Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was my birthday and I am finally beginning to understand why my mother never loved birthdays. They're just not as fun as the years roll by. Plus, when you are the "party planner" in the family, your own birthday can be a bit anti-climactic.

I did have a nice weekend though. Ryan and I spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the beach and I did not cook at all, that alone was a gift. The most strenuous thing I did during the 48 hours we were gone was walk on the beach and decide which toppings I wanted on my half of the pizza. That is a good weekend!

I came home Saturday night and my sweet children had worked to prepare a party for me. My oldest confessed that she had wanted to throw a real party with friends but unfortunately, my mom wasn't sure how to work that sort of magic in 48 hours. So, after coaxing them past the disappointment, my mom convinced them that I would enjoy a family party just as much. They put lots of thought into little details and pooled their money and collaborated with Grandma to make it special. They had set the table complete with flowers and had purchased a cake for me. They made sausage balls and pizza dip (I guess they think since this is what I make for their parties, it must be my favorite party food too, right?!?) They had even purchased cute little cans of Coke, knowing it's my favorite beverage. It was very sweet and they were very proud to offer the gifts.

The birthday table.

My cake, complete with number candles, just in case I have forgotten how rapidly I'm approaching 40. The kids were tickled when we realized that daddy could use them in a few weeks for his birthday and then next year we can reverse them and use them for Pa's birthday. What a good value! Abby was quick to point out that the package says they have a 2 minute burn time, so we each get 40 seconds of flame before we have to blow them out. Too funny!

This picture is horrid, but it makes me laugh. We could not catch that expression on Lizzy's face again in a million years.