Building Blocks Party

JC, my eldest son, just celebrated his 7th birthday.  Since last year, he has been asking us for a birthday party. We had a huge celebration last February for SJ's 3rd birthday, where we also decided to have EJ's Dedication Day.  After seeing that party, he was even more determined to throw a big celebration for his own birthday. Personally, I'm not sure if we could still organize one for him.  But in the end, I still said yes.  You may wonder how wealthy we are, but I assure you, I've tried my very best to plan these celebrations on a budget.  All I need to do is be creative and put in the personal effort for all of these parties to happen.  We managed to host parties even on a tight budget because I bake and design my own cakes, I don't need to hire tables, chairs, or catering services, and I have my mom and some church friends who help with cooking and cleanup. I personally create all party decorations and giveaways. I also want to mention some generous friends who contributed to the party essentials.

Cake Art Collections (2)

Lightning Mcqeen

This is my first attempt to use fondant.  I am happy with the results and enjoyed making this cake too!

My newest addiction: cake art

We had a bakeshop, and I literally grew up in a bakery. Because of our bakeshop, my parents were able to send us to school and provide for our needs. Even though it was our life, I never had any interest in learning how to make bread, so I never considered managing a branch. If I had a chance to go back to college, I could choose a course related to our business today. Anyway, it's not too late to learn new things.

I'd never thought I would be interested in cake decorating and would be addicted to it, too!

Blessed Week as JC Turns 5 - Laiya Beach, Cake and a Bicycle

We've been busy last week but is surely blessed specially for JC who celebrated his 5th birthday last March 7. JC is now aware of the dates in the calendar. As soon as February has ended my son tells everyone that his birthday is so near! I attempted to ask him of what would he like to have on his birthday. He answered me straight saying "a cake car". I was stunned hearing him say that. I don't know how to design a cake car.  Then there's is one friend who makes carved cakes that came into my mind. I know ordering that cake would be so expensive. I started praying and hoping that in the coming days I would be blessed with enough money to afford it. But I still kept on thinking if I had that money should I still go and order it? Because for me it's not practical to pay a cake worth 3 thousand pesos. I asked my younger brother for an opinion. What he said was, "Ate, I am sure you can make one yourself."

Pakner4lyf informed me few days before JC's birthday that there is no extra budget.  I didn't want to break my son's heart who is expecting that cake on his birthday; and I didn't want to hurt our monthly budget too.

SJ First Birthday Celebration

I don't have any plans of throwing out a party for SJ's first birthday.  Originally, I planned to cook a simple dinner for the family and buy a cake at red ribbon and took a souvenir photo that I can share to my son when he grows up.  It is stressful to arrange a party - one major reason why I don't want to do it and second we don't have a house helper who can offer help mostly on taking care of the children.   If we are going to celebrate the party in a restaurant, it would be expensive and we had no budget to cover the expenses.

Kevin, Lizzele, Zymon, Pakner4lyf, Me and SJ

It so happen that our son's birthday falls on Sunday (February 10, 2012) so we are expecting lot of people will come having a husband who is a pastor and the fact that our house is one door away from the church.  Pakner4lyf decided to invite all the church members and friends for a simple celebration not only because it is our son's birthday nor it was the Chinese New Year but there are other church members who are also celebrating their birthdays this month - Kevin, Lizzele and Zymon.

Party for the Princess

Our little princess turned three on September 23.  We planned to celebrate her birthday at a Jollibee store near our home.  The party was scheduled for after our church worship service on September 23, 2012.  We invited underprivileged children to be her guests because most of our friends and relatives can easily afford their own meals at this fast-food chain.  This is a treat for our street kid students who regularly attend our Sunday meetings. I know they will truly appreciate this simple party we have organized.

Having the party at home and preparing more delicious food to satisfy our hungry guests is more practical.  This is our usual choice whenever we decide to host a party. While I may not have saved money by hosting the event at a restaurant, I did save the energy (less stress and pressure) required for program preparation.  Hosting a party here entails a lot of work, including meal and program planning, shopping for necessities, and setting up decorations. The most challenging part will be cleaning up the mess afterward.

A birthday is incomplete without a cake and a candle to blow out.  I needed a birthday cake.  The cake I wanted was too expensive.  I'd rather spend the money on food.  Making cakes is not our strong suit.  We are still learning and improving our bakeshop.  Since I didn't have much of a budget, I asked my brother to bake a cake for me.  I was grateful to have a wonderful Kuya who was willing to help me.  Thanks to Howdini.com, they have a tutorial on how to make a princess cake.  We succeeded in our first attempt at making this cake.

I am also thankful for the generous hands who sponsored her outfits.  She had three outfits for that whole Sunday.  Hopefully, they will continually supply Eu-La's outfit for her next birthday!  (We couldn't give that kind of luxury to her.)  Not to mention the other dress that she received after the party.

A yellow dress with colorful circle prints was given by my mother.  Eu-La calls her Nanay Rose.
She also bought a pair of pink Barbie shoes for our princess.   

The pink halter dress is from our beautiful Sales ladies - Renelyn and  Zabeth.

This green princess gown was a gift from Operation Christmas Child, along with Barbie dolls (one of the dolls was placed in her cake). I chose to add beads to highlight it.

During the program our little princess was so tensed with mixed emotions. I haven't seen her acting that way. I then realized that even we adults at times couldn't handle mixed emotions.  I know for sure how excited and happy she was and everyone who attended the party.

Eu-La loves Jollibee so much that whenever we have time and budget to visit a Jollibee store, she will embrace Jollibee's figure at the door.  As parents, it is our joy to give our children what they dream of and grant their wishes, especially during birthdays.  We also want our children to share their happiness with the needy ones.  May our children realize the example that we have shown them.  We continually pray that God will continue to bless us so that we may be able to provide for the needs of the whole family and to reach for others to be a blessing for them in every way that we can.