Layla's 4th Birthday

Like I said a while ago, May is a busy month for us. This past weekend we celebrated Layla's 4th Birthday. Our parties are not huge, some friends from kinder and cousins and family, at home with homemade food, homemade decorations and homemade take home bags. This is all lovely as we enjoy the process of preparing for the party as much as the party itself. But now, I am pooped!

It was lovely but truthfully, having Zahara's birthday only two weeks ago, I'm glad it's over.

In any case, here are my party principles:

1. We don't invite the whole class or even just the girls from the class. The girls are allowed to pick 3-6 friends. This plus two siblings and four cousins is plenty.

2. We handmake our invitations, decorations and take home bags. We do this because
- the girls can all be involved in the birthday celebrations and feel a part of it
- their handiwork is proudly displayed during the party
- it gives us something to do after school
- I want to teach them that you don't always have to buy things, you can make beautiful things (that aren't perfect) at home.

3. Parties are in our own home. This is because I like to do things my way and also because it's just nicer and more intimate. It's also probably more comfortable for the girls.

4. Birthday girls are allowed to choose whatever theme they like (or gently guided).

5. Prior to the party, we talk through manners, being a nice host and what we say to our guests when they give us presents and also when they say goodbye.

6. Treats are included in the kids party food, but so is fruit and cut up vegies. I don't go overboard on the junkfood. For Layla's party we had jelly and fairy bread, as well as sandwiches, strawberries and cucumber, carrots and peppers.

7. Give kids a snack right before party so they are relaxed and comfortable. Enjoy, savour and celebrate.

Happy Birthday Zahara

Today was a perfectly lovely Autumn day to spend with my newly turned 2 year old girl.

A midweek birthday breakfast, with Nutella on toast for the girls. Excitement reached fever pitch. The wearing of the birthday crown, the birthday table and to Zahara's delight, the reading of her very first, made by Mummy, birthday book. Full of pictures about a tiny baby called Zahara, she loved it.

A day pretty much devoted to her, as she liked it. Pick up new birthday scooter in the morning? Check. Gymbaroo class? Check. Hold Zahara in my arms for half the Gymbaroo class while she refused to participate? Check. Eat two sushi rolls by 10 in the morning? Check. Sing, make a poo and chatter for two hours during nap time? Check.

With my two girls spending some time at their grandmother's after school, Zahara had me all too herself in the afternoon too. Just the way this girl likes it. I tickled her endlessly, blew her bubbles and took for her a walk on my shoulders to pick some flowers.

The day ended with some more singing, choc chip muffins and the final wearing of the 'Z' birthday crown for 2010.

Hope you are enjoying these precious times now too.
xx

Birthday Bash for Zahara

Wow, what a day. My littlest girl celebrated her 2nd birthday today, surrounded by family and friends in our home. It was fun, easy and comfortable.

Zahara's absolute love and ease with animals was the clincher for deciding her party theme; short of buying her a pet, it was the best present her little heart could want. We had some lovely visitors from Animals on the Move; guinea pigs, rabbits, a piglet, lambs, a calf, chickens and goats. We fed, petted and held animals to our hearts delight.

Decorations
We started preparing party decorations about a month ago. This is always a fun project for the girls, giving some purpose on those after school art and craft sessions. I've also found it gives siblings a chance to share the excitement and feel like they are part of the celebrations.

We made paper chains - my six year old did this almost hypnotically, my four year old learning to handle the loops and sticky tape herself. We also painted animal cutouts (I downloaded from the internet and cut out the shapes myself), using small roller brushes which were fun for the girls - red roosters and pink piggies. These were strung on fishing wire and hung to decorate our party space. Others were blu tacked to our window.

I hired bales of hay for an authentic farm feeling, placing the take home bags on one and a Radio Flyer trike on the other. They looked great (but make lots of mess!)

Take home bags
We also made simple but very sweet (and inexpensive) guest take home bags. I bought some blue gingham fabric by the metre, cut into squares and placed a toy farm animal, bubble mixture and some stickers. These bundles were tied with yellow ribbon and then a homemade thank you card (using a Thank you stamp) with a handwritten message (done by Yasmin) on the back was looped on with string.

Table Settings
These were simple but so effective. I had kept some artificial grass samples from a garden makeover earlier this year, placed these on the tables with a farm animal on top. Cow print cups, gingham tablecloths and farm plates were all purchased in advance. I always start looking for decorations and ideas about two months before the party to allow enough time.

The Menu
For adults - bagels, homemade dips, cut up fruit and vegetables, home made borekas and a feta and caramelised onion tart my mum made. Juices, mint tea and coffee.

