YES! I LOVE birthdays! My family can testify that my love for birthdays is deeply rooted. In fact, as a little girl, I would actually sing Happy Birthday to myself I was so excited. There is nothing better than a day dedicated to celebrating life!!!Birthdays are all about showering the birthday boy or girl with love and gifts; reminding them how special and how truly amazingly loved they are. Then of course there’s the CAKE, the anticipation and excitement, the presents, and family getting together! Wow…count me in on birthday celebrations like these! Now that I’m older, one of my favorite things to do is to find fun ways to make birthdays super festive and fun. Birthdays can easily be brushed over or forgotten in the business of life, especially as we get older, but why?? Life should be celebrated! Life should be FUN!The past few weeks have been absolutely packed with birthday celebrations. My husband, brother, and dad all have birthdays within days of each other. Today, I’m going to give you a recap of the celebrations we had, recipes I made, and inexpensive fun ways we made them festive.

The morning of my brother’s and dad’s birthday celebration, my sister and I were up early decorating. We grabbed some streamers $1/each, a bag of party poppers – $1, goofy glasses – $3, confetti from my mom’s craft area, and a small bag of balloons – $2. Covered in streamers, tripping over blown up balloons, tape in one hand and scissors in the other, mixed with a little creativity, we finished just in time! We had a little fun making homemade cards this year too. For dinner my parents treated us all to the Japanese Steakhouse. Kirby and I are pretty original…we stuck with teriyaki chicken haha (I know…we’re adventurous right?) Go with what you know we always say! It was so fun. The waiter was extremely talented and VERY entertaining as he made an onion volcano, pretended to squirt my mom with the soy sauce, and jokingly served my sister one single pea to eat. Later, at home we savored the taste of my mom’s homemade angel food cake (the birthday cake of choice every year) and nibbled on my Reese’s Cheesecake minis, as this is Richard’s favorite candy. You can find the recipe here! Yesterday, for Kirby’s Birthday celebration, I invited all of his friends over for Supercross. The dinner menu was homemade macaroni and cheese, jalapeno poppers (HUGE hit!), and homemade chips and salsa. YUM! It was the perfect menu for a bunch of guys that just wanted to snack while watching the race.

Sunday was my day to spoil Kirby. Breakfast in bed was served with special delivery Bob Marley Coffee, homemade french toast covered with thick, sweet syrup, spiced bacon twists, and a side of fresh sliced strawberries and bananas. We headed off to try a new church (which we fell in love with! It was so refreshing and powerful!)

Dinner was the big surprise! It included: homemade honey-cinnamon butter, with homemade rolls, chopped salad with homemade ranch dressing, green pepper pasta (not the most creative name…so I’m up for suggestions!), and frozen mini white cake with milk for dessert. I have no explanation for the frozen cake…but my hubby loves it and that’s all that matters! It all came together quite nicely I must say, and I’m ready for a peaceful evening.

All of this party planning may seem like a lot of work, but really it is my absolute JOY getting to make the people I love and cherish feel special. Life is short and each life is special and filled to the brim with purpose. The parties, the gifts, the big meals, the streamers and cards can’t even come close to showing them how much they mean to me, but it’s my way of expressing it the best I can. When I was a sophomore at the University of Missouri, God showed me a principle I will never forget. He taught me that I should sow into the lives of others the things that I had need of. Sounds backwards right? This worked though! I needed love and to feel mattered, so I looked for people around me who might feel overlooked (The sweet old janitor in my dorm or the greeter at the dining hall) and I made a point to show love to them. I made them Christmas cards and sincerely spent time to ask about their lives and aspirations. I was surrounded with so much love in doing this! If you are reading this and feeling bad because you’ve maybe never had the birthday experience I described, don’t! Invest into the lives of those around you. Don’t waste a minute telling someone that they are important and that their life matters and better yet, don’t wait until their birthday to tell them. If you sow and invest into the lives around you God will give back to you WAY more than you can possibly give. Life is SO worth celebrating. What are you waiting for?? Let’s celebrate! Have a wonderful week friends! Love ya!