Five on Friday: Birthday Traditions Edition

I thought I'd try something new this week and link up with Natasha at Hello Happiness for Five on Friday. Hopefully I can figure this out :).

I hope everyone had a great week! It flew by for us since T's birthday was right smack in the middle of the week. It has been such a fun week with perfect weather. Plenty of playground time and lots of vitamin D (must purchase sunscreen). Since T's birthday just passed I thought it would be perfect for my first Five on Friday to be about our birthday traditions, so here goes:

1. The night before the big day we always take our last picture with our boys at that age. So on Tuesday night we took our last 3 year old picture of T. It's really sentimental and kind of sad when you think of how fast they are growing, but it's definitely a tradition I love. The idea that it's the last time they are that age and capturing the moment. Here are a few from the past:

(T's last night at age 2, and T's last night at age 3)

(N's last night at age 4)

 (N's last night at age 1, and one more of N's last night at age 4)

2. In similar fashion, we always take a picture on their birthday at the time they were born (luckily this has worked so far with their birth hours - N was born at 9:11am in July, so he shouldn't be in school when we need to snap the photo and T was born at 6:30 am, if KC is born at a time like 2am, this tradition will have to stop :) ).

It's one way we celebrate the moment we first met. Some of my favorites:

(N turning 6, T turning 1)

(N turning 4, N turning 2)

(T turning 4)

3. Balloons and Streamers everywhere! The boys love to come downstairs to a room full of balloons. One day I'd love to stuff their room with balloons, but right now I know that would scare them. So balloons around the house is a must (sometimes they are more excited about the balloons than the presents).

4. We allow a "choose your own adventure " day. The birthday boy can name everything he'd like to do and we do our best to fit in everything. This includes restaurants, parks, or any playing at home request. Usually we end up at Chick fil a for N, Showmars for T (a local fast greek place), the playground, and the toy store.

4. We create a special birthday plate for cake. Chris and I visit a local pottery painting place and create a plate with their name and birth date. Each year we pull the plate out for their big day. 

5. Our last tradition doesn't always work out, but we try. Chris tries his best to take the boys' birthdays off from work. My mom started this one as she used to always do it for me, and it really meant a lot. I loved having her drop me off at school and being able to ride the bus home instead of going to afterschool care. It really can be the little things that make a big difference (I honestly remember this more than the presents I received). Chris works pretty crazy hours and usually sees the boys only on the weekends, so having a special day with him on a special day is great for everyone!

Do you have any traditions we should add? I'm a sucker for traditions and with a new little one arriving soon it's a perfect time to start some new ones.