Happy Birthday, Daddy! (2016)

Sometime in early 2015, Isaac started talking about how neat it would be to be in Germany for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in October of 2017. Each time he mentioned it, it was followed with, "but that's crazy; we can't do that," but after the third time, I thought: why not? Sure, international travel falls well out of our usual budgeting plans, but we're both frugal people; surely, we could save for two years and make it happen.

So, for last year's birthday (2015), I gave him the non-present of a promise: I'd do everything I could to save and earn money, and somehow, we'd make the trip happen. I solicited promises from both sets of parents as well, to get our "Germany fund" up and running. I haven't done nearly as well as I'd like at saving from our grocery budget (I had yet to find out how much more things cost in central Minnesota), but we've managed to pocket away funds here and there. (Did you know, by the way, that every little bit of money I make from selling Norwex goes into the Germany fund? Let me know if you'd like in on product info and sales!) We've booked our bus tour (Luther's birthplace, various sites in Germany, etc.) and last night, made the ultimate commitment: bought our plane tickets!

All of that to say: we're not buying gifts for each other this year (or next year). So how's a girl to make her hard-working hubby feel special on his birthday?! Well, when Levi mentioned a few days ago that he wanted to build a gingerbread house this year, I had inspiration. Isaac loves building and decorating gingerbread houses, and he's been looking for ways to get one-on-one time with the boys. I bought graham crackers and a few bags of candy and let them get to it!

Isaac built the house himself (though not without much shouting of "stop bumping the table!" to curious little boys :D ).

Planning and plotting.

Walls go up . . . 

Roof goes on . . . 

Ready to be decorated!

Then each boy got to decorate one wall with Daddy's help. Toby got to go first, since it was almost nap time. The top photo below is when I decided I'd made a good choice; I shooed all the other boys out of the room and let these two have their moment. What sweet memories.

Toby was fond of the gumdrops.

Silas chose a smattering of peppermints and mini marshmallows.

Levi made a pretty pattern with green starlight mints.

The roof and chimney were Isaac's domain. When everything was finished, I took a photo of each boy with their own wall pictured:

(Plus a Toby half-photo-bomb as he ran through the kitchen.)

Owen got the special privilege of decorating the open doors.

Isaac made the marshmallow igloo featured in front of Levi's wall.

Silly Toby.

We did all this yesterday, since we had a whole day at home together. (And what a sweet day it turned out to be, too.) This morning, we celebrated as usual with birthday donuts, bacon, and hot chocolate (using whole milk, not almond milk). We'll dig into our precious stash of Skyline chili for lunch, and finish off dinner with this flourless chocolate cake (Isaac's request). Yes, birthdays are really all about the sugar here. ;)

Someday, life won't be so busy and I'll be able to take time to get a picture that's NOT blurry. 

Now is not that time. ;)

Levi's card: "You are special. Thank you for making the gingerbread house with me."

Perfect!