Sunday Snapshots - another cake!

   Hello to all my readers. I hope that everyone had a wonderful day of rest and got a chance to do something relaxing for themselves. We had a busy day as always (I can't remember last time that days were not busy!). We started with Girly Monkey's soccer game and then we drove around a bit to see if we could find a new truck for Daddy. No luck though, so he can't do his work tomorrow. I then finished the cake and we drove over to Grandma and Gramps' place to share the Birthday cake with them. It's always great going over to their place since Monkeys LOVE spending time with their grandparents. Have I said how great it is that Daddy's parents are so involved in Monkeys' lives? Well, it's great!
   Don't forget to come back tomorrow for Money-Wise Mondays!

Another foggy morning

This is another cake for Girly Monkey. This time she
wanted a peacock.

She has had 3 6th birthdays now. Does that mean that she is 18?

Money-Wise Mondays - Birthdays on a Budget

(Scroll down for Organic Lemon Vanilla cupcake recipe)

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  Tomorrow is Girly Monkey's birthday. I really can't believe that she is 6 years old! Birthdays are a very special time in our house, after all, we're celebrating each person's arrival into this world. For our kids, it's also the time when they joined our family.

   We want to celebrate their special day in a special way. We have a tradition of celebrating our Monkeys' birthday in 2 ways. On the day of their birthday we do our private celebration. The birthday child gets to pick a restaurant for dinner that night, and a special outing place they would like to visit. If their birthday happen to land on a weekday then we move the outing to the weekend before or the weekend after their birthday. Most of the time, it's only our family that will attend the dinner and special outing, but sometimes we get a relative or two to join us. After the special dinner out we go home and have a cake or cupcakes (just the 5 of us) and sing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy or girl. After the cake, Birthday Monkey gets to open a gift from their siblings and one from us. Every 6 years Daddy and I give the birthday child a family trip as a gift. For Funky Monkey's 6th birthday we went to Drumheller, Alberta, and for Girly Monkey's 6 birthday we visited Victoria, British Columbia. Both trips were very special gift for the special child. So why every 6 years? It's because I think of them as milestones. At 6 years old the child is no longer a baby, at 12, they are entering teenage-hood, and at 18 they are entering adulthood.