Birthday parties are so much fun but at the same time can be so much work, and when you have 5 children, it's 5 times the work, 5 times a year. Even still, I love to have lots of baked goodies for my kid's parties. I guess I just want to make sure that when they grow up they remember more than lots of gifts to open. I want them to remember all the special treats that Mom made for their birthday. Somehow, I know that it's an unrealistic expectation. That is probably why each birthday celebration I photograph the table full of goodies and include the picture in the scrapbook memories I create.

Sometimes I go all out and make my own special creations. Being an artist, looking at a frosted sheet cake is like looking at a blank canvas. There is so much room for creativity. I can pick up writable frosting from the grocery store or if I'm feeling lucky try my hand at whipping up my own. There are so many cute plastic toys to choose from that can fit any of the kids interests and work perfect as cake toppers. For my oldest, it was always trying to find musical instruments or creating music notes on the cake, as she is the singer in the family. Then there are my two dancing daughters ballerina's, dancing princesses or any girly theme will do. With my son, it's easy, as long as it has to do with electronic gaming.

My latest creation I stole from a woman's magazine. For my daughters 20th birthday, I decided to go with a scrabble theme since our last match she won "again" and was very quick to make sure that we all knew that she is the best there is at scrabble and can't be beat. I baked a large sheet of brownies only 1 inch thick and cut them into cubes. I then frosted each brownie with dark chocolate frosting and used the writing frosting in white to put letters on each of the cubes to spell out the words "Happy, Birthday, Jena" and the word "Twenty". Since they were arranged as if you were playing scrabble, some of the letters were used for more than one word. Lucky for me, it took exactly 20 letters convenient for 20 candles.

It seems that as the kids get older and there are more and more schedules to keep up with, from dance classes, sporting events, competitions, teachers conference's not to mention my own hectic schedule of events, I seem to have less and less time to plan for those special parties. Although I still love to try and have at least one special food that was created especially by me, I'm very thankful that there are places I can buy already prepared cakes and cookies. The best thing is that even though I'm giving in a bit by not preparing gourmet dishes I don't have to give up the gourmet, only the preparation.

At Susan's Basket Store, you can find all kinds of gourmet gift baskets for special occasions, including birthday parties. Try the "Birthday Party Box" which includes a choice of the Miss Grace Lemon Cake or the Mrs. Beasley's Chocolate Chip Fudge Cake as well as 2 party hats, 2 blowers, 12 candles and 2 balloons. What an exciting birthday gift for birthday kids from ages 1 to 99. Ok, maybe you'll need to add a few candles for those beyond the age of 12 but hey, the delicious homemade cake will be sure to put a smile on the recipients face. If you are as swamped as I am with family routine, try ordering the "Birthday Party Box" for your own child's birthday and instead of slaving in the kitchen, spend the time you save reading to your child or even better, taking a relaxing bubble bath.