What would you do for the coolest teacher in the world for his birthday?

Why, make him the coolest birthday cake in the world, of course!

And if it just so happened that he loved "Calvin & Hobbes" as much as me, well then it would HAVE to be a Calvin & Hobbes cake, now wouldn't it?

How, you ask, did I whip up such a feat?

For something this amazing it takes planning, creativity, and time.

At about 8pm I began looking up various and sundry images of Calvin & Hobbes on the Internet in order to find just the right one. I would have started sooner, but you know how it is.

I then baked three 10x13 cakes and let them cool. While they cooled, I made the frosting, divided it, and mixed it into 5 different colors.

From there, I arranged the cakes and began cutting out the shapes. (I had started frosting Calvin when I remembered to take the picture.) I also added music notes with left over cake.

Next I frosted the cakes. This took me forever. The frosting wouldn't stick to the sides well, so I had to work with it. I admit, I was about half way through frosting when I really wondered what I had gotten myself into.

It was then that I began to think of all of the time this amazing teacher has spent on our behalf. (I have had 2 kids in his class and Red Pepper is the third.)

First off, he is a teacher. I know, enough said. But let's not stop there. He goes above and beyond doing wonderful things in addition.

For example, he films the kids throughout the year and at the end of the year he spends many hours putting together an awesome DVD of their experiences, complete with background music, for the kids. He also makes a CD of the music they sing in class, because, yes, this talented teacher also plays guitar and sings with the kids.

He motivates them to work hard by rewarding them with "super activities", such as an evening of "Doc's Pizza" and Comedy Sportz or a classroom party with computer games and dance revolution. My kids loved it and never missed an assignment so as not to jeopardize their chances of going.

I thought also of how caring and thoughtful he is, of how fun he makes learning with his many voices, or his creative assignments. I wondered how he does it.

After that, I didn't mind how much time it took. After all, I knew it was going to be great.

Finally, I added the details. I was pleased with it when it was done. I'm not going to tell you what time I finally got to bed, though.

The next day, I took the cake to Red Pepper's class. Of course Mr. Amazing was impressed and the class was overjoyed.

I did manage to take a picture before we dived in.

Happy Birthday!