happy birthday Rainer!

Rainer turned 7! His birthday was during the week, but we celebrated on Saturday.  He wanted Swedish meatballs for his dinner.  I made him an ice cream cake and cookies.  He got lots of presents and was super excited.

I'm so grateful that we have this little guy in our family!  He brings me joy on a daily basis.  He is the cuddliest one and such a love.  Happy birthday Rainer!

And by the way, a few recipe notes:

• I always use the Swedish meatball recipe from this book and I buy lingonberry sauce at Ikea whenever we are there.  We love this simple meal!
• the crust for the ice cream cake turned out ROCK hard.  And I do mean rock hard.  Next year I'll use plain chocolate wafers and the recipe that comes with them.  (Instead of using Joe Joe's and winging it).
• Each year he gets the number of candy pumpkins that he is turning.  The first time we used the candy  pumpkins was here.
• The cut-out birthday cookies are half whole wheat this year.  I ran out of all-purpose flour so had to go with half whole wheat.  They turned out great.
• his birthday breakfast was an organic toaster pastry, pears, and pomegranate seeds.

Rainer's birthdays are documented on the blog from year one (here). 

I am going to try to blog every day this week.  I hope I can do it!  I honestly think taking a few minutes to write and post photos helps my mood and stress level so much--by making me take a few moments to contemplate the good things.