Birthday Buddies

This week, we celebrated two birthdays in our household!

The birthday girl gives dad a hug....Elmo stickers!  Does life get any better than that for a 3 year old?!

Esther with her cookie cake.

Joseph is really into remote control things and guns, so this remote control tank that shoots BB's is the perfect gift! (too bad it didn't work...we'll be making a trip to WalMart for a replacement!)

Whew!  9 candles are tougher to blow out than you'd think!

And I couldn't resist putting a picture of our "sitter"...isn't he adorable!?!

And may God bless them with many more!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

How we celebrate birthdays

I recently posted about our 5th Annual Birthday Bash.  It is a celebration that we have each year to combine all of our birthdays into one humongous shin-dig. It is something that our family anticipates all year long.  It is an amazing event, but there is one question we get asked over and over again.  "What about their individual birthdays?  Don't they get to celebrate their day?"  The answer is, "Of course they do!"

Today was Lillian's 7th birthday.  Here is a peek at what a birthday celebration in the Kraft house looks like.

When the birthday kid wakes up, there is a sign over her door.  I don't know where I stole this idea from, but it has really caught on in our house.  They love having this silly sign on their door.  I let it stay up for a whole week, so it kind of prolongs the celebration.

All the children love running through the birthday door!

Of course I forgot to take a photo, but we started the morning off with monkey bread.  The birthday girl eats all of her meals on the "You are special" plate all day long.

After breakfast, we had family prayer time where we said a rosary.  This is special because the only intention was for the birthday girl - that she grow in holiness and learn to love and serve the Lord more in this upcoming year.

Present time comes next in our day.  The birthday child receives as many presents as they are old that year.  There is usually one present that is a little more "spendy" than the others.  We did, however, cap this at ten. So our 12 year old only got ten presents this year (she was totally okay with that!).   One of their presents is in the birthday box.  This is a special present that Dad chooses special for the birthday child.  The birthday box is the last present opened...maybe I'll have to post more about that later.  It's a neat thing.

She's been asking for this silly thing for over a year.  She was SUPER excited to get it...they tried 3 different slushies this afternoon!

The children always give each other gifts as well.  They know each other really well and get creative about finding gifts.  Sometimes it is something homemade.  Other times, they pool some money to buy something.  Joseph earned a free book from the library reading program.  There weren't any books that he was interested in for himself, but there were many that Lillian would enjoy.  So he got her a book and gave it to her for her birthday.

We simplified the cake baking process a few years back.  I make a jumbo sized chocolate chip cookie and the birthday child gets to decorate it.

That's a smiley face, 7, and balloon made out of chocolate chips...and a whole lot of sprinkles!

And it wouldn't be a complete birthday without candles and singing.

Looks like Eleanor and Haley are trying to give her a little help!

The birthday child also chooses what we have for meals and has the spotlight on them for the day.  They also receive cards in the mail from relatives and phone calls from grandparents. Who doesn't love getting mail and phone calls?!

That's what a Kraft kid birthday celebration looks like.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

7 Quick Takes - Birthday Bash!

On Wednesday our family celebrated our 5th annual birthday bash with 130 of our friends and family.  Instead of having 7 separate parties for the children, we combine them into one mega-party and go all out.  Using the 7 Quick Takes format, here is a peek at this year's celebration.

(1) T-shirts

We buy shirts on sale ($2.50 each) and Todd makes an iron on for the front (5th Annual Kraft Birthday Bash) and the back (child's name and birthday) so that the birthday kids are easy to pick out in a crowd.

Here's the front of this year's shirt...

and the back!

(2) Carnival Games

We have a carnival set up in our backyard and the neighbors graciously let us spill over into their yard as well.  Throughout the year we pick up prizes as they go on clearance (Target dollar aisle when it's 70% off if a favorite place to look!) to keep the budget down in that area.  Each child gets a bag with 30 tickets inside that they can use at any of the carnival games. The fishing game is always a huge hit!

Here's Haley and Eleanor getting the sucker pull ready - another crowd pleaser!

(3) Food

This is kept really simple and requires no cutlery.  I have sloppy joes or hot dogs along with carrot sticks, watermelon, and chips.  I also have two big drink containers - one filled with water and the other filled with lemonade.

We have the food set up in the garage.  There are a few tables and chairs, but folks take their food and sit on the lawn or in chairs they bring along to watch the magic show.

(4) Cake

I order two full sheet cakes from Sam's Club for $37 a piece.  This is a super tasty cake and is the best price I can find anywhere.

Esther really wanted to stick her finger into that big frosting balloon!

(5) Strolling Magic

This is the second year we had Magician Matt Dunn attend the party.  He did some strolling magic during the carnival which was a hit again.  More than one mom came up to me and said, "Your magician stole my watch!"  The kids loved being able to be up close and personal with a "real, live magician".  It was pretty spendy, but a favorite and memorable addition to the party.

(6) Magic Show

Magician Matt Dunn did a magic show after supper.  He has a very dry sense of humor and had us all laughing out loud.  He did an excellent job utilizing volunteers from the audience and including our children into his show.

Here's the guests all finding a spot to watch the magic show.

They loved being part of the show!

(7) Food Shelf Donations

Each year we ask that our guests bring a donation for the food shelf instead of a gift for our family.  This year we collected  606 pounds of food!  Over the past 5 years of birthday bashes our friends and family have blessed the local food shelf with 2,400 pounds of food!  Isn't that amazing?!?  It is such a wonderful thing to have the children bring the donations to the food shelf and know that their celebration is helping other families in need.

