Oh My Gosh - My Baby is 5! (or Poppy's Birthday Party)

You might remember about me posting about how to not plan an awesome party? This was that party.  Thankfully it turned out well!

Poppy turned 5 earlier this month. 5. Gosh.

This year we went for something different. We chose to hold the party at home. We love having outdoor parties but because we weren't sure how the haze situation was going to be like, plus we'd recently been sabotaged by the weather for Calla's birthday party (which reminds me, it's not been blogged about yet. Ahem), we opted for a home-based party.

And that kinda freaked me out just a tad bit. Because we don't exactly live in a mansion. We have no backyard, no garden, no one area that screams "Hold the party HERE!". We live in a small 3-room flat that measures 88 sqm. Which is tiny for 7 kids plus their parents. So I took a deep breath and told the parents to drop their kids off and keep out for 2 hours.

Sought permission from all parents that kids would 1) be watching a movie 2) be given ice cream and 3) possibly brought downstairs for games if weather and timing permitted (we never made it downstairs in the end)

So it was (deep breath) me versus 7 kids for 2 hours. In all honesty, it was managable. Because they're 5. And because I assigned Max to take care of Calla.

Some "before party" shots:

I've never had any luck with hanging balloons so I figured why not secure them to crepe paper, and stick the crepe paper to the ceiling? I think they turned out rather well!

Ready for action! Truthfully the hardest part was to prevent the baby from moving stuff around. We brought the TV into her room and turned the bottom bunk of her bed into Media Central. With the curtains drawn and a cup of popcorn, voila, home-made movie theatre!

We didn't want to spend on themed cups so we used whatever plastic cups we had and decorated them with sticker dots and washi tape

 
So, the party!

The night before, I made little personalised tickets for the kids. Nothing fancy, just colourful tickets from recycled paint chips, and made little cuts (like perforation) so that Poppy (the ticket warden) could tear the tickets. Before the party she helped me label the seat numbers and she was able to then tell each child where he/she was to be seated.

It's so funny how she just plonked herself down on her seat and they all just crowded around her

It started with a bit of chaos but hey, that's a great start to any party!

We kicked off with a short story telling session. I planned that at the start because 1) that allowed me to manage the time, allowing for latecomers to arrive, while I told the story and 2) it was a good introduction to the movie we were going to watch.

Turned out that most folks arrived around the same time and the kids got really excited watching the 1970s version of Charlotte's Web. Thankfully none of them had seen it before.

This picture is slightly misleading. They kids switched between being screamers and shushers. But Poppy was pretty much consistent in her noise level (high)

And then there was silence. For approximately 2 1/2 minutes.

Waitress Mama was kept busy with orders of "More popcorn, please!"

And this was when I snuck out to start on the kids' dinner preparation (hidden veggie pasta with meatballs). Check out a little baldie in the front row. Did she care that it was nap time? Pffft. No.

Because we started the party late, I had to cut short on game time. But don't worry, the kids didn't know that.

We incorporated the existing things in Poppy's room. The blackboard for instance - I used it to remind myself of the itinerary

We started off with a round of Bingo. Actually alot of time was spent explaining how to play it!


Balloon Race!
Remember the balloons hanging from the ceiling? I asked the kids to each choose one. Little did they know that they were actually helping me to clean up. Mua ha ha.

One of the balloons had decided to deflate and it was a sorry sight among the others. I thought the kids would all avoid it but strangely though, they all wanted to have it. Kids are funny that way.


So I made them get from Point A to Point B with balloons between their knees, between their elbows, jumping, waddling, with a partner (front to front, back to back). You get the idea. Everyone squealed. Nobody complained that it was lame or boring or that they didn't get prizes (actually I did prepare prizes but I forgot to give them out). If I were to sum the balloon race segment in a word, I'd have to say it was pretty intense.

Actually most of the balloon race pictures were blurred :)

Twister. 
I think I've never owned a set of this game but remember seeing the adverts on TV. This was a last minute addition to the party and we set it up two hours before. Turned out to be an excellent addition.

I cut the circles and Poppy helped me paste them with double sided tape. Then we put the playmat over to cover them so that our little guests wouldn't suspect anything. Well and also to prevent Calla from peeling them off (which she did when she managed to sneak into the room). 

Quality check in progress

The group was not big, but too big for everyone to play at the same time. So I divided them into two groups. The girls played first, then the boys. Everyone enjoyed it but the boys were really into it. And while the boys played, the girls kinda cheered them on. That was cute :)




And you know what? Most of the party time was spent in Poppy's room :) There was a ringing in my ears for the next 24 hours but the kids had a great time so I think I did pretty ok.

The cake. Mmmm. Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe (do not click on the link if you are on a diet) answered my cry of help a few days before the party, and made Poppy's cake for half what I would have probably paid at any random cake shop. Thank you Diana for making sure my daughter had an edible and incredibly yummy cake! 

I simply dotted it with M&Ms which really made me Mum of the Moment.

"Show me how old you are!" Well um, some count better than others. Poppy was really enthusiastic

Everyone had ice cream topped with chocolate rice and sprinkles, served by the birthday girl

After the party, I asked what Poppy had enjoyed the most. I was really surprised that she said she enjoyed distributing the movie tickets :) I'm glad she enjoyed it. Once again, I'm thankful for another year and another low budget party. Being broke rocks!

Or actually, it doesn't :(

These were Poppy's past birthday parties!
Poppy turned 4 at the Road Safety Park
Poppy turned 3 at East Coast Beach





Disclaimer: Haha. Of course this post wasn't sponsored by anyone.