Nolan's 8th Birthday

We had Nolan's family birthday party early in May before Jared went to the other side of the world for two weeks (over Nolan's actual birthday).

When the day of Nolan's birthday came around, he felt like it was a fairly lame day.  It was a Monday, his dad was gone, he had to go to school, and he had baseball practice in the evening.

I did my best to make his day special.

We had to run out to Walmart the night before to get treats for him to take to school (insert my rant about how I always daydreamed about baking birthday treats for my kids to take to school but now everything has to be store-bought).  While we were at the store getting treats (Rice Krispies Treats), I let Nolan pick anything he wanted for breakfast on his birthday.  He chose Poppin' Pebbles, which is Fruity Pebbles cereal with little fizzy pieces like Pop Rocks.

For his lunch, I individually wrapped each item in his lunch in birthday-ish tissue paper.  I also printed a little birthday card and wrote him a message on the back.

He thought my little lunch prank was hilarious, and he still had time to eat everything even with having to unwrap each item.

For dinner I made Nolan's favorite meal, goulash (my grandpa's recipe).  We also had an angel food cake covered with fresh strawberries and raspberries and topped with Cool Whip.  That is a very "Nolan" dessert.

In addition to making Nolan's meals special, I also made him a birthday shirt to wear to school.  We picked up a neon green t-shirt while we were shopping for the birthday treats and breakfast cereal.  Then I stayed up waaaaaay too late that night making his shirt.  Oh the things we'll do when we feel parental guilt.

I used freezer paper and my Silhouette cutting machine to make the stencil.  Then I used fabric paint to fill in the letters, painting several thin coats.  My secret is that I always paint the first coat in the exact same color paint as the shirt.  That way if it leaks outside the stencil at all, it won't be that noticeable.  Then the stencil is sealed with that color before I paint on the real colors.  Make sense?

We had to use neon orange because it's Nolan's favorite color.  He wanted two colors, and he loves blue and orange because of the Chicago Bears, so I chose a bright blue to go with the bright orange.

In case you're wondering, that blue thing inside the shirt is the lid to a big plastic bin.  I couldn't find the cardboard t-shirt form I usually use for shirts, and I needed a large hard surface.

In the morning (after just a few short hours of sleep in the middle of my stint as single mom), I peeled off the freezer paper to reveal the finished shirt.

Nolan proudly wore his birthday shirt to school and later to baseball practice. 

I love to do little things to try to make my kids' birthdays special!

Jessica