This morning I spent a few hours shopping for a couple of birthday gifts for my two daughters. I love shopping for birthday presents. This coming Monday (St. Patrick's Day) is their birthday.
Because it's their birthday, we tend to not do much that is St. Patrick's Day-ish. While the rest of the continent is wearing green, eating Irish soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and talking about leprechauns, two members of my family are blowing out candles and opening gifts while the rest of us cheer on.
Having a birthday that falls on a holiday,. even a smaller holiday, will mean there have to be some choices and sacrifices by the rest of the family. It also means that going out to celebrate can be challenging, as restaurants, parks, and other fun venues are jammed with merry-makers for the holiday. We do the best we can and choose venues and times that don't overlap too much with the Irish-at-heart in our community.
This year, we'd planned on a picnic in a local park for Saturday. However, it looks like rain this weekend. So, our picnic may be at home. We'll make it festive somehow. My daughters chose supercharged BLT sandwiches (extra bacon), apple wedges, potato chips, and cake for their picnic birthday lunch. Should be tasty!
Are there any other March birthdays here? Any St. Patrick's Day birthdays? How do you make an occasion festive when outdoor plans are forced indoors due to weather?
Have a great weekend everyone!
P.S. We had the tuna casserole planned, using the homemade cream of mushroom soup that I froze last week. With the casserole we had homemade applesauce from the freezer. Another easy-peasy dinner. Tomorrow I'll make pizza using frozen dough and frozen sauce. All I'll have to do is stretch out the dough, top with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, then bake.
We also have a birthday on St. Patrick's Day, my oldest son is turning 26. We always just do simple at home birthday parties as well. With 8 people in the house it's too costly to go out to eat plus here in Oklahoma the wind and weather is very unpredictable. We always enjoy these simple times together, and we are doing sandwiches as well per request of the birthday boy. Even with that simple menu it was about $60 to buy all the sandwich meats, drinks, food for the side dishes etc. But I do enjoy splurging a bit more for parties because moms make memories! Happy birthday to your daughters! (I have twins too by the way).
ReplyDeleteHi Trina,
DeleteHappy belated birthday to your son! I know exactly what you mean -- a large group makes eating out so expensive. I hope your at-home celebration was wonderful for all.
Happy Birthday to you daughters! One son has a birthday around Memorial Day and another around Easter. We often shift the day of the celebration to a day that we can focus on the birthday and not other things. This happened when they were young, too, because it was hard to have a party with friends on a school day. We would do something small on the actual day and more celebration when the time was right.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteYou make a very good point about focusing on the birthday at a different time, instead of a holiday plus a birthday. Especially with kids, I think doing it that way allows the child to feel that their day is special.
Yes! We have a total of 7 in our family and 5 of them have March birthdays! Our first one was last Monday and the last one is the 31st. March is definitely a party month around our house. Happy birthday to your daughters.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruthie,
DeleteHappy birthday to the five in your family with birthdays this month! That's a very busy March! We have one other extended family member with a birthday this month, but thats; it for us for March.
MY grandfather's 125 birthday is Monday. He didn't mind having a St Patty's Day birthday. We never went out to eat. A shamrock cake was always welcome. No gifts. He has been gone 40 years but Monday will always be his birthday first and St Patty's Day second. I also have several March birthdays. March 4, 9, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23 and finishing out 31.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
DeleteIf I counted correctly, you have 10 family birthdays this month! Happy birthday to all of them!
What wonderful memories of your grandfather and his birthday. Thank you for sharing.
My husband's birthday was earlier this month. We keep our celebrations low key. I made his birthday pie a few days early because our son was home for spring break and it seemed like more fun to do something special while he was here.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteHappy belated birthday to your husband! Good move to make the birthday pie early while your son could be there, too.
There's a ton of March birthdays in my family. I've counted 12 so far and I'm quite sure I've forgot someone. Only two of my children are born in March, but my sister, her hb, three of my cousins, several second cousins (we are a close knit family until fourth or something generation)... Some birthdays are shared with two people, but 12th is shared by three.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is ONLY my side of the family!
Ulvmor
Hi Ulvmor,
DeleteThat is a lot of March birthdays in your family. Happy birthday to each and everyone of them! There must be a lot of very fun get togethers in March in your family.