FIVE!

My little boy turned five last month. I can't believe it. He will soon be out of his toddler years, and that makes me sad. To me, he is still my baby, but I know he can't stay small forever.

We weren't really planning a party for his 5th, but the kids at his school make it a point to celebrate their birthdays there, so RL was kinda expecting the same. That, plus the BentoMommas were sorta pushing for a bento party so I can practice my bento catering skills. LOL! So, this BentoMomma gathered all her energy to prep for a 30-minute bento party (yes, 30 minutes, maybe even less, because that's all the time you get for recess at the little boy's school).

We were going for Spidey, but thought it would be best to reserve Spidey for another occasion. Besides, Lightning McQueen would be easier for this Momma. So after researching and some serious net surfing, Momma came up with this:

Disney Cars Bento Party!

I made Lightning McQueen out of Spiced Ham (the taste suited the spaghetti, plus I liked its reddish hue), bread, cheese and nori. It sits on a bed of my special tri-noodle spaghetti. I served this with a cheese cake imprinted with Disney Cars characters, 3 pieces of chicken nuggets, a piece of gala apple sliced to resemble a checkered flag, and some gummy race cars. Yep, this Momma made 25 of these! 25! Can't say it was easy, but the results were very rewarding.

A closer look at Lightning McQueen...

I found some red reusable containers at the supermarket, and used that to hold the bento meals. Printed out a party tag and voila, this BentoMomma is now ready to do a little bit of bento catering (I hope I don't regret saying that, LOL). The thing with RL's preschool is - everything had to be reusable, so I was really careful with how I packaged everything.

I decorated the wooden utensils with red star washi tapes from Paper Chic Studio.

I ordered a Lightning McQueen cake from the neighborhood bakery (our favorite Orange Chiffon with their signature marshmallow icing!). It was a hit with the kids, although they didn't quite get to taste it, because after RL blew out the candles, it was time to head back to class.

They were thoughtful enough to incorporate the number 5 on McQueen's body. 

For giveaways, I used our leftover cups from the Family Day Bazaar and filled them with goodies - gelatin cups, M&Ms, Pocky, Chupa Chups, rainbow mentos, Chocolait drink, etc.

I found this cool Lightning McQueen candle, and RL actually had a total of 6 candles (5 small ones plus this one)
which I thought was a wrong move on my part, because he kept asking me "why 6". LOL!

It was a simple party, if you discount the prep time for the bento meals. I loved how the kids reacted to their meals (although it wasn't much of a surprise because these kids were used to seeing my little boy's bento lunch). I love how they appreciated what I prepared, so this was a very fulfilling experience.

This little girl was really digging into my tri-noodle spaghetti, and she kept saying it was "so good".
I can make you spaghetti forever, S!

The not-so-little boy posing with his birthday cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RL! 

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