It was a weekend of food and family as we celebrated Mom's birthday! I ran around with Kate & Al in Saturday morning, shopping and picking up the ingredients for Chili All Day -- the best chili recipe ever.

After I roasted the beef, got the chili going on the stove and arranged for its care, I ran around with Annie to do some more shopping and, well, we treated ourselves pretty nicely for Mom's birthday... chair massages for both of us, new MAC blush for me, a new sweater for Ann. It was 6:00 by the time we were finished, so we had to hurry home for chili!!

Mack, infused with the sweetness of a 6-year-old boy, made it a point to come and tell me that he not only tried my chili, he ate it and he liked it!

The boys picked out a beautiful cheesecake birthday cake. It was frosted on the sides and had raspberry jam on the top. Mack sat next to Mom while she cut it... and helplessly watched it tip off the pedestal stand and land on the table right in front of him. He's pretty lucky it didn't land in his lap!

Not just sweet but smart, too, it took mere seconds for Mack to suggest that next time slices be taken from alternating sides to keep the stand balanced.

Here it is, "reassembled," if you will, for Sunday brunch. The candles make it. It tasted just as good!

Today, it is not only my mother's birthday, but also their 27th wedding anniversary. They spent their honeymoon weekend in Door County with temperatures hovering around -25F; today, we're looking at near 50F! It's mostly sunny and quite lovely.

Happy Birthday, Mom! XO