Skip to main content

Birthday Boy


This year was a 'birthday party' year for Lukka, and it seemed he was able to stretch his birthday out over a couple of days pretty easily. Every other year, each child gets a birthday party, with family, and on the other year, they get a special date with mom and dad. Remember Ani's Paint Yourself Silly day? This was her off year. Next year she'll get a party, and we'll have to think about something Lukka would enjoy more one on one. 

For his birthday this year, I sent out invites 3 weeks in advance to let family know we'd have a backyard bbq to celebrate. Almost everyone was able to come, the kids dug in the dirt and got messy (which they of course loved), and the adults were able to hang out for 2-3 hours and chit chat, in between mouthfuls of pulled pork, baked beans, cold fruit, chips, and finally some delicious gluten free chocolate cupcakes! 

Each birthday, the kiddo gets 2 special dates along with a party or a 'date out'. Stefan continues his own father's tradition of Birthday Breakfast and takes the child out to Village Inn for a happy face pancake before he goes to work. The second is they always get to choose where to eat for dinner  with the family. Here is Lukka, above, decked out in birthday crown enjoying his dinner at Breada, for their mac n cheese. 

Lukka got to open our gifts on his actual birthday, June 21 (first day of Summer!), and enjoyed the family the next night..and their generous gifts, too! We always get our children 'something to read', 'something to wear', 'something to play with', and for his book, we chose a book he's been begging me for Wind-Up Train Book, which I was able to earn free with Usborne. For clothing, I saw a pajama set at Costco awhile back with my friend, and not only was the price right, but he has holes in almost all of his jams! His something to play with was a Zoo Camp this year, but since he couldn't technically open that, I also got him some math puzzles.  

He is always so appreciative of gifts and I am very thankful we've stuck to our guns getting them only a few things each time around Christmas or birthdays. It really is so nice to see them love and use what they have, and I can't even imagine them complaining that they didn't get 'so and so'. The simplicity has really been a wise decision, though I don't think they will likely remain like that forever, but I can hope! Some of Lukka's favorite gifts from family included the following: child-size binoculars, rain boots, a fishing rod + tackle box, goggles, and a book he loves to check out at the library. We love doing birthdays this way and it's amazing to think he's already five! We had a wonderful time celebrating. 
****
What special things do you do for birthday celebrations? Any yearly traditions?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Home School Activities: Board Games We Love

My children have recently become enthralled in the world of board games. I was never a board game player. Sure, I remember long summer hours (days? it seemed like it..) spent around a Monopoly board, but I was never one to suggest to get out the cards, or a game. As my children have grown and they are now able to do activities with me, I started noticing that they really took to puzzles (when done all together) and the one or two board games I happened to have kept in the storage room. They were always asking to play Candy Land and so I figured I should branch off a bit. Over the course of the last year, I have found GREAT games, even ones that I love to play alongside them. The amount of 'teaching' they have gotten through games is jaw-dropping. Counting, team-playing, math related patterning, are just some of the skills I've watched develop. I asked before Christmas on facebook what my friends and their own kids loved and I was thrilled with the response. We have found ov
2 comments
Read more

July Reads

Birch Bay Sunset, rainbow hues July has been hot out here. When you live in the top story of an apartment building, and there's no air conditioning, it can feel just over the needle of uncomfortably warm when the day is above 76 degrees. We've kept blinds shut, windows open, and a fan continually blowing as it's perched in our living room window well. Just about the only thing I feel like doing after a long day is laying on the couch straight in the fan's air circulation path, and read a good book. I had some unique picks this month. * #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso  This book was just plain fun to read. Amoruso developed the iconic ebay store NastyGal way back when vintage selling on ebay was a thing. Now she's a millionaire with a kicking website that she started from scratch and didn't owe a dime to anyone else for. It's a great 200 pager with stories on dumpster diving for daily food, entrepreneurship tips, and being the backwards kid that no one t
3 comments
Read more

Top 10 Books of 2017

early sunset in Ft Langley  I love reading all these "Top 10" lists of favorite books read throughout the year, so I'm adding my two cents.  I'm involved in a Book Club that I love with women from our church, a small group that meets every week and goes through a book every few months, my own list, books I'm reading aloud to the kids and  books I'm reading for educational purposes (think professional development). I took a look at all of those combined and this is what I got, in no particular order:  *  The Problem of God  by Mark Clark - I loved going through this academic apologetic book with my friends from church. It led us to great discussion, and good food for thought. I listen to Clark's sermons every week and so knew I'd probably love his writing style, too. If you have objections to Christianity, or are feeling confused about what to believe, this is a great primer.  * You're Smarter Than You Think  by Dr. Thomas Armstron
Post a Comment
Read more