10 on the 10th: October Edition 2024

 One of my favorite link ups of the month is Marsha's 10 on the 10th. I am a day late with mine but I know she never minds that. This month Marsha has asked us to share 10 things we like about birthdays. This is going to be so easy since I love birthdays-- mine and everyone else's too! 


1. Making the birthday girl/boy/myself feel special-- in our house this usually means that birthday person gets to pick the dinner menu, pick their dessert of choice, etc. They usually don't have to do any chores and I used to give the boys the day off from school too. 

Alec's birthday breakfast one year

2. Yummy treats!-- No birthday celebration feels complete without some sort of cake, cheesecake, dessert, etc. They come up with some out of the box ideas too so we're not always eating just cake or cupcakes. 




3. Gifts & personalized cards-- I love to give and receive gifts (though it does get harder as my boys and parents get older to think up great gift ideas). If possible I love to come up with something really personal or handmade but happily buy something off a wish list too if provided. 


4. Special outings/trips-- sometimes in place of gifts we plan an outing or a trip in the birthday persons honor. When the boys were younger we tried to cut down on gift giving and looked to experiences instead. The birthday boy got to pick and we often checked out zoos, museums, aquariums, even just going out to dinner in place of picking/cooking a meal was a whole lot of fun. Now that the boys are so much older my husband and I are enjoying planning small weekend trips around our birthdays and taking a little getaway just the two of us! 

5. Balloons and decorations and themes-- For a few years I had my own helium tank in our garage because I loved decorating for parties with balloons, banners, tablecloths, etc. and I always went over the top with themed birthdays especially when the boys were younger.  


Ian's fish themed party even had goodie bags that were fished themed... 

These lure boxes were so fun to put together! 



Evan's Jaw-some Shark party decorations... 


6. Trying out some new baking skills/recipes-- I taught myself cake decorating, how to make cheesecakes, making Bavarian cream, etc. all because my boys (or sometimes I) would have an idea of what they wanted their cake or dessert to look like and I love a good challenge. 




7. Birthdays bring people together-- while we don't often have big parties anymore unless it's a special birthday (16th, 18th, 50th, etc.) it was so much fun to see large crowds of friends gathering around my boys on their special day. Even earlier this year when my mom celebrated her 70th my sister and nephews came up from North Carolina to join us! 



8. Making a wish on birthday candles-- My family rolls their eyes and they gave me so much grief about candles and blowing them out around the time of the pandemic that we nearly stopped but I sill make sure to have candles and lighter and encourage them to make a wish. Because, why not? It just might come true. There is something about birthdays that feels magical so I say go for it. 


9. Unexpected birthday wishes-- While most of us expect wishes and gifts and cards from close family members and friends (and I love those too!) there are always unexpected wishes throughout the day as well. Anyone that hears it's your birthday tends to get a huge smile on their face and wish you a happy birthday. It's like the whole world is excited you were born... if only for that one day. I love that. 

10. Personalized parties-- birthday parties are fun in and of themselves but we've been to (and thrown some) really special personalized parties.  We've had parties at the roller rink, the art studio, themed parties in the backyard, pool & lake parties, decorate your own cupcake party, etc. We've been to a video game party where they had a video game truck come and all the kids could play games. We've been to a cowboy party where they had pony rides. We've been to winter sledding parties and laser tag parties during monsoon like rainstorms.... and pretty much all of them were lots of fun. 

Evan's "How to Train Your Dragon party" 

Party at Zoinks


Linking up with: Thinking Out Loud, Spread the Kindness, 







Comments

  1. Maria RineerOctober 10, 2024 at 5:07 AM

    Fun! Yes, birthdays offer great excuses or reasons to celebrate those whom we love. Looks like you have done that well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kim CarberryOctober 10, 2024 at 7:14 AM

    I love birthdays! Mine and my families.
    That turtle cake/dessert is fantastic! It looks like your kids have had the best birthdays.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jennifer GoodwinOctober 10, 2024 at 7:21 AM

    I love birthdays so much and love going over the top! I enjoyed reading about your love for the same; your cakes are amazing! There is nothing you can't do, girl. You're one of the most talented people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne October 10, 2024 at 1:43 PM

      Aw, thank you! That is the sweetest compliement.

      Delete
  4. Dara @ Not In JerseyOctober 10, 2024 at 8:31 AM

    I like feeling special or making the other person feel special too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Memphis BridgesOctober 10, 2024 at 12:16 PM

    I love this! I loved planning birthday parties for my girls when they were young. I have one that has a birthday next week and I am so excited I will get to see her on her birthday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne October 10, 2024 at 1:44 PM

      Thank you! Yay for getting to see her on her birthday!

      Delete
  6. Kari October 10, 2024 at 12:28 PM

    This was fun! I love birthdays, too. (Mine and others) ❤️

    ReplyDelete
  7. StephanieOctober 10, 2024 at 3:14 PM

    Birthdays are the best! It's always so nice to celebrate the people around us, and ourselves as well.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jodie's Touch of StyleOctober 10, 2024 at 5:57 PM

    My grandma always told me that celebrating our birthday is a gift we should treasure. That's why we always celebrate for the entire month.
    XOXO
    Jodie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne October 11, 2024 at 8:30 AM

      We definitely celebrate for more than just one day!

