Christmas Season

We had a wonderful Christmas season! A white elephant party at friends', Stake Leadership Christmas Dinner, Ward Christmas dinner, party at school, and other fun things. Jacob did not want to visit with Santa again this year. Buddy, his elf on the shelf, came to visit and Jacob told him what he wanted for Christmas. It was fun to wake up and see if Buddy had moved to a new place in the house.

Jacob kept asking me if we could make gingerbread cookies and I told him that we didn't have any ginger. When I finally got some I tried to start making the dough. Obviously I have never made gingerbread cookies before because the recipe I had did not call for ginger and I needed molasses and allspice instead. Back to the store I went but in the end we were able to create fun and lasting memories of our first gingerbread cookie making together.

We took a drive the Sunday before Christmas to look at lights in Denham Springs. We got stuck in a neighborhood where there was a huge light display and people parked along the skinny road. We opted not to stop and continued on. As we Oohed and Aah'ed it felt strange that there was no snow and we had the windows down some of the time. Jacob and I desperately had to go to the bathroom so we went to the church building in the neighborhood. After failing to find an open door (there were cars in the parking lot) Jacob ended up going in the rose bush. I just had to hold it. This was the first time that we took Jacob to look at Christmas lights because he can finally see all the way out the window in his car seat :)

On Christmas Eve after Max came home from work we enjoyed our 2nd annual fondue dinner, complete with two different cheese and one chocolate fondue. It was very enjoyable and we ate too much. Jacob opened his pajamas and we watched a video on the birth of our Savior. After Jacob went to bed we stuffed stockings, put out last minute gifts, and went to bed a little early.

Around two o'clock Christmas morning Jacob ran into our room because he couldn't fall back to sleep. As I ushered him back into his room to tuck him in I noticed that "Santa" had forgotten to cover Jacob's gift. Of course he saw it, stopped for a second, ran to his bed, and commented on what Santa had gotten him. We were surprised that he actually went back to sleep!

Jacob woke us early and we enjoyed a morning of opening gifts, playing with toys, and eating Jimmy Dean's breakfast sandwiches. Max and I both felt like a cold was coming on and after a long nap we woke to a very messy house :) Later that night we enjoyed snacks, games, and fun with some friends. We really enjoyed our Christmas season but missed sharing it with family and friends in Idaho!

 

Tidbits

Jacob's favorite number lately... one hundred thousand eighty-six. He added the six recently.

Jacob became distraught when he heard I was going to dye my hair to be a little more red. When I explained what I was going to do and that it would only last a month or so he said that it was ok. Then he said, "But you aren't going to do it ever again, right?"

I was asking Jacob if he wants to take piano lessons someday. His response, "I know how. I can teach myself. Watch me play 'Hot Cross Buns'." I then explained that he could learn how to play lots of different songs and he decided that would be a good idea but that he would learn from videos on the Internet. After a few days of thinking about it he decided that he would like to take piano lessons. We shall see.

My First Thanksgiving

This year we decided to have Thanksgiving Dinner with just the three of us. This was my first time preparing the entire dinner. I started two days before get a jump on things. It ended up being very low stress and easy to do. We just had the main things, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, pear jello salad, and sweet potato casserole. For dessert I made a single pie: pumpkin cheesecake. We ate around noon and afterwards decided to take a drive to explore a swamp area that I discovered. We ended up on a beautiful winding road that went on for miles. Jacob was bored, of course, since we have been trying to have him ride in the car without an electronic device. He ended up falling asleep. This year I feel very grateful to have my wonderful family, to live in this beautiful country, to be married to a wonderful man, and to have the gospel in my life.

Tummy Surgery

We have known for over a year that Jacob had a small umbilical hernia from being premature that he needed to have fixed with surgery. It wasn't painful but the doctor said that it needed to be fixed so it didn't get bigger and become painful. We put off the surgery because of lack of funds and because Jacob became terrified at even the mention of his tummy. A year of preparation didn't seem to help much with either of these issues but we decided not to put it off any longer. Since he had a week off from school for Thanksgiving it was the perfect time to schedule the surgery.

