Seven Years Old!

The Free One just turned seven!  

I can hardly believe seven years have past since my sweet, bouncing, little baby boy entered the world.  Each day I love seeing glimpses of the man that God is shaping him to be.  I know that God has big plans for this boy.  In honor of my big seven year old I am posting some highlights of our homeschooling adventures together over the past few years.  Enjoy!

He was two years old when I started a preschool co-op in my home.  Here he is getting measure on the yellow ruler wall.

 Three Years Old:  Here he is making boiled egg sandwiches at the pre-school co-op.

All the children wore chefs hats and aprons for their "cooking" class.  They were so cute!

When he was three we were using the Weaver Curriculum for preschool.  He is showing off his sponge shapes painting.

 Peanut butter play dough.

Playing with shaving cream on the bathroom mirror.  We were learning about reflections.

Observing geodes.

He joined a soccer team when he was four.

Swimming is his favorite sport so far.

He is five years old here.  We are growing crystals.

Driving down decimal street to the hundreds house.

Learning about ancient civilizations.  Their stuffed animals were kings who wrote decrees and sealed them with their signet rings.

Here he is six years old.  He is making a really big bubble with a hula hoop.

"May day!  May day!"  He is checking out a cockpit at the Aviation Museum.

Helping his brother learn shapes with the geo board.  He is such a good big brother!

Johnny Appleseed needs no introduction.

Cub Scouts is his latest seven year old adventure!

Happy Birthday to my big seven year old!

Check out this post:  "Making Birthdays Special" for tips on how to make your child feel important and loved on his special day!

Making Birthdays Special!

Here are some ideas on how to make your child feel honored on their day. 

1.  Let them plan the day's menu.

2.  Let them choose the day's activities such as games, movies, outings, etc.

3.  Sneak balloons or flowers into their room while they are sleeping so they wake up to a surprise.

4.  Look at baby pictures with them and let them know how thankful you are that they were born.

5.  Make a crown, tiara, or badge for them to wear that says "Birthday boy," or "Birthday girl."  When you go out other people will see it and wish them a happy birthday.

6.  If you're not having a party on their birthdate, sing "Happy Birthday" to them at dinner time and put candles in their dinner or dessert.

7.  Have everyone in the family write a short note to the birthday child and read them out loud at dinner or bedtime. 

8.  Mark the child's height and take a picture.  Each year they will be able to see how they have grown.

9.  Hide presents that they will find throughout the day.  (on their chair at breakfast, in their toy box, in the car, in their bed...)

10.  Throw a birthday party!  A birthday party can be as simple as dinner, cake, and presents with just the immediate family.  Or, it can be an all out party with friends, decorations, games, party favors, food, cake, and pony rides : )  

You don't have to break the bank or your back in order to make your child feel special at his or her celebration.

     

Castle Birthday Party!!

My "Anchor" just turned four!  Last year he wanted a purple monkey party.  I scrambled to find any kind of purple monkey paraphernalia I could find to pull off his completely random party theme.  My parents even searched New York City on their vacation for a purple monkey.  The only purple monkey they could find was in the NBC gift shop.  It was a tall order, but we made it work.  This year I got him to settle on a castle/ knight party.  

A talented friend spent all day at my house helping me make the cake shown above.  We rolled fondant and mixed frosting for hours while our kids played.  This would definitely not have been possible without her!  The bottom layer is two 9 X 13s stacked with ganache in the middle.  The towers we constructed out of cardboard and tape.  The walls were textured with a plastic mountain we pilfered from my boy's train set and brushed cocoa powder on to create contrast.  I just happened to have a chocolate graham cracker that worked for the drawbridge and covered dry spaghetti with ganache for the ropes.  The windows were piped            on and the writing was drawn on with food safe markers.  

The look on my son's face when he saw the cake was absolutely priceless!  

DETAILS:  Each child decorated their own cardboard shield, breastplate, and crown.  We were on a tight budget so these were all home made.  I drove through Burger King, bought a couple of items off the dollar menu and ask for twenty crowns.  Then I spray painted them silver with some paint that I found in my husband's garage.  (One of the perks of being married to a general contractor.)  In this picture, my oldest son is showing off his creations.  He doesn't look too happy here, but all the kids had a blast.  

Next, we had a "king's feast."  I went for the everything on a platter look and included rustic bread, chicken drumsticks, sausages, grapes and more in order to give it a more authentic medieval feel.  I had forks available, but most people just used their hands to eat.  Super yummy and fun!

After our feast we had a knighting ceremony where each child put on their armor and my husband "knighted" them and gave them their swords.  Their mission was to run through a field, knock down a castle, and attack the giant that was hiding in it.  My husband was the giant and he hid behind a make shift castle he had constructed out of drop cloths and wire.  Then we had a jousting event where the kids got to steer a golf cart and aim a "jousting stick" at a target hanging from a tree.  Adult supervision was required.  Crazy!!!  But super fun!  

I found the swords, the banner (below) and a few party favors on www.orientaltrading.com.  The banner had free personalization so it had my son's name on it.  The torches were made out of black construction paper and red tissue.

Last but not least, here is the happy birthday boy with one of his presents.

Please leave a comment:  How do you make your children's birthdays special?