Halloween Post... again!

Yesterday we all went to the dumplingdaddy's workplace for their Trick or Treat Party. This will be Adam's fourth time joining the party. So far he's been a cowboy, a (lame) vampire, and a surgeon (photos here).

Last year, we dressed him up as an Iphone.

We won first place for that costume. It was a fun project to make. What made it fun is that 90% of the work for this costume was done by my husband, hehehe. Who knew he could be crafty, huh? Adam also had a lot of fun. During this time he was soooo addicted to his dad's iphone so he was pretty game in putting his costume on.

Thelittledumpling also came in as The Cat in the Hat last year, for his school's Trick or Treat Party.

This time the costume was made by me. I didn't have a sewing machine back then, so I just DIY'd the hat using some paper felt, cartolina, and lots of glue. The oversized bowtie is made of felt and is worn around the neck with a little elastic strap. As you can see, we used the same black top and bottom for both costumes. That's value for your money. hehehe.

This year will be the first time that we're going to the Trick or Treat party with two kids in tow. This is also my first Halloween with Simang (who by the way, is churning up pretty snazzy products these days I will soon christen her metamorphosis to "Samantha"). I wanted matching outfits. I knew I don't want them to come out as the usual princess/prince combo. All my thoughts always come back to this picture I saw last year, during my last trimester with the little riceball...

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So I went with it. Thelittledumpling already had a chef costume from his culinary class in school. All that needed to be done is to make the lobster outfit. So I made this.

Sometimes it still amazes me how cute and how tiny baby clothes are. All this I made from 1 yard of knit fabric! The tights and top can still be worn as separates long after Trick or Treat is done. I didn't want to slave over making these clothes and just make her wear it one time!

Adam went with this costume

Top and bottom from his culinary class uniform. Chef hat made by me.

Together, thelittledumpling and his littlericeball sidekick won first place (again). Woot!

Now, what costume would they be wearing next year?

My week on Instagram

 A little look at the life of this littledumplingmomma. Follow me on instagram @goldego

Dressmaking 101. haha! I am feeling pretty confident with my sewing skills now. I made this sweatshirt from knit red fabric using this tutorial from Shwin&Shwin as a guide and my rad "winging it" dressmaking skills. haha! This is the little riceball's top for next week's trick or treat. And I didn't go with the neutral buttons. Although I'm regretting it now.

Trick or Treat! This was taken before the schoolbus picked us up for the Trick or Treat Party in thelittledumpling's school.

 I was lucky to have some grownup girl bonding time on Tuesday afternoon. Met up with friends and a client. Party planning and art attack mode is totally on. This party will be Disney's "Up"-themed 18th birthday. I can't wait to sink my teeth into this party.

Trying on thelittlericeball's costume. This is also a part of the red sweatshirt I made earlier in the week. I guess now everybody knows what she'll be on Halloween!

 Best birthday gift ever! My little dumpling counting (and writing) from 100 to 1. Seriously? The boxes are too small for him to write the numbers down but he does his best even without the blue-red-blue lines. This little guy amazes me. It's like his penmanship can't keep up with his rad counting skills. So cute!

Gratitude Post

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I am not particularly comfortable about this particular day of the year.
If you're asking what today is,
It's my birthday.
Whoop!
For years I have been traipsing around
this particular day of the year.
Never really liked birthday presents
or parties,
or greetings for that matter.
For years I have been like that.
I would say it's been 11 years if I have been keeping count.
And, yeah, I kinda am.
Best friend confession..
I lost my brother 5 days after today 11 years ago.
It was supposed to be a big birthday party
during this particular day of the year 11 years ago,
with the band, the tiered cake, the princess gown,
a "man-in-waiting" (cheesy, I know)
18 candles and 18 roses,
all that jazz.
And then he got sick,
And he never got better.
And I just  couldn't go by this particular day
without crying,
without missing him,
without grieving.
And so today,
being today is that particular day of the year,
I am sad..
I am missing him.
I am grieving.
The tears are here, brewing behind these eyes.
But my heart, my spirit is happy.
I have a husband who spent last night scouring the internet for recipes
so he can cook something nice for me.
I have a son who greeted me and danced for me
and he kissed me and hugged me,
and he stringed three words together on this particular day of the year
"Happy Birthday Mommy."
For my little one word wonder,
three words is a feat.
It is a rarity.
That is a cause for celebration on its own!
He also counted backwards from 100 to 1.
Are you kidding me?
Finally.
Finally, for the first time in a long time,
I am happy. On my birthday.
I am sad. But I don't feel guilty that I am happy as well.
Does that make sense?
There are days in this earth when you feel like
nothing makes sense.
Everythings a big ball of b.s.
Fate has pummeled you to a pulp
that there's no way you can come back up.
And then the storm passes
and you see clearly.
You see the bigger picture.
You understand why this happened.
And you begin to find peace.
I am happy. On my birthday.
I am sad, too.
I will always miss him.
Always.
But I am happy too.
And more than anything,
I am grateful.

