• HOME
  • {A}’s Chipmunk Training Archives

 Homepage

  • The Homestead
    • Home Projects
    • Home Improvement
    • Home Decor
      • Seasonal Home decor
        • FALL Home Decor
        • WINTER Home Decor
        • SPRING Crafts and Creations
        • SUMMER Crafts and Creations
    • Our Chickens
    • Gardening
    • Organization
    • Re-Purposing
    • Furniture Refinishing
    • Budget
  • Crafts & Creations
    • Seasonal Home decor
      • FALL Crafts and Creations
      • WINTER Crafts and Creations
      • SPRING Crafts and Creations
      • SUMMER Crafts and Creations
    • DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project
    • Kids Arts and Crafts
    • Homemade/Handmade Gift Ideas
    • Holiday Crafts
    • Fan Pulls
    • Free Printable/Downloadable
    • Sewing Projects
    • Giveaways
    • Business Features
  • Recipes/FoodFun
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Main Dish
    • Sandwiches
    • Appetizers
    • Slow Cooker
    • On The Grill
    • Side Dishes
      • Soups
      • Salads
    • Baking
      • Breads, Rolls and Muffins
    • Snacks
    • Treats
    • Desserts
    • Drinks
  • Homeschooling
    • Elementary Homeschooling
      • Elementary Homeschooling READING
      • Elementary Homeschooling MATH
      • Elementary Homeschooling LANGUAGE ARTS
      • Elementary Homeschooling SCIENCE
      • Elementary Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS
      • Kids Arts and Crafts
    • Middle School Homeschooling
      • Middle School Homeschooling SCIENCE
      • Middle School Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS
    • Language Arts
    • Math
    • History / Social Studies
    • Geography
    • Foreign Language
    • Field Trips
    • Games
    • Nature Study
  • The Big Picture
    • Life In General
    • Celebrations
    • Faith
      • Into the Light; The Series
    • Giveaways
    • Reviews & Sponsors
  • Photography & Lettering
    • Photography
    • truck lettering
    • vehicle graphics
    • Newborns
    • Kids
    • Engagement
    • High School Senior Pictures
    • High School Senior Pictures Sneak Peeks

{A} is 14 / A Belated Birthday Photo Post

July 31, 2011 By Laura 10 Comments

004_birthday_pancakes-300x214
July always seems to get away from me!  I am having deja-vu, about blogging our oldest daughter’s birthday last year, quite after the facts.  But, it’s alright really, because these types of family-related blog posts I generally just put together for the sake of our own recorded family history, and if anyone else is interested, so be it.  So in brief, here is a glimpse into our day celebrating our oldest child’s birthday.

Her birthday is the 5th, and with the 4th making for a long weekend this year, we had an extra-extra long weekend.  All of the typical 4th of July celebrations & activities, and then her birthday too.

001

002

003

Our family’s tradition is to take birthdays as a family day, free of work or schooling. But one of {A}’s  wishes for her day this year, was to go to work with her Dad, at his morning part-time job at a local church.  He truly enjoys his work there, and the setting is in a real wooded area, making for lots of wild critter stories to tell, when he comes home. So naturally, that is very appealing to her as well, if you know her. ; )

 

004_birthday_pancakes  When they got home around noon, I had ready or usual birthday morning tradition: birthday number pancakes. That is usually Michael’s specialty, but since he was not home, I managed.  Did you notice the flower and butterfly, made of butter? And the “bee-line’ from the flower to the butterfly, with syrup. : )

 

005 Oh, don’t feel bad for her.  She ate several more pancakes, after her 14 was gone.

 

006 {JM} made this as a surprise at her place setting. And as usual, I was impressed.

{A} loved it too.

A few other surprises:

007

Football cards, from {JM, O and S}.  They were pretty excited to have gotten these for her with their own money, because she collects them. (Along with other collections she has going.)

008

009

010_homeskoolie-t-shirts 011-homeskoolie-t-shirts

A couple of cool t-shirts she wanted.

012

A package from Grandma. She got a purse, a cool pendant, and a gift card to Michael’s Arts & Crafts.  We also got her a gift card, to Borders Bookstore.  There are a slew of books there she wants badly, and ‘to keep’.

 

013

As a family activity, she wanted to go to the movies, to see Mr. Popper’s Penguin’s, with Jim Carey.  It was a welcome idea, with the extreme heat and humidity that day! Now, I’m really particular as a parent, as to what movies/television my kids see, but after looking into it, I decided this movie would be fine, and it was.  It was more than fine. (However, I was really glad with the decision, to keep them out of the theatreer until the previews were over!  That’s another story.).  But I have to say, this movie we saw was excellent. We all really, really enjoyed it.

Tacos was her dinner of choice, and then, before it got too dark out, we released our 5 butterflies we hatched.

Then of course, we sang, and had cake.

{A} has had a busier summer than she has ever had, with a temporary summer job, teaching 4th grade CCD for a couple of weeks, sports clinics to gear up for another year of sports (now high school), some schooling on the side, prepping for another new school year ahead, and just some sheer fun & relaxation hanging out with friends. We were happy to take this family day, to celebrate her and her life, and give thanks to God for the blessing she is.

Thanks for coming by.



