My firstborn just turned 8! In our house that means an ugly (but delicious, I swear) homemade cake and a breakfast birthday party. My daughter requested a cheesecake, which I’ve never made before. I used this recipe, but with organic ingredients, and subbing cherry pie filling for raspberries on top. True to form, it came out of the oven ugly! 

 And got even uglier after removing the springform pan rim and chilling 

We prettied it up a teeny bit with cherry pie filling and candles on top 

Once it was sliced and on plates, no one cared how it looked!  

My daughter’s big gift was an American Girl doll that we gave her as soon as it arrived in the mail last week, but I still wanted her to have a few things to open on her actual birthday. Last night I made her a simple wrap skirt out of fabric we dyed last summer, and a matching one for her doll, who she has named Alexandra.