On Monday we invited a friend of his to play all day in order to keep his mind off the surgery. Along with preparing Jacob for what to expect in the hospital, Max also gave him a blessing of comfort and healing the night before. We took him to the hospital early Tuesday morning. We waited in the main waiting area first and when Jacob's name was called he yelled, "Noooooo!!!" and grabbed onto his daddy. People in the waiting room chuckled and smiled. So did Max and I.

When the nurse led us into Jacob's pre-op room we had to practically force him in. He wouldn't sit on the bed, let alone take off his pajamas. Every step of the way we had to slowly get him used to the idea and he would eventually comply. He was still very nervous and whenever anyone would walk into his room he would yell, "No!" and try and get off the bed. He had lots of toys and fun things to do but he wasn't fooled. One of the nurses finally brought in a sedative and we had to hold him down to squirt it in his mouth. Jacob was hilarious when it started to affect him. We captured many videos of his silliness.

After a bit the doctor and his entourage rushed in, got to work, and rushed us out. We waited about 15 minutes in the lobby and he was finished. Then we waited about 20 minutes in the consultation room because the doctor got pulled away. The surgery went fine and he was beginning to awaken when we got to post-op. He wanted to be held and was completely out of it. Jacob wouldn't get back on the bed or ride in the wheel chair when they needed to transport him to his post-op room, so I got on the bed with him for the ride. An hour later he was discharged, refused a ride in the wheelchair (much to the orderlie's surprise), and walked to the car. Jacob said he felt fine and really wanted to go to the hotel for daddy's work Thanksgiving lunch. And he was fine, but I don't think it will be any easier the next time he needs a surgery :)

Hole in His Smile

Our little guy lost his first tooth! He worked on it for about 2 weeks to get it really loose. Of course, since I love pulling teeth I kept testing it to see if it was ready. Each time I had to promise that I wouldn't try to pull it. He was scared it would hurt.

Before

 It finally got very loose and I was surprised that Jacob agreed to let me try to pull it. I got a tissue, grabbed it around the tooth, and pulled. Commence scream and angry look...but no tooth. He wiggled it a bit more and miraculously wanted me to try again. This time I pulled it out and he whimpered a little. He didn't realize I had pulled it and he tried to wiggle it with his tongue, all the while getting blood all over his mouth. When he finally realized it was out he was very excited and wanted to examine the tooth. His excitement was short lived as he realized he was bleeding. As he panicked, we helped him get the bleeding under control. Luckily he calmed down and was able to enjoy looking in the mirror and poking his tongue through his new hole.

Awww! Look at this cutie!

Tiny tooth!

Jacob put his tooth in a little fleur-de-lis satchel and put it under his pillow before bed. Of course it would have to be a Sunday night and I was out of cash. I had to raid our Disney World change jar for $2. The tooth fairy did a great job of sneaking the satchel out and putting it back under his pillow with the coins in it. When Jacob woke this morning he completely forgot about the tooth fairy and had to be reminded. He was sooo excited to finally be able to say the tooth fairy came to visit him. Now, we have a whole mouthful of teeth to go. Luckily we just have one mouth ;)

I'm Five

Jacob was so proud to turn five. He talked about it for weeks before and I am sure will talk about it for weeks after. He tells people in his selective southern accent, "I'm fauv." The Saturday before he turned 5 instead of having a big party Jacob chose to invite Dylan to the Louisiana Museum of Arts and Science (aka Science Center) and out for lunch. I found these cool matching shirts at Target for cheap and the boys loved being twins! After the museum we took them to McDonald's to eat and play and then home for about 3 hours to play with his new toys. Highlights of the day included Jacob being terrified and then being brave enough to see the mummy exhibit in the 'cave', people thinking Jacob was my child and Dylan was Max's, and too much fun playing with his Ninjago Legos. The day was memorable especially since there was little preparation and stress on my part.

Jacob with his best buddy watching a science show.

Lunch at McDonald's Playland

On the day of Jacob's Birthday I took him Burger King and ate with him. I have to revel in this time in his life that he is actually happy to see me at his school and holds my hand as we walk in line. Awww! We enjoyed eating together at our own little end of the table. When Dylan's pre-k class came in he was able to sit and eat with us. Both were overjoyed! They never see each other at school, let alone get to sit together! It was a birthday miracle!