Trick or Treat

 Since being a mom, Halloween is slowly becoming one of my favorite holidays. I am enjoying this part where my kids are not old enough to tell me what costumes they want, hahaha! This week, the littledumpling and his littlericeball sidekick went trick or treating as the wildlife expert and his zebra.




This is the Alpha's first halloween. It is also the first time we made coordinating costumes. The pink zebra suit was a gifted by my brother. I dressed Adam in khakis and made him a vest so he could be the wildlife expert. I used toilet paper rolls to make his binoculars.

I found it funny that Alpha got scared of this puppy? sheep more than the ghostly black lady!

 Everything was going smoothly. He was game on walking,

accepted his treats,

 he even smiled for pictures! No meltdowns? Are you kidding me? 

I was ready for my happy dance, when at the last stop, we were greeted by 

THIS

 A pool in sight and he's not allowed to swim? I was waiting for a grand tantrum, waiting for other parents to roll their eyes and sweep their kiddos away from me like the plague.

I can see the beginnings of his meltdown simmering in his face. Here's a picture (Yeah, I did take a picture first before doing anything about it. Mom of the Year material I am not), 

 And that was the end of it. It just simmered and then it was gone. Guess my little man's growing up. Guess I got lucky. Whatever it is, I am glad. 

Happy Trick or Treating!

Adam's Despicable Birthday Party

Adam celebrated his 5th birthday barely 2 weeks after Alpha's Lemonade Party. We weren't planning on throwing a party for him. All we had in mind was a simple dinner with family. But that got chucked out the window pretty fast. With Adam being Adam, we don't get a lot of party invitations or play dates. He's a really sweet guy, and deep down he is like any other boy who likes boy stuff, like blowing birthday cakes, pinatas, and some spaghetti and ice cream. Parties are usually tricky to pull off, since he might end up being overstimulated and not enjoy it at all. So we decided on a small party in school, pretty low key, and we built the theme around something he really really likes.  The little dumpling loves the banana song, he sings it to himself all the time, and would sometimes ask me to mock-punch him during the final BANANAAAA part so he could throw himself over a pile of pillows. There even was a time when he sang the banana song in his sleep. So I locked down on a Minion-themed party. (Okay, he likes dinosaurs too, and numbers, but I was looking forward to dressing my kiddos down as Gru and Agnes, so we, and by "we" I mean "I" decided on a minion party).

Minion Hats

Cookie robots

  These aren't cookie robots like the ones I saw here but they'll do!

Minion Tools

 This is probably the only thing I bought (other than the food) for the party. They are actually pencils with erasers shaped like carpentry tools. I bought them from Divisoria for 100php/dozen. Not bad at all.

Gru

Agnes

Gru's scarf and Agnes' tutu were the only two things I made. The rest of their outfit were already in their closets. Please ignore the loose strands of thread. I did say I only had 10 days to prepare, right? :D

Minion Cake

I don't bake! So I bought this cake, really cheapo. Another benefit of sidelining as a party coordinator. This was a hit! The little dumpling didn't let anyone touch the cake for 2 days! All he'd let us have is the blue icing around the edges. I guess he liked it, huh!

Minion Pinata

This is a really bad Iphone pic taken during nighttime. I followed this tutorial. It's not as pretty, but it'll do!

There were a lot of grinning, happy minions.

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Gru ate his food all on his own. No help. No leftovers. No flailing arms and sprints around the room in between bites. He just ate like a real boy. :D

 We suck at family pictures. 

We sang birthday songs...

 ... gave presents...

 

 .. took more pictures

... and ate some more! The party was a success! What I love about this party is that I didn't have to clean up afterwards! Yipee! The kids were a riot. Adam was happy. It's one of those rare days when we just felt like we kicked Autism's butt. Everybody couldn't help smiling. Seriously, those kids are really really sweet. They are the best. I love how they couldn't care less if Adam is different. No eye-rolling, no pitiful glances, Not even the look of contained aversion. I am glad that my dumpling is surrounded by these little bright lights.

Thank you for coming to my Despicable Birthday Party!

