Em's party and the story behind the cake...

PREPARING FOR THE PARTY

When it comes to birthday parties, I prefer simple.  Very simple.  And I thought I was going that route with Emily's party this time...  well, as simple as I could here!

But without my own transportation and not really being able to get everything I needed all in one place, or even in one day, it was a little more than... well, simple.

I tried for a couple of weeks to find a place to hold a party, but the Chinese don't really celebrate children's birthday parties out in public places with the child's friends.  From what my Chinese friends have explained, the Chinese tradition is to gather a few family members and go out to eat at a nice restaurant and have cake.  Which sounds great and simple!  But definitely not what Emily had in mind. ;)

So, the few places I thought of were overpriced and the thought of carrying 6 boxes of pizzas, snacks, games, etc down to the park just didn't quite seem logical... or quite possible with only 2 arms.  (Since becoming a mom, I've always wished I was an octopus.)

And the thought of having over 10 kids inside my 2 bedroom apartment was a little... unsimple.

But it was the best and cheapest option.

So apartment party we did! 

It took me the entire week prior to gather all the things we needed.  The pink napkins at one place, plates (plain white plates because colored is not available) at another, called a friend to bring her plastic forks because I couldn't find them anywhere.  Drinks at Carrefour, ice cream at the closest market so it wouldn't melt, games here, prizes there.  This was a task, I tell you!

THE PARTY!

Since Party City isn't right around the corner and Oriental Trading doesn't ship this way, I honestly had to think a little harder on how to entertain Emily and all her friends.  Pinata...  haven't seen them, Pin the Tail on the Donkey...  nope. 

So I had to think...  what did I actually have?  I had M&Ms, Markers, Blocks, and Tape Measures.  So, I went with those!  We played "Can You Guess How Many?" with the M&Ms, "Decorate Your Own Balloon" with the markers, "The Biggest Smile Contest" with the Tape Measure, and the blocks were a big hit in between snacks and games.  I also found this cool artsy paper that is black and you can use a wooden pencil or wooden stick to "scratch off" the black and create a picture.  This was also a big hit!

I still wanted to do a version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", but wanted to spice it up a little, so we played "Pin the Pan on Flynn Rider" which I had seen on another blog...  but instead of ordering it, I had to hand-draw it.  This was a streeeeeetch for my artistic abilities!  But the kids loved it and a lot of them had never played "Pin the Tail on the Donkey".

Snackage

How Many M&Ms?

Decorate Your Own Balloon!

Foam Blocks

Barbie Table Cloth my mom brought when she came to visit

Goodie Bags

Pin The Pan on Flynn Rider

Megan and Emily writing their M&M guesses...

Spinning Emily

Way to go, Belle!

Biggest Smile Winners!

PRESENT TIME!

I was so impressed with the way the kids behaved during present time!  After each present, I called a child to go and get their present so they could hand it to Emily.  They all watched and "ooooed" and "awwwed". 

Nobody tried to open them for Emily.  They each gave her her own space.  And Emily never said, "I don't like this" or "I already have this!"....  which is always my biggest fear.

The kids loved present time and each child took a picture with Emily and the gift they gave her after she opened it.  This was a great way for me to keep up with who gave her what.

THE STORY BEHIND THE CAKE... AND WHERE'S THE ICE CREAM?

So, originally, Emily wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and M&Ms.  It's her favorite!  And we had a plastic Barbie that she kept from her cake last year to add as a topper.  I had the cake, icing, M&Ms, candles my mom had brought and the Barbie.  Emily was pleased and so was I!

Half-way into drawing Flynn, I checked my watch and made a mental note that I needed to get the cake out in 3 minutes.  15 minutes later.... I realized I had forgotten!  Yes, I burnt the cake!  And it's not like I can just whip up another one.

Deep breath...

Think...

What do I do...?

Luckily I had a Brownie Mix my sweet mom had also brought.  It was only half the size of the cake, but we needed something edible.  The Barbie topper wasn't going to fit on the brownies very well though and I definitely was going to be tight on space to write "Happy Birthday, Emily".

So, I decorated the cake anyways!  But we used the extra pink icing I had left over from the cookies so I could use the chocolate for the brownies.  I iced the cake with Cherry icing then had the bright idea to try to write, "Happy Birthday, Emily" with the chocolate icing.  Yes, I put it in a clean mustard bottle, put it in the microwave for just a few seconds and ta da...  I had an icing squeezer, right?  WRONG....  The chocolate squirted EVERYWHERE!  And Emily was beginning to crack...  So we got a knife and swirled it in with the cherry.  "Your friends will LOVE marble icing, Em!" 

Ahh...  so I was running low on options for writing, "Happy Birthday..."  So yes, I got heart sprinkles and spelled Happy Birthday, and then spelled Emily with M&Ms.  That definitely took an extra 45 minutes or so that I didn't plan for!

The one and only marble, swirl, sprinkle, m&m, barbie, birthday cake!

So... notice the random candles off to the side...  that's because that was the only decent place I could actually carve holes into the cake with a knife!  Haha...  The inside of the cake was actually edible, so I told the kids they could try it if they wanted and if they didn't like it, they could have the brownies.

After half the brownies had been served, I realized they weren't even done!  What a nightmare...

Nobody said anything and everyone was a good sport.  Some of the parents were able to laugh with me about the cake which lightened my mood a little!

Oh, and I forgot to hand out the ice cream...  AGAIN this year...

We have enough ice cream to last us at least the rest of the summer!

THE LESSON I LEARNED... AGAIN

No, it wasn't to remember the conveniences of America, or the comforts I took for granted before.

Nor to stretch me to think outside the box a little.

I think I've got these lessons down pretty well now...  and if I don't, I'm sure the Man Above will remind me again tomorrow. ;)

But the lesson I've learned consistently this year, and I learned again with this party... is to ASK FOR HELP when I need it.

I'm such a "do-it-myself" person.  I call it self-sufficient or independent.  Others may call it pride.  Whatever it is, I usually prefer not to ask for help.

I had several friends tell me way in advance to let them know if I needed help.  And of course,  it wasn't until an hour before the party that I was calling and texting multiple people to help me pull this thing together!

But the party was a great success, the kids had a blast, and Emily said, "This was the best party I've ever had!"

Happy Birthday, Emily!