Happy 5th Birthday, Nate!

My kids' birthdays are always a struggle. All I really want is to celebrate them with family, but since our family is so far and that's impossible, I end up feeling guilty that I can't make up for their absence by giving my kids extravagant parties. And at the same time I don't like our culture of extravagant birthday parties. They make me want to run and hide. I guess I have birthday issues.

So for Nate's birthday this year we didn't have a party and I ignored my feeling of guilt for not inviting the long list of friends he's been talking about inviting to his birthday for months. Instead we had a family day. I made pancakes for breakfast - his favorite. He opened birthday gifts from us and played with them while I decorated his cake. We went to an early movie, "Ice Age 4: Continental Drift," and he picked a restaurant for lunch - chicken and french fries from Chick-fil-a of course! We rested a little in the afternoon and then for dinner we had make-your-own-pizza night and his friends Jack and Caroline came to make pizza, eat cake, and celebrate with him. He got to talk to Nana and Granddad on the webcam, and to his cousins, aunts, and uncles on the phone. I have to say I prefer ignoring my guilt when it comes to celebrating birthdays. This might be the new birthday norm for the Blans!

 Putting the "15" on our calendar first thing in the morning. Nate has been counting down to his fifth birthday since the day he turned four!

 With his race car cake.

 Our usual birthday pictures: with Mom and baby brother ...

 With Dad ...

 With silly Evie ...

 I know the teddy graham race cars are a little baby-ish for Nate, but I wanted the cars on the cake to be edible. Milky ways with m&ms, lifesavers gummies, and teddy grahams. I got the idea here.

 Happy birthday boy!

Happy kids! Jack and Caroline celebrating with Nate.