Birthday Party

Having a birthday party is an exciting time, but trying to get to very different kids to agree on a theme is difficult. Sweet Daughter wanted to host a 5k race for all of her friends. Sweet Son wanted to invite a few friends to play with Legos quietly, preferably not talking to each other at all. After much discussion they finally agreed on a theme - laser tag. Then came the debate about food. They don't like cake. They had recently proven they could eat an entire doughnut when they are hungry, so they decided on a doughnut "cake."

 

Birthday "cakes"

Laser Tag in the dark doesn't offer a lot of great photo opportunities

Happy 7th Birthday Sweet Son

Happy 7th Birthday Sweet Daughter

Birthday Balloons

Our tradition continues, when the kids wake up on their birthday they find tons of balloons. Here they are playing with literally a room full of balloons.

7th Birthday

Happy 7th Birthday!

Sweet Son loves Legos, video games, and music. He plays piano, trumpet, and accordion. He stays up late reading and his favorite meal is usually around 10pm. He enjoys puns and bathroom humor. While he prefers playing by himself most of the time, if he sees someone being left out or ignored, he will play with them. I  have observed him playing more than once with children with Down's Syndrome and including them without hesitation. He has an amazing heart and an amazing mind.

Sweet Daughter loves stuffed animals, games, and people. She plays piano, guitar, flute, and is starting voice lessons. She wake up early full of energy and wants to run, play sports, and be active all of the time. She has recently decided she loves reading and will often get a book to read or write in a journal if there is no one else to play with. She prefers being around people and board games and card games are almost an obsession with her. Playing risk for four hours in the afternoon just means she will want to play Catan or Ticket to Ride later in the day. She has some incredible leadership skills and no matter what group she is in, she quickly ends up being the one running things.

They are best friends when in a large group and fight like siblings when it is just the two of them. They always stick up for each other and have started standing up for each other against us! Every time they help each other or do something for the other without being told or asked, my heart melts just a bit more. I love them move every single day and I am so proud of who they are becoming.

Consignment Sale Finds

We buy the kids clothing twice a year at consignment sales because it is so much cheaper. I can average less than $2/item and end up with high end name brands. This time the kids had to come with me and I knew it would be about a 2 hour shopping trip, not exactly exciting for them. I told them if they were good we could look and see if they could find a toy for their birthday.

As soon as we walked in Sweet Daughter saw this. She proclaimed, "I have always wanted one! You have never bought me one. This is what I have wanted more than anything!" 

This is a 5 foot tall banana with dreadlocks and a reggae hat.

At the end of the trip Sweet Son decided he wanted this plane that lights up and makes noises.

They both got what they requested. Sweet Daughter even bargained to get a cheaper price on the banana because hers cost more than his toy did. They lowered the price of the banana, TWICE because she explained that it was for her birthday and how much she had always wanted a banana with dreadlocks. ummm?

Yes, she slept with the banana.

A year later and I have no idea where the plane is, but the banana is played with almost every day. It makes a great body pillow and the kids love falling asleep on top of it. We quickly discovered the dreadlocks come off easily and everything is covered in "banana hair." This leads to many strange looks when discussing in front of people who haven't seen a banana quite like this one.

Perot Museum, Dallas 2

This is the second post in the series about a trip to the Perot Museum.

College students explaining the seasons and phases of the moon by literally placing kids inside the materials

The entire reason for the trip was a birthday party. Happy Birthday C!

It was dinosaur themed and they LOVE the tails.

Birthday Present Ideas

If you're a parent or relative to young children, then you've got birthdays to attend. For me, it's almost every weekend these days! Finding the appropriate gift can be time-consuming, and a bit stressful- whether it's coming directly from you or from your child to their pal. Never fear! I found a gift guide so you can focus on enjoying time with loved ones (and getting on with your day!) rather than hemming and hawing at all of the options. And while Summer birthdays have been top of my mind, the gift guide is appropriate for any time of year so you can bookmark this page as your gift that keeps on giving. The gifts are organized by age group from toddler to teen, and all of them are under $40. Happy gifting!

