Simple, Easy Birthday Celebration

So....for birthdays at our home, we usually keep it on the mellow side. We did some bigger parties when the kids were younger, but now favor a family & perhaps close pals celebration. I keep some party things in a box so that time does not get away from me at the last minute. We have 4 birthdays in May-July. This year for one of the birthdays, I simply put out easy decorations (that I found on clearance early in the year) and my daughter was very pleased. I did it just prior to leaving the house for Church that morning, so she did not see it until we returned! A dear friend made some AWESOME cupcakes (below)  That made the days sooo special! Love is priceless! Another dear friend made another daughter a awesome cake (which I hope to post when I get the pic!)  and delivered it (we were out of town, so the party was with the Grandma). It was such a huge gift! Such a tremendous blessing to have ladies in my life who bless us in such special ways. Our celebrations hopefully reflect to our children our love of family and that simple can be so much fun!

 

How cool that she made these from scratch!

 

Simple Pleasures

One of my daughters loves the simple tire swing her Daddy made her. She rushes to beat the others to it at times! Here is her pretty self today...

Boys!

Need I say more?!?!?!

Whoopie!

My Aunt sent us a treat yesterday in the mail. A box full of Wicked Whoopie Pies! It was a double blessing because we were having company and I had no dessert made. It is so much fun to get something special in the mail!
Here is what is now left. There were MANY of them upon their arrival! Ok, there is one less than  in the pic now, as I am eating it as I type!

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Sometimes we just gotta have fun! Homeschooling affords us a lot of time for fun opportunities! Here are some from the past few months.

A while back we got to take a fun field trip to Fort Macon. It was fantastic.

And my girls went to a Super Hero Party. Too cool!

My son had the wonderful experience of speaking for the first time at Church!

My three oldest got to go to Aquarium Day Camp. Hands on learning!

We bought a Science Bag of fun things to do..this is not our school ones, so that makes it even more fun!

The children made a gingerbread city with their Grandma.

We went to a planetarium, Science, and Nature Center

The children got to go to their first Ballet...the Nutcracker

We made a trip to see the Grandparents. It was a bit after Christmas (In January), but they were kind enough to leave the tree up until we got there!

Some fun time with Daddy scootering on Base

His eyes are shut on purpose! He does it to see if the camera's sensitivity can pick it up! lol

All four kids got to be in the Christmas Play!

Simply Family Time

I wanted to share this picture. This to me is a lovely depiction of Simple Living... My oldest daughter had the time to play with her youngest little sister, and they did a "spa" time, which ended with an an almost nap time!! So cute! They might have missed this precious sister time if I had been shuttling them from one event to another every afternoon (which I have done in the past...at one time I ended up taking them to 7 total classes in four weekday nights. Burn out!!!!), so I am thankful they have these memories!

Family Date Night is getting Modified!

After getting the great news that my husband was not going to deploy for a while, we began something we call Date Night. We don't hardly ever do babysitters (other than my mother-in-law when she comes to visit, then we sometimes leave the kids). We really enjoy begin together as a family, but also want to have a fun time with our children, and we need a break from our routine sometimes! So we came up with Date Night...I take one or more of the children, and my husband takes the others. We would go do dinner somewhere, maybe dessert, and go shopping or whatever. One evening, my son and I got take out, and came home and watched a show we both really like. It is was so fun..one on one time. My husband took the girls to eat and to the craft store one night. So simple, just when every one is excited about Friday Night Family Date Night, it turns it into so much fun!

Some nights we all stay together. We had a duct tape craft night...we got tons of duck tape and all sat in the living room and made stuff...it was enjoyable!

 But..........now we have decided to not eat out...for 60 days. Then only about twice a month thereafter (that is the plan at this point...we shall see!!)
Soooooooo, I have had to come up with something fun that is eat in...gives me a break from a whole big meal to prepare, and is fun for the kids. I came up with this:
A popcorn maker
A Hotdog Roller (like the thing that they use in convince stores to heat up hot dogs, but home sized!)
A Blender

I have all but the hot dog roller, which can double as a toquitto heater also for the child that does not eat hot dogs (I have one that quit eating them, can't say I blame her!) . Milkshakes or smoothies can be made with the blender, popcorn is always good and feels festive. It is quick to do and fast to clean up. I might add a cotton candy maker, too. They will loose their minds if we get the cotton candy maker!

I encourage you to do something special just for fun with those that you love in your life. It does not have to cost a dime...play games, talk, or give them a manicure. Pop some popcorn and play board games. Go to the library and rent a movie (usually free or like a $1). Get a pile of books and read to little ones. Have a older person over to eat with your family one evening.Be purposeful with those you love AND those that need friendship! You get to double dip...you get a huge blessing doing for them and so do they! 

 I used to have movie nights when we lived in VA. I would get cupcakes with a theme (like Shrek) from the store, and pick up the movie and plates and cups to go with it. Then I would invite a neighbor friend of ours over. It was a blast! Here is my youngest at the Shrek movie night.

If you are lacking for people to share time with...look around. Your neighborhood is a good place to start sometimes. We had a princess party for about 10 or so little gals from the neighborhood. It was SO much fun to put together. Here was our table of food for that. We played games and all the little girls dressed up! The mom's had time to chat and had a little break. I did not know all these people, but it was a great way to bless others!

How I Use My Time

We each have 24 hours in a day. We might be richer, poorer, younger, older...but we all have 24 hours in a day.  I have said for years I get more done in a day with 4 kids than I did when I had 2. I figure it has to do with having to watch how you use your time. Less to do gives one more time to spend without having to be purposeful. With my kids no longer being babies (we had diapers almost solid on somebody for about 10 years) I find that I am once again needing to get motivated about how I spend my time. It is so easy to surf the Internet, watch a tv show, or just piddle. Just a little bit her and there adds up..and sometimes we don't even realize it. There is nothing wrong with enjoying these things of course...just how much they occupy your 24 hours is the issue. Where do we want to end up in 5, 20, 50 years? If we are not intentional, we will be saddened then I think.

So I am going to make some goals for myself. Things I need to do...like organize the pantry (again!), and mulch the plants. And things that are vital, like playing games with the kids one on one, or doing something with them specifically. I need to make sure those important things don't get lost in my 24 hours. It is SO easy to do! I plan to strive for this in the next week. To use my 24 hours for others, and for my family. To leave a legacy for them, to bless them, and to let them each know how important they are to me.