Sammy's and Gabriel's combined Birthday Party

Sammy turned 3 on the 5th of September! Can't believe that 3 years ago, I was in labour and held my baby in my arms for the very first time! And now my not-so-little boy is going to start preschool in about a week's time! *sob*

Since we didn't have time to have a proper first birthday celebration for Gabriel, we decided to have a combined birthday party at our new place! Their birthdays are about 2 months apart.

It was such a lovely celebration. We only invited very close friends, such that Sammy knew the names of everybody there by heart. I didn't want a massive party because when kids are involved, the noise barometer goes through the roof. Even then, with about 11 kids and their parents, it was no walk in the park either. But it was fun madness though!

Hubby took the week off since we didn't have any major holiday this year and he still has quite a bit of outstanding leave. And since he was off, we managed to hold the party on Sammy's actual birthday itself (a Friday).

And hear this.

Hubby baked ALL the cakes that day! Seriously. He singlehandedly baked the chocolate fudge birthday cake as well as the lemon cupcakes with icing.

All I had to do was to give him the recipes (which I had previously tried and tested of course) and leave him to it! He followed the instructions down to the T and everything was perfect!

I must say that he did inherit his father's baking genes. My father-in-law was a trained confectioner before he enlisted into the navy in his younger days.

This party was also the first children's party which we had a craft activity. We had a "Safari" animal theme with decorations that we ordered online.

I debated about doing a craft but I think one year of going to an International English playgroup with weekly crafting has somewhat shifted my idea of what a children's party is supposed to be like. I used to be adverse to the idea of making something that most probably would end up in the trash anyways. BUT I realized that being a SAHM, it's nice to have some keepsakes to remember the days by.

My weekly routine is just that. Routine. A routine I like and enjoy though, don't get me wrong. But the one thing that separates one Monday from the next is the craft that I do together with my son and they get hung on the wall as a remembrance.

So that's how I came up with the idea of doing a lion mask with the kids. It was quite a hit with the kids, albeit a bit chaotic when all the kids tried to get their hands on the same glue / paper / scissors.... you get the idea.

Oh, we had GORGEOUS weather too! Our guests could sit on our balcony and we did craft on the balcony table. My mom-in-law mentioned that every year without fail, we would have lovely weather on Sammy's birthday. And it's true!

We had very rainy and gloomy weather the whole week (no kidding) and I did pray for good weather for the birthday but to be honest, I prayed with pessimisstic optimistism. So when the sun came out nice and strong AND warm on that Friday, I couldn't believe that God really answered my prayer! Amen!

Happy birthday my little man! We are so proud of you! May you continue to grow in love, wisdom and sweetness of spirit. We love you so much. 

(Reminder to self: to do a Dear Sammy update soon!)

 The sign that greeted our visitors. That's the mask that I did on my own.

Icing the "expanded" cupcakes

Our living / dining room

Our safari-theme decoration with mini confetti shaped as trees. Gabe was trying to eat those trees!

Sushi (Maki) that took me about 2 hours to make on the day itself. Everyone loved it! So it was worth the effort.

Got this idea from a friend. Lemon-infused water.

Hanging animal deco

More hanging animals. You can tell our dining table lamp is not there yet.

Goodie bags which we unfortunately forgot to give most of our guests!

Very simple and quick ham-and-cheese-pastry

Finally managed to use our balcony furniture again!

Our successful lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting

Our re-invented cupcakes that overflowed because yours truly filled too much batter into the cupcake tins!

Food glorious food!

Some of Sammy's closest friends - Missing you Coralie, Lucas and Ryan!

 Some of our lovely guests!

Love the faraway look in his eyes

A sign of days to come??? LOL!

Argh girls! Why can't they just leave me alone?

CRAFT time! Even Gabe wanted in on the action!

Helping Sam with his craft

Deep in concentration

Everyone hard at work

Sammy sticking the lion's mane

Typical moment in my life. Trying to help Sammy while carrying Gabriel.

Typical moment of a mom's life: Helping to finish her kid's craft

Trying to look cool for the camera. Repeat: "Trying"

The (only) chilled people at the party. Why? One has no kids yet and the others have an infant

The happy birthday boy

Can you believe Daddy baked this cake? It reads "SAM" and "GABE".

Best family portrait we could get before the cake was cut

 Unpacking their presents

That's Sammy's present from us - a balancing bike. He's sooo good at it (and I'm not bragging here), he got the hang of it on the day itself and after 3 days, Stephan and I wonder if we should have gotten him a proper bike instead!

We are the lions.....

....now hear us ROAR!!!!

The masks turned out not too bad right?

Sammy demostrating how to pump a water pump

Lovely friends made from our English playgroup, missing you Cassie and Allison!

What are we gonna do Mum, now that the party is over?

Aftermath of a party. It was sooo fun though!

Thanks so much all of you who came (and didn't manage to come) and showered us with such thoughtful gifts! We love and appreciate every single one of you! We had such a memorable party. It felt soooo good creating new memories in our new place! Here's to many more to come!