Caterpillar Cupcake Cake

Family photo op yesterday!  This is the best we could get with two squirming kids.  The Little Miss turned 1 year old.  She hammed it up the WHOLE DAY.  I really do think she knew the day was all about her.

Her brother on the other hand?  Well, he kept telling me, "my birthday", while patting his chest and walking around proud.  I guess he turned one again as well.

We met the family at Blackstone in Iowa City.  Great restaurant and service, I highly recommend.  But before we left I put together the birthday cake.  You know how I feel about store bought birthday cakes (never!), so I stole this idea from Pinterest.  Mine didn't turn out quite as cute, but pretty neat nonetheless.

This caterpillar cupcake cake was super easy.  I simply took a boxed yellow cake mix and divided the batter equally into four different bowls, then added food coloring to each bowl to make various colors: pink, orange, lime green and violet.

After the cupcakes baked and cooled, I got out a large baking sheet (with sides) to assemble.  I added a bit of almond flavoring to the frosting and topped them all off with a generous amount.  Then it was just a matter of sticking them together in the pan.  Suckers and chocolate chips assembled the face and gummy worms were attached for the legs.

The only challenge was holding it on my lap for the 30 minute drive to the restaurant!

We all had a great day.  It was sunny and 75 degrees....in March....in Iowa.  Hard to believe.  Both kids crashed when we got home and so did Mom and Dad (although, Dad had to go to work).  Mom just plopped down and watched Desparate Housewives and GCB.

We are so happy and proud of our kids....and blessed!