Happy Birthday, Tony!

On Sunday we celebrated Tony's 3rd birthday. I still remember the day he was born, and cannot believe he is so big. (Which I will probably continue to say every year until I die. It's the truth, though.)

This is one of two good pictures we took on his birthday. The other one is the cake.

We had a little party with a couple of his friends. It was perfect - laid-back and enjoyable for children and parents. We planned it for 2-4pm, which is between meals, but because food is an integral part of how we party, we served mini meatballs, hotdogs (cut up - a smart idea that I saw online), fruit salad, baked beans*, and strawberry-infused sweet tea (strawberry idea thanks to this). 

The cake was a new recipe, and it was ah.ma.zing. "The Reese's Cupcake" Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Sunbutter Frosting. I did not think about the fact that it only makes 12 cupcakes, and happily poured the batter into my 9x13 pan...to pull a thin cake out of the oven at the end. Thankfully, it was Saturday night, and I was going to have the oven on in the morning for bacon, so I made another cake and layered them up with a smear of sunbutter frosting in between. There was enough frosting from a single recipe to frost in the middle and the top. The whipped cream was my own addition. It was so good that the half left over from the party was gone the next day (with very little refined sugar, I didn't feel guilty eating it as a snack all day long).

Now, for a little then-and-now humor...

One week old, I think.

Three years old.

 He was so sweet opening up his presents in the morning - the pure joy with each thing just warmed my heart. We try not to be materialistic, but do love giving gifts, and this year coordinated with my Mom to we give him the Duplo train set. It is a lot of fun!

*I made these beans for the Fourth of July and they turned out really well, so I made them again for the party. I did the whole thing in the crockpot - on low overnight. Be aware that it makes a lot, so unless you love beans and will devour them soon, you are probably going to end up with some for the freezer. I really like them, but I can't eat many without feeling sick (not these particular beans, just legumes in general). Everyone at the party said they were the best baked beans they had ever had, so if you are feeling like baked beans from scratch, give that recipe a try.