Hoppin' Fun Frog Birthday

Every birthday is such a blessing, not to be taken for granted. Life is a wonderful gift, and not everyone has it for long and not everyone one has it abundantly. We are so glad to celebrate another year of life for our son. We are so blessed to have him as a member of our family. We are thankful for his health, energy, enthusiasm and joy. We pray that he will grow as Jesus did, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in "wisdom, stature and in favor with God and man."

Birthday day cakes are a challenge for me. I have never learned how to manipulate Butter Cream frosting into beautiful designs with just a little pouch and an assortment of tips. But since we have changed what we eat to "food as grown", the challenge is even harder, because we are not using margarine of any kind or powered sugar anymore. I tried a new recipe for both cake and frosting. It was called Better Banana Cake, but I think it would be better off in loaf pans or muffin cups. The frosting recipe I used didn't match the flavor of the banana cake. It was cashew based, and thickened with potato flour. It was lumpy and strange. I tried to color it with blue berries, but it turned out to be a gray purple. I remembered what a Biology professor I know told me, that there is very little in nature that is truly blue. I think he is right. Blueberries are purple. But what color is water anyway?

When we served the cake, each guest got to choose one of the little frogs to keep, to the great delight of the boys. The girls were more timid in the choices. (We invite whole families to birthday parties, so we have plenty of adult supervision, and siblings of all ages present. It makes for a really nice time.)

When the party guests arrived, each received a pair of "frog feet" (fleece slipper socks) in their own size. The girl's were colorful hot pink "jungle frogs". The boys were mottled green tree frogs, with a green print that coordinates with the purple print that I used when I made my first try at slipper socks. It took a little time to make them all, but each guest seemed to really enjoy them. I really wish I would have lined them all up and taken a picture of the froggy toes. But as you are sure to understand, it is a challenge to get froggies of any kind to line up in a row and hold still.


Forest requested those tall candles that are a bit like sparklers. They shoot out little sparks as they burn, which are quiet exciting to a little boy. They are hard to blow out, and are quick to relight themselves. Forest was able to get all of them out, except this one last one, and we dipped it in water to finish it off.


For the meal we served gluten free and dairy free pizza, salad and a fruit plate. I made the crust and the sauce from scratch. The "cheese" was Vegan Gourmet Brand, a rare deviation from our avoidance of processed foods. We made one pizza without cheese for those who would rather go without. One pizza didn't have any mushrooms or onions. All of the pizzas had all the veggies we could put on. My favorite pizza topping now is broccoli, chopped very fine. Yum!

For games we has an a froggie metamorphosis obstacle course. Part one represented the eggs, which can move or do anything, but if they could, they would likely roll. So summer saults were performed from point A to point B. Next we thought of those little tadpoles hatching. They have no arms or legs at first they just wiggle along with their tail wagging behind them. So the tadpoles had to wiggle across the ground trying to reach their destination. It was difficult, so as they got closer to me I told them that little arm stumps were starting to grow, then one little leg stump. Then the arms grow longer, by the time they arrived they had all four arms and legs. Next I know the new little froggies would be hungry and needed some practice with insects. So I gave them each two little plastic bugs to try throwing into a tall plastic container that represented the frog's mouth. They could do it up close, and then step back and try again to see how far away they could stand and still get bugs in the frog's mouth. Now that the frogs had full tummies they were ready for some hopping. We played leap frog with a girl's team and a boy's team. What fun! There was no competition to see who was the winner. It wouldn't have been fair because we had kids of all ages and sizes. It was fun just to do things together as friends, enjoying each other's company.

Before and after the game time we allowed the children to have some free play time outside. This was Forest's desire, as he always longs for kids to come over to play. It was so nice to see the children getting along happily. All the kids involved are homeschooled kids and are used to playing with kids of different ages and genders. They are all wonderful kids. All in all it really was a wonderful birthday.