Birthday Fun

We made a commitment at the end of last year to be less materialistic when it came to gift giving within our household. Christmas worked out well, we got five gifts from Santa and then some cash to use as we each saw fit.

For birthdays this year, we had a commitment not to spend more than $50 for each person on gifts. We have been quite successful on this, with both boys having had their birthdays recently and loving their gifts so much that they didn't notice we had spent considerably less than the previous year. Aurora had a specific item in mind that was outside of our dollar limit, however she offered to give up having a party and eating out for her birthday in exchange for the extra amount spent. This worked for us, so we went ahead and bought her the item she requested.

For Caed's birthday, he received Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the Wii (that grandma bought us for all of our birthdays this year) and then we gave him some cash since he didn't have anything else he wanted that would allow us to come in under $50. We also went to Austin's Park and Pizza for his party, which included his two closest friends. We avoided the media room, as usual, and sat in a quieter room so we could have conversation and enjoy one another's company. Surprisingly, we only stayed for 3 hours as Caed became anxious to come home and put together the Lego toy he received from one of his friends.

With the cash he got from us and the Toys R Us giftcard he received from his mother, Caed bought himself a Tomb Raider game for the Wii. He's been spending a lot of time on the Wii lately, but this doesn't bother us as he was spending just as much time reading various books this time last year. He tends to become quite absorbed in whatever interests him, so we know that once his interest changes, so will his activities.

Andrea's birthday was great for her as well. She woke up early for no reason she could tell and promptly showered, gathered a daughter, and went bargain hunting at the Blue Hangar Goodwill (super discounted Goodwill). She found many prizes, including an Unabridged Dictionary published in 1979 (coincidence?), a nice pair of leather sandals (not real leather), and a Holistic Healing Guide. There was much more found and for all she only paid $16.

After Goodwill, she picked up the rest of the family and we went to see a house for lease in the area. It has 6bedrooms and 3bathrooms. It's a lot of space, we fear perhaps too much, but we love the fact that everyone can have their own room during these teenage years and there are many shelves and storage places everywhere. We've been trying to minimize the things we have, but we would still like space to place what we have. The house is available now and we're not sure they'll hold it for us until we return from vacation, but there's only one way to find out, which is to ask.

So, that's been our week. Sam and Andrea start a new workshop tomorrow, which we will be attending from 10am until 10pm. On Sunday, we're planning a birthday party for Andrea, something we haven't done in a long time, so it should be fun!