Birthday Celebrations
Everyone has their own system for birthdays, but I thought I would share what Works For Me...I would love to hear how you celebrate birthdays.
My husband and I decided long ago to set up certain "milestone birthdays" for our children rather than having big birthday parties each year. This is for three reasons, first, we wanted them to have a chance to have birthday parties with their friends, things that would be fun and would create great memories. Second, we want to have some birthdays just shared in our immediate family. Third, I have watched parents spend hundreds of dollars on birthday parties each year and there are so many other things that I would rather use that money on in my home! Every penny counts around here!
Our milestone birthdays are as follows:
Year 1: We make the Wilton Panda Bear Cake for each child, you can see that in process HERE
We invite close family over and celebrate our tot's 1st birthday. (The panda bear, BTW, is all theirs!) We have done this for all eight of our children and the tradition extends to some of the now grown members of my family.
Year 5: First "friend", or big birthday party. This year we are taking Timothy to Chuck E Cheese (not really my favorite place on earth, but this is where he wanted to go). They let you take your own cake and you can get coupons for 20 free tokens per every large pizza. This only leaves us with the cost of two large pizzas and drinks for our family...a very affordable "big" birthday party.
When Jessica turned 5, we took her and her friends to BAB for a birthday party. I put together little favor bags and we had chocolate cupcakes with white icing and I used Jr. Mints to create bear paws on each cupcake. She had such a nice time.
Jacob's 5th birthday was a cowboy and indian party. We built a teepee out of PVC and I sewed a cover that all of his friends signed (that we can still use for playtime). They ate and played party games like stick horse races and find the needle in the haystack (a large, cut out cardboard needle covered in foil and threaded with raffia).
This has by far been my favorite birthday party to put together.
Year 10: Next "friend" birthday party. On Courtney's 10th birthday, she had a sleepover. I sewed tiny pillowcases which held printed invitations that each had glow in the dark stars attached. We made slippers from flip-flops, did manicures and pedicures and just had fun.
Joshua's 10th birthday was "FUN FACTOR". Though this is a television show that we never watch, we couldn't resist the urge to create a themed birthday from it. We reserved our church annex and Joshua and his friends had a "mission" to accomplish complete with laser gun fights and strobe lights. Intermissions included "challenges" to our "contestants". At the end, I had all of his friends sign a mat for him that now holds a photo of him and his guests at his party. It was a lot of fun.
Year 13: Though they have invited friends to these, this year marks a much more significant time in their lives. I've mentioned the birthday wish books that I've put together for my new 13 year olds. In addition, we took Courtney and her friends to a local tea room and had tea. Afterwards, I presented her with a recipe collection compiled secretly just for her birthday with recipes from her friends and mine. I also spoke to her in front of her friends about the importance of this time in her life. At the end, I presented her with a tiny sterling silver teapot. She understood that this was the start of the time in her life when she would begin to prepare to have her own family.
Joshua turned 13 just this month. We also compiled a book for him..in fact, we're still getting letters, the latest from Chuck Swindoll and Spencer Bachus.
We invited his friends to a local pizza parlor to celebrate with him. They had lots of fun, but Joshua too, knows that this is a significant time in his life. Over the next three years, we will be working on various projects and missions to prepare him to have a family of his own. We have very special plans for their 16th birthdays in honor of their work....but I'm still working on those!
In between and including those years, our birthdays are fairly simple. We have made all of their birthday cakes and it's been fun to see their choices go from Winnie the Pooh to a "chocolate cake with chocolate glaze, please". We add each of their hand prints to a birthday tablecloth that I made and measure them on our wall.
(BTW, if you are like me and a possible move might be in your future at some point, the hardware store has long wooden strips that are a great way to "take the measurements with you". I couldn't bear the thought of marking this somewhere I might have to leave behind, but these strips simply nail to the wall and you can remove them if you move!)
We also allow each of them to choose their birthday meals...something they take with great pleasure.
After dinner, we open gifts and sing happy birthday. It is such a nice time for our family. How do you celebrate birthday's in your home?
