the Icing on the Cake

My son turns 3 tomorrow. Several weeks ago when we asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said "I want to have a baseball party." A baseball party is only complete with baseball cupcakes, no?
I come from a family of amazing cake makers. I grew up sitting at the dining room table with my mom well after my bedtime, watching her, and sometimes helping a little, frost cakes. She did amazing replicas of Holly Hobby, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Disney characters I can't remember and the fondest part of those memories was the quiet of the house and the sweetness of squirting the frosting bag in my mouth when she was done. My sister carried on the tradition. She even made a business out of it for awhile. She crafts beautiful creations that look as much like artwork as something edible...elaborate sea life scenes, beaches, animals. If I know my sister, she would not describe herself as artistic, but she is, most definitely, when it comes to cake decorating. Not only do they look beautiful, but they taste exquisite, too.
I'm a one pan kind of dinner cooker and not particularly "in to" cake decorating, I tend to lean towards the side of simplicity. BUT...baseball cupcakes I can do. As I pondered what I could do to go with the theme, what could be easier than decorating the tops of cupcakes like baseballs. All that is required is the red stitching, one frosting bag cake decorating, right up my alley. Until yesterday, I did not own a frosting bag or a frosting tip. I went to make copies yesterday and a kitchen shop is close by so I wandered over and bought myself the necessities. I left with a huge smile on my face, feeling like I had just experienced some great rite of passage. I felt like I was joining the Frosting Club of mother's, like life just put the icing on my cake.
You never know, when my 5 year old is 13, she just may find herself sitting with me at the kitchen table, way past bedtime, squeezing the frosting bag into her own sweet little mouth! I hope so.