A Birthday Celebration

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Stephen turned seventeen this past Thursday. The problem we had this year with his birthday was that we had no money and it kind of snuck up on us. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do.

Then a light bulb went off. He has been begging us forever for his own room. He and Nathan have shared a room since he was a baby. However, now they are older Stephen seems to really need his own space.

We have an extra room down in the basement that we had made into a guest bedroom but it's not heated. However, it usually stays around 60 degrees down there so it isn't too bad and we have a space heater.

So after Stephen left for school on Thursday I set to work painting the room. It was pink and I didn't really think he would appreciate a girly room! ;-) Again, we didn't have enough of one color of paint to cover a whole room, but I found a 1/4 can of sandstone and a 1/4 can of white paint and mixed them together and came up with my own color.

When I was done with that, I sat down and composed some short poems to send him on a scavenger hunt.

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When he arrived home from school, we had him follow the clues around the house, outside, into the building next door, and back into the house.

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We had such a busy weekend and didn't have the time to totally set up his room on Thursday so the last clue told him that as of Monday the room was his.

He was so excited! Who would have thought that a gift that cost no money would have been the best one?

Yesterday we spent the day taking apart the queen size bed that was in the spare room and moving it upstairs for Nathan since he is so much bigger. Then we had to take apart the upstairs beds and putting one in storage and one downstairs for Stephen as well as moving the rest of his stuff.

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We spent a few hours shuffling things around.

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So now he has his own space and is thrilled!

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I did notice though that he came upstairs quite a few times last night to make sure he said good night to Nathan. He's happy to have his own room, but I think he is missing having a roomie a bit too.

Comments

  1. TracyFebruary 16, 2010 at 8:18 AM

    What a great gift! My boys have always shared a room, too. When Mac went off to college it was a bit hard on Collin. (Although Collin iS MUCH neater than Mac and doesn't miss cleaning up his stuff!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. DonnaFebruary 16, 2010 at 8:20 AM

    So nice. It is amazing the things you can do with no money and lots of love. What a great mom you are to think of it and to follow through and make it happen.
    Blessings to your family.

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  3. ElizabethdFebruary 16, 2010 at 10:28 AM

    What a perfect present!

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  4. A Wonderful Life!February 16, 2010 at 10:48 AM

    What a great idea Terri and I think it was time too!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2010 at 1:26 PM

    What a wonderful gift! I love it when the Lord blesses with inspiration when we need it!

    Have a great day!
    Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2010 at 1:56 PM

    A very nice room for a 17 year old! I'm sure he was happy. A thoughtful gift from his parents. God bless, Kathy in Illinois

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  7. NadineFebruary 16, 2010 at 3:21 PM

    What a wonderful gift...so very creative of you! I know my girls would love to have their own rooms, but we live in a tiny house, so they will just have to enjoy eachothers company!

    Blessings!
    ~Nadine

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  8. Elizabeth-Plain and SimpleFebruary 16, 2010 at 4:11 PM

    Belated birthday wishes to Stephen and what a thoughtful gift.

    Blessings,
    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete
  9. Blessed MamaFebruary 16, 2010 at 6:23 PM

    What a wonderful birthday gift! Kuddos to you for being so resourceful too. Just goes to show, the best things in life really are free! :)

    ReplyDelete

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