Big Birthday Bash

Peter and I threw our first kids' party...and we survived! Barely.

Lauren had her first birthday last Saturday, the 16th and besides being her first birthday, we celebrated her Dedication and also it was a house-warming of sorts. It wasn't an official housewarming as we didn't want people to feel pressured to bring a housewarming gift, but it was the debut of our new place to most of our family and friends. So, aside from getting all the birthday stuff ready, we wanted to make sure the house looked great.

We don't have much furniture yet so we ended up renting some tables and chairs to seat the 50+ guests. It all worked out great. I decorated the tables with white tablecloths and bright colored flowers. I also created a centerpiece of framed pictures of Lauren taken monthly throught the year starting with her 1 day old portrait . Everyone loved seeing the changes as she grew from month to month.

The kids had fun decorating pencil boxes, party hats, crowns, and silly sunglasses while the adults mingled and ate. They also enjoyed face painting and balloon animals thanks to my talented niece and sister. The kids even braved the 100 degree heat to jump around in the bouncy house in the backyard.

Oh, and the FOOD! There was Hawaiian BBQ chicken, Korean-style short ribs, Paella, mini-quiches and the Filipino standards pancit, Kare Kare, Pancit Palabok, Lumpia, and my mom's specialty Chicken Relleno. For dessert we had Cake and a variety of yummy Filipino sweets: Cuchinta, Puto, Cassava, Buko Pandan Salad. Everything was delicious and I can't believe we had enough food to feed what ended up being 71 guests! I don't know how it is in other cultures, but a Filipino kids' party, is never JUST a kids' party. EVERYONE'S invited, especially for the first birthday. There were kids...about 18 of them, but there were 53 adults too. Not all at one time, though since "Filipino Time" was in effect and even though the party started at 2, guests were expected to arrive until 8 p.m.

Lauren had a blast and looked adorable in her party dress. Thanks to everyone who helped out prepping for the party. A special thanks to my niece Tobey for helping with the kids' activities and helping the littler ones with their crafts.