Daughter number four recently celebrated her 10th birthday and her “epic” party’s theme was inspired courtesy of this year’s science curriculum, Apologia Young Explorer’s Exploring Creation with Astronomy.
She has been so engaged and interested in the subject -after only 2 weeks!- that when we asked what she wanted for her birthday party, she immediately answered “the solar system”. No tweeny-bopper, pop culture theme for this girl. I’m sure it helps that her father is also infinitely interested in the heavens. The My Little Pony themed party 7-year-old requested last year required far less thought, pulled together in one trip to Party City.
Thank heaven for Pinterest, where you can find ideas for all kinds of neat, galaxy themed foods and crafts, such as galaxy bark:
Nebula in a jar:
And a cake with the nine planets of the solar system on top (she insisted Pluto be included despite understanding the science behind the 2006 decision to demote its status):
The cake was actually a fail as it should have been completely covered in blue, but time constraints precluded a last minute do over. Thankfully it tasted great and the children were distracted by the sweet planets made of Rice Crispy treats and modeling chocolate.
The galaxy birthday party was a success. Homeschooling can be a challenge at times, but moments like those make it easier to deal with having things like this as wall art in our family room:
All that to say: Fall is in the air and so with it, the beginning of a new school year.
Whether your kids are in home school, public school, private, or parochial school, here’s wishing you a productive and growth-filled school year!
Expect a book review by week’s end.
Reading in Between the Life... 
The bark and the cake are so fun!!! My daughter has a birthday party coming up and we still need to plan it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Jenny.
I should clarify what I mean by “fall is in the air” because fall is actually NOT in the air here and won’t be for another 6 weeks.
What I mean is that it’s almost September, tropical storm season is at its peak, and it’s hotter’n Hades outside. LOL.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yeah, that’s not what I think of when I think fall
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very nice. I’m too lazy for themed birthdays – if they get a cake and some munchies it’s all good, lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t be too impressed. We do one such party every 3 years. The next ones will be for years 10 and 13. Milestone birthdays.
Thankfully between the 7 of us and their three closest young cousins, our annual dinner with cake and singing of “Happy Birthday” always felt like a party to them.
Real parties every year would be way too expensive!
LikeLike
Just another advantage of having lots of family around. I like doing “family parties” better really, although it’s fun to do the have a bunch of screaming little girls around for a few hours thing once in a while, lol. When they’re still little anyway.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So cute! I like the cake exactly as it is.
I have a daughter who has a deep excitement about science thanks to Apologia as well. Your daughter may be excited to know that the classification of Pluto is once again a topic of discussion.
http://www.geek.com/science/plutos-clouds-might-make-it-a-planet-again-1649212/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Eavan! It was sort of pretty but we can be anal about our cakes around here, LOL…
And I will be sure to fill her in on the latest developments concerning Pluto. She will be glad to read about that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy Birthday to your wee one!! (i also love Pinterest)
Every year we move a little further away from the sweetness of September “back to school.” It’s a blending of emotions, that’s for sure. I put “back to school” in brackets because I always ran more of an unschooled/eclectic outfit. September was more of a time when we restocked our supplies and such rather than a starting point.
There’s a flip-side to it too. Our daughters are now teaching me! I pray that someday you will get to experience it too.
LikeLiked by 1 person