raya's 5th birthday

it was raya's 5th birthday last week and we celebrated it just the way she wanted it. yup, she now makes her own decision on some matters. she celebrated it at school with her classmates. served them "speti "(spaghetti) and chicken and juice. i baked chocolate cake with sprinkles, also a request from her and she helped make the "pik" (pink) cupcakes. she also prefers to wear her new white pants, despite that it's still a bit big for her, and a long sleeves shirt. she prefers this outfit over a dress "cos dresses are boring!"

after her class, they had games.. and yes, games that she prefers such as the luksong tinik (which she recently learned from class), musical chairs (a.k.a trip to jerusalem), and the longest happy birthday rayaaaaa... game. she gave away cereals and chocolate as giveaways. plus each one got to take home a prize from joining the games.

in the afternoon, we let her play in the "playground" with her sister. she loves it. especially playing with the ipad (uh-oh!), had dinner and ice cream and cap off the night by playing at timezone.

it was a simple celebration and yet, my daughter had fun. she keeps on saying so. after all, we let her decide what she want to do on her birthday :)

i'm glad we made raya's 'wishes' come true. i'm also happy that God made it possible and really did provide despite our tight budget for this month. we didn't have a gift for her either. actually, we don't know what to give her. the kids received lots of clothes and toys over the holidays. we're so blessed. raya actually didn't mind. she asked once why we don't have a gift and we explained to her that she's got lot of stuff already and that spending time with her is enough. i reminded raya to say "thank you" if some of her classmates will give her a gift, if there's none, then it is ok. what's important is that they greeted her and that they had fun on her birthday celebration. she said "ok". i hope she will some day really understand and be grateful for what she have.

i love planning and arranging anything for my kids especially parties of course. plus buying gifts and prizes. having a tight budget is not a problem. in fact, it has helped me maximize what is already available :) like the ingredients for the cake and cupcakes; the cereals and chocolate which we got for free. it has made me think  and be creative. sure i want affordable prizes, but i want the kids to enjoy them and really use it. i'm glad cos after the class, some of the kids played with their prizes right away and i saw them had fun with it.

simple joys... for me and for the birthday girl.