Birthday Bashes

Fantastic Fish Cupcakes made by Nana

Celebrating birthdays in the Dells

Aubrey and Aidan's birthday party

She's ONE!

Happy Birthday, Aidan and Aubrey!

With two small kids that have birthdays only 5 days apart, it's more like "birthday week". And since we were at the Dells last weekend with my family, the kids are getting multiple celebrations.
My mom made these awesome fish cupcakes to celebrate with the kids. Aidan and Aubrey opened their presents from Nana, Poppa, Kali, Kyle, and Reese last weekend at the Dells. Aubrey is now outfitted for the summer and Aidan has his new wheels to burn off excess energy.

This weekend was Aubrey's actual birthday (3/26). We combined her 1st birthday party with Aidan's 3rd birthday party. Since Aubrey doesn't really have any "friends" yet, she got to share Aidan's friends. :) In my infinite wisdom, I thought it would be easy and fun to have the kids play at the local YMCA's indoor kid's gym. Fun, definitely a yes. Easy, not really. However, the kids had a great time and that's all that matters. They ran around, played, figured out every way possible to go down a slide, painted some crafty caterpillars, and then ate some cake/cupcakes. My kiddos were worn out, and I'm assuming everyone else was too!

Aidan turns 3 on Thursday. (3/31) We'll keep it low key and just open a few presents from mom and dad. Then, on Saturday, Grandpa Finn and Great-Aunt Marsha are coming over for dinner. Mick has been enjoying Rome for the past week, so we can't wait to hear all about his adventures!

Spring Break!

As always, I'm trying to pack as much action as possible into spring break. Yesterday I visited the eye doctor and tomorrow Aidan and I head to the dentist for Aidan's first dentist appointment. (he is very excited) The rain today is forcing my hand and we're staying inside for crafts and Sesame Street and other low-key activities. I'm wishing I had gotten groceries yesterday when it was decent outside.

Last weekend we met my parents and Kali's family for a few fun-filled days at the WI Dells. Holy buckets, that place is over-stimulating! The kids loved it, and I loved getting to spend time with my family.

Up next we've got Aubrey's birthday on the 26th and Aidan's birthday on the 31st. Can you believe they're going to be 1 and 3??? I cannot. I still need to figure out birthday presents and what kind of cake to make. I think that will be added to my list of things to do today.

Aidan's birthday present from Nana and Poppa...
a new set of wheels

The "open-mouthed" stare

This is how we were all feeling on Sunday
morning while trying to pack up

Checking out the "Ladies Man"

Having a blast at the indoor water park

"Easy"

I think "easy" is a word that is thrown around lightly in the cooking world. Perhaps, each recipe should be tested with two little ones "helping" in the kitchen before it can earn the high honor of being "easy". Really, if it were that "easy" I would not have onions burning on the stove while my almost-three-year-old is touching raw bacon on the counter, and my almost-one-year-old is screaming on the floor because she wants in on the action. I've found that recipes are "easy" only when they involve minimal ingredients and cook in 15 minutes or less. Even better, I like when they come frozen and all I have to do is set the timer and cook them in the oven.

March

Dear Winter,
Go away. In protest of your continued snowstorms, I have changed the background of this blog to a more festive St. Patrick's Day green. Please take the hint.

Sincerely,
The Finn Family