 

I picked Jacob and his friend, Kaitlyn, after school. We decided he needed a friend for dinner, to open presents, and to have cake and ice cream. When they first got home she read him a book. It was so sweet both of them sitting together on the couch. (She is the one that wants to marry him.) They played a little and then we ate dinner when Max came home. Totino's frozen pizzas were Jacob's choice for dinner. (Sooo easy for me!) Then we opened presents and had cake and ice cream. The highlight of the evening is Kaitlyn and Jacob beating up his new punching bag.

Day Date

Max and I went on a much needed day date while Jacob was in school. We headed off to the other side of the Mississippi to Nottoway Plantation in White Castle. It was beautiful and I was fascinated by the history and the renovation of this old home. The grounds also had new buildings added to the many old and the plantation is used for weddings, events, and overnight stays. We recommended it to our friends and they booked it for their anniversary.

Our tour guide. She fit right in.

Lounging on the full porch outside
the master bedroom. The owner
had many special things built into
the plantation for his wife. One being
a slightly slanted porch so the rain
wouldn't puddle and get his wife's
feet wet. Awwww!

 

It was a beautiful 70 degree day, considering we were still in summertime. The very next day ended up being 90 degrees. 

The Mississippi River is in the back ground. There is a thin island in the top left hand corner. When the plantation was built the river flowed on the other side of that island. Over time, the river meandered wider and became much closer to the home. The highway is just down from the levee and runs right in front of the plantation. Max is standing about 5 feet down from the top of the levee. Amazingly, this is where the water was last year when the river was flooded. (Max took Annalisa to tour the plantation when she came to visit and they took pictures of the high river.)

I really wanted to climb one of the many old live oaks on the grounds, but this low branch was as far as I got. Maybe next time :)

 

After we tore ourselves away from the plantation we decided to take a drive to Bayou Corne. Max had never really gone into Bayou country and we enjoyed the scenic drive. He says we wants to live in a small town on the Bayou. I don't really think we would fit in :)

While I was getting out of the car to take this picture I caught a huge black and yellow grasshopper to take home for Jacob. Needless to say, he was not to happy when he learned his surprise was an ugly 3 inch bug. Even though he freaked out, he did warm up to the thing and ended up taking it to school to share with his gifted class.

 

Max and I ended our day date with a lunch at Mason's Grill. It was good to get away since we hadn't had a date in over three months. We took a lot more pictures but I won't bore you with a slide show :)

Already?

Jacob comes up to me and says that his tooth hurts. My first reaction was, "oh great! He has a cavity!" he shows me that it is his front bottom tooth and I notice it looks crooked. Yep, his first loose tooth and he is so excited! He wants tooth fairy money. I didn't think age four was when they start loosing teeth.

I met one of Jacob's friends that is in his gifted class. Ava Grace was exited to see him and stated to me in her darling southern accent, "I just love Jacob! He is soooo cute! (swoon, swoon)"

Jacob's friend, kaitlyn said since she can't marry her dad then she'll marry Jacob. When her mom asked why she would want to marry Jacob she said "well he's nice and I think he'll be a good dad. But he has to be Jacob Hickman". Awwww! They are such cute friends but she swoons over him sometimes but Jacob is oblivious.

Tid Bits

Some of the things Jacob has been saying just crack us up. When he 'fought' his dad with his noodle swords last night, towards the end he exclaimed, "Is that all you got?" Of course, after Max chuckled a little on the outside and a lot on the inside he lam blasted him with sword fighting!

On Saturday, Jacob was doing an art project with tissue paper. He explained that he knew how to use regular glue. "Watch and learn!" he exclaimed.

I have communicated with his Gifted teacher a few times and this is what she wrote in her last email.
"Jacob is great. I love that he smiles ALL the time! He is such a cutie and also very bright. I am enjoying him as a student."

My Sunshine

Being silly with Jacob, I spoke the words to this popular song: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please, don't take my sunshine away." He loved how I just spoke to him instead of singing. His response was, "But mama! I might grow up!" Yep, I guess then he won't be my sunshine anymore. ;)

Despite being bored the last few days, Jacob was nervous and didn't want to go back to school. As we pulled up he started feeling a little better when he saw familiar faces. He excitedly stated, "Hey, there's my 'bon jour teacher'!!" At least we know that he is learning from his french teacher. It was cute!