For giftees ages 3 to 5

 Geometric Building Set Tegu Blocks combine fun colors, geometric shapes, and a magnetic snap to create a playtime experience that's fitting for the living room or the classroom. Parents (and littles!) love this toy because its production has positive environmental and social impact.

  Make a Match Game This game helps children grow memory skills with adorable dinosaur chips! The beautiful design is a treat for parents and kids alike. Perfect for picnics, play dates, and rainy games, this game is small enough to carry in your pocket and hip enough for the coolest of pre-k birthday parties.  

For giftees ages 6 to 8

Animal Charades Game Get kids on their feet and brimming with ideas! This high-quality wooden game is a perfect gift for outgoing children and to create an atmosphere of fun and creativity.
 Pirate Adventure Board Game This board game is cleverly disguised. Kids will be having so much fun that they won't even know that they were learning math from an award-winning program.  
 Squishy Science Experiment The Slimy Squishy Polymer Bucket is the perfect gift for budding scientists who aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty in the name of...scientific learning! But they'll too be busy having fun to realize they're learning the basics of chemistry.
 Garden Flowers Coloring Book One great idea for a gift is coloring books. These garden flower coloring books are perfect for child and parent, and can make a great group activity.

For giftees 9 to 10

Food Fighter 2-Player Game Food Fighter is a board game that has two children face off in a kitchen-themed battle. Children will have fun while developing higher-order thinking skills, mathematics, literacy, and executive functioning skills.
 Dream Catcher Kit Building dreamcatchers is a classic crafting activity - this colorful kit has everything kids need to make something unique and beautiful!
  Just Add Milk Experiments I love these experiments - little parental oversight is required, and they're so easy to do right at home! Girls and boys, readers and scientists, alike will love this colorful kit. Not to mention parents!

Gifts for Ages 11 to 13

Pairs in Pears Whether or not they love this pun as much as some of us, this game gets kids flexing vocabulary muscles while having fun with a little challenge and competition. Players build pairs of connecting words in matching patterns, like Scrabble 2.0. Best of all it's portable - a perfect gift and activity to bring along on sleepovers or for parties. For a little more "pearity," pair with two more pears!   Rainforest Biome Budding scientists and tweens who like hands-on fun will love this all-in-one Rainforest Biome - they get to start a whole ecosystem right at home! The biome includes cacao beans (a favorite), clay, an apple snail shell, and more to create a full-on biofeedback loop. Super cool!
 Math & Science Mystery Books Who doesn't love to solve a mystery?! The One Minute Mystery series takes a simple concept and turns it into an awesome book. Kids will read mysteries, then use their powers of deduction and knowledge of math and science to find the solution. Each is as satisfying as the next!

Birthday Wordless Wednesday

After visiting and holding real tigers, we surprised her with this stuffed tiger. She still asks for a real tiger as a pet. We keep insisting this is as close as she is going to get.

Other Animals

This is the final post from the exotic animal park in Oklahoma. These are just some of the other animals we were able to interact with. They also had a large number of animals you couldn't touch - tigers, lions, ligers, etc. Those pictures just aren't as interesting.

I don't like touching snakes. I'm not too bad if they are on the ground. Right after this Sweet Son pushed the snake completely off of him and it started darting it's tongue toward my face. I wasn't thrilled to say the least.

The snake looks much more relaxed for them, but if you notice the tail is wrapped completely around Sweet Daughter's throat. They neither one complained. We decided we aren't a snake family.

Petting wolves. They are domesticated and were really just like big dogs - big, wet, stinky, shedding dogs.

Camels

This post is the second in a series from our trip to an exotic animal park in Oklahoma. This post also proves camels are always photogenic, haha.

We were offered the "opportunity" to kiss a camel. Yes, you read that right. They gave us a cookie to put half in our mouth and half out and the camel would lean over and take it from us. This had mixed results.

First up, Wonderful Husband gets a kiss

I'm next and really not sure I want to kiss a camel

Should have gone with my instinct, though our tour guide enjoyed my reaction

There is no way the kids were going to get close to kissing a camel after my reaction. They just fed him from their hands.

Smart kids