For the kids - cut up fruit and vegetables, cheese and Vegemite sandwiches (essential for any kids party in Australia), and brown chocolate cows (using a playdough cutter, I buttered cow bread shapes and dipped into chocolate sprinkles. This was the only 'treat' apart from the cake, as I don't like to give kids lots of rubbish at parties after watching them a) gorge themselves and b) get totally hyper after).

The Birthday Cake
My mum made a chocolate marble cake and then decorated it with chocolate icing and plastic toy farm animals and a fence. Adults and kids gobbled it up.

The Soundtrack
Animal Playground. We LOVE the Putumayo CDs.

Other activities
On the morning of the party I quickly printed off lots of farm animal colouring pages, cleared our play area and table and left jars of textas and pencils for colouring in. This was a hit too. While having a break from petting the farm animals, the kids were colouring in for about half an hour quietly and contentedly. Kids parties can turn to disaster if the kids run out of things to do, and I remember this about 1 hour before the party. Phew!

Post party edit
A great, fun and happy birthday party for my sweet, happy 2 year old.

Meatless Monday

Today's menu was simple. Tomato soup with rice and crackers and goat's cheese. Followed by snacking on dips and cut up vegies while doing some art. Followed by strawberries and cream (whipped with some vanilla essence and a little brown sugar).

Tomato soup
1. Prepare full tray of halved tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.
2. Roast for 45mins at 180 degrees celsius.
3. While tomatoes are roasting, grate two carrots.
4. Pick leaves of basil stalk. Finely chop basil stalk.
5. Lightly saute carrot and basil stalk in olive oil.
6. Remove tomatoes from oven. Preferably let cool slightly and remove tomato skin.
7. Add to pot with carrot and basil stalk, add stock and bring to boil.
8. Add tomato puree (or called passata), salt and pepper and sprinkle of brown sugar.
9. Simmer for 30-40 mins
10. Add handful of white rice and simmer till rice is nice and soft.
11. Garnish with basil leaves and enjoy.

We ate ours with goats cheese and crackers. While my head was turned, Zahara decided to moisturise her hands with the goats cheese. Awesome.

Dinner was followed by more party preparation. This time, painting some cut out pigs. These will be strung on fishing wire and hung up to decorate Zahara's little farm party. The two older girls also continued making paper chains. Pink for Layla, and multi coloured for Zahara.

We make as many of the decorations as we can. This gives the girls a sense of purpose leading up to the party and hopefully a feeling of pride when we put all our decorations up the night before the party.

In this way, preparing for birthday celebrations also becomes a shared family project and hopefully, encourage everyone to share the excitement and anticipation of a birthday.

Hold on tight it's birthday season!

May is a super busy month in our house. Zahara turns 2 on May 6 and Layla turns 4 on May 14. As well as that, we also have my birthday (but no party for me!) plus Mother's Day.

Over the last few years we have created several birthday traditions which are very meaningful but simple in nature.

On the actual day of the birthday, the birthday girl comes downstairs to a beautifully decorated kitchen table, with a birthday banner, monogrammed birthday crown, and birthday ring. A special breakfast is eaten, a little story is told about the birth of the child through the use of the birthday ring, and presents are exchanged. I also prepare a birthday book which is a photobook of the year leading up to the birthday. This is also laid out on the table (and these are reread often).

The birthday girl gets to choose their party theme but parties are kept on the small (ish) size and several friends are invited, plus cousins. Decorations are made by all the girls in the weeks leading up to the party. Ditto the take home bags (we made homemade glittery playdough for Yasmin's magic and witches party, and decorated the house with cut out, glittered paper bats). Birthday cake decorations are chosen from our trusty Women's Weekly birthday party book.

This year, Layla has asked (again!) for a fairy birthday party and after asking her ever so nicely if perhaps she would prefer something else for a change, we are continuing with this theme. The good news is we already have a lot of the fairy decorations from last year's fairy birthday party.

The invitations became a little project for us. I purchased some fairy stencils a few weeks ago and they've been a hit for Yasmin and Layla as they have traced, coloured and pasted many fairies on their artwork. So, using some Japanese origami paper, as well as scrapbooking paper bought from Ikea, I traced and cut out fairy shapes. These were glued on to pink cardstock, and then I hand wrote the invitation details. For a bit of a surprise factor, I wrapped each invitation in pink tissue and ribbon and off they've gone in the mail.

Lovely. A fairy has been booked and the menu will be simple. Fairy bread of course, birthday cake and sandwiches and fruit. We have lots of ceramic little fairies from various $2 shops to adorn our birthday table.

We are in birthday party mode people.