Hurricane Isaac

Getting ready for hurricane Isaac was mentally and physically draining for me. For Jacob it was nerve racking and boring. For Max it was stressful and dreadful. At home I prepared all that we would need in case of a power outage or loss of water. Jacob went to school Monday so I was able to get a little shopping done and a ton of preparations. We had arranged ahead of time to head to a friend's house in Ft Worth if we were advised to be evacuated. School was cancelled on Tuesday until further notice so I did my best to keep Jacob entertained. Along with taking Max Pizza Hut for lunch, we played Lego's, played games, and I made Jacob a tent with our kitchen table.

By 5pm, Jacob was bored, I was anxious, Max was stressed, and Isaac was moving waaaaaaaay toooooo slooooooow! Max had a room at his hotel so he could take care of things there as needed. We decided that Jacob and I would stay at the apartment because it was the most comfortable place for us and we had things to keep us busy. Jacob was worried about the hurricane coming at night so we had a fitful night sleeping in my bed. The wind had picked up at night and Jacob kept getting scared of the tree shadows moving.

 

By morning it decided to start raining a little but it didn't start pouring until about noon. Thank goodness Isaac had downgraded himself to a very lethargic tropical storm. At around one o'clock our power went out. I convinced Jacob that we should take a nice long nap! After a peaceful almost 3 hours we woke to a hot, dark house, a stronger storm, and increased anxiety. After talking to Max and listening to the radio I convinced Jacob that we should pack up some things and drive through the storm to the hotel where there was electricity, air conditioning, and our loved one waiting.

 

On the drive Jacob talked incessantly, I drove white knuckled, and the storm raged on. It really wasn't that bad but I just had to drive slow, watch out for debris, and try to tune Jacob out. (He was just excited about the adventure but it wasn't helping my nerves.) I actually felt safer than I have when driving in a snow storm in Idaho.

 

We made it safe and sound to the hotel, settled in, and calmed down. We all had a pretty good night's sleep and by morning the rain and wind had died down. The storm was over with little damage in Baton Rouge. We had survived our first hurricane scare. And I decided this week had been a horrible one to try a new depression medication. I would not have been so anxious!!! Augh!

All in a Day

Tough guy with his new shield.

Got dressed Friday morning to show
our true colors here in Baton Rouge!
Went shopping and got lots of fun looks.

Wonderful parking lot
pool after the t-storm.

Rain storm set all the hurricane debris
to the drains and flooded our parking lot.
 

School Time

I had breakfast with Jacob at his school the other day. He has been wanting to try the breakfast there and it is free so I decided to go with him so he wasn't nervous. He really enjoyed it and decided to eat the next day as well. They make nutritious breakfasts and lunches. He enjoyed his first school lunch after we went to breakfast. He said, "I ate a meatball boy (po' boy) sandwich but I didn't eat the sandwich, I just ate the meatballs and the bread."


Walking on the path in
front of the school

Little guy!





They wash their hands
with soap and water in
the long sink.

He really did enjoy his breakfast.
He really wanted to eat it mostly
to have the bag of chocolate milk.
Just a bag that they punch a straw into.
He loved it.When the cafeteria lady
asked, "What kind of mil...?"
"Chocolate!!!"
The lady laughed a ton!
"He show do know wat e want!"



Learning

I picked Jacob up today and he was eagerly waiting to tell me all about his day. He gets into the car  and as he is taking off his backpack states, “Mom, school wasn’t very long!” We had talked earlier about how school was going to be longer than playschool and that he would be gone most of the day. I guess it wasn't long enough.

As we were driving home I asked him all about his first day and what he did. His answers included: played outside, ate lunch, went on a tour of the school, drew a picture, etc. Then I asked, "What did you learn today?" He answered,  "I don’t know. I don't remember."

Later, as Jacob was playing and I was fixing dinner, he excitedly stated out of the blue, "Mom school rocked!!!!" I asked him why school rocked and he stated,  "Because I learned a lot of things!" Of course my question was, "What did you learn?" He responded with his arms out and with frustration, "I still don’t know! Stop asking me all the time!" LOL!! So glad he really loves school so far!

1st Day

Well, it is here! Jacob's first day of kindergarten.  I just dropped him off. He was only a little nervous and seemed confident. The last few days I have been imagining the worst; that he would  cry, refuse to go, be as nervous as he was for swim lessons, not put on his uniform, have a battle the morning of... None of it happened. He would barely let us have a family prayer before dad left because he said he was fine. Thank goodness he was so excited and eager to go!

