Party or no party... that is the question. Or is it?

I drafted this post last week.... and couldn't get another photo in! Does anyone know why??? So this post is a little out-dated. Sorry.....

I did some layouts for the HMITM challenge #4 - Stickers and the Aussie Dares - How Dare You Challenge #1.

FACETS OF ME - I had exactly 50 stickers ..... and struggled so hard to get there. It is not very visible, but I actually sanded all the white parts of the photo. Probably a good idea to do it on a dark background rather than a white...DUH!!!!

This is for the Aussie Dares - How Dare You challenge. Title is - How Dare You get lashes like that. I always tell everyone when they comment about my son's lashes... that he was born a 31-week premmie. And he did not have ANY eyelashes. Seriously, not one lash. Then they just grew with a vengeance. I posted this layout on another website too... one girl actually commented that the swishes I cut out from the Urban Lily papers, actually resemble lashes! I'm like... "Oh, yeah... it didn't even occur to me!".

If you are wondering what he was doing when I shot this photo, he was watching Cars (the new animation movie) on the computer. He LOVES cars. In fact, trains, motorbikes, buses, trucks, .... any automobile. He is always kept entertained in car journeys.... just by looking out of the window. Lately, when we drive in the evening, he will look for the moon, and follows it. If we turn a corner and he "loses" the moon, he starts questioning, "Where's the moon, Mummy?" When it's a cloudy day and he can't see the moon, he will stalk the clouds. What simple pleasures .....

We celebrated our kids' birthday last Saturday. I attempted to bake my own cakes rather than spending nearly a hundred dollars on them (if not more). This is how they turned out.

One for Ellen, one for Phaedon. I am cheap. The most expensive ingredients are the strawberries. I bought a 1kg White Mud Cake mix from Susie Q, a specialised cake decorating place for $5.25, and that made the 2 cakes. Other ingredients - eggs, water, vegetable oil and white chocolate melts. Iced them with chocolate ganache, and decorated with strawberries! Voila!

Method? COMPLETELY idiot-proof. They couldn't have made this any easier.

You know, I'm never a big fan of big birthday parties for children. My children are just as excited with just candles on a cake, a Happy Birthday song, hip hip hurrays, candles-blowing, and they are off to play. Anything else.... it's for the parents. Remember the Mastercard TV commercial? The kid playing with the box that her toy came in - priceless? It's the same analogy. The bottom line is, the kids will have as much fun having a HUGE and ELABORATE party as they would having a small one. They just want the cake and some presents. If they start complaining about a small party and few presents, you need to start asking what you have taught this kid.