Alpha's Sunny Lemonade Party

This happened ages ago (okay, a few months). We finally had our little riceball baptized. I can't tell you how much I love parties. I LOooooooove parties. Never liked spending for it though. haha. When you have your first baby, it's soooo easy to rationalize spending excessively. That's what I did with Adam. But now that we have Alpha, and Adam is already in school... Even if we want to throw big parties like we used to with Adam, we just can't justify splurging so much.  It sucks being kid#2. :(  I still wanted to give her a kickass party tho. To keep everything within our budget, I DIY'd a lot of things and extracted every ounce of creative juice inside my body. I think it turned out pretty nicely.

We didn't spend double digits to make this party happen. We totally got a great deal when we got the venue booked (Under 5k with tables and chairs + linens + chafing dishes + plates etc. + free coffee, water, and ice! How can you beat that?).  We found a secret pocket in Marikina (Marikina Heights, near SSAM) that has a beautiful garden set up. It is a retreat house for a Christian Group (I couldn't remember what group for the life of me.). They rent the place out to raise funds for their scholars. The place itself has a beautiful, serene vibe. I started brainstorming about what could be a good theme that would match their beautiful gardens. I figured a morning brunch is appropriate. Breakfast fare would not only be cheaper, it would be easier to prepare as well! And since this would be the beginning of Alpha's life as a Christian, why not do the event at the beginning of the day? My theme was revolving around the color schemes yellow+white, and so I thought of doing a sunny lemonade party. I googled for some inspiration, and used pinterest to pin some of my favorite ideas.  Here are photos and details of our reception. And here's the link to my pinterest inspiration board.

THE CANDY BAR

It doubles as "Thank You" souvenirs. My brother-in-law flew in from the States and he gifted us with extra candies that we added to our other Divi candy finds. Guests can put their candies in paper bags and close it off with a simple paper clip tied with yellow ribbons. We placed our candies in upcycled jars decorated with the cheapest lace I could find (4php per yard) and more ribbons. The signature frame is a gift from one of my good friends Mindy of Theme Park Inc.. She also helped in dressing up the place and generously loaned party linens and decors from her stash. Thanks Mindy!

WISHES FOR ALPHA

Totally knocked this idea off Pinterest. To save money, I did the layout using Photoshop. It's not as scary as I thought it would be! And it turned out pretty cute I think. Guests can hang their "wishes" to a "wishing tree". It's actually a bunch of branches on a vase. Those branches were literally plucked from the sidewalk by my friend Mindy. I bought the cheapest cardstock and had them printed at UP Arcade to save even more money. Total cost: 240 pesos!

THE BACKDROP

ALPHA letters made by Mindy. Curtains are plain white sheer curtains from Mindy's house. :D We hung them from a low branch, added pinwheels (another pinterest idea), and voila! Instant focal point.

THE CENTERPIECE

I decorated wine bottles with more lace and ribbon, then added tissue paper flowers in pink, yellow, and white! Tutorial for paper flowers here. Making all those flowers were time consuming, but it really added a lot of charm to the whole setup.

THE BUFFET

 We served no fuss breakfast buffet during the reception. I didn't want to be a kitchen slave so everything on the menu was easy, one-step meals. Bacon, hotdogs, longganisa Alaminos, tapa, and tocino. I saved a ton of money by not buying in groceries but in Marikina Market. Lemonade (of course) was served as refreshments. We also had lemon cucumber water available. The venue brewed some kapeng barako as well. I couldn't find photos for the life of me! All in all, food costs did not exceed 2,000pesos. Crazy, huh!

ROSETTE CAKE AND ROSETTE CUPCAKES

Rosette cupcakes were gifted by a generous ninang. I forgot how much the rosette cake costs, but it is definitely not more than 1,000pesos. It's lemon sponge cake with lemon curd. Yum.

THE DRESS

I saved a lot of money by making Alpha's baptismal dress. I knew I couldn't afford buying her one that isn't tacky and cheap. I conquered most of my sewing fears by making this dress. I could have done a lot of things better, but all in all I am happy with the outcome. I also made a matching diaper cover and bonnet. You could say our little riceball was all wrapped up in her mother's love. 

So that's Alpha's Lemonade Party. I didn't have a ginormous budget to begin with, but I poured in a lot of love in making her little party. I am also lucky to have super talented friends. They're crazy talented and super nice, sometimes I wonder why they're even friends with good 'ol me! 

What? You want more pictures?

Adam's wish for  Alpha. He said these were hearts, and then he "checked" his paper afterwards, hence the horizantal lines. haha. 

I look sooo weird in this photo but Mindy is so cute in it I just had to post. thanks MIndy!

Thank you for coming to my party!