Birthdays...

Ahh...Birthdays!

Birthdays are always a fun day in the life of a child.  We always throw parties for my children for their birthday.  Not that we have anything against presents, but it can get overwhelming quickly for both parents and children, so we like to mix it up.  The trend we have seemed to develop is:

Odd Years = Big Party/Presents

Even Years = Small Party/"gift" swap

*exception made for age 2, when they have a small party and open presents,

since this is the first year they really "get it"

Also, since our trend seems to be have a baby when you are planning a party, this throws another monkey into the wrench, but we just go with the flow:

Here's sweet Maverick, born less than 24 hours before Chandler's 4th B-day:

And yes, we still had the party!  Luckily, I was smart enough to not plan it at my house that year.  Chandler did a book swap with his friends and it was so simple.  There were no thank-you cards for me to worry with, and no overwhelming amount of toys/stuff entering my house.  With a one-day-old baby, this was a life-saver!

Chandler's 2nd Birthday was a few friends and a Easter Egg Hunt (with no candy in the eggs)

For Chandler's 3rd Birthday, we did a construction theme and I made this awesome cake:

As you can see it's a construction scene that is placed in the back of a dump truck.  As a rule, I like to make my own birthday cakes for my children, but with imminent babies, sometimes I just buy one.

Brighton's 1st Birthday was a sweet, simple party with just some cake, cookies, and punch.

For Brighton's 2nd Birthday we had a morning "playdate" with balls as the theme and enjoyed some doughnuts, OJ, and fruit salad.  We also ended up blowing bubbles outside in the yard.  

Maverick's 1st Birthday had a St. Patrick's Day Theme.

I love this picture of our family of 5.  I was not yet pregnant with Jamison, but knew in my heart our family was not complete.  It would be a short 3 months before I would become pregnant.  

This picture is also special because it is one of the last ones we have of our family's porch 

before the addition.  

To me, age FIVE is a big deal.  This is your last year of preschool, and you are entering the world of "big kid" and leaving babyhood behind.  Chandler celebrated this milestone with another Easter Egg Hunt themed birthday.  This time there was candy!  Our neighbor graciously let us use his yard for the hunt and even hid the 300-400 eggs.  It was a blast.  We also played games such as egg on the spoon and sack races.  

Since Brighton is my only Fall-Baby, he lucks out.  He will never have a shared Birthday party.  For his 4th Birthday we went to Hill Ridge Farms.  It was so much fun.  He decided on an art-supply swap and so all the kids brought something and Brighton got first pick, and the other children then took a turn.  Everybody goes home with something, so "favors" are covered and there aren't any thank you notes.  

We had all day access to Hill Ridge and took up as much time as we could before heading home for naps.  The corn pit was a hit as was the train and the pony rides.  

For Maverick's 2nd/Chandler's 6th we had "Happy Dan the Magic Man" do a show at our house.  Once again, I tried to play it safe by hiring a party since I had a baby due any day.  This time we ended up with a three-day-old baby, instead of a one-day-old baby like two years earlier.  I guess that's better...

Anyways, the show went on, and I was thankful for the small crowd.  Chandler had a few friends from kindergarten and church, and Maverick had one friend.

Hopefully my Spring-Babies don't mind sharing parties, because FYI they will have just 1 party for all of them when they turn 2, 4, and 8!

For Brighton's 5th, I really debated about having this one at home.  I like to do that for the big FIVE, but with a 6 month old and three other little ones, I knew I might become overwhelmed.  Our compromise became to have it at our church.  Wow, was this a good decision!  There was minimal prep that I had to do, and cleanup was a breeze.  

We took them outside for a piñata, and managed to not have any injuries (minus a little hand that got stepped on during the candy rush).  Games at parties are so much fun.  For Brighton's Halloween-themed party we did "Pin the nose on the Pumpkin", a spooky "hot-potato" game, and also made popcorn hands and a few other crafts. 

For Brighton's 3rd Birthday I made this cute Owl cupcake-cake:

I was super proud of how it turned out!

I also made these cute little owl babies to go along with it:

Invitations are also fun to do.  I don't always do paper invitations, but they make for great keepsakes. This year, Maverick is requesting a Peter-Pan Party!  I couldn't help but draw up a Never, Neverland Map for his invitation.  Grandma, the seamstress, will be making Peter Pan hats for the boys and I also have tinker bell wands and some Indian headdresses for the party.  I know it will be so cute!

This is all leading up to my baby, Jamison turning ONE!  I cannot believe it.  I'm happy, yet sad.  

I decided to do a theme of fish and say that he's O'fish'ally ONE.

I found some print-your-own invitations and added some cute stickers to them.  I also had some address labels made up with his picture.  I can't wait to get these in the mail soon.  

They just make me smile.  

Here are my final thoughts about Birthdays (for those still reading this very long post!!)

Please give people the courtesy of actually responding to an invitation.  I just get so annoyed at how many people have to be hounded to respond if they are going to attend your party or not.  All I can think is, were these people never taught manners?  In these days of texting and e-mail there is no excuse that you have been to busy to respond.  I understand that some people genuinely forget, but in most cases this is not the reason for lack of response.  People are just so non-committal these days.  

Speaking of manners, when you RSVP "yes" to something it is very rude to then change your reply to "no" when something better comes along.  Seriously?  

Another thing that seems to be going by the wayside is thank you notes.  Call me old fashioned, but a thank you note is a requirement for my boys for all of their gifts (the years they receive them).  

Our church's theme for Lent this year is generosity and gratitude.  These things must be taught to our children, and thank you notes are a small way to help teach that. 

Okay, enough ranting....let the celebrations begin!