Annual Birthday Party Planning

It seems that now the Little Man is getting older, I'm having more fun planning out his birthday parties. It was also part of my September goals to get this all sorted out ahead of time!

Shhhh, don't tell him anything....

This year we got a Thomas Train piñata. I still have to buy the treats to put in it.

Recently, he informed me that birthdays are like Easter, therefore we need to hide presents and eggs all over the house for him to find. This is a great idea! I get more use out of all those silly plastic eggs I bought.

Last year, I made this Angry Birds cake (recipe included for you crafty types), but this year I think I will use the same recipe and make a Thomas face to go with his piñata.

Also, I've already sorted the party out with his teacher. Last year, some other parents made cakes and just had the celebration at school. This is SO SMART! All his friends are there and no mess for me to clean up! Aside from me taking the day off work, it's cheaper than hosting a party. So I just need to bring the cake and pinata and it's done! Can't wait!

Birthday Party Cake

Me and the Little Man

The Little Man had his little Autistic Birthday Party this weekend. With the exception of a younger sibling of one of the kids and my friend's kid, it was all autistic boys. Which went pretty much as I expected - worse than herding cats! lol


One kid could have climbed the ceilings; he never actually stopped moving. Another one ran around a bit and then threw up. (Kudos to the staff and the daddies for the prompt clean up.)
The Little Man did not eat his cake (until today, in peace), he just blew out the candles and then went to play by himself somewhere (it was at a party gym).

BUUUUT, while we had some tears, anxiety and pouts, no one had a full meltdown. Success! And I had no mess to clean up afterwards!

Would I go there again? Maybe yes, maybe no. It might have been better to just let the kids go wild. The entertainer, bless her heart, seemed to think it would be possible to get these kids to listen and follow instructions. My son does, but he is a stickler for rules. If you show him how to do something one way once, he will do it that exact way every single time after that, no exceptions. He is detail oriented, methodical and rigid, just like his mother. He will probably loosen up with age, like I did to some extent, but it does come in handy doing certain types of work/jobs, so it's not all bad. It's interesting to watch though.

The big thing everyone wants though is the recipe for the cake, which was nut free, gluten free and vegan so that EVERYONE could eat it. Whew!

la pièce de résistance!

So here it is:

Vegan Brownie Recipe
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups flour (or gluten free flour blend)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything with a fork until blended. Pour into a greased pan. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes.

Vegan Buttercream Icing
(This recipe came from The Kitchen Magpie)
1 cup vegan margarine (Becel makes one. I used Earth Balance coconut spread though)
3 tsp vanilla
4 cups icing sugar
1-3 tsp rice milk (I did not need it)

Use a mixer to beat margarine until fluffy. Slowly add vanilla and icing sugar. Check for consistency. If you need to add milk, do just a bit at a time.
Place in fridge until you are ready to decorate.

Birthday Party Planning

The Little Man's birthday is coming up and this year has been really unorganized and overwhelming. With renos coming up, it's simply not safe to hold the party at our home, so we're going to one of those gym places - they take care of the mess and entertainment. It's a little pricey, but worth my peace of mind.

Parties are a big deal to me though - maybe it's more for me, but I am really big about celebrating his life because I feel so lucky to have him. In his case, I also know he really likes them.

As a kid, I always wanted a big surprise party and no one ever did that for me (still!). Apparently, I enjoyed my parties and then got tired of everyone and wanted them all to leave! But my son isn't like me in that way. He really likes having the attention.

He also really likes singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out candles. He is much better at being the life of the party than I ever was.

Anyway, I'm not sure who's more excited, but I know I can't wait :)