Lightening Online

Here is the first birthday cake I made for DS’s 4th birthday. He chose what colour I put in the icing (yellow seems to be a favourite at the moment). The lollies on the top are little lolly cars. (Yeah, I know, they look like frogs don’t they? At least, that’s what DS thought they were lol). Chucking a few lollies on a number cake is my idea of a birthday cake - nice and simple!

I had to include this photo as well (carefully edited to remove as much of my “first thing Saturday morning hairdo” as I could manage lol). Doesn’t he look so excited when he sees the Lightning McQueen Beach Towel?

I love kids birthdays - they’re so much fun!!!! I’ll be back tomorrow with some photo’s from the party.

The BIG day has arrived. Today my baby turns 4!!!! It sounds so BIG, doesn’t it? Last week I was talking with a friend of mine who also happens to be one of the staff members at my son’s kindy (preschool) and she was sharing about a conference she went to which taught them to remember that the 4 year olds in their care were just 48 months old. When you put it like that, it doesn’t really sound so old after all does it? I think it was just what I needed to hear at the time.

My boy is SO proud of how big he is! It really is very sweet.

This year Lightning McQueen is featuring very heavily. For those of you not familiar with Lightning McQueen, he is a red racecar and the lead character in the movie “Cars”. I LOVE the storyline as he learns what it truly means to be a friend and to have friends. And that “winning isn’t everything”.

We gave him a Lightning McQueen beach towel and wallet (he FINALLY has his own wallet!!!! A fact he is very proud of. We tend to start teaching money management to our children from 4 years onwards - that’s probably a subject for another post). We also gave him a Leapster that included a Lightning McQueen game. Being the youngest, he is being introduced to computer games a little younger than the other two. DD now has a gameboy and our other DS has a Nintendo DS so this is TJ’s very own “gameboy”. They work out fantastic for travelling in the car - we drive quite a few km’s a week living so far from everything.

His grandparents gave him his very own tool set (with REAL tools) - it came with a hat, goggles and toolbelt and he is ecstatic. So in many ways turning 4 has become a significant milestone for him becoming a “big boy”.

On Monday he’s having a few little friends over for a “Cars” Birthday party. To the left is a copy of the invitation we used as a base for our invitations. Gotta love the internet for being able to find HEAPS of great party ideas. The children who have been invited are all quite EXCITED at the thought of a “Lightning McQueen” party.

The plan is for each child to make their very own Lightning McQueen car out of a cardboard box (the kind you stand inside of). I’ve printed off some Lightning McQueen faces to stick to the front of the box and there’s a red piece of paper with a “95″ on it to go on the sides. Then of course the paper plate wheels and steering wheel. DH is going to mark out a track on the back lawn so they can “drive” around it

I think it’ll be lots of fun. The cardboard cars will take care of most of the activity for the morning and also become part of the “take home” gift for each child. I have bought “Cars” party bags as well and in them will go a few lollies, a small packet of chips and a couple of “cars” colouring sheets I printed off the internet.

I’m hoping that by the time they arrive and settle in, make their car and race around in their car, there won’t be a need for too much other organised activity. We also have a blow up tunnel type thing my parents gave our children for Christmas which DH will set up and the sand-pit. I do have some blow up egg and spoons they can play with and if need be we’ll do an egg and spoon race or two and play a few games like Duck, Duck, Goose. I find the whole “winning/losing” issue with party games and prizes a hard one at this age so I simply solve that dilemma by avoiding those kinds of games.

We have a little boy coming who is allergic to eggs, milk, nuts and a few other things so I’ve worked on party food that he can have (usually his mum brings food for him but they’re close friends and it’ll be nice for him to be able to come to a party and just be “one of the kids” instead of being different). I feel very honoured (and a tad nervous) that I am one of the few people she will trust with the life of her child. His first sleep-over away from home was here.

Party Food will be:

* fruit platter
* popcorn with icing sugar
* iced biscuits with lolly faces (I know which biscuits he can have)
* plain potato chips (he can have Home Brand salt & vinegar but DH accidentally ate them)
* toobs
* pretzels
* jelly cups with jelly frogs in them (if I get around to making them lol)
* cordial (plus tea & coffee for the mums)

He can also have my Chocolate Fudge Cake so I’ll make that for the birthday cake. I prefer to keep things pretty simple all up. There’s nothing worse than spending hours making party food only to end up throwing a heap in the rubbish.

