Happy Birthday, Kids!

Today we celebrated three of the four birthdays we share together in our combined families with a Mexican style dinner, followed by cake and ice cream. The day started with my oldest daughter and her husband bringing my youngest daughter home from her visit in Virginia. Since they share a birthday this month with two of our sons, we thought we'd fix a special dinner. I had already baked the cake earlier this morning, so all we had to do was pick up the ingredients and supplies for the dinner.

Then about noon my daughter called to let me know they were just leaving to head our direction, and that they would be in around dinner time. We had just pulled up at the store to get what we needed for dinner when she called again to says she had called my parents and asked if they could spend the night with them. This is a good thing since they rarely get to spend time with them. So, my mom suggested she call me and ask what our plans were for dinner.

I let her know our plans to cook them a special meal for their birthday, and mom said she had let it slip that I had fixed them a cake ... lol ... it really didn't matter if they knew. So, I called mom to ask if they would like to be treated to dinner, and if they minded if we prepared it there at their house. She asked what they could do and I asked if she could provide some ice cream for the cake. No problem as she had plenty of vanilla on hand.

We arrived with food prepped to begin cooking the meal. Since most of it was stir-fry ingredients for hot burritos, and soft and hard tacos, it was an easy chore. The guests arrived, we all enjoyed a great home cooked meal topped off with cake and ice cream, and an evening full of conversation. Surprisingly enough there were plenty of compliments from the toughest critic in the bunch, my son-in-law. Though we weren't trying to bend over backwards to please any one person, we were happy that everyone was satisfied with their dinner and the visit.

We finished cleaning up the kitchen, packed the leftovers, said our goodbyes, and headed on home for some quiet time. It was nice to spend the rest of the evening together relaxing before the hectic week ahead. My special thanks to "Mr.D" for all his great ideas, his expertise in Mexican cooking, and the time he enjoys spending with all of us. Goodness knows, I love spending time with him!

I'm looking forward to being able to bake a cake for the other birthday celebrants here shortly. Do you think the cake would survive a six hour drive? As long as there is air conditioning in the car, it should do all right. Now all I have to do is find out what their favorite flavor cake is from their dad. Oh, "Mr.Deeeeeeeee"

PS I promise not to arrange the candles on the cake backwards this time ... :P ... you had to see it to understand my thinking ... or not ... LOL!