It was Max's 2nd birthday yesterday and I thought I'd get away without doing anything for it (he's hardly going to remember is he??) but then my mum sent over Happy 2nd Birthday balloons and banners and made me feel very guilty so I threw him a last minute birthday tea. Max had a lovely time eating and dancing with his girlfriend Layla and even though my cake was as dry as a bone as per my usual baking efforts and I forgot to put the sausage rolls in the oven AGAIN, I think everyone else enjoyed it too.
We have 5 birthday parties over 4 consecutive weekends (2 down, 3 to go) and so far I am getting very worried as Celia’s preschool friends are setting the bar very high. The party last week must have cost an absolute fortune but it really was a little girl’s dream (all the staff were dressed as Disney princesses and the birthday tea was held in a room that looked like a set from Alice in Wonderland!). I’m not sure what the done thing is back home but nobody has parties in their house here, they all hire somewhere (or someone i.e. Tinkerbell the fairy entertainer) which suits me fine as catering is not my strong point but it is sooo expensive. I think we may coincidentally go on holiday the week of Celia’s 4th birthday as it would nearly be the same price!
We had a bit of good news on the finance front yesterday as the government is giving us expats a 3 month reprieve on the LAFHA benefit cut. We tried getting out of our lease as I was convinced we were paying too much rent for the house we are in but having done some research this week I was shocked to see what was on offer. So looking on the bright side, I now don’t think we are being ripped off, but the downside is that as of October we are renting a house we can’t really afford! Maybe I should hire myself out as Tinkerbell the fairy and make a bit of extra cash but at 18 weeks pregnant I would make an odd looking fairy!
