And then, I spent even more time worrying about Bear's 2nd birthday party. Would I be in the hospital? Would I miss the whole event? And the question that opened the door for the Comedian to play her first of countless jokes on me, Should we move the party up?
It was pure genius, right? Move the party up TWO weeks, just to be safe and all my bases will be covered. I can enjoy my two year old's party, and then, go labor and deliver a baby! Um...best laid plans and all? Can you see where this is going?
The sweet and sassy Comedian decided to make her appearance, um...TWO WEEKS EARLY and I had a three day old infant at a party for 12 (uh-yeah - you read that number right) toddlers. Thank God for my mother. The event would have been a chaotic, running, screaming, me-on-the-couch-nursing-and-completely-NOT-in-control, hullabuloo if not for her!
And so began the beginning of our totally awesome, but completely unnecessary over-the-top themed birthday parties. In my defense, slightly, is the fact that I combine them. I mean, they are so close and the idea of TWO parties in TWO weeks makes me feel like walking to the nut-house door and committing myself.Here are the stats:
The 1 and 3 Party
Theme -Dora
Labor intensive factor - EXTREME
Theme -Dora
Labor intensive factor - EXTREME
This exerpt from her scrapbook says it all! Look closely on the bottom right and you will see the HAND SHOVELED TRAILS my DH went out and did THAT MORNING - Dora Style! (meaning there are dead ends and trap trails, and Swiper even jumped out of one!)
Oh- and there was THE CAKE!
Kid Count: 18
After Math- INSANE
The machine enlarged, and hand colored pony for ...pin the tail:
The Cake:
Oh - and yeah...nearly forgot about that REAL LIVE HORSE we fed as a the final ta-da!
Kid Count - 12
The 2 and 4 Party
Theme - Curious George
Labor Intensive Factor - Moderate (I think I was just sleep deprived and TIRED!)
Kid Count: 12
After Math- EXTREME
Kid Count: 12
After Math- EXTREME
The 3 and 5 Party
Theme - My Little Pony
Labor Intensive Factor - EXTREME (I had to take a half-day from school to get all the preparations done in time!)
There was the banner I just, had to make:
The machine enlarged, and hand colored pony for ...pin the tail:The Cake:Oh - and yeah...nearly forgot about that REAL LIVE HORSE we fed as a the final ta-da! Kid Count - 12After Math - Lingered for WEEKS!
Kid Count - 10 (including mine!) .JPG)
Cake? Naw - that has gluten! How about a choice of vanilla or choc birthday pudding?
I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out! Bear had her five friends and they focused with laser intensity on their project for nearly the WHOLE party! The Comedian had two friends who made playdough in the other room and were just so calm and "in their element". I commentated to everyone, multiple times, "Woah- is this the calmest party ever, or is it just me?"
THIS YEAR I GOT SMART!
The 4 and 6 Party
Theme - NONE!
Labor Intensive Factor - VERY LOW!
Kid Count - 10 (including mine!) Cake? Naw - that has gluten! How about a choice of vanilla or choc birthday pudding?
After Math - Well...just check these pics out!
I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out! Bear had her five friends and they focused with laser intensity on their project for nearly the WHOLE party! The Comedian had two friends who made playdough in the other room and were just so calm and "in their element". I commentated to everyone, multiple times, "Woah- is this the calmest party ever, or is it just me?"So - a virtual note to myself. This worked. Do it again. (and feel free to re-direct me back to this post next year if I slip into a time warp and decided a THEMED, LABOR-INTENSIVE, EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF KIDS party is on our horizon!)
Now, be sure to see what everyone else is showing and telling! I'm off to teach Sunday School - but PROMISE to visit YOUR show and tell before day's end!
12 comments:
Wise, wise, woman. I'm going to remember that one.
Although if you were my mother, you would have rocked in my book for that My Little Pony cake.
Great pictures, I love it and I too have learned and scaled back intensive party planning to throw down some chips and burgers, make a yummy cake, and rent a bounce house.
BTW, honey, you need to update your intro paragraph because Bear is 6 and Comedian 4!!!!
Sometimes it takes awhile for us to figure things out. Lad you found a way to do birthdays with your sanity still intact!
By the way, love the enlarged Mt Little Pony pin-the-tail-on-the-pony poster!
ROFL...you are just as crazy as I am sometimes. Great parties...especially the last one.
LOL - I am sure they were both great parties! They looked fabulously fun from the pictures.
I just want to say something about "best laid plans" though . . . LOL!
Smart :) Loved hearing the birthday stories!
The decorations and the cakes are amazing, NICE work! Good job figuring out that they don't "need' themes. Usually they just love to go with the flow. Thank you for sharing!
Oh Wise One. I may steal that bit of your knowledge even though I only have 1
Dratitall. I'm about 2 weeks late getting this advice. Invitations just went out to 12 of my son's friends for his gymnastics party.
Oh well. The aftermath is like that we'll ALL be tired.
Very cool parties, especially the last one. Kudos to you, Cara!
This definitely looks like the way to go although the themed ones sure were creative.
Great pictures and interesting post!
After your comment on my S&T this week, I had to go back and read yours. WOW!
And I thought I worked hard on the parties!!
I too have learned to scale back (although, my version of that is to have it elsewhere and not at my home).
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