Mornings with friends, dump truck cake on the horizon

As Oliver is Bob the Builder and tomorrow turns 3, I've got a dump truck cake to make and am excited about doing so. It must be vanilla with vanilla icing, and he picked out tool candles to grace the top, the same ones Jack had on his two year old cake which was a drill. Funny how such different little boys cycle through similar interests. I've never bought them just "boy" toys or books, and for at least two years, Jack's favorite color was pink. He has a pink bike, wore pink as much as possible, just thought it was "such a pretty color, Mom." I found this infinitely dear and was sorry/irritated when some little girls averred that pink "is just a girl's color" because at that point, he started moving away from it. In my opinion, only a truly confident man wears pink proudly, and at least J still does that. :) Anyway, despite the gender-neutral/equal-opportunity efforts, boys will be boys. It's fascinating to see how innate some stuff is: for my little guys -who are pretty calm on a relative boy-energy scale- demolishing is just beyond appealing, trucks and tools never cease to amaze and be loved, loud noises are fantastic, sirens and flashing lights entice. So we (T is an excellent cake-making assistant and does the majority of the decorative frosting) made Jack a drill cake and the dump truck will soon join the ranks of our fanciful creations. I'm also going to make some chocolate shamrock cupcakes for those who prefer choc!

This morning was spent in the company of dear, old gal pals. We had a little Irish-themed party with soda bread, scones and an assortment of my homemade marmalade, jams and lemon curd. It is such a luxury to talk to friends when you're not interrupted, to laugh together about all manner of stuff, to comfort and listen and just be together. Our kids rarely came up in conversation, and that too was nice; while the children are the centers of our lives right now, we are more than just mothers, and it's comforting to know your relationships transcend the little beings that might have brought you together in the first place.

With that, I'm off to pick up Ol and then head home to make sure I've got all the ingredients I need for baking. Happy Friday!