a family celebration

Hi friends! I hope you are having a lovely weekend in your neck of the woods. We have been having off and on rain, but at the moment the sun has popped out from behind the clouds and I am catching a moment to post some pictures from Noah's birthday on the 19th. The day was very special with lot's of fun and family time spent together.

In the morning Noah woke up to find that Daddy had come home from work to join us for pancakes and presents. When Noah came downstairs, he discovered that the kitchen had been decorated just for him! His expression was priceless.

Noah opened some presents and cards from us and his family back in Ontario and then we ate a delicious birthday breakfast. I was so pleased that Winslow was able to come home and hang out with us for a bit. Noah was very excited to receive his first ever Thomas the Tank Engine. He hasn't put it down since.

After breakfast we said goodbye to Daddy as we always do, by standing outside on the front porch and watching him drive away in his police cruiser as he puts on the lights for Noah. It makes him so happy to see his Daddy put on the lights for him.

After Daddy left we had a few phone calls and skype date with family back in Ontario and P.E.I. It was fun to see my mom, Noah's Nana on skype as they both share the same birthday. Happy birthday Nana!

Later that morning we were joined by our friends at the Beringia Center, a museum that features what would have been local animals from just before the ice age. The kids enjoyed it and we liked being there, especially because it was raining outside. Doesn't Noah look so grown up in this picture that I took? Oh and that's the t-shirt I made for him for his 2nd birthday by using a freezer paper stencil. Seriously, I love that stuff.

After the museum we came home and Noah had a nap. He's been fighting a cold lately and has been really needing long afternoon naps. While he napped I made these cupcakes after discovering that the ones I had made from a cake mix had failed. Lesson learnt this birthday: cake mixes DON'T save time. So the second batch of cupcakes turned out much better and I have learnt that from now on I will only make cakes from scratch. I used a vanilla cream cheese frosting on them which worked out really well.

Once Noah was up from his nap, I got him ready and we did some cupcake drop offs. We went by our friend's houses and left them some cupcakes, which I think made them happy. We also got to sneak in some visits with our friends which was nice and Noah got to play with his friends.

At 6 pm we went downtown to pick up Winslow from work and to go out for dinner. We went to one of our favourite restaurants where we all enjoyed our dinners very much.

The day was just about perfect. Time with friends, time with family, some play time and the excitement of a celebration. I really think that Noah started to "get it", that it was his day and that it was a special day just for him. For me, I really wanted him to feel special and loved, and I'm pretty sure that that's how he felt.

And so now I am sitting back and relaxing after a busy Sunday morning. We had his birthday party today and boy was it fun! Noah is now napping upstairs, something I should be doing, but I really just wanted to sit down and get this all out before I forgot it.

Hope you are having a great Sunday!

xox