Healthy Habits - Floss Those Pearly Whites!
When I was pregnant with Miss C, I knew a lady who was a dental hygienist. One day I told her I was taking the kids in for their dental appointments, and she told me to have them rinse with flouride and they'd never get a cavity. She was right! We ...
Happy Valentine's Day and Tues News!
Hello mah peeps! Happy Valentine's Day to you. Are you doing anything special tonight? We're not. We're pretty low key on holidays. Honestly, my favorite part of all the Valentine's Day festivities is getting Dove chocolate hearts for half price the next day. Am I the only one who looks forward ...
Julia is One!
Julianna is one year old today! Hard to believe it was a year ago that her Daddy had to catch her in the bathroom. She is still a little nursing piglet. She wears a size 5 shoe. Her favorite game is peek-a-boo, and her favorite toy is a ball. Her favorite food ...
6 Reasons Moms Need Business Cards
I have business cards, and boy, do they come in handy. How? Here's some of the ways I use my cards. 1. Give them to other moms. How often have you scrambled for a scrap of paper to write down your phone number for a mother of your child's classmate or ...
Hack Budget Back {week 1}
Hack your budget back! Join me as I try to reclaim my grocery budget. Post your shopping trip, tips for saving in the kitchen, or how you keep your grocery budget in check so we can all help each other! My goal to hack my budget back is to spend $200 a ...
Earning Cash on the Web
A lot of people asked for more specifics on how to earn money from home. There are many ways to make some quick cash online. Your first step is to do an (honest) inventory of your skills and knowledge. What do you know how to do that someone will ...
Big Family Birthdays
Recently, Amy at Raising Arrows posted how their family celebrates birthdays. Our way is very similar!
We have a birthday once a month, or thereabouts (well, two in May, and none in September, October, or December).
Birthdays are a line item on our monthly budget.
We generally don’t have a major party with favors, activities, goodie bags, etc.
We do invite family and friends over for a meal and cake. The whole family, so we’ll have a house full of people but they won’t all be, for example, 6 year old girls.
I make a cake (occasionally, store bought). I would love to take a Wilton’s class but it hasn’t worked out so far. So I muddle through the best I can, using fruit rollups to make roses and shredded coconut and slivered almonds to cover up mistakes. The birthday child helps bake and decorate it (if they want to, and they always want to!)
We have presents. We let the kids take a friend on a special trip, sometimes. Miss E chose to take her sister and her best friend skating.
The birthday child gets to pick out birthday cereal (Cocoa Puffs are popular – Mr R can eat them) and gets a day off chores. We also usually take the day off school – it’s a family holiday! Like the Queen’s birthday, I suppose. They also get to choose a favorite meal for dinner. Even if it’s not Real Food, fun cereal is a special treat and a nice change from oatmeal.
We light candles, sing, eat cake and ice cream, play, and often watch a movie. Once a month is just about right for whatever new release kid’s movie is out on Netflix.
You can see a typical birthday on my post about Mr X turning 2.
How do you celebrate birthdays?
Beverly (1)
Connor (1)
Melissa @ Dyno-mom (1)
Wynema Brogdon (1)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
My favorite birthday cake idea for younger children is to bake a sheet cake, and then cut out the number, using the shapes of digital clock numbers. When you are 5, you get a 5 cake! Special sprinkles or candy to decorate it. How easy is that!
I’m so glad to hear that someone else does birthdays like this. We have 8 children and can never afford “parties.” We don’t have extended family close by, so it’s just us. We have a cake, a favorite food for dinner and presents. We also have a special birthday plate that the honored child gets to eat on. Occasionally I think, “We should go skating or something”, but then this huge issue of fairness comes in. I’m always afraid that I won’t be able to follow through with other birthdays because of uncertain finances. So, if we have “outings” they’re ususally not birthday related.
I’m delighted to meet another mother of nine. My nine are grown and out of the house – but ever in my heart and thoughts. Like you, I also made sheet cakes for birthdays, sans icing, and “we” comprised the guest list. The birthday person received a present or two, something truly desired. Back when the children were small, incredulous people asked how I cooked for so many. My reply: “In large pots.” (The ubiquitous DUH has not always been in vogue.) When questioned about my large family I am fond of saying: “I was saving my soul and displacing my bladder. The bladder has since been repaired and I’m hopeful about the soul.