Save

Save

Filed Under: Celebrations, Faith/ Catholic, The Big Picture, Traditions Tagged With: birthday breakfast, birthdays, Catholic-blog, Catholic-families, celebrations, family, triplets

Another Birthday Post – Laura’s

October 4, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

My birthday kind of sneaked up on me here!  And just when you thought the birthday posts were over, huh? lol.  Well, I’ll try to make this quick and painless.   Or, you can just close the post right now. : )

I really had great plans to spend with my family on my birthday (Saturday).  My choices are always Fall themed…..my favorite time of year.  This year, I was looking forward to a nice family Fall hike, finding leaves to wax, getting some pumpkins to bring home, maybe some mums, etc.  But on Friday night when I checked the weather, there was a 100% chance of rain on Saturday.  100% chance!  I have never seen such a high percentage, and I have to check the weather a lot, with my line of work.  So I was pretty sure it would be raining like the dickens all day, and it did indeed!

I was bumming Friday night, as I tried to figure out what else we could possibly do that would be fun instead.  I don’t even like going OUT in the rain.   So I chose to just stay home and decorate for Halloween (or Hallowtide, as we refer to it).

As it happened, Michael the and kids really made my day special………

I did wake up a little grouchy, actually, and when I smelled what was cooking in the kitchen (our traditional birthdays breakfast), I mumbled something selfish like, “Why do you guys always make me eat pancakes on my birthday.” (Yeah…super grouchy, huh? Nice.)  The truth is, I’m not even a breakfast kind of person.  All I want/need is COFFEE, and a little quiet until I fully wake up. On my typical days, I usually wait until almost noon, to eat toast.    Michael knows, too, that if I must, I prefer waffles over pancakes.  So I got that traditional number pancakes, over waffles, sausages on the side, and another cup of coffee.  By the time I was gathered around the table with those I love most in this world, I was more awake and in better spirits.

Shortly after breakfast, as I was reading some birthday e-mails and wishes on the computer, Michael and the kids called me back into the sun room. They all were standing around with a big excited smile.  And there on the table, was a gift, for me!

I loved the wrapping paper, so I had to go get my camera to take photos first, which did result in a few groans. lol. Then they gave me their home made cards.  I just love cards from my kids.  They put so much of their own personality into them.  I could tell you which was from who, without them even being signed.  I never took photos, but I should have. On the front of the card {J} made for me, was a dolphin jumping out of the water.  (He loves dolphins).  But what was extra sweet was the dolphin’s mouth was holding a string that was hanging, with a heart on the end that had a big “M” on it, for ‘Mama” of course. {S}, who is always all about numbers, had a big 41 on it. (Thanks, Honey, lol).  {O} gave me some sunshine, that was missing outside our windows.  {A}’s was extra creative, and all about love.  One of the things in the gift box was  some new nighties!!  They know….the pajamas I have, I have had forever,…. and a day.   I also wear my mother’s nightie shirts I collected from my parent’s home after she passed away.  So I guess they thought I looked like I needed some. lol.  I love them-and was grateful. They also gifted me with the COZIEST PANTS I HAVE EVER MET!   I don’t know if they are supposed to be pajamas, but I’ll never wear them to bed.   I declared them my ‘Cozy Editing Pants’!  Sometimes, I have to work for hours at this dang computer, and those pants are the perfect comfy attire.  I cannot tell you how SOFT they are.

They know I love polka-dots, so I was thrilled with those.  But they others will always make me smile, because of WHY they bought them.  They always poke a little fun of me, and mimic me, because I always say in the morning, “I need coffee”.  And let me tell you people….I have a real morning voice. Deep…gruff….and it’s true that sometimes the word “I” doesn’t even actually come out of my mouth.  It takes awhile for my talker to warm up. lol.  So these COZY PANTS cracked me right up when I read the words on them…..

Just perfect for me!

Michael and the kids ran out in the pouring rain to get pumpkins, and groceries to fulfill my request for later on in the day:  tacos, and apple crisp.  But what I really would have liked, was nachos from Uno’s. But…..I wasn’t going out in the pouring rain even later on in the day.

We spent the day doing the kind of things I do love to do at home…….decorating the home stead, carving pumpkins, …..just being together. I enjoyed it all very much.  No doubt I’ll be taking photos to share soon as well.

By the time the tacos were ready, Michael offered to run out and get me nachos from Uno’s -WHICH I took him up on.  We also had apple crisp w/ vanilla ice cream after, and {A} made nonpareils, which I’d like to just refrigerate and save for Hallowtide festivities. Although, we did pop a few already, of course. lol.

Throughout the day I got many wishes from friends around the country, and calls from loved ones, even today, as well.

I am really so blessed, and it really doesn’t take a birthday to make me know it.  I give thanks for all I am blessed with every day.  Nothing compares to the love of my husband and kids though, and being with them is always enough.   It is their love, that always puts the sunshine in my heart, no matter how much rain is coming down outside.

If you read through that, I’m impressed and thankful!  And now…no more birthday posts from here until December. : )

Filed Under: Celebrations, The Big Picture Tagged With: birthdays

We are wicked happy to have you here! We hope you find much inspiration, help, humor and enjoyment here.




Archives



POPULAR POSTS

* * * * * *

SUBSCRIBE to House of Joyful Noise blog! Every new post, delivered right to your email box!


Privacy Policy

Amazon Affiliates

Never at any additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products from our website. Your purchase through our links helps support our family, while sharing with you the products we authentically use and recommend, for various ideas, and letting you know where you can purchase them. Thank you for your support!

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 HouseOfJoyfulNoise.com · Genesis Framework by StudioPress