We drove to his friend David's house to walk to school with him and his mother and to avoid the nasty carpool line. Jacob was confident as we walked into school and he was the first one in his classroom. As his teacher, Mrs. Renaudo, showed him where to put his backpack she told him to say goodbye to his mom. I think I would have gotten a quick hug if I hadn't held on longer and given him a kiss and a high five. He was ready! I left the classroom, quick like a band aid. Now all I can do is wonder how he is doing and revel in my quiet, peaceful day.

I came across this poem and this
is what actually made me cry.
How do they know how I am
feeling and what is in my mind today? 

He wanted me to take a picture of his
book sack that he picked out!
It was almost as big as him!

Best Buddy

It had been a while since Jacob had seen his friend Dylan. We decided it was time to invite him over again. His mom was about 9 months pregnant so I took them in the sweltering heat to the spray park. They were done after about 45 minutes. I was done after three minutes. They played the rest of the day at our place and had a blast. Dylan wore his tie dye shirt from play school hoping that Jacob would have his on as well. He did!! They have so much fun playing together and I don't have to intervene very much. Jacob is sad Dylan won't be in Kindergarten too. He is excatly one month younger than him.

No School for All

We have been preparing Jacob for his first day of Kindergarten the entire summer. He has contrasting feelings of excitement and nervousness every time it is brought up that he will be starting school soon. Of course we have had a very fun, exciting, memorable summer that I know he doesn't want to end but he is really ready for it to. Despite all of the summer excitement, he has been bored and just needs more of a challenge in his life.

While putting him to bed tonight, we were once again discussing the beginning Kindergarten schedule. As I explained about just meeting his teacher tomorrow he (for the hundredth time) stated, "Just for a little while. Not all day. Just like 4 Caillous." (Each Caillou episode is 15 minutes so that is sometimes how we gage time.) After a while of looking at the calendar and talking about it he said with hopefulness, "I wish no one ever had to go to school. Only play school. Not school." Poor guy! We discussed for the next few minutes about why people go to school and what would happen if we didn't have schools to teach us things. Oh, I hope we survive next week!

Chinese Anyone?

The closest I get to eating Chinese food is going to Mongolian BBQ. And the closest thing we have to Mongolian BBQ here is Chinese. So when we were in Idaho a Mongolian BBQ was on the list of places to visit. Celeste and I decided that we would try to take the kids there, despite no happy meals, no toys, and no nuggets. The absolutely loved it and were very entertained. While standing behind the window watching the cooks fry up our creations one cook decided to 'squirt' the kids. Jacob's infections peals of laughter just encouraged the cook to do it almost every time he came around the grill. The waitress made them 'training' chopsticks that would bounce back after they were clamped closed and let go. I would have loved a set too! They even used them to clamp their straws while they drank. Silly!

Sleep?

The last few nights I have not been able to sleep because of my cold or I have had too much sleep during the day. Last night Max and I were talking in bed until almost 2 o'clock in the morning. All of the sudden Jacob sneakingly runs in and says, "Go to sleep!" It was so cute and he giggled as he ran away after giving me a hug. Usually he is not that cute and fun when waking in the middle of the night because he is half asleep or all asleep. I asked him today if he remembered coming in and telling us to go to sleep and you can see his face over about a five second period go from confusion to remembrance. What a fun kid!

Swimming

Monday was Jacob's first day of swimming lessons at Crawfish Aquatics. He was nervous because he didn't know what to expect but he was still eager to go. When I picked him up after class he was quite distraught. Apparently he cried most of the lesson because he was so scared to do new things. He told me that he put his head underwater and had to swim to the teacher. What? When I asked him how the teacher got him to do it he said that the teacher told him to. Nice. We would have had to shove his head under water and launch him out to get him to "swim". All during the day and into the evening Jacob talked about how much he didn't want to go back to swim lessons. On the way the next morning I tried to keep his mind off where we were going by telling jokes, singing songs, and dancing crazy. He also wanted me to hold his hand at the stop lights. At this point I was seriously questioning whether it was the right time for swimming lessons and if he was going to be scarred for life. Before we got out of the car and after he said that he hated swimming lessons for the thousandth time, I asked Jacob if he wanted to say a prayer to Heavenly Father to help him be brave. After the prayer he put on a brave face and tried not to cry. He was much braver and cried a lot less. That night we decided to take him swimming in the pool so he could show us what he was learning. We were absolutely amazed!! He kept putting his head all the way under water and had us count to 10!! He loved it. He continues to be nervous with us and his teacher when he has to swim. He does great at gliding and kicking his feet and "swimming" for about 5 feet. He just doesn't like the feeling of not being able to touch the bottom. Jacob really is coming a lot way and we are very proud of his progress. Before each lesson he likes to say a prayer to help him be brave. He told us that the "scared part goes up to Heaven and the brave part stays down with him in his brain".  We are excited to watch his class next Thursday.

