The big birthday bash

Our big birthday week is almost over- one more birthday to go (tomorrow), but we celebrated errrryone last night and it was so much fun.

Too bad I HARDLY. EVEN. REMEMBER. them being this tiny and sweet and snuggly and ohhhh maybe we should do just one more eensy round of fresh IVF?!

I made two cakes- a strawberry ombre cake for the girlies, and as requested by the boys, a rainbow cake.

I'm at an age now where all my jewelry needs to mean something.

Two blue stones, two pink stones, and a four leaf clover.

My fave earrings are tiny 4s as well- four kids, all April birthdays, plus my own birthday is 4/4. Can you guess what I'd say my lucky number is?

We gave the babies their first (tiny) slices of cake. As expected, they did not hate it.

That look when you see your sister has more cake yet on her tray.

Happy birthday, kiddos! This ain't happening for another year, so hope ya liked everything.

I always aim to have a good food spread when throwing a party. We did pizza and sandwiches, and for a veggie I first thought about making a salad. The kicker? Uhh, I don't really like salad/raw veggies very much, plus it takes up a lot of room on a plate, and it's hard to eat if you're standing holding a plate. My go-to veggies are marinated veggies. They're still raw, but packed with tangy, peppery flavor. Throwing on a simple marinade doesn't add more than a few calories either. My favorite combo is sliced cucumbers, red onion, and grape tomatoes. You could add whatever you like! Diced peppers, mushrooms, radishes, shredded carrots- clean out that veggie drawer. To make this into a meal you could add chickpeas and hardboiled eggs. Such an easy base.

Marinated Veggies
-4-6 cups raw veggies
-1 cup white wine or champagne vinegar
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-2 tablespoons sugar or honey
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon pepper
-1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Whisk together and pour over veggies. Cover veggies and let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour, but no more than a whole day in advance.

So easy! I let the adults have this and the kids could grab some plain raw veggies. Even though it was party time, I still made my kids have their veggies before their cake. Dietitian mom for the win!