31! & Mother's Day!

Sunday was a double-whammy for us: my birthday and Mother's Day.
It was a wonderful, sunny day.
One in which I did no cooking, we were all together, my husband & kids made me a CAKE, I was able to get in a lot of exercise (that always makes me happy), and we had delicious food & fun.
I am blessed to have such a thoughtful family.

Cillian gave me lots of smiles

 Me w/ the bigger boys at the park

 cool tree on the path we hiked

 it was just gorgeous

 3 of my loves

 the "big boys"

 Cillian snoozed most of the time

 more of the beauty

 the delicious cake!

The Birthday Cake!

OK, maybe cupcakes is more accurate.

We celebrated the Aidan's & Brennan's birthdays with my husband's side of the family on Easter.
Since Aidan had a party at Chuck E Cheese, we told Brennan he could pick the type of cake they'd have.
Brennan made it clear: he wanted a train cake.

Last year we successfully made a dinosaur cake.
I checked the Betty Crocker site again, and they had a train cake tutorial, but it seemed too much for me. Costs too much, too much detail, etc. Wasn't a good fit.

Then there was buying something like this

or this

Both good options, but costing at least $20 and maybe not being worth it.

Then the magic happened & I found this blog post. We were hooked & inspired.
It was fun making the train cake, and I am so grateful to that blogger. ;)
My boys (especially Brennan) were very happy with their train cake.

So here it is:

 Aidan's 7 candles

 Brennan's 4 candles on a coal car

We are so blessed to have these 2 wonderful boys. They have big hearts & bring us much laughter and happiness.

Thanks, Grandmom & Pop Pop!

Never mind the massive amount of trains in our house. You can never have too many trains!
According to Brennan. ;)

Grandmom & Pop Pop (my parents) sent the boys giftcards to Target for their birthdays. Brennan spotted this and would not put it down. It touched his hands & that was that.

He held it the entire time in the store, he held it with him in his carseat  on the way home, and as soon as we walked in the door, he wanted it opened. Perfect birthday present.

So thanks, grandmom & Pop Pop! Brennan loves what he got with his giftcard. A man after my dad's heart?
(and Sue, please show this to mom & dad next time you can!)