I had to decorate. After the fact I'd open the gates and let them loose. They always had plenty to do, and never seemed to mind.
Oh--the times I have caught my 2yo DS on the verge of eating a cake.
They are so smart--pushing whatever they can find to use as a stepstoole.
<-----------Feeling your pain!
Wow it's beautiful. I know you didnt think so at the time but I think your son did you a favour lol I like it better without the roses. I have to say that I really love your easter cake as well the fbct is really really nice. And you first communion cake is also spectacular I can only imagine how hard it must be to icicin the hexagon cake and here I was thinking about buying a set cause I like the look but never thought about how to put on the icicing on lol hmmm have to think about that now lol
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