Kid birthday party

No joke- kid birthday parties wipe me out. Even though I spend the party drinking coffee (just coffee... nothing spiked... really), I always feel a bit hung over the next day. Maybe it is all the kid energy? Maybe it comes vicariously through the sugar buzz? Maybe it comes from all the coffee? ;) Despite the wiped out feeling, I am always thankful that they do not happen at our house anymore... up until the age of 2, we are good for home parties. After 2, forget it... and I learned my lesson the hard way ;) Now, I almost throw money at outside party places, shouting with gratitude: Here, have something that feels like a thousand dollars! It is worth every penny not to have this chaos at my house! ;) Well... I don't really say that... but close enough ;)

Yesterday, was Oliver's party.... and today, I feel like I am nursing a kid-party-hangover ;) Guess it was a good party ;)

xox

Boy party

A good boy party = cake, pizza and going to a place where you can run around.. so, for Nicka's birthday, we did exactly that. A good time was had by all ;) with very little clean up for me :)

Wishing you all a good start to the week xox

Redefining an evening out ;)

When I was in my 20's.... even my early 30's.... going out meant dancing, high heels, make up, staying out until at least 3am, drinking shots and doing absolutely NOTHING the following day- except maybe for a hangover brunch with friends who were in the same sort of useless shape.
Last night, we were with the W family again (yes, the same ones as here) and it got me thinking how much my definition of an evening out has changed: Firstly, it most usually involves kids... lots of them... Secondly, we are usually on our way home by 11pm. Our food, instead of trendy restaurant options, involves some sort of BBQ meat and chips. The only passing out that happens is when Oliver falls asleep on the couch while watching movies. We get most excited when we remember the name of the obscure group/song that is playing on our 1980's flashback music (more of that here). The only boys that get my attention are the little ones who are usually doing something that they shouldn't be. Although father W livens things up with his "boom box"- stellar light show included, we are nowhere near dance club status ;) I think the only dancing that I do is the type that is meant to embarrass the boys in front of their friends ;) AND I, may I add, am pretty good at that ;)

Hope you have a great rest of the weekend xox

The main attraction: lots of little boys making fart sounds on their arms ;)

Laser light show... complete with 1980's music

Mother W makes a mean sangria.... party on! :)

Party dude

Well... after almost 2 hours of trampoline jumping, cupcakes and friends, Oliver is tired. He won't admit it but his energy level is definitely approaching zero ;) He told me that loved his party and wished that he could do it every weekend! Ummm..... can I recover from this one first? ;)

Wishing you all a great end to the weekend xox

Birthday party for boys....

Andreas and I had tickets for a fabulous fundraising gala on Saturday night. This party has the best food.... ever. It also has the best silent auction items.... ever.... which is not as good as the food and absolutely terrible for the wallet ;) Since last year, I had a potential dress picked out for the event. Andreas was making a game plan to get the best food fast. We then realized that we had a little problem.... I had booked Nicklas' already postponed birthday party for exactly the same night.... argh! So, last night, we skipped the caviar, awesome wine and delicious food and had homemade cupcakes, apple juice and delivery pizza in its place ;) We traded in 1200 plus fancy guests for 12 boys (who, guaranteed, made lots more noise) and we wouldn't have had it any other way :)

It was a great party... and I got to wear comfortable shoes ;) AND I am sure that we had better loot bags ;)

Wishing you all a great week xox

Birthday weekend

Being eleven years old brings a whole new set of birthday requirements. When Alexander was two, as long as he had a cake and decorations, life was good. At five, dinosaurs were a must. At seven, it was super heroes. At eleven, it is just lots of food....

We took him for a special birthday dinner at one of his favourite restaurants. So, lots of food it was :)

Wishing you all a great week! xox

Lots of birthday cupcakes

The boys

Making up his mind

Just bring on dinner!

Happy boy

No one else ordered a salad? ;)

Fancy date night

Last night, Andreas and I went out on a date night... Making it even more special was that it was also for a good cause :) We went to the Friends for the Cure gala, which is always so well done and, rightfully, well attended! The food is simply amazing and our table company made the evening awesome... We even got to dress up and attempt to look like adults ;)

PS: Thanks must also go out to our new babysitter... we love her!

PPS: Thanks to the man who bid way above where I would have bid on that fancy coffee maker at the silent auction. Your big bid kept me from spending a bunch of money that I didn't really have (insert note: it was really an awesome coffee maker... and it was red.... just like my kitchen.... and I loved it.... but that man saved my dilemma) ;) Darn silent auctions ;)

Busy, busy, busy....

Friday and Saturday flew by, like a hurricane!

On Friday, I went to work with Andreas because we needed to finish/catch up on some common projects. We managed to get a lot of stuff done but also found the time to go to a great (real) taco place not far from his work. Cap it off with a visit to the next door pastry shop (strong double espresso + pastry) and it was a great lunch ;) After rushing through groceries, picking up the kids, making them dinner, I went to see the finals for my soccer league.... unfortunately, my team only watched- not played ;)

Yesterday was my brother-in-law's 40th birthday party. It was held at his parent's new house, just over the Ontario border. It is a really nice place, right on the water (= Andreas was happy to boat watch). Darn weather didn't co-operate, though, and it was pretty cold and really windy! That was tough when there were so many little boys in attendance! After that we headed to Alexander's soccer team party, celebrating their league win (way more little boys in attendance). It was great to see the boys/families one more time before we all part ways over the winter season (thanks to the awesome hosts!) Bonus: we got to eat more cake... yum!

Today will be calmer ;) and filled with homework :(

Hope you all have a  great Sunday! Here are lots of random shots from the weekend so far.... xox