      Delete
  9. JoyceOctober 10, 2024 at 6:53 PM

    Planning parties for my girls was one of my favorite things through the years. I love a good theme! I 100% agree there should be candles. My hubs just celebrated a birthday and we had two couples over for dinner. As soon as I came out with dessert they all said we needed to sing. My kind of crowd!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Soma @ InkTorrents.comOctober 10, 2024 at 9:12 PM

    Love that how special you make everyone feel. That's amazingly wonderful, Joanne!

    -Soma

    ReplyDelete
  11. MarshaOctober 10, 2024 at 10:53 PM

    These are sooo good, Joanne! I was really struggling with coming up with ten, but I'm betting you could have done ten more! I especially love 7, 8, and 9! Thanks for playing along!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne October 11, 2024 at 8:31 AM

      I did struggle to come up with 10 myself too!

      Delete
  12. Kym October 10, 2024 at 11:47 PM

    Your birthday desserts and parties look so creative and fun! And delicious! We also made the birthday kid feel special on their day by letting them pick dinner and all of that, but they didn't always get the day off school! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nancy 's Fashion StyleOctober 11, 2024 at 3:52 AM

    What a fun and delicious theme, I want cake now!

    ReplyDelete
  14. GinaOctober 11, 2024 at 7:22 AM

    Birthdays for my peeps are pretty low key these days, but in the past we have hosted parties at home with all kinds of themes! We've done Trains, Tye Dye, Jewelry making, Winnie the Pooh Picnic, Superheroes and Goblins...and many at different places for kid fun like Main Event, the roller rink, McDonald's, Mr. Gatti's Pizza...four kids with birthday parties until about age 10 is a lot of parties. (: Like you, I always wanted to add a personal touch and took tons of photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne October 11, 2024 at 8:33 AM

      It really was a lot of parties.. I think most of my boys had parties until sometime in their teen years. They each had their own idea of when they had had "enough."

      Delete
  15. HollyOctober 11, 2024 at 7:30 AM

    Ok loving the shark party decor- my hubby would love a party like that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne October 11, 2024 at 8:30 AM

      We made shark fin cupcakes and themed the food to go with it: https://www.myslicesoflife.com/2018/09/a-totally-jawsome-shark-party.html I had so much fun with that theme!

      Delete
  16. Heather{Our Life In a Click}October 11, 2024 at 8:36 AM

    I love birthdays too!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jennifer WhiteOctober 11, 2024 at 10:19 AM

    So many great answers and pics! I love the cakes.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Laura @ Our Grand LivesOctober 14, 2024 at 8:25 AM

    What a fun post! You reminded me of so many wonderful reasons birthdays are special to celebrate! The Lure Box favor is genius!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne October 15, 2024 at 1:57 PM

      Thank you; I did get inspiration from Pinterest when planning my boys parties but often went a step or two further.

      Delete
  19. Lindsay's Sweet WorldOctober 15, 2024 at 12:12 PM

    I loved seeing all of the special cakes and desserts you've baked throughout the years! Very impressive!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Making Gift Card and Money Holders Using Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Supples

Image
I don't tend to keep a lot of crafting supplies on hand so when I saw this month's de-stash challenge I wasn't sure what I was going to make.  I finally realized that with so many of my Christmas gifts being cash and gift cards this year that I needed to make up some fun paper crafting/ creative ways to gift them.   I still want my nieces and nephews to have something to open so I pulled out my papers and stamps and made up some cute little money/gift card holders. They were much easier to make than I thought.  The first one I worked on was to hold some oversized Nintendo gift cards.  I made a standard sized card and folded down one corner of the card front.  Then I ran my double sided tape along the bottom an 1/2 way up the side creating a cute little pocket.  Finally I added some cute embellishments and ribbons.   Voila! A simple and easy gift card holder for those larger sized gift cards.  The bulk of the tweens and teens on my list j...
Read more

Dollar Store Candy Cane Wreath

Image
Today I am linking up with some fellow bloggers for a Dollar Store craft challenge.  I don't often participate in these challenges since I try to stay away from our local Dollar Stores; I find they can be quite dangerous for me!  I knew this was the perfect time to find some inexpensive holiday decorations though and I just LOVE how my wreath turned out!  I hope you stop by and see what the other hosts are sharing. Meet this month's co-hosts! Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me This Autoimmune Life | Our Unschooling Journey Domestic Deadline | Sew Crafty Crochet Stone Cottage Adventures | Sum of Their Stories | Two Chicks & a Mom I bought the candy cane wreath base and a few rolls of mesh (not knowing how many I'd need I bought waaay to many; I only ended up using one white roll and one red roll. Using some chenille stems I already had on hand I attached the mesh to the wreath base trying to alternate the whit...
Read more

Making a Sugar Cookie "Gingerbread" House

Image
 Alec really wanted to try making his own gingerbread house this year without using a premade kit.  We talked about how we never really eat the house since they don't taste very good.  Years ago we gave up on the frosting that comes in the kit and began making our own so we thought perhaps we should try making our our house too. Only problem is that no one in the house likes gingerbread.  We talked about trying to make the house using a sugar cookie recipe.  Alec was so excited at that idea since he just LOVES sugar cookies.   He found a recipe online for a simple sugar cookie recipe and mixed up the dough.  He rolled it out an cut it to the size of our cookie sheets-- we had read that it's easiest to cut the house pieces out after the dough has been baked and is still warm and soft because then you don't have to worry about any of the pieces losing their shape while baking. I had picked out a simple cookie cutter set on Amazon and as soon as the ...
Read more