Just Enough To Melt A Mum’s Heart

Jared, tot schooling, simple pleasures, occasions, Valentines

Valentine’s is something we do not celebrate at home, but this year I received a very pleasant surprise which is just enough to melt this mum’s heart!

Right after the day’s lessons were over, the little man handed me this lovely Valentine card, which he made himself. Sure the words are badly scrawled, but for someone who’ve just recently appreciated writing, this sure is a great feat and mum couldn’t be prouder. Apart from the letters and the heart he’s patiently colored, my little pre-schooler also drew mum, dad, himself, and our house inside the card. You can check out the rest of the card in this week’s edition of Kids In Doodles.

This is mum’s little treasure and I shall keep it with my valuables. Although this is just a simple card, the effort made by the little man’s little fingers to write and color it is something really precious. Thank you my love for this and thanks to Teacher Pam, too, for helping you make it.  :heart:

I am sure your little ones also have little Valentines surprises for you and it will be a delight to read all about it in a comment below.

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Throwing A Simple Birthday Party For The Little Man

mum's thoughts, simple pleasures, Jared, Jared's nook, occasions, celebration, children's birthday party, birthdays
the little man + his classmate Don

I am glad that even when I do not have a regular job and online opportunities for my mum blog is getting scarce since Mr. G took away my pr, I still manage to save up for the little man’s simple birthday celebration at his playschool. I was able to save up Php7,000 from last month’s work, which I thought was just enough for the party I have in mind.

It was Jared who gave me the idea about his party’s theme while he was playing with his minion toys one day. He said he’d put the minion on top of a cake and proceeded to singing the Happy Birthday song. When I asked him who’s having a birthday, he answered “Jared,” so a light bulb flickered to life in my mind. Minion birthday it is!  😀

mum's thoughts, simple pleasures, Jared, Jared's nook, occasions, celebration, children's birthday party, birthdays
all things minions ~ cakes, cupcakes + loot bags!

As early as the first week of August I was already busy creating my birthday party checklist and scouting for items both online and off that I thought I could use for the party. I have also scoured a lot of minion-related Pinterest boards and got tons of ideas from them!

A minion cake and a bunch of cuppies were on the top of my list. Fortunately, I do not have to look far to find the perfect cake maker. I ordered Jared’s sweet birthday treats from the local shop Just Sweets and even the little man was delighted with his minion cake! 🙂

mum's thoughts, simple pleasures, Jared, Jared's nook, occasions, celebration, children's birthday party, birthdays
our birthday invite

As usual I commissioned my brother to make the birthday invites, the banner, as well as the thank you stickers which I used to lock my loot bags. He printed the stickers and the invites, while I have the tarp printed in a local bookshop a day before our party.

mum's thoughts, simple pleasures, Jared, Jared's nook, occasions, celebration, children's birthday party, birthdays
the contents of our loot bags
mum's thoughts, simple pleasures, Jared, Jared's nook, occasions, celebration, children's birthday party, birthdays
thank you stickers for our loot bags!

I made my own loot bags from yellow colored papers I got from the bookstore and put these printed minion eyes I got from another Pinterest board, for finishing touches, and viola! I now have my very own affordable and cute minion bags! I filled them with these minion toys I got from an online shop on Facebook and these minion felt keychain I chanced upon at a local mall in our city. I also added a couple of scented colored pens that I am sure the kids will love!

mum's thoughts, simple pleasures, Jared, Jared's nook, occasions, celebration, children's birthday party, birthdays
the minion pattern I got from the net

To make our celebration more fun, I planned some fun activities for the kiddos at playschool. With my sister Cel’s help, we cut these create-a-minion cut outs for the kids to make and I printed a number of minion color pages for the children to color. I also got those printable page online.

Minion stuff are rather difficult to find, so for our piñata, I diy-ed a minion one out of a 100-peso-plus Spongebob piñata I got from this Divisoria-like shop I discovered at Maunlad Mall {thanks to sis Jhona, one of the mums at playschool, for graciously offering to accompany us there}. I also bought 6 stationery set for boys and girls as prizes for our party games there. Bel cut out a yellow colored paper for the minion body of our piñata, as well as a blue colored paper for its cover-alls, and pasted a couple of these minion eyes print outs to create our very own minion piñata! We filled it lollipops, candies and chocolates for the children to enjoy at the party.

For the food, we just ordered one-piece chicken/spaghetti meals from Jollibee. I opted for pineapple juice for the kiddos, too.

Here is the summary of my expenses for my son’s party:

  • Food {for 6 kids and 10 adults} ~ Php 1,829
  • Cake and cupcakes ~ 2,490
  • Loot bag {minion felt keychain Php180/minion toys P230/scented pens P60} ~ 470
  • Prizes ~ 300
  • Piñata ~ 110
  • Tarpaulin ~ 90
  • Candies for the piñata ~ approx 200
  • Coloring printables ~ 50
  • Invites and stickers ~ 100
  • Balloons ~ 100

Total ~ Php 5,739

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Happy 4th Birthday Jared!

Four years ago I fell in love with a chinky-eyed little charmer and I have never been the same…

I had no idea what was in store for me when I became a mum four years ago and nothing have prepared me for my most profound experience ever. Being a mother to my little man was the happiest day of my life. He was my most beautiful blessing from heaven and he gave me the gift of joy, of life, of knowing how wonderful it is to have an all-access pass to the unfolding of another beautiful creation.

Jared is my most precious gift from God and he taught me what pure unconditional love is all about. He continue to teach me a little something about myself each day and he taught me invaluable lessons about life and living. He has touched my heart in more ways than I have ever expected and I will be eternally grateful. Thank you for coming into my life son. Thank you for giving me the privilege to be your mum.

It has been four glorious years. Sure the trip was never easy and I assure you that we will encounter a lot of challenges and problems along the way, but let me tell you that I am glad that I am taking this journey with you. I cannot imagine it any other way. It was worth everything that I have been through and everything that I have suffered. Know that  I will go through all of it over again because I will get to be with you in the end.

I love you son and I will always do. Know that I will always be here for you as long as you need me and if that fateful day comes when you can be on your own and will no longer need me, I will make sure to find ways to stick around! 🙂

On your birthday, I wish you happiness. I wish for you to grow up to be a kind, gentle, generous and loving man. But most importantly, I wish for you to enjoy life to the fullest and do not forget to smile and laugh! :heart:

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