Happy 3rd Birthday, Selah!

We had Selah’s birthday party this past Saturday. We had a joint party with another American friend’s son, Nate, who turned 2 last week. It went well, we think. Only nationals were in attendance and it was a costume party. Selah dressed up as Snow White (thanks Bonnie and Gordon for the dress and slippers) and Nate was a cowboy. Eden wore a leotard onesie with an attached tutu, which made her a ballerina.

Snow White and her daddy

The birthday boy's little brother and the birthday girl's little sister

Originally, I wanted to make the birthday cake for this party, but got a little worried that the nationals wouldn’t like the cake since I use butter cream icing to decorate the cake, and cakes here tend to be less sweet than they are in the states. The over-achiever in me can be both a blessing and a curse. I found a beautiful Snow White fondant cake that I wanted to replicate for Selah, and was going to make a separate cowboy boot-shaped cake for Nate. Ryan was also in Germany for the week and returned home the morning of the party, so I didn’t want to be stressed about finding time to decorate the cake. So, I let my neighbor talk me into ordering a cake from the bakery. She told me she thought a cake would cost an equivalent of about $35 and I decided I was willing to spend that for a stress-free week. When we went to the bakery, we found that the simple birthday cakes, serving 15 people, start at $100. I immediately decided against ordering a cake for that absurd amount of money, but my neighbor talked me into it, reasoning that the cake is very important as far as the locals are concerned. She convinced me with this reason because I sometimes just want to blend in so badly that a lot of money doesn’t seem so bad if it achieves that end (and eliminates unwanted stress for myself).

So, we ordered the cake and my neighbor told me that I should probably make an extra, simple cake just in case the “small” one we ordered wasn’t enough. I made a 2-layer round carrot cake with cream cheese icing, because the nationals seems to like the cakes that have fruit as an ingredient. Since I wasn’t worried about having a pretty cake, I decided to do a simply design on top—a pink tiara for Selah and brown boots for Nate. I was really happy with the way it turned out and didn’t stress about it. The guests at the party both liked the cake and thought it was decorated really well. Lesson learned: I can make a cake that our friends will like and decorate it up to their standards without making myself miserable. I guess the $50 I spend on the cake was worth the stress prevention. And now I know what to expect in the future.

The cake I ordered from the bakery

the cake I made

The kids had a great time coloring and eating food that various people brought. Selah received a Barbie princess doll, a princess lunch bag, a snow hat, slippers, and lots more. The funniest gift was given by my neighbor. She bought aerosol deodorant for Selah--since Selah asks for grown-up girl things all the time. This morning as Ryan and I left for our language class, she had her shirt off trying to spray the deodorant on herself—but got her hair instead.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, smart, and loving little Selah. I can’t believe you’re already 3. It just seems like a few months ago that I was coddling you in my arms and wondering how God could have made someone so amazing. I love you!

The entire group