"The day you were born..."

Noah on his 15th birthday (this year) in WI Dells. It's not a crown but close enough.

Living as we do in perpetual transition and settling; back and forth; here and there, has created many traditions.  I know that you would think the opposite true but I found that the more I put into making certain things a norm while living at Grandma's or somewhere on the road, is important to my kids.
One thing the kids almost always ask for is my cinnamon rolls for their birthday breakfast. Years ago I found this great overnight cinnamon roll recipe and since then it has been the only recipe I will use.  It makes cinnamon rolls, caramel rolls, or both, if you choose, and I do most of the time.

Jonah this year, on his 11th birthday.

Another thing that I do for birthdays is make my kids a crown, well, until they say, "Mom, I don't need a crown anymore."  and then I go off to hide and cry because all my babies are growing up way too fast!

So far the only "mature" one is Noah.  Haillie adheres to the Peter Pan motto, "I'll never grow up!  I am going to be a child forever!"

Haillie, sweet 16, 2011. Wearing a fairy flower crown.

Silas, this year on his 9th birthday.

As they eat their cinnamon roll while wearing their crown I tell them about the day they were born.  I sometimes get choked up before the end but it always ends with laughter, as we talk about the time Dad made me labor in the car while he drove through the McDonald's drive-thru because he obviously needed his energy to get through the birth (Yes, that was sarcasm.) or how Haillie thought Noah was her baby from the day he came home.
Yes, I have been known to throw over-the-top kid parties with cakes to match, and homemade pinatas, because Russians never learned the skill of pinata making, but those days are slowing down each year my kids get older *sigh* and not always practical when you are driving to Moldova.
So even if we are riding through Hungary and singing Happy Birthday while going through the border, we always find a way through old traditions or making new ones, to celebrate the lives of each of our children.

What traditions does your family have for birthdays?  What crazy or fun globetrotting birthday stories does your family have?

2008, Silas's 5th birthday at Ice Rink Palace, Budapest, Hungary.  On the road to Austria to renew our Russian visas.