Birthdays Abound

My youngest son, Holden, turned 14 on December 28th.  That kicked off our winter season of birthdays…3 of them in 2 weeks, in fact!  He requested a cherry pineapple dump cake, so that’s what he got.

Then on January 1st, I turned the big 50!  That’s right…I’m officially over the hill.  This is the time of year when Steve and I get to be the same age for a whole 6 days.  We celebrated by going to a fancy dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse downtown on New Year’s Eve, where the restaurant surprised me with a fabulous bread pudding with bourbon whiskey custard sauce on top.  It was delicious, and I ate every bite!  Little did they know that bread pudding is my absolute favorite dessert.

Then we went to a Fort Worth Symphony POPS concert called “Swing Is the Thing” at Bass Performance Hall.  It featured jazz and swing music from the 40’s and 50’s, a jazz singer, and four world-renowned swing dancers.  It was great!  Then on my birthday the next day, I got to have my favorite birthday cake…chocolate with chocolate whipped frosting, strawberries, and chocolate curls…yum!

Then on January 7th, Steve turned 51!  We had barely finished my cake by then. Steve wanted his usual carrot cake, so we got a small one since not everyone will eat that, and we knew we were starting a nutrition plan 3 days later and didn’t want to have leftover cake lying around!  I also made him some chocolate dipped strawberries, which everybody enjoyed.

 

And although that ended our string of winter birthdays, Holden had delayed having his friends over to celebrate with him since some were out of town for the holidays.  So today, January 8th, he had a couple of friends over to hang out and celebrate with him.  I spent 6 hours the day before making homemade cake pops, hand-dipped in chocolate, sprinkled, wrapped, and tied up for the occasion.  I made about 75 of them, and by the end of the day, there were only 4 left!  I know that sounds crazy, but they really are just so good, and his friends took some home to share with their families.

And so our stretch of holidays and birthdays finally comes to an end.  It’s exhausting going from one to the next to the next, but it’s also lots of fun.  I think we all feel super happy this year, and that’s a nice feeling.

Here’s to 2022!  May it be a great year of good things for all!