"I can get on the top bunk now!"

And that's the first thing he did that morning.

Or at least, tried to do before the sleepy occupant of the top bunk - viz., the older sister - unceremoniously burst his birthday balloon by belting out some impromptu rules:
You still have to get my permission.
And you can't be here when I am not home.
And you can't be in my bed when I am sleeping.
And you can't sit here with bare feet or bare bottom.
And you can't...

"MAMA! Ana is shouting at me! It is my birthday today! I am six and you said I can go on the top bunk when I am six! Ana is not letting me!"

Thus started the beautiful day of the younger kid turning six.

No more looking longingly at the top bunk and exercising immense self-control to stop himself from climbing up there, respecting the house rule that only 6 and older can go up. A rule that Papa and I made up to not have to arbiter every single day. A rule that made it seem like 2 years was an eternity. A rule, in short, that was the most difficult for the then 4 year old to understand when we laid it out for him.

A few weeks before his birthday, putting on my cool-and-casual persona, I asked, "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?" hoping for a simple answer, nothing too complicated to make.

The answer could not have been simpler: "I just want a large carrot, Mama. No cake. Only carrot for my birthday. Okay?"

"Oh-Kay!"

And out of nowhere came the distressed voice of the 8 year old, "But Og, your birthday is not just for you. We only get to make cake at home on birthdays. So, you should choose a cake. Because I want to have cake on your birthday!"

Prehistoric life being the current area of interest for the kiddo, the cake had to be something extinct. No terrestrial or avian dinosaurs. So a marine animal it was.

And thus was born the Stethacanthus cake - a smallish, modest carrot cake cut in the shape of this prehistoric shark.

Why the unremarkable Stethacanthus and not his favorite Liopleurodon or Thalassomodon or Carcharadon Megalodon or even the notorious Mosasaurus?

Because my skills and time and patience are limited. And because Stethacanthus males had this distinctive growth on their backs that is easy to mimic in a simple cake.

Anyway, he did get the carrot with 6 candles on it to blow out. That was his birthday treat. The carrot cake satisfied his sister's cravings. And his.

He had the usual simple yet beautiful celebration at school. And he presented two books to his class, to add to the class library.

And his sister sewed him a heat pad, a pillow case, as well as a wonderfully cozy robe as his birthday presents. She picked out the fabrics with me. Not surprisingly, the pillowcase and heat pad fabric featured angry birds. But the robe is a classic plaid. [Pictures and Sewing post to follow.]

Eight is nice...

Not quite a "big kid" and yet not quite a "little kid" either. A nice place to be for a year.

It was a quiet celebration at home. The newly minted eight year old got to decorate a dozen cupcakes to her heart's content. All I did was fill the pastry bags with a quick-and-simple butter cream frosting, each with different tips.

My two favorite cupcakes of the 12 that she decorated embodied simple elegance for me.

She also made some cake pops to share with her friends. She had a blast decorating them.

Some cake pops even got happy nicknames - like, The Bearded Chicken, The Weird-Eyed Rooster, The Orange Cream Mustache Man, The All White Lady, The Purpley-Blue Swirly...

It was a sunny Spring day... she got to ride her bike, present a puppet show at home, build a huge fort indoors, and just enjoy the day. No pressures, no fanfare. Just Simplicity.

Five Times Around The Sun

Ocean critters being the current fascination with the kiddo, it seemed like a natural "theme" for celebrating his fifth. Since I don't do theme parties (I am too lazy for them, they are too confining for me), I try to make something for him that relates to his interest each year.

That's how the Mola Mola swam into my head and refused to go away. Should I make a book about it? Should I make a game or activity around it? And then it struck me.

Ocean Sunfish aka Mola Mola cake!

Pretty much for the same reason Penguin Cake came about last year.

Of course, the more popular Hatchett Fish and Siphonophore and Viper Fish and Oarfish and Tripod Fish came to mind as well.

But my cake-making talent being quite limited, I latched on to the Ocean Sunfish as it is a big rotund white fish with odd fins and hence seemed remarkably easy to do even for me. Especially if one is going for a general likeness with no finer details. And, thankfully none of us care for fondant so I can just slather on some simple butter cream frosting and be happy.


Goody bags filled with interesting/utilitarian/amusing party favors are always fun. Especially if it involves some hand-made items done by the kids. It is quite tough to find time to do anything elaborate, of course.

Much like last year, Og had quite a few ideas for the goody-bag favors and wanted to make a lot of things. Time being the constraining factor, he settled for choosing 5 items for each goody bag as he is five.


Item 1: Spring being around the corner, we made Seed Paper as we did last year. We called it "Friendship Paper: Plant it and watch it bloom!"

Using junk mail and old envelopes, we make a batch of "handmade paper" on and off anyway, so it wasn't hard to add some seeds and create this favorite gift.

Item 2: Wooden Bead Necklace. Beads, assorted size/shape, strung each one of it himself. It took a while, and we did it in two sessions. I threaded a large needle with the yarn and cut the desired length and tied the knot. So, technically, all he did was string the beads, but, that was more than I did at his age. And, he did insist on 5 beads per necklace as he is five, no more, no less.

Item 3: Both the kids seem to love Crayola's Multi-color chalk sticks. Our sidewalk is filled with "rainbow" drawings thanks to this product. And, Oggie wanted his friends to have the same joy.

Item 4: Glue Sticks are easy to use for the small hands. I remember asking my mom to make the paste every time I wanted to do some paper crafting at home - she made it with flour and water, I think - "Maida Pasai" as it was called. Anyway, these glue sticks came in lovely colors with cool names like Lava, Sun, Ice, Fire, Earth... and if I can find refill sticks so I can reuse these plastic glue stick containers, that'd be awesome.

Item 5: Rubber Stamp. I cannot have enough of them for some reason. If there is one thing I hoard, it is rubber stamps along with stamp ink pads in all colors. Anyway, since I wasn't going to include any sweets in the goody bag, I was thrilled to find these cute wooden rubber stamps at Michael's - a jar of sweets, a jar of lollipops, a cupcake and such - Sweet-motif!

Wrap up the five items in a tissue paper, attach a small Thank You tag and a cute party favor is ready. Filled with eco-friendly useful/usable goodies, with a few hand-made ones, making these party favors was fun to do with the birthday boy. (Since tissue paper is going to be ripped apart anyway, we re-used some of our old tissue papers to wrap these up.)

And as a special treat, Ana had made cake pops for his friends - those of his friends who are allowed have one, of course. With food allergies and sugar-sensitivity, it is tricky to share treats. But, looks like those who could have it, loved it immensely! (Candy Crush Saga fans may recognize the resemblance of the cake pops to Color Bomb, the said game being a recent family obsession.)

Typically birthday presents are not a big deal at home -  we stick to hand-made item or books or utilitarian things like clothes or shoes or an occasional bike. Which hopefully makes him all the more grateful when kind and thoughtful friends give him some amazing presents.

However, books are a big deal in our house. Anytime. So, he was thrilled to get a few books for his birthday from us. One of them is a one-of-a-kind bilingual lift-the-flap book+CD made by his sister. Which deserves its own dedicated post  here someday.

I am always filled up with emotions and sentimental thoughts around kids' birthdays but I'll savor that for my "diary" rather than ramble on here.