birthday

Happy birthday to ANDREA, a cute baby girl who is turning two on December 1, 2007. The birthday bash is scheduled at 3:30 at Pines and Palms, Claytown area, Daro.

Hmmmmm.....what to give the girl? I think a book with large colorful photos? A colorful pictionary? I am sure the two-year-old will enjoy the huge colorful pictures.

it's your birthday and you're broke!

Why does it have to be on your birthday? When of all days, this is the day you'd want to make everyone happy---your friends and family. You want them to feel happy too because it is your birthday, but how? You're broke, so what are you going to do? Should it be an unhappy birthday to you?

No way. With a little ingenuity and a few bucks, you could get yourself one ball of a time! How? Here are some ways in which you can celebrate your birthday with little or no money:

1. Plan a program. Set up a small stage from old tables and other scraps you have around, and invite your neighbors to come and participate in the show featuring everybody. In this program everybody is going to be a star. Encourage everyone to show off their talents in singing, dancing, acting, whatever. Serve sandwiches and juices while this is going on.

2. Karaoke singing. Sing your hearts out the whole night. You may invite your neighbors who are into singing too.

3. Camping. For a change because it is your birthday, have your dinner outside under the star-lit skies with the music of the crickets as background.

There are other countless ways you can have a grand time with your family when you don't have a penny on your birthday. Have fun!

the Vegan Prince Marks b'day

Today, the Vegan Prince celebrates another year with his family and friends. The occasion will be held at Ang Boulevard in a private room where the night will be spent partly eating and mostly singing, singing, singing! Happy,happy birthday to you, Mark! Go, get it!

Happy B'day, Psyche49f of Mylot

Today, an active Mylotter celebrates her birthday we greet her a very, very happy birthday! More, more fruitful years for Psyche49f or Chichi in real life. Cheers!

(NOTE: Something is wrong with blogger.com system. My latest updates are found somewhere after this blog. I've done other updates after this and they are all found after this blog which is still dated July 23. My latest blog, "kid cries at b'day party" is sent in August 4 but the date that came out is July 23. In fact the latest blogs are all dated July 23. I hope blogger.com fixes this problem)

Happy, happy birthday to DAN EMMANUEL or MANNU who will be celebrating his 1st birthday on July 30, 2007 at Nerisse Bakeshop, Dumaguete City.

on renting clowns

Based on observation, there are different types of clowns that you can hire to liven up your kid's birthday party. However, some fastfoods that cater to such needs will provide mascots for free provided you choose a certain range or offer. Anyway, should you choose to prepare the food, you can always hire the services of clowns. In our locality I have noticed two groups of clowns which give different types of services. The first group have clowns who do everything---hosting and entertaining the kids with magic and games. There are two clowns in this first group, one of the clowns does the hosting and leads in the overall flow of events while the second one acts as assistant. Both are females. The second team also has two male clowns whose task is only to entertain the kids with dancing, magic, and games. Another person, who acts as the overall leader, does the hosting. In other words, the clowns are only there to clown around. No one hears a single word from them but they dance, bounce, do tricks and the like.

We compared the two groups and personally preferred the latter. Clowns are more credible when they stick to clowning but if they also function as host, it sort of diminishes their credibility and takes out much of the fun.

What's in the loot?

Middle of this month we plan to start buying kids' stuff to fill the loot bags. My granddaughter's birthday is on the first week of August and it is going to be a very simple one in school with her classmates.

So basically what we need are kids' snacks, maybe birthday hats, balloons, a layer of cake, and loot bags.

Since we only intend to have the food catered, the only thing that we need to worry will be what to put in the loot. I have considered stuffing the bags with the following: tablet candies (they love this), some chippies, small toys, pencil, crayons, stickers. I know that I should have a toy or two in there because kids go crazy over these things. But of course I need to choose those that are inexpensive in order to fit our budget.

Any suggestions are welcome.

fantasy debut

How about fantasizing a debut that you will never have because it could cost your family millions? What sort of debut party would need five million bucks? Let us imagine having 18 of everything. Since you are turning 18, let us see what 18 things you can have to make it as the world's most expensive debut?

18 roses, 18 girls and 18 boys to dance the cotillion, 18 "lechons" or roasted pigs, an18 -layered cake, 18 gown changes, 18 candles, 18,000 balloons, 18 gunfires, 18 local and foreign guest celebrities, 18 diamonds on your tiarra, 18 caterers, 18 courses of dish, 18 escorts, 18 long tables laden with food, 18 different kinds of wine,18 bands, and 18 cars to be given away as door prizes.

