Two weeks ago today, Jesse turned 5. I desperately wanted to share some more Birthday Letters with you all, but the days leading up to the 13th were insanely busy.

Sensibly, I gave myself a week to plan and execute a children’s party, complete two freelance projects, prep for a work trip and get the house ready for guests who were due to arrive a few hours after the last of Jesse’s school friends had departed. I’ll be honest, it’s not the most fun I’ve ever had.

The morning of Jesse’s birthday was fairly chilled though. He woke early, opening most of his presents before we’d even had breakfast. Aside from a mountain of Lego, we gave him a Blue and White Stripe Wigwam from Great Little Trading Company. I’ll have to take some more photos that show it off a little better, as it’s definitely one of the best things we’ve ever purchased for the children. There’s something quite magical about hiding away in your very own tent. I’ve even been known to sneak in there myself.  

My parents gave Jesse his first CD player which is a terribly exciting gift when you’re 5 years old! He’s been listening to Horrid Henry every evening as he goes to sleep and when I switched the radio on the other morning his head nearly exploded. ‘Is this my music mummy?’ he exclaimed, ‘where is my music coming from?’

Jesse’s party was pretty laid back by my standards {I mean, did you see this? Or this?}. I didn’t even have a Pinterest board! We ordered supplies from Party Pieces and I limited the crafting to a few hand drawn Lego heads. As in previous years, I went to town with stripy straws and paper streamers from Pearl & Earl. Bonus sneak peek of our living room coming up…

The weather was fabulous, which meant the children could play outside, but there was musical statues and the obligatory game of pass-the-parcel too. I baked Jesse’s favourite chocolate cake and decorated it with a handful of mini figures. For a change, most of the party tea was shop bought, but I did manage to rustle up a batch of vanilla cupcakes to assuage some of my {mildly ridiculous} maternal guilt.

Anyway, enough about me. What have you been up to?

Love Audrey xxx