Birthday Traditions
Next week we will celebrate our firstborn's 6th birthday. I have so many fun memories of my own birthdays growing up and some traditions I still follow (like my yellow cake with chocolate frosting), so I knew I wanted our family to really enjoy celebrating God's good gift of each other on our birthdays. Here are our main traditions:
1) Cake- each of us pick out what cake we want and get it on our birthday. Andy likes ice cream cake, Jimmy wants fun cupcake designs, and Caleb is still young enough that I make whatever sounds fun to me!
2) Notes with specific things we love in that person. Andy and I write them on small index cards for each boy (and each other on our birthdays) and we have them tell us what they love about each other and write out one from each of them. We try to do this in cards we send to family far away on their birthdays as well.
3) Party Favor/Present hunt- Since birthday parties go by quickly and sometimes we can miss the favors and presents for our own kids, we wrap each favor and a few small gifts from us and hide them (each with one of the character notes we wrote on top). As the boys find each one, they get to unwrap the present and hear us read one thing we love about them. Then they put them in their party bag and they never miss out on that part of birthday party fun!
4) Pray- We spend a few minutes as a family to thank God for another year and pray for growth in Him in the next.
5)Birthday Party- We had one year at our church, but mostly stay home for parties. Andy and I decorate the house while the boys sleep the night before, so it's always fun to see their faces the next morning as the house is transformed. We have never budgeted more than $50-75 for the party. Sometimes we have $5 pizzas or hot dogs, but usually we just serve cake and ice cream, buy favors, and use dollar store and homemade decorations. We want a fun experience, but mainly want to celebrate the precious gift of our children with their friends.
1) Cake- each of us pick out what cake we want and get it on our birthday. Andy likes ice cream cake, Jimmy wants fun cupcake designs, and Caleb is still young enough that I make whatever sounds fun to me!
2) Notes with specific things we love in that person. Andy and I write them on small index cards for each boy (and each other on our birthdays) and we have them tell us what they love about each other and write out one from each of them. We try to do this in cards we send to family far away on their birthdays as well.
3) Party Favor/Present hunt- Since birthday parties go by quickly and sometimes we can miss the favors and presents for our own kids, we wrap each favor and a few small gifts from us and hide them (each with one of the character notes we wrote on top). As the boys find each one, they get to unwrap the present and hear us read one thing we love about them. Then they put them in their party bag and they never miss out on that part of birthday party fun!
4) Pray- We spend a few minutes as a family to thank God for another year and pray for growth in Him in the next.
5)Birthday Party- We had one year at our church, but mostly stay home for parties. Andy and I decorate the house while the boys sleep the night before, so it's always fun to see their faces the next morning as the house is transformed. We have never budgeted more than $50-75 for the party. Sometimes we have $5 pizzas or hot dogs, but usually we just serve cake and ice cream, buy favors, and use dollar store and homemade decorations. We want a fun experience, but mainly want to celebrate the precious gift of our children with their friends.
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