PJ decided to "surprise" me by helping the boys make me a birthday cake. I say "surprise" very loosely. The boys thought it was a surprise. He took them to the store to get the cake mix and acted very secretive when he got home. He and the boys told me they were making dinner rolls, and they didn't want my help. I was banished to the basement, where I stayed until I smelled the familiar scent of smoke.
Ellis came running down the stairs "Dad needs your help!" When I got to the kitchen, smoke was billowing out of the oven, and the front door was wide open. "What did you do?!" I exclaimed. Apparently PJ was trying to be fancy and bought a yellow cake mix as well as a chocolate cake mix. He was going to make a 4 layer cake with alternating layers. I was not aware of this, and thought he was only using 1 cake mix. When he asked if it would fit in 2 cake pans, I said it would. It in fact did not. The cake overflowed as it rose and covered the bottom of the oven where it burned and filled the house with smoke.
PJ decided to try again, but this time the boys couldn't help because "they screwed everything up last time." While he went to the store to buy more cake mix, I stayed home and cleaned up his mess. (Happy Birthday to me.)
Two hours, two cake mixes, and two cans of frosting later, we have a ginormous 8-layer cake, that was made by PJ with some guidence from his Home Ec. teacher wife. And yes, it was delicious.