Wedding

A few weeks ago we went to a wedding of our friend at the church. I asked before hand if it was ok if Jacob came and the bride said that she wanted him there. She just loves him! He was so quiet through the short ceremony, although he did ask when the stake president was going to stop talking :) He loved seeing everyone dressed up and them "getting a marriage". During the ceremony they had my friend Becky Bluth, the Stake RS President that I work under, sing a nice wedding song. When I told Jacob she was getting ready to sing he said, "This is going to be beau-ti-ful!" It was sweet. He also enjoyed seeing his primary president play the violin and wondered why she wasn't playing while Ms. Becky sang. It seems they should have consulted him on the dynamics of the entertainment. :) The reception was enjoyable and Jacob sat with the primary president while we danced a little. There was a lot of Cajun food but Max took the boy home before the dancing and cake. I stayed and helped clean up. It was a nice evening.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Yesterday we were planning on going to a state park for the day. We got to bed late and woke up not really wanting to go and decided to stay in town. We also didn't want to spend the money on gas and food. So Jacob and I decided to some garage sales. He always scores with fun, cheap toys when we go. I try to stay in the neighborhood because after he gets his toys he wants to go home and play. Then I can go back out and look some more. This time he found an old old race car track (25 cents) that ended up not working and a newer Atari game box that you plug into your TV to play ($2). It has games like pac man and pole position and he loves it!! When he wanted to buy it I told him to ask the lady how much it costs. He said, "Why much it costs? I REEEAAAALLLY want it!!" The older lady was so tickled by it as well as several others that were near by. It was pretty funny!  She still charged him $2 even thouge he was so adorable. Bummer :) While we were out, I was pulling up along side a curb and my tire fell into a small drainage hole. I guess there was something sticking out of the hole area because when I drove away the tire was completely flat. Max came to help change the tire and as he was tightening the bolt it snapped off. I didn't want to deal with calling around to see how much it was going to cost to get a new tire and fix the bolt. We shoulda just went out of town! Woulda been cheaper!

Refections

We were walking into church the other day and Jacob got a glimpse of his reflection in the door. He surprisingly stated, "I'm handsome." Then he started acting all shy like he couldn't believe that he was so handsome. I guess it is time to get a full length mirror in our house.

School

The gifted and talented office finally called to talk to me about what Jacob's options are for school next year. Parkview is a school near us that has a class in each grade that is only gifted and talented. We really wanted him to attend that school but, of course, it fills up in January and there is always a long waiting list. So our next option in the area was to keep him at the school he is registered for and then have him in the pull out program. We decided to do this mainly because it is the best option, he is prepared to go to school there already, and his gifted teacher who is in our ward is a great teacher.  I talked to her today and she was very excited to have him in her class. She was also very impressed with his scores and wished he could be in the self-contained program at Parkview. Maybe in first grade. So our little guy will be going to all day kindergarten with about 45 minutes of gifted pull-out. We are very excited and apprehensive about him starting school. He is very ready, though!

Let Them Eat Cake!

The YW in our ward put on a spaghetti dinner and cake auction to raise money for girls camp. I decided to make Paula Dean's Coconut Cake. Max felt that if I was going to make a cake that I had better make one for us as well. So, I ended up making two and it was the best decision I made all week! It was delicious!!! We ate on it for 3 days. Luckly, Jacob doesn't like coconut so he only had a little bit to try. The pictures here are of the auction cake that sold for $52. The lady that bought it told me that her grown up sons told her to beg me for the recipe and if I wouldn't give it to her then she needed to pay me for it. It really was a delicious cake!