Happy October!!! Yesterday (October 1st) was Athena’s 5th birthday & I gotta say, that for being very last minute, not very well planned, & on an extremely tight budget, I think I did a great job pulling it together…… “with a little help from my friends”, as The Beatles would say.

Here is how the room looked when she woke up. I wanted her to be surprised & happy as soon as she came into the dining room. She had asked for an Ariel theme.

I went to Dollar Tree ($1.25 Store now, and all items are no longer that price either. They now offer $5 and $10 items 🙀) and grabbed a small variety ribbon & streamers in different shades of blue. I hung them from the chandelier to resemble water.

I reused this ball garland inside from one of Sasha’s birthdays that was a Frozen theme and wrapped it around the lights in the center.

I thought this chandelier decor looked really beautiful and all around cost less than $5 to put together.

My best friend, Kara, ordered this Little Mermaid garland to hang in the room for her. Mia & I put it together and hung it from the curtain rod in-between the dining room & living room. It really pulled the theme together. She also ordered some gifts for Athena “from us.”

I really appreciate her so much. Not only did she go above & beyond to help me throw Athena a party she wanted & deserves, but she also pulled me out of the depression hole that I had been slowly sinking further into. I’m really lucky to have her.

Mia & I also made this decoration using an old school candelabra. I came across the idea on Pinterest.

Over the summer I picked up a box of super cool, old metal teaset items for my kids to play with in their backyard playhouse, but my husband convinced me to stash them away to one day attempt to restore them, but they have sat in a tote in my closet untouched.

I pulled out the tote, grabbed the candelabra, and all the utensils. I picked the ones that were smallest and most light-weight. I lit some candles and let the wax pool up, then dumped into the candle holder spot with each utensil and held it in place until the wax cooled. I repeated this process until the utensils were safely stuck in place and each holder was completely full of wax.

I then asked Grammy Kat if she had any pretend pearls I could use to drape around it. She did, of course.

For breakfast, I made homemade donuts and icing and let the kids decorate their own donut using Sprinkles I already had. This was mine.

For a special treat, we made these little “oysters” which were pre-made macaroons with a birthday-cake flavored “pearl” jellybean.

I ordered her cake from Kroger for $22. I usually prefer to make my own cakes, but with everything going on lately I really wanted to have a stress-free day for her birthday so that I could be fully present with her. It made her happy & that’s what really matters.

My parents & Grammy Kat stopped by to celebrate Athena during the day.

For dinner, she requested “Dad’s burgers” so he grilled burgers for the family & a Veggie burger for me.

After dinner, we went to see Kozak Siromaha in a small concert hosted by UNWLA & the Ukrainian community. It was our first Ukrainian concert experience by a famous artist.

After the concert, we went home to sing happy birthday to Athena & eat cake.

I can’t believe she’s already 5! It seems like she was just a baby!!! I’m so grateful for these last 5 years with her. She is always smiling and lights up every room she enters. She’s so kind & so thoughtful. She truly makes the world a brighter place. I’m so grateful I get to be her mama.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov