Traditions

     When I was a little girl, birthdays were a BIG deal in our house.  We got to choose anyone in the house to make our bed (sorry big brother and sister...that's what you get for tormenting me).  We also got to choose to have either our favorite meal made or go out to our favorite restaurant.  As I got into my teens, I somehow convinced my mom to make two meals for me!  I loved her Cottage Cheese Pancakes for breakfast (sounds gross, but they were delish!) and her Spaghetti Casserole for dinner.  I'll have to share the recipe for the Cottage Cheese Pancakes another day.
     Well now that I am a mom, I have started traditions with my girls.  I am SO glad that all 3 of us have summer birthdays.  My favorite way to celebrate our birthdays are by going to Disney!

Mia's 5th Birthday - 2014

Lyla's 5th Birthday - 2015

If we can't get away to Disney, our day starts out like this:

There were balloons tied to her chair too.

The Birthday Girl comes out to find balloons tied to her chair and the table is set with our Celebrate  plate and our birthday glass.  For breakfast the Birthday Girl is served Birthday Cake Pancakes.  I found this recipe on Pinterest a few years ago.  They are SO good!  No, I'm serious!  They are like crack (okay I don't know what that is like, but they are GOOD!!)!!

My favorite way to celebrate is with a pool party.  They are super easy for mommy and super fun for the kids.  I think that I tried for one of the birthdays to have snacks to go along with the theme (so far they've all been Disney Princesses).  I gave up on that real quick.  Don't get me wrong...I think parties that are all decorated and well themed out are great.  I have several friends that are so gifted in that area.  I am not one of those people.  I just don't have the energy to put it all together.  In the past, I have also ordered our birthday cakes from one of my favorite bakeries in Wylie.  They are SO yummy & beautiful!

     This year I decided to save some money (those cakes above weren't cheap!) and bake their cakes.  When I asked Lyla what kind of cake she wanted, she said "Belle!"  Yeah, that wasn't happening.  Mommy is NOT that creative.  So, I began perusing Pinterest.  I came across this recipe for a Rainbow Birthday Cake.  It looked easy enough.  I also decided to add in a few cupcakes too.  While I was getting the ingredients for the Rainbow Birthday Cake, I saw that Pillsbury had colored cake mixes all ready.  I bought a few of those to make for the cupcakes.  On Tuesday night I started looking through Pinterest again (this is becoming a bad habit).  How was I going to decorate the cupcakes?  Then I came upon this and then this.  Lyla had said that she had wanted a Belle cake.  I could totally make this happen.  Here are the end results for both.

     I have also started another tradition for my girls birthdays.  I am probably about to become hugely unpopular for this one too.  A few years ago I came across this blog (probably found it on Pinterest - Ha!) on teaching your children gratitude and about serving and blessing others.  Instead of people bringing birthday presents for the birthday child, they would bring items to donate to the birthday child's charity of their choice.  I loved this idea so much!  So, we have been doing this since 2011.  We collect items for the Rainbow Room at the Children's Advocacy Center.  When my girls were brought to me, they came with the clothes on their back and a few clothes, diapers, winter coats, and formula from the Rainbow Room.  I want my girls to grow up giving back.  I still allow family & friends that are pretty much family to get them gifts, so they are not completely "deprived" of getting gifts.  I want birthdays to be about tradition and memories, not about getting things.

     There you have it.  This is what birthdays look like in our home.  What kind of traditions does your family have?