Tim's Birthday was brought to you by the color blue

I'm emerging from my teaching frenzy to briefly blog.  My baby brother, Tim, celebrated his birthday on Sunday.  Before the whole teaching thing came into the picture, I asked him what he wanted.  Tim was very cute, and asked for the same thing as last year--a birthday dinner.

Unlike last year,  Tim's birthday was planned in the matter of about 5 minutes.  Linus proved crucial in the grocery store aisles with his recommendations.  In my Facebook invite to my family, I promised festive but not fancy.

The menu:
Gluten free spaghetti and red sauce (for Eileen) and gluten/dairy/soy/egg free rolls
Manicotti from the frozen aisle
Parmesan breadsticks from the bakery
fresh green beans sauteed with onions and garlic (turned out super yummy)
Olivia brand chocolate cookie dough cupcakes for Eileen (free of all allergens) with vanilla coconut bliss on the side
Crockpot apple dump cake (Linus' new favorite dessert) with vanilla ice cream on the side

Not bad if I do say so myself.  On the day of the party, Dave took the big kids to a birthday party, followed by a soccer game.  Meanwhile, I drank lots of coffee and took Robin to the store to pick out decor.  It was no surprise when the theme simply became BLUE.  We had blue plates, blue napkins, blue streamers.  Robin encouraged me to splurge and we got Tim a bouquet of blue balloons inflated with helium.  Tim is worth the extra $5.

It ended up being a nice little party.  Tim's childhood friend, Rick, came as well.  It was so wonderful to see him. Sally brought her boyfriend, Gino, to his first Larson celebration. I don't think we scared him too badly.  Robin provided the entertainment, singing while playing his guitar.  Linus set up a card table and chairs (didn't know he knew how to do that) so that everyone could play Ticket to Ride.  The adults were very patient listening to Linus explain the rules.  It took a while to get going, but I think they enjoyed the game.

                                       The birthday boy in all his kind uncle playing with nephew glory

It was a really enjoyable evening.  I ended the evening with a very fully tummy.  It's good to know that despite suddenly working full time (and then some since it's the start of the school year), I can still pull off hosting a birthday.

Happy birthday Tim.  We love you.  Robin loves you and the color blue.