Revolutionary War Birthday Party

Josiah turns 7 years old today. He lost his 4 tooth yesterday, so now he really looks like a redneck, LOL. We didn't do much for his birthday today because we were at the Pendleton Round-up, but we did have a big combined birthday party for Josiah and his two oldest male cousins last week at my sis' house. My nephew, Josh (12), picked the party theme this time, and chose the American Revolution. In the past we've done Civil War and WWII themes. My sis and I weren't sure how we were going to pull off this one, but we put our heads together (with the help of the boys) and came up with a fun format. My sis and I literally spent less than $15 on items that we didn't already have on hand to put this party together.

Thanks to their Nana, all the boys (and my niece, Jessica) got Revolutionary War era costumes for Christmas last year. They've had a lot of fun with these throughout the year, but they really put them to use for this party. This pic above is of Josh, Josiah, me and Jessica all decked out in our 18th century costumes. Stacie's older boys had been busy throughout the week making flags (British and American) for decorations. You can see them in the background. We also had bunting all around the deck and the dining room.

I had bought this feather, ink well and parchment paper with a copy of the Declaration of Independence about a year ago, was going to give it to Josiah for his Christmas present, but forgot. Good thing I did! We had all guests sign the Declaration of Independence as they came in the door. What a fun experience for everyone. It is not as easy to write with a feather as you think it would be! They also had fun looking at all the signatures of our founding fathers.Instead of traditional cake and ice cream, we decided to do a tea instead. We had all the guests bring their own tea cup and saucer, then we served cucumber sandwiches and decaf tea (so we could still be patriotic) and scones from our "scone cake" shaped in the form an American Flag with 13 blueberries representing the colonies. We used raspberries for the red stripes. Underneath the Devonshire cream is homemade peach and raspberry jam. This was all my sis' doing, I just helped decorate. They were a hit! We stuck candles in the for the boys, sang happy birthday and let them blow them out.

My niece, Jessica, was tired of wearing her hat, so I wore it for awhile. I felt like Martha Washington or Abigail Adams.The kids were so excited, and not one broken tea cup! There were some real antique cups there, too.Next we opened gifts. They boys made out like bandits. We got Josiah a beginner chess set and a kid's digital camera. Josh (12) and Marcus (10) found this old recruiter poster while they were researching the Revolution, copied it, and put it on the front door. It is of a snake, cut up into all the different colonies. So cool! Love his bandage.Then we all went outside for the reenactment portion of the party. The boys had researched all the major battles and acted out 4 of them for us to watch. Josh made his own Hessian hat out of paper. I thought that was very creative. They all refused to wear white wigs. Even though the boys' guests weren't really dressed up, they had no problem getting into the act. It was awesome to see them so readily jump in to the fray. This picture cracks me up, Josiah is flashing a "V for Victory" sign (WWII). Oh well, wrong war, but you get the idea, LOL.Yes, the girls all got into the act, too. They were regular "Molly Pitchers" and were the vital nurse corps. These girls got into the role, let me tell you. Before the party, Stacie got the idea of ripping up an old bed sheet and putting some red ink on it. We rolled them up and gave them to the nurses to help "clean up" on the battlefield. The kids went crazy over these! Hailey (3) was very seriously nursing her cousin, Andrew (5). After one of the battles, the soldiers wall went back to the "camp" where the nurses patched them up again. I couldn't resist throwing this picture in of my step-dad, Larry, sittin' with his two youngest granddaughters, Hailey and Lily, as they watched the battle of "Bunker Hill". So cute!

I love these themed parties, not only are they fun, they are also a wonderful way to learn. It'll be interesting to see what theme is picked for next year. We're running out of major American Wars, LOL. Maybe it'll be Vietnam, War of 1812 or the Spanish American War next year? We'll see...

God Bless,

Jackie