First (Homeschool) Birthday!

Yesterday was Cohen's birthday.  He turned 5.  He was so excited and I was so disappointed.  I wanted to have the main floor decorated with balloons and streamers and signs.  I also had plans for making his favourite meal and his choice of cake.  When the kids (or adults) don't have a party we keep it simple.  I  wanted yesterday to be all about Cohen and I wanted him to beam with happiness.
In the past I have shared that Cohen struggles with being impulsive and needs hundreds of reminders a day to stay out of trouble.  As a way to help him stay off the walls we limit sugar and restrict dyes or preservatives.  Ha! Okay so I should have known I was setting myself and him up for a challenging day. Forget the natural high happiness brings when you know it is your birthday.  Try adding sugar and dyes on top of that and we have a very long day ahead of us.  
Here is what I wanted our day to look like:
7:00 AM -decorate main floor and make banana pancakes8:00 AM -clean the massive mess in the kitchen (I must have been crazy!)9:00 - 11 AM - Homeschooling, snacks, playtime while I baked his birthday cake (Coconut Cake with Lemon frosting- This is my son you are talking about!)12- Lunch1:00 - Nap for little kids, quiet fun activity for Cohen while I prepare his dinner choice (Chicken fingers from scratch & mashed potatoes)3:00- Cohen does his paper route (Yes! He has one!)          Bake Apple Pops for Cohen's Awana group for his birthday (I used puff pastry instead- super easy!)4:30 -Dinner  with Cake5:30 - Quiet reading, quiet music, quiet anything!6:00 - Leave for Awana8:45 - Bed for EVERYONE!
Now let's check in to reality shall we!
7:00 AM -distant memory, I just remember a messy kitchen and serving left over oatmeal for the kids.  (At least it was home made and had real bits of apple and cinnamon in it!)8:00 AM -clean the massive mess in the kitchen.    Look at the messy kitchen and throw my arms up in the air.9:00 - 11 AM - Homeschooling, snacks, playtime while I baked his birthday cake (Coconut Cake with Lemon frosting- This is my son you are talking about!)   Yet again what was I thinking?  We went for a walk to the library.  It was a beautiful sunny fall morning.  I was going to make this a workout but instead we ended up strolling and looking at what ever caught our eye.  We did a quick photo shoot at the bridge.  It was wonderful!

12- Lunch Snack.  (Thank goodness I pack a snack.)  We went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for the cake and dinner.  Better late than never. Cohen bought his siblings YOP (family treat) with his birthday money.1:00 - Nap for little kids, quiet fun activity for Cohen while I prepare his dinner choice (Chicken fingers from scratch & mashed potatoes)  Walked home with a neighbour we met up with at the store.  Cohen got to run the entire way.  He was so happy to be so free!3:00- Cohen does his paper route (Yes! He has one!)      Cleaned the kitchen (8 hours late) and started making dinner and the cake.

     Bake Apple Pops for Cohen's Awana group for his birthday (I used puff pastry instead- super easy!)
4:30 -Dinner  with Cake  Made Dinner5:30 - Quiet reading, quiet music, quiet anything!  The family ate while I made the apple pops.  I wish I had an apple cutter.  They ended up looking like little pies rather than apples but they were very tasty!6:00  6:33 - Leave for Awana (We were late- again!)8:45 - Bed for EVERYONE!    Cake for EVERYONE!  We decided to save the Awana volunteers the pleasures of teaching Cohen on a sugar high!  Can we say a collective AMEN!  Cohen was so happy with his cake.  He got 2 pieces!

9:15- Everyone to bed.  Cohen told me it was the best birthday ever.  He said his favourite part was buying a YOP for his brother and sister with his birthday money.  My heart softened.  What made this child's birthday wasn't the fancy well put together plans I had laid out.  It was spending time with his family and seeing happiness on their faces.  He read his birthday card one more time and said, "God made me because he really wanted me here."  I just love that he felt that and knew it was true. 
How was your homeschool birthday?