Eat Cake!

After the baseball game we decided to gather for dinner and birthday cake. It was very last minute but we had a good group come over. With the nice temperature outside the kids were able to play a little. They were so excited. It feels like it has been six months since we have been able to enjoy our backyard.

As you can see it didn't take long for Fletch and Chaz to find the roller coaster and go riding off down the hill. Both taking turns as the "pusher" of course.
My back porch was also quickly covered with colorful circles, letters and lines. In my book this may have been one of my best birthday presents as it reminds me that more days like this are just around the corner. Thanks boys!
This may be one of my proudest moments.. I had to take it in sections but if you are counting there are actually 7, yes 7 (Chaz, Fletch, Sidney, Anna, Ben, Brandon and Jackson), toddlers sitting quietly and eating around my breakfast table. I was floored. All the moms actually took a step back and stared....jaws.on.the.floor. I have no idea how the stars aligned but I can pretty much guarantee it will not happen again. For a moment we were all in heaven!

After dinner we were all hanging around in the kitchen and living room when I hear the LOUDEST commotion of all time. All I was thinking is "all of those sweet children, who I just got done doting on, are jumping on my clean, nicely made bed" Ugh. So just as any mother would do, I went to investigate.... camera in hand. What did I find? One toddler and TWO grown men playing pillow fight. Really? I had to get a few shots of the madness.. 1) because of the hilarious ratio of grown-ups to toddlers 2) because of the joy on all the faces. Sometimes madness is a good thing :)

My sweet mother-in-law picked up a cake from a wonderful bakery here in town. Her birthday is the day after mine so we usually just combo it up. She was about to pull the cake out of the box when she stopped to tell me the conversation she had with my father-in-law after she picked up the cake. A direct quote from the story is "I didn't realize Rick's could make an ugly cake." Which is hilarious! Rick's is famous for BEAUTIFUL cakes! I am not sure what the direction was but this is the result. I loved being able to get a giggle out of such a simple thing like a birthday cake. Thanks Mah!
There were also many more desserts ... I am not the biggest sweets person but I do love some cheesecake. Mmmmmmmmmm.

And as you can see the look of the cake didn't really slow down the eating of the cake. And what mom doesn't LOVE when their kid eats pink, purple and black icing!
The boys refused to show us their faces. Silly boys!
I love this picture. Meghan took it and it makes me grin every time I see it. This sums up how I feel about birthdays. It kind of sucks growing another year older but you know what? I love my life. I love the simple moments. I love the crazy moments. I love the times when I feel more love than a girl could ever ask for. Life isn't easy but I will take it.