In our home we are all the time starting new traditions. We love it. The kids love it. Everyone has fun and it's nice to pass them down to our kids in hopes they continue them with their own families...one day. Drew and I have only been married for a little over 2 years. We both brought children into our marriage and this past November we gained custody of my one of my nieces. The kids range in ages from almost 1 year old to almost 12 years old. By that you can see that we are still a young family and starting new things together is something we love.
Birthdays, of course, are one of our kids' favorite holidays. Yes, I said holiday because the day of their birth is a huge reason to celebrate!! Obviously are kids are growing at an alarming rate and soon they probably won't like us all the time {teenage hormones}...so we figure we better do it big now before they don't want all the big fuss for their day!
There are so many things you can do on a child (or spouse's) birthday to make them feel so special. And I don't necessarily mean big birthday parties. To me, if you make the day so special for them with family then a huge birthday party is not something that will be terribly missed. This is where our first tradition comes in. From years 1-5 our kids only have family parties. That does include our friends kids too though. Nothing too big -just a little get together! From the 6th birthday on the kids can have friend parties every other year on an even number birthday and on odd number birthdays they have family parties. This helps cut down the cost for our family with six kids too.
For each kid and each year we have a birthday binder that helps us remember what each year was like. I print off a big number of whatever year birthday it is and insert it into a sheet protector and include a picture from that day. We get a blank sheet of printer paper and draw the child's hand print and insert that behind the sheet protector. On the 3rd birthday and all after that we include a birthday questionnaire so we can remember some of their favorite things from that year. Next we include the birthday invite, who came to our party,and some pictures of the party too. We will give these to the kids when they get older so it's something they can show their families!
We also a have a few birthday decor items that we set out for each birthday.
- A birthday frame. I decorated a frame with some scrapbook paper and embellishments. Behind the glass I added another piece of scrapbook paper. We set this on the table and write the child's name on the glass with a dry erase marker.
- Birthday pillow case. Seven days before the child's birthday they get the birthday pillow case and get to keep it all week. The fabric comes from Joann's but I'm sure you could find it elsewhere. Since I'm a beginner at sewing this is something I say is easy for anyone to do!
- I had a birthday wreath made from balloons but somewhere in the moving I can't find it now. I plan to make a new one soon though. This goes on the front door the day of their birthday and also the day of their party!
* The birthday child always gets to pick what we eat for each meal of the day. The kids especially love this and as long as it's not something crazy I will cook it for them! For each meal the special child gets a special birthday plate that looks something like this.
* After the birthday child goes to bed the night before their birthday we place blown up balloons all over their bedroom floor! It's really fun and the kids love it!
This year I want to sew a chair back cover in the birthday fabric and place it on the child's chair at the table the day of their birthday with some balloons tied to it also!
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Birthdays are fun and of course should be! Celebrating the day of our children's birth should be as exciting as the day they were actually born! It's easy to start new traditions with your family because they can be as little or as big as you want and will always be something special to have for our family!
Don't forget about the BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY going on now until Sunday!! Be sure and enter!!!
Ashley
*Disclaimer: The links contained in this post are not affiliate links and I'm not compensated at all if you decide to purchase those items. These are just items that we use and wanted to share with you!
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