That's what 606 pounds of food looks like in the back of Big Blue!

Waiting for the staff to add up the total pounds of our donation.

And of course I need to mention all the generous souls who volunteer to help us with this wonderful event.  We couldn't do it without all of them.  We thoroughly enjoy this celebration and look forward to it all year long.  Eleanor asked me today, "Mommy, how many more days until the next Birthday Bash?"  I'm sure that isn't the only time I'll have to answer that question!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

May Day!

Wow!  A whole month just flew by without so much as a post from me.  I've been keeping busy with the children, home schooling, keeping up the house (sort of!), and of course loving my baby boy.  He is doing well and growing like a weed.  He is fussy at night and desires his momma...as if I could say no to him!
Today we had some friends over to help us celebrate May Day and kick of Mary's month in style.  My friend Karen brought over some crafts for the children which were a hit.

Then each of the children put a flower into a vase for Mary and we sang "Immaculate Mary".

Lunch was next.

Star sandwiches were a hit...they especially liked eating the sandwiches that had the star missing from the middle!

Blueberry muffins

Tortilla chips which loosely resemble a crown.

Apples for Mary being the new Eve who brought the Savior into the world.

Blue and white mint chocolates.

Blue and white frosted cupcakes for dessert.

Then they all went outside for some "recess".

What a wonderful way to start the month.  I hope that you all had a great May Day!

My little man is calling for me...hope to post more later.  Joseph celebrated his First Holy Communion over the weekend.  It was fabulous!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Birthday Bash 2011

Whew!!!  We made it!  Our 4th Annual Birthday Bash was this past Wednesday and it went off without a hitch.  I can only say that because of all the help we had from family (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) and a host of friends and neighbors.  We were just under 200 guests and had 9 families drive and hour or more to get here!  We collected almost 700 pounds of food for the local food shelf and $95 in cash donations.  We have hundreds of photos, but I've chosen a few to give you a look at our event.

The Carnival

Face painting, tattoos and sucker pull - huge favorite!

Trampoline, bounce house and duck pond

Fishing pond, bucket ball toss and putt-putt

The magician was great!  The kids (of all ages) really enjoyed the walking magic during the carnival

Food and Cake

Guests finding some shade to enjoy their supper (hot dog or sloppy joe, watermelon and chips) and cake

All the Krafts with the birthday cake - yum!

 Magic Show

Everyone getting settled for the magic show to begin

Family friend Mr. Alzen led the group in "Happy Birthday"

Magician Matt Dunn had the Kraft kids help him with one of his magic tricks - great fun!

Food Shelf Delivery

Big  Blue was all loaded up and ready to head to the food shelf - notice the little heads poking out above the bags of food!

Bringing all of the donations into the food shelf

Family photo (minus dad - someone had to take the shot!) with our birthday bash shirts on outside the food shelf

This was, by far, our best bash yet.  We are making notes about what went well, amount of food/prizes/supplies purchased, and things to change for next year.  It is a lot of work, but it is so worth it.  It is a great memory for us all filled with family, friends and fun.  I would really encourage you to give it a try - especially those of you with larger families.  Think of it...one party to plan...no gifts or "stuff" to find homes for (everyone brings something for charity of your choice)...sounds appealing, doesn't it?!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Spirit of America Celebration

Typically, our 4th of July is spent in Minot, ND visiting family and shooting off fireworks.  Due to the horrible flood covering the city, we postponed our trip and stayed close to home.  We were invited to a "Spirit of America" party in the afternoon.  It was a unique way to celebrate our country's independence.  As we arrived, each person was given an identity of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Your job was to read up on your person and mingle with the others and find out about each other.  What a neat way to learn about the signers! There was a brief program with tidbits of information about our history followed by learning/activity stations for the children.  Then there was some game time with potato sack and 3-legged races.  At the end, we all came together to "debrief" a bit and share anything that we'd learned. 

Craft time was led by Martha Washington.

A chance to talk about and play games that children would have played during the Revolution.

Story time.

Joseph (left) and Madeline (right) competing at the potato sack race.

I love my Haley's outgoing personality!  She didn't have a partner for the 3 legged race, so she walks up to some adult she's never met before and says, "Would you please be my partner?"  They went on to win the race.  That's Todd and Madeline coming in 2nd behind them.

And here is me sitting with Eleanor at the chicken coop.  She spent most of the time talking to and about the chickens and chasing the cats....ahhhh...life on a farm!

After a couple hours in the hot July sun, we headed home for some supper and air conditioning before heading off to our next event.  Some friends invited us to an event sponsored by their church.  It was a really neat carnival that the children had a blast at!  Afterwards, we got our blankets and lawn chairs set up to watch the fireworks display over the lake.  It would have been absolutely perfect, if not for all of the mosquitoes!  It's kind of a joke around here that the state bird is the mosquito.  They were out in full force last night.

All the bug spray in Minnesota wasn't even a deterrent.  So, today we're itching and scratching but the fireworks display was amazing!

Esther had the best time crawling in and out of the bounce house for little kids.

Lillian and Madeline buddied up and made the rounds.

Joseph and Haley taking a water break.

Eleanor fishing for a prize.

Mom and Madeline waiting for the fireworks show to begin.

It was a good half hour to get out of the parking lot and onto the highway to get home.  The kids were pooped and were asleep almost instantly - gotta love that!  We had a great day with family and friends remembering what the 4th of July means mixed with a whole lot of fun.  You couldn't ask for much more than that!

God Bless!

Heather :-)