6th Birthday

Last month, J had his 6th birthday!  We woke up to snow, but it didn't keep us from celebrating!

J with his mommy.

Breakfast at Huddle House.

There was a scheduled karate camp that day, and J wanted to go.  (The birthday child gets a "drum roll" by the other kids if it's their birthday.)  

Afterward, it was time for a surprise movie date at The Lego Movie.  

J is trying to act all cool in this picture.  *Sigh.*  

J and his NaNa enjoying a game of air hockey before the movie starts.

Dinner was J's choice, which of course was at the Chinese restaurant where we are all known very well!

His Mommy and NaNa hurried back to the apartment to get the surprise party ready.  They had decorated while he was at karate camp.  J had been told that he wouldn't be having a party this year.  

The party was Lego-themed as well--primary colors, Lego cupcakes, and a few Lego gifts.

Naturally J got interested in his Lego Movie book....

Here his Mommy is telling him the story of his birth.

Group picture of those that were able to celebrate his day with him!

A birthday

A while back, somebody special in the family had a birthday!  

And no, it wasn't this one!  

It was my sister, S, who turned a nice round number!  

We all got together at my house for a celebration.  

And to catch some cardboard on fire.  Note:  only light the cupcake on the top tier if your cupcake tower is made from paper.  Ahem.

I don't remember why his eyes were covered, but I'm sure there was a very good reason!

My middle sister, S, brings such joy to our family!  She is fast with the witty remarks and is such a caring person, and we are lucky to have her as part of our small, tight-knit family.  Love you, S!  

Mom Has a Big Round Birthday!

After some errands and going to ICE, it was finally time to celebrate my Mom's birthday!!!  We ate at Macaroni Grill after some perusal of the mall.

Here is my beautiful Mom in her birthday crown!

And here is the dessert they gave her with the candle we brought along.  We all sang "Happy Birthday" to her and J even continued the tradition of making up a birthday song for her.  

In the City

We spent a day in the Big City earlier this month for a special occasion.  We stopped off at a local toy store (a kid's dream--next year I hope to shop there for J) and then had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant.  J had the Kids Elvis Toast, which is peanut butter, banana, and cinnamon on whole wheat toast.  He loved it and practically inhaled it.

Mr. GV had the Buffalo Salad and I had my usual Reuben.  I mean seriously, I never try anything else because I just love the tempeh reuben so much!  

And then:  dessert.  J and I shared a slice of chocolate banana cake.  

Mr. GV had a slice of some sort of cheesecake.  Pumpkin I think.

And we got two cupcakes to go for later, when we met up with family at another restaurant and had no vegan dessert options presented to us.  

J enjoyed the cake quite a bit of course.  At one point he decided I had eaten enough and divided what was left. Hilarious.  

50, 40, 4

On my mother's side of the family, we have three birthdays all on the same day.  I am fortunate enough to share my birthday with my uncle.  This year we were able to celebrate together!  

The children's table

Here I am arriving at the surprise party at Macaroni Grill.  It had been a hard morning, as we had just euthanized sweet little Pearl a few hours before.  

Being greeted by my best boy!

All of my grandparents' grandchildren, except for one who couldn't be there. 

The original three grandchildren.  Even though those two lived a couple hours away, we saw each other A LOT when we were growing up.  After I was born, it was over 10 years before the next grandchild in the family came along.  

The great-grandchildren

J was the hero.  My balloons floated up and he was able to capture one of them....with a little help from Mr. GV.

He got a round of applause from the whole back room!

Blowing out the 40 candles.  *Sigh*  Look at all the smoke.  lol

The candles melted quickly and combined with the caramel on top of my vegan birthday cake.

The 4-year old celebrant in the red shirt. 

My uncle, with two of his siblings.

My grandparents' children.

Sister S and her man.

Sweet little cousin.

Here we are--40, 4, and 50!

My complete family.

My birthday flowers from my mom and family.

Birthday time

I had a birthday a while back, and Mr. GV and my mom made sure it was a well-fed one!  :) 

I slept in to find a big breakfast made for me.  We don't normally cook a breakfast-type meal, so this was a real treat.

First off, fruit that Mr. GV cut up.

And then there was this feast--tofu scramble, sausage, and walnut-battered French toast with yummy syrup and cinnamon. 

In the afternoon we headed to my mom's house, where Mr. GV did more cooking---cake and ice cream, both from scratch.  (Funny note--I told J on Skype that Mr. GV was making me a cake from scratch.  He said "Ewww......from scratch!"  Apparently he didn't know that little phrase yet, and thought the cake-making involved scratching.  lol  The mind of a 3 year old!) 

Of course there has to be a picture of mom peeling potatoes! 

Mr. GV making the frosting for the cake. 

My birthday supper---lima beans, crowder peas, corn, stewed potatoes, kraut, and cornbread.  We had a couple of riblets but decided not to heat those up. 

My yummy cake!

Spumoni ice cream with chocolate chips, cherries, and pistachios. 

It was a very nice day, and I have a couple more things to look forward to--a massage, courtesy of a gift certificate from Mr. GV, and a play put on by a local animal rescue group, which is a gift from my mom. 

 I also heard from both my sisters, my bil, and my nephew that day, plus an aunt, an uncle who shares my birthday, and my mother-in-law. 

We brought both pups with us, and Miss Macy was tuckered out and ready to go home by this point.