We have dinner at my parent's house every Sunday night, along with my brother James, my sister and her family and sometimes an occasional guest. It is always a night filled with lots of conversation, laughter, wine, a few tears, great food and way too many delicious carbs.
This week we did it on Monday night because of the holiday, and also used it as a chance to celebrate Ty's birthday. Even though his birthday was May 8th, we were in Phoenix, my sister was in Lethbridge and parents were in Palm Springs, so we didn't have a family get together.
A delicious dinner of steak Diane, veggies and mashed potatoes (and vegetarian chili for me; do I have a great mom or what?) was followed with singing, presents and cake. Many jokes were made about Ty "knock, knock, knockin' on 30's door", and the excessive smoke from the candles (Ty turned 28...my brother in law who was making these jokes is almost 33...go figure). And of course, as is tradition in my family, the kids helped to blow out the candles and open gifts.
The kids helping Ty blow out alllll those candles
Bailey instructing Tyler to open his cards
"the Stewart way", which involves
shaking them upside down before
reading them so that all your money
can fall out. Ty went 3 for 3!
The cake was made by myself and was chocolate peanut butter, definitely not vegan, and must have been good because everyone said they liked it! Leave a comment if you would like the recipe. I had made and iced the cake at home and the girls were kind enough to decorate it with myriad of treats (tootsie rolls, caramel squares, caramel balls, chocolate covered banana chips and yogurt covered peanuts).
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Goodness, as a blank canvas
The master candy eaters cake decorators
The masterpiece! The top says "TY" and there is
a hockey shaped pretzel stick that my brother in law
found while digging around in the bag.
The rest of the night was basically a big love in. The kids played toys and peek a boo with Abby. I got hugs and kisses and jokes told from the girls. Heated debates arose regarding U2 and The Beatles...not sure, I stayed out of that one. People were made fun of. People were praised. And best of all, we had a dance party.
Hanging with my fave 4 year old
Yup, a good ole fashion dance party.
Ryann really likes dancing to P!nk, so we heard and witnessed several performances to Raise Your Glass, and Funhouse. Ryann is a dancer with some interesting moves. She rolls around on the floor. She strikes mysterious poses. She flings her hair around. She shimmies and sways with a sexy look on her face. And she's only 4.5. My sister and brother in law might be in for a world of trouble with this one!
Ryann and Bailey treated us to some partner salsa, and then it was time for a dance contest. We heard everything from P!nk, to Phil Collins, to Michael Jackson to New Kids on the Block. Bailey pulled out the worm. Logan pulled out his best break dancing moves. Abby jumped and boogied in whoever's arms that were holding her at the time. Everyone danced with abandon, happiness and joy.
That has got to be the best thing about family. Where else could something like that happen on a Monday night where people wouldn't be making fun of you on Tuesday morning? I love how kids inspire us to be creative and unabashed. And to burn off a few birthday cake calories while we are at it ;-)
Unfortunately we were having too much fun dancing to take any pictures :-(
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