Any other fantastic suggestions are most welcome.

invitations

Today, invitations for a birthday party, wedding, debut, or anniversary can be easily made from a variety of choices with regards to the type of paper to be used, graphics, lay-out and design. With the computer, anything is possible. You can make your invitations personalized by having a photo of yourself on the card. However, a simple party may only need simple invitation cards that are available in stores selling school supplies. You may even get them free if you hold the party at Jollibee (for kids' party).

However, a well-thought of and well-written invitation always earns the admiration of people. Invitations with no more than the 5 w's and the h will not be as valuable as an invitation that contains a well-written note from the parents asking guests to be present.

party games

Games could do or undo a kid's party.

Some games may not fit the venue or place or some games may only limit participation because of the number of players required. A good game is one that involves everybody or the most number of players possible. However, it is difficult to find games that will elicit a hundred percent participation from the kids.

First, how many games do you need to prepare for the entire birthday party celebration? Prepare as many games as you can. Kids love games and make sure that you have prizes for all the games. What are the usual games played during parties? Most common is the "hitting the jackpot" game wherein kids will have the chance to hit the pot and win a prize. I suggest that you have two or three pots so all the kids will get to be blindfolded and have the chance to win the jackpot. Then we have what we call "pabitin" wherein goods and goodies are attached to a squarish object which, when lowered, will allow the children to grab for the goodies.

Balloon popping relay is also fun but smaller kids might not be able to do this. Then the usual games like "Trip to Jerusalem" is still widely used. Others are egg relay, newpaper dance, statue dance, the longest line, water relay, and treasure hunting. My favorite is tug-of-war where the two teams will have to be provided with ropes.

The host or MC should facilitate the playing of the games and should see to it that all the kids are having a good time.

why not a pool party for kids?

Pool party for kids? Sounds like fun until something happens which could spoil the whole birthday party of your kid.

This was what happened to a friend's kid birthday party which she decided to hold at a pool. Everybody was excited about it. Visitors should come prepared to take the plunge into the pool. Everything went well at first, the food was terrific, the place was incredible, everybody seemed to be having fun, until games were started.

One of the games was for the kids to race for the ball thrown into the pool. The kid that got the ball first won an awesome prize. Naturally all the kids wanted to swim for the prized ball.

When the ball was tossed and the kids heard the word "go", they all swam as fast as they could towards the ball which was in the middle of the pool. The middle part of the pool happens to be the deepest part. One kid was having difficulty swimming. A mother noticed this boy bubbling up and down in the middle of the water, gasping , hands flailing like he was asking for help.

It was a good thing that one parent saw this incident. Otherwise, the boy could have drowned and nobody would have noticed because there were just too many kids swimming in the pool.

I'd never suggest a kid's birthday to be held at the pool. It's just too dangerous and rowdy.

a trip to Never,Neverland

A trip to Never, Neverland was the theme we decided to have during my grand's 4th birthday. In the invitation we encouraged everyone (including the adults) to come dressed in any of Peter Pan's characters. It was fun. We dressed Dewey like a fairy, many came wearing pirates' costumes, a few wore Peter Pan's dress but most girls came as Tinker Bell. The party started with a fast dance number by the two clowns who also served as major entertainers that evening. For give-aways, we decided to buy colorful and assorted animal rubber toys around which we tied a string with the celebrant's name and date of birth. We chose baby pink and lime green as our color motif so the balloons that decked the place came in pink and green. Earlier, we decided to spread confetti of color motif on the floor and this helped create a fun atmosphere where you see guests happily interacting with each other as the party progressed.

That was last year and Dewey will be turning 5 very soon. We are thinking of a different theme this time and photos of the next event will surely be shared here.

planning is the key

The success of any event lies in the planning which should happen months before the big day. If it is a wedding or debut, many months of planning is needed for a smooth and successful celebration. Those who can afford it might opt to hire a planner or organizer or coordinator to do all the worrying. But this may prove to be a lot more expensive than if you do the planning yourself with the help of your family and friends. A list of the things you need to consider months before and involving willing relatives might be of help. First, the date. If it is a church wedding you need to coordinate with your parish or pastor about the date to avoid conflicts. You don't want to share the limelight with another couple. If it is a birthday, such a debut, the date of the celebration is also important. Certain engagements and schedules might run in conflict with the actual birth date of the debutante so much so that an adjustment will have to be made on the date of the celebration. I would like to point out a certain dilemma which happened to one debutante whose birthday happens to fall on a day before a final examination that she and her friends and classmates will have to take and pass. She could not sacrifice her whole future for one single birthday. However, she wanted to celebrate her debut so much that she had to make a decision, and that was, to move her party 3 days after her final exams. By doing so, she was assured of the full attendance of her classmates and best friends on this very special day of her life. How did the party go? I was the host so I should know. I will talk about it in my next entry.