January 28, 2013: January Fun and my Bday!

I had a wonderful birthday this year!  The weekend before the whole fam got together at Mallie/Dallie's.   Mal made me my favorite dinner (meatloaf!) and Amelia made my favorite dessert (crepes!)  My phone died, so here's the one pick I have from the night...with my Brynnie and Trey :)

Nick got me a buffet for my china for my birthday and he and Liam did a great job putting it together.  We had a fun dinner out on my actual birthday at Whiskey Cake and then came home to cupcakes!

 Liam also had another birthday party for Mahi, a little girl from his class, this month.  It was a princess theme and he said he wanted to go...and had fun even after we realized he was the only boy from class who came :)  He wore his knight costume and had fun with his classmates...

A few moms mentioned that Liam was so sweet to their daughters and one of the 'nice boys' in class.  Love hearing that!!

Despite the crazy weather, we keep on playing outside.  Whether it's hot...

or cold...

or hot...

or cold...(this was our playgroup to the Heard Museum)

After seeing the dinosaurs outside, we came in for hot cocoa, donuts, a game of duck/duck/goose...

 and when we asked the kids to get together for pictures, they all started shouting "belly shots"  :)

 Of course we still have plenty of board games (Blokus, Liam's new fav)  to play inside too :)

Love these moments when I turn around to see this...

We also restarted doing our co-op fruit/veggie baskets, so Liam has been helping me plan and prepare more meals lately.  He loves to cook and always ask to be my chef :)  Here is our stir fry (I cut, he stirred)...

and our spinach/mushroom manicotti (he helped mix then stuff all the shells)...

We have been going to the nature reserve a ton lately, to walk, do nature hikes, and play at the playground.  And this weekend, I brought along my camera just for some fun family pics...

I can't complain, 2013 has been great so far!  We've had so much fun downtime as a family, Nick and I have had a few date nights alone and with friends, fun playgroups, and just overall doing well!  Liam has been so helpful lately and he and Bryn continue to play so well.  My next post I'll have to get into some of their inside jokes and games they've come up with that are too cute :)