Ben's Birthday - Take 2

A few more pictures from Ben's 3rd birthday and some from his first couple of weeks of life as well.....

I hadn't planned on making a cake since Ben has never eaten any at other kids' birthday parties but when several people asked him throughout the day if he was going to have a cake he enthusiastically replied, "Yes!"

Luckily I found a recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook for a One-Bowl Chocolate Cake that only made one 8-inch round or a dozen cupcakes - and I also happened to have everything to make it in my cupboards so no trip to the store was necessary. We kept three for ourselves, delivered four to Daddy's office for the guys there, and delivered the rest to the guys at the meat counter at Village Market. Thank goodness we seem to know a plethora of twenty-something guys who are happy to take chocolate cupcakes off our hands! As I suspected would happen, I was the only one in the house to eat any cupcakes! They were quite good especially with the strawberry ice cream that Ben had requested for his birthday several days in advance. Ben and Sam are both big fans of frozen desserts....ice cream, sorbet, popsicles...send them our way.

We are planning to have a birthday party for Ben with some of his friends exactly one week after his actual birthday. One of his friends, Ashley, has been out of town and we didn't want to see the heartbreak from either Ben or Ashley if she couldn't be there. So, I will soon post MORE birthday photos and subject myself to a second round of cupcake baking!

Ben was excited to wear his carpenter's belt, suspenders, and hardhat to "fix" things around the house. He wore the suspenders ALL DAY!

Uncle Pete gave Ben a baseball glove and ball on the day he was born since he was born during baseball season (remember those pics of Sam with his football? Also a gift from Uncle Pete when he was born during football season).