Matters of the Heart: Birthday Week

I survived birthday week. More than Christmas, more than the last week of school - the first two weeks of February stress me out more than any other time of year. We have three birthdays in Feb. - Mike 2/4, Claire, 2/10 and mom 2/16 and then valentines thrown in the middle. I start planning Claire's bday in mid-January, but it never fails that in the midst of all that, Mike's sneaks up on me. Of course the day doesn't require much planning, but I do have to purchase his gifts and make his special triple chocolate cheesecake that I make him every year.

For Claire's birthday we had a tea party down at Ratcliffe on the Green. It was so fun. The girls were super cute. The party was very easy b/c she wanted very simple food. The restaurant was a beautiful setting and they did a great job with the girls. We gae each girl a hat and they got into it. Claire wanted "conversation starters" - things for the girsl to talk about when they got there. It was so cute hearing them talk about their most embarrassing moment or what they wanted to be when they grow up.

Here are some pics from Claire's party:

Next came Valentine's day and mom's birthday. I try to make V day special every year for my kids with heart shaped foods and decorations and small gifts. This year, however, all that I was able to get done was the gift part. My mom turned the big 6-0 and we celebrated her birthday as a family on Valentines Day at my house. My brother cooked a fabulous three-course dinner for all 18 of us. Here was the menu:

Mixed green salad w/roasted pecans, pears and blue cheese
Braised short rib w/mushroom risotto
Pan seared halibut w/choice of pineapple salsa and chorizo black beans or fresh, steamed vegetables
Choice of wheat roll from Great Harvest Bread Co. or Sister Schubert's yeast rolls

We finished the night with a chocolate vanilla bean torte and strawberries. It was so yummy. We ordered a nugget tray from Chick-fil-A for the kids. We had a fun night. Claire made place cards for everyone and we randomly placed them around so kids and adults were mixed up. We had beautiful flowers and everyone received a chocolate brownie pop as a party favor. We hired a photographer to take pictures of all the different family groups - mom with her grandkids, dad with all of his sons and grandsons, each individual family, the four generations of women - Mimi, mom, me & Claire. I can't wait to see how they turned out. Meanwhile, here are some of my pictures from mom's party.