Today I have to make 2 birthday cakes. One for his family birthday tea tonight and one ready for the party on Monday. I’m planning on making a number 4 cake for tonight. The cake for the party is pretty simple (photo’s Monday night hopefully). I’ve bought a toy Lightning McQueen to go on it rather than attempt to actually make and ice a Lightning McQueen (like I said, I like simple ).

I don’t think it takes too much to put on a simple little kids party that can be lots of fun without being TOO much work. If I make things too complicated for myself I tend not to want to go through all of that again. LOL. This way, we all have fun and I don’t end up in a heap. Having it during the school day means I only have the 6 kids who are coming plus 5 mums (2 kids are siblings) and DS and myself to cater for.

Our family tradition is to have a kind of party tea on the day of each child’s birthday. Generally I let the kids choose what meal they’d like and so far they’ve always chosen a “party tea”. LOL. Just like their mother really - that’s what I used to ask my Grandmother to do when she would do a special birthday tea for my birthday. So naturally, I’m happy to oblige. No party pies this time though (I don’t have any at the moment!!!). But we will have “little boys” (cocktail sausages), fairy bread (an absolute must), cheese & bacon fingers (some people call them “toasties”), potato chips, salad platter and slices of watermelon. I’ve also bought some brandy snaps and cream as a bit of a treat. And of course, the birthday cake. I *might* make a few mini quiches if I get really energetic today while the oven is on - we’ll see.

I think I’d best go write myself a “what needs doing when” list. More details and photo’s will follow over the next couple of days.

My DS has been busy this week playing with items that I’ve bought in preparation for his 4th birthday party. The party is still about a month away and the items are just sitting in the box waiting. That might sound very organised to some but with shops so far away from us, I HAVE to be prepared ahead of time.

Watching him playing with this stuff has been quite interesting and thought provoking. We’re not talking mega exciting items here. A tablecloth, some party hats, loot bags, a box of tissues, a couple of bags of lollies (okay they are exciting)… He keeps getting them out of the box and looking at them, *knowing* that they’re for his party. *Knowing* that he has a party to look forward to.

Now he has started to create games using these items. Yesterday he got them all out and used them to build himself a “cubby” by lining them up next to each other in a circle around himself (amazing imagination and creativity that kids have). What really struck me though was the extra VALUE I was getting out of these items. Not only were they going to serve their purpose at his actual birthday party, but they’ve already provided hours of entertainment for him (I’m keeping my fingers crossed he doesn’t damage them in the meantime lol). It’s almost like getting “2 for the price of 1″. LOL.

I think that delayed gratification can work like that too. There is value in the “looking forward” to something that we miss out on when we purchase what we want straight away. We live in a “want it and want it right now” world and I think we’re missing out on something when we are like that. We miss out on the enjoyment of thinking, planning, saving and looking forward to an event or purchase. Those things ADD value to how we’re spending our money.

In contrast, to have it NOW we not only miss out on the added value, we also SUBTRACT value from the purchase. It’s not a lot of fun having to pay for something AFTER the event. So that begins to become a burden and SUBTRACTS value from our purchase. Add onto that any interest payments and the overall cost has risen - again reducing the value/fulfilment vs $$ spent equation.

I’m the kind of person that likes to get as much value for my $$ as possible. So I’m actually feeling quite chuffed that DS is getting so much value out of my small purchases. Each time he gets these things out to play with (which are still in their packets by the way), he’s actually increasing the value per $$ I’ve spent.

Now that we have our computer up and running again and a new memory card for the digital camera, I can share some more photo’s with you. I love looking at photo’s on other people’s blogs. I guess it makes them that much more personal doesn’t it.

Well, here you go. Now you get to see what I look like. This is me on my birthday with 2 of my children. The eldest is behind the camera. There’s no significance to the number of candles on the cake - I really am 33! Honest. DH just stuck a few candles on there so the kids could sing Happy Birthday. Funnily enough, DH did most of the singing as a solo as the younger two were more interested in watching DS taking photo’s. LOL. The youngest did enjoy helping me blow out the candles though.

This is my first attempt at card making (well, first in quite a long time anyway). Also my first attempt at quilling. The kids have all been fascinated by these sheep! I thought they looked very cute when I saw them in my folder (creative papercraft) and wanted to give them a try. I think this will become a Father’s Day card for my FIL. He really loves his sheep.

Hope you enjoyed those. Fingers crossed I’ll get around to posting a few more photo’s over the coming months. Have a great day!!!

Thank you for all your kind birthday wishes yesterday and for those who popped by to help my counter reach 1000 on my birthday. I had a LOT of fun throughout the day reading your messages and watching the counter gradually get closer to 1000 (and then surpass it!!!).

