Brenson's 6th Birthday!

Birthday season is in full swing around here, and this past weekend we celebrated Brenson's 6th birthday. How it's possible that he is already 6 years old is beyond me, but we had a great day celebrating him and the special little boy he is. 

Because Bren's birthday is exactly 7 days after the twins' birthday, it always falls on the same day of the week that theirs did. This year, his birthday was on a Saturday which makes it easy to plan a fun day for him! Like I mentioned in the post about the twins' birthday, we had decided as a family to take a little trip instead of having a big party this year, but we still wanted to give each child a special day.

After Bren went to bed for the last time as a five year old, Chris and I got busy decorating the mantle and getting his gifts ready. The kids have learned to get up on the morning of their birthday and go straight to check out how everything is decorated.

We also decorated his door for him. I used the banner and dot garland I had from their Lego party we threw last year because Bren is very into Legos right now!

When Bren woke up on the morning of his birthday, he was so excited! I love this age where birthdays are about the most fun one could ever imagine, haha! He immediately got dressed in his birthday shirt and asked to open gifts.

Chris and I decided several months ago that we wanted to give the big kids an experience as their primary gift this year instead of toys or things. Chris picked up a half-size guitar at a garage sale back in October, and we've been saving it for Bren's birthday since then. When we called about setting up guitar lessons for him, the teacher preferred to start them at the beginning of this month instead of after his birthday. He actually began lessons the Tuesday before his birthday on Saturday, so we had to give him his guitar and lesson certificate early. Even though he was already completely aware that a guitar and guitar lessons were his main gift this year, he was thrilled to see his guitar and his certificate as part of this gift display.

Other than his guitar (which we paid $15 for, including the case), Bren got a Clue Junior game from Brooke,

a book about Robots from Brecklyn,

a shirt from Brianna,

and this gear set to build with from Mommy and Daddy.

He also received a few birthday cards which he loved opening, especially now that he could mostly read them himself.

I feel like we keep our kids' birthday fairly low-key, but there are a few special traditions we have for them. One is that they get to choose the menu for the day. They can choose to eat out, eat in, or a combination of both. For breakfast, Brenson chose to have donuts, which were a big hit with everyone, of course!

I had a few little decorations I used in the dining room that I just leave up for all of birthday month. Bren felt like they were kind of girly, but I wasn't going to take them down just to turn around and put them back up again next week. 

The rest of the morning, we spent at home playing a few games of Clue Junior and helping Bren put together his gear robots. We told him we could do whatever he wanted for his birthday, and his choice was to stay home and play. I loved this, and the weather ended up being super cold that day so I was thankful we didn't really have plans to go anywhere. We did, however, go out for lunch. Bren chose McDonalds!

After lunch, the twins went down for a nap, and Bren wanted to go upstairs and play games. We played several exciting game of Headbandz, more Clue Junior, and a game of Life.

As the day went on, we ended up having quite a bit of winter precip. We just never know what the weather will be like on the kids' birthdays, and this year it was cold and icy! We had planned for Russ, Lisa, and Chloe Jo to come over in the late afternoon to eat dinner and cake with us, and by the time they got to our house, there was a solid sheet of ice on everything.

SO - we decided to do some ice sledding in our backyard. Because of course!

Aunt Lisa ice sledding

Bren and Chloe Jo ice sledding

Brianna and Brooke

Brecklyn and Brooke

We seriously had so much fun! We could have stayed out there for a long time sledding, but our poor faces were FREEZING, haha! 

For dinner that night, Bren was very specific regarding what he wanted to eat. When I was trying to plan for meals, he told me that he wanted "those long meat things we eat on bread". I wasn't sure what he was talking about at first, so he added, "we put ketchup and mustard on them and sometimes cheese". It finally clicked with me that he was talking about HOT DOGS! We just don't really eat hot dogs for meals (unless we're hosting a crowd), so he couldn't think of what they were called, lol. I was willing to cook a big meal for him, but since hot dogs are what he wanted, hot dogs are what he got. Easy enough!

After hot dogs for dinner, it was time for cake! I thought this cake turned out so cute, and Bren loved it! It was just perfect for my little construction vehicle loving boy!

He always gets a little embarrassed when we sing to him :-).

Blowing out his candles!

Chloe Jo and Brianna enjoying the cake

Brecklyn and Brooke

Chris, Russ, and Lisa

Brianna, Momma, and Bren

Momma and the birthday boy 💓

Lisa, Russ, and Chloe Jo gave Brenson a little shave kit for his birthday. It was a huge hit! Brenson couldn't wait to go try it out, as it came complete with a little razor (no blades), shaving cream, a mirror, and a brush. I think he shaved three times just while they were still at our house, haha.

I also enjoy throwing a party and planning an outing, but I think our more simple days spent at home with each other are my very favorite. And, I really love that being at home was what Brenson wanted to do. What a great day celebrating our amazing boy!