Birthday Boy

I mean Birthday-31-Year-Old Man! Spencer left for New Orleans this past Saturday and came home Tuesday night....on his birthday. Ella Ann and I tried to make the most of the two hours we had with him as a family by, hopefully, making Spencer feel special. Ella Ann had on her very fancy birthday party dress by 7:30 a.m. and wore it ALL day...both outside to play in and to run errands. She wanted to make sure she looked festive for her Daddy! I planned a big meal of brisket, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and a Better Than ? Cake that was, in my opinion, the best cake I've ever made. Not to toot my own horn or anything! Ella Ann made a huge poster that said "Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you!" and she wrote it all by herself! We also wrote "Happy Birthday Daddy" in chalk on the incline of our driveway so Spencer would see it when we pulled in.

The kids were SO excited to see their Daddy! We picked him up at the MARTA station and they were grinning from ear to ear all the way home! Ella Ann was excited to show him her poster she made (with all of our family members on it too) and the gift we had ready for him. After dinner Spencer opened all of his cards and his gift. All in all, I think Spencer had a good birthday and the rest of us had fun too!

Working on her poster for Daddy.

I bought a little (too little) pool for the kids this week and they cannot get enough of it. I throw lots of kitchen utensils in there with them and they have a blast. I cannot get Rane out of it. He will sit there in the freezing water, teeth chattering away and playing to his little heart's content.

Ella Ann enjoyed getting all wet and then slipping down her slide.

I forgot to take a picture of our meal before we started so here's the cake before we ate it! Ella Ann picked out how many candles she wanted on it (12) and then she put them in the cake.

Singing "Happy Birthday."

Don't worry, Rane was in on the birthday fun, only on the floor!

Happy Birthday!