My day was truly wonderful. Everything I’ve always dreamed a birthday might be and more. It began with beautiful birthday wishes from my family. DH had decided to carry on a family tradition I began a few years ago and titled “mum’s crazy wrapping”. I was trying to cut back on the amount of rubbish surrounding birthdays and figured that the only reason fancy wrapping paper was so exciting was because we had created that tradition to be so. Now we use pillow cases, doona covers and tablecloths to wrap the larger gifts, often tied up with scrunchies or belts or sometimes just a knot in the fabric. The kids think it’s a hoot to see what “crazy” idea mum might come up with next. So DH bought a bucket load of treats for me and stuffed them all into this pillow case shaped to cover my triangle pillow. The kids and I had a great time pulling them out one by one, trying to guess what they might be with our hand stuffed in the pillow case. LOL. There were chocolates and chips and bottles of Lemon, Lime and Bitters. Plus my birthday cake - a packet mud cake that DH made up for me during the day (he’s quite a whizz with a packet cake!). And a packet mix of white chocolate and macadamia nut biscuits (my favourite) which he also whipped up during the day (mmmm…. nothing like fresh baked cookies for morning tea on your birthday).

I think my most unique gift came from my MIL. A container of imported cherries!!! I felt quite decadent nibbling on imported cherries on my birthday. And they were delicious too. I did get some money from my in laws and my DH as well so I get the fun of spending it as well as the gift.

I think for the first time this year I’ve really given myself permission to pamper myself on my birthday. I soaked in the tub for a while and even filled it high enough that I could put the spa jets on. The I gave myself a facial, manicure and pedicure. It was all truly decadent. Of course, the best bit was DH doing my cleaning jobs for the day while I was doing all that. Could a girl ask for any more? I am truly blessed by my DH. Honestly not sure that I truly deserve him.

We finished the day by going out to dinner with some wonderful friends. I’m not yet up to coping with large groups of people so it was really wonderful to have a quiet evening, just enjoying catching up. Of course, the time passed all too quickly as it often does when you’re out with friends.

Most of the day it rained and that didn’t bother me one bit. I’ve lost count of the number of birthdays I’ve had where the weather outside has reflected the way I’ve been feeling inside. Not this year! It could rain all it liked, inside the sun was definitely shining!!!

I know the next 12 months will have its ups and downs, like all years do. But I feel somehow stronger and more ready to face what is ahead. I feel so loved by my God, my family, my friends and…. myself!!! God is Good!

Well, today I’m a whole day older than I was when I woke up yesterday morning. But being the day the old counter ticks over a full year instead of a day, I’m kinda a whole year older as well. Well, not quite. I wasn’t born until 10 minutes to midnight (was almost a July 3rd baby) so the counter doesn’t *officially* click over until after I’m asleep. I refuse to wait until then to celebrate though.

I think this year is a significant one. I’m 33 and I’m finally glad to be me! I still have some ways to go with the counselling I’ve been doing but there have been some changes from within and I feel different. Good different. I feel like I’m glad to be here. Glad to be me. That I was meant to be born. That I was meant to be pink (that’s my inner child’s description for being a “girl”). I’m glad to be pink and I can celebrate my “pinkness”. This is a significant step for me.

I’ve been thinking about the term “old” as this birthday has been approaching. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a relative term. When I was 13 and all my friends turned 14 I thought 14 was “over the hill”. Now 14 seems very very young. I thought being in my 30s would make me feel old. But surprisingly it doesn’t. You have those odd moments when you feel a little stiff and sore (actually not so many of those now we have a new mattress) and *feel* old but generally speaking, I don’t feel any different (age wise that is) to how I felt last year or 5 years ago and even 10 years ago. So perhaps I’ll never actually *be* old. I’ll just be me. A little more experience under my belt. Hopefully a little more wisdom. But not *old*. I guess in time I’ll find out.

My mum is someone who has aged gracefully (and beautifully). I guess it helps that she’s never really *looked* her age (at least a decade younger most of the time). But she’s never seemed to have a problem with getting older. Those milestones people talk about dreading haven’t seemed to be a problem for her. In fact I remember her being most offended when she was given a “29 again” card for her 30th birthday. She didn’t have a problem with turning 30 so didn’t see the necessity for such a pretense. I found that curious at the time but maybe now I do “get it”.

So, I’m 33 years young and for the first time in my life I feel like I’m truly celebrating the fact that I was born. So in some ways it’s really my first true “birthday celebration”. Does that make it my *first* birthday? Or perhaps my first *happy* birthday.