Birthday fun

Spring is the time for birthdays around here. This year it seemed to last forever.

First came Ashley's, Feb 26 (one year old).



Next we had a joint birthday party for all three kids while Grandma and Grandpa were here. (I'm helping Ashley with her candle corner.)



Sienna had some friends over for a zoo-themed birthday party (Mar 22, 5 years old).



And finally Colby had his 3rd birthday on Mar 29. (I groaned when he picked red for the color of his race car cake. It's impossible to get red from white frosting!)



We have a few birthday traditions I thought I'd share.

-Handprint birthday tablecloth: each kid has a different color of fabric paint. We have a white tablecloth that we put their handprint on every birthday, with their age written on top. We keep it on the table during birthday season (with a sheet of plastic over it so it stays white)

-Fun cakes: I have fun trying to make different shaped cakes. We take a picture every year and slip it under the plastic on the birthday tablecloth.

-Measuring: There is a wall in our laundry room where we measure the kids on their birthday and half-birthday

-"Their song": Sienna and Colby each have "their song" that we make sure to sing or dance to on their birthday. Sienna's is "Brown Eyed Girl" and Colby's is "In the Jungle". We haven't picked one for Ashley yet.

-Spanking machine: A carryover tradition from when I grew up. The kids crawl through a tunnel of legs as people give them their spankings.

-I recently thought of another one that I haven't implemented yet. Asking a short survey every birthday, to see how it changes as they age. Things like "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and "What is your favorite toy or favorite thing to play?" and adding maybe a sentence or two about significant national or world events that happened that year.

What birthday traditions do you have?

Sienna likes to make to-do lists for the "play day" (Saturday). Usually it has a work side (dictated by Daddy) and a play side. Bryan took a work trip to Portugal and after long airport delays he returned early on a Monday morning, so took the day off from work. This was the day we were going to celebrate Colby's birthday. Since Daddy was home from work it was automatically a "play day". But this time Sienna's list had a birthday side and a play side.

Birthday side: Sing happy birthday, Have the birthday, Blow the cake, Eat the cake, Put the handprint, Measure Colby
Play side: Color, Slumber party, Paint, Play princess, Have fun making a tent (out of blankets and chairs), Have graham crackers and milk (a favorite snack shared with Daddy), Party! Party! Party!



For more birthday fun and pictures from March:

Mar 2009