I'll Never Host Another Birthday Party In My Home Again.

"I'll never throw my kids another birthday party in my home ever again."
I say this every year and every year I end up throwing a joint themed birthday party for the big boys in our home. I lie to myself and say things like "I'll keep it small" and "I won't go crazy," or "I'll only have to straighten up the night before, everyone will spend most of the time out in the yard anyway!" yet time and time again, the week of the party arrives and there I am, scrambling like a crazy person to redecorate and rearrange rooms (seriously, what the hell?), ordering last minute party supplies and paying extra to have them shipped overnight (because what if XYZ isn't enough?) and frantically wiping down baseboards, cleaning every nook and cranny of our home. What's worse is that recently my husband even entertained the idea of painting over all of the crayon scribbles on the walls throughout our house- a task that would've required us to remember the names of at least four paint colors used throughout our house- the night before the party.
Throwing parties brings out our inner crazy as evidenced by the three times I threw a ridiculously over the top themed first birthday. Of course there was a carnival birthday party (that took like five posts to write about and involved homemade tissue poms (NEVER AGAIN)), followed by a Where the Wild Things Are party and finally, and you can tell it was totally for a third baby, something that had to do with turning one and hot air balloons (Umm, did I even write about his party?). 
But this is it. It's in writing. This is the last year I'm ever throwing the boys a birthday party in our house. From now on it's nothing but bounce houses and Chuck E. Cheeses (or whatever third party establishment is the flavor of the week) and anywhere else all I have to do is show up with a cake and party guests, write a check and the kids have the best time of their little lives (and it doesn't involve a single ounce of redecorating or post-party housecleaning on my end). 

This year we threw the boys a low key (maybe?) backyard BBQ birthday party that included an amazing store-bought cake, bounce house and magician. One of my favorite birthday parties growing up was one where my parents hired a clown/magician to put on a show and while it wasn't exactly the Mr. Giggles of my youth, Amazing Mike was certainly a huge hit with under 8 crowd. 
There were balloon animals, (live!!) doves and rabbits that magically appeared out of thin air (or boxes, rather) and several magic tricks that had even the adults scratching their heads. Best of all, I paid the Amazing Mike a little extra and upgraded our party package to include some pretty amazing party swag (goody bags) that I didn't have to plan for and fill myself. Not to mention that while I sometimes think goody bags are full of useless junk, these happened to be full of really fun useless junk that I thought went great with the party "theme." Totally worth the extra money in my book. 

One thing I will surely do again and again for birthdays, baptisms and other occasions that require cake is order from Harris Teeter. This isn't the first time I've ordered a sheet cake from them and undoubtedly it won't be the last. Not only are the cakes absolutely delicious but they really knock the designs out of the park. I went out on a whim and requested a "rabbit and magic hat" design when filling out the online order form, fully prepared to pick up a cake that said only "Happy Birthday Carter and Maclane" and was blown out of the water when I saw my request come to fruition. Thanks to a discount they were running, I only paid $23 for this sheet cake that fed 40+ guests!

Party supplies were ordered mostly from Amazon and aside from the glow stick wands and helium tank that I picked up from Walmart the morning of the party, while I spent the better part of the week rushing around like a complete fool, this was one of the best parties we've thrown for the boys. They had an absolute blast- they felt loved and celebrated the whole day through and that's what matters most. 
Well, that and I finally have a fully furnished family room thanks to three trips to HomeGoods earlier that week, but that's neither here nor there. If you're local to the DC/VA/MD area and looking for a pretty fun guy who does magic tricks and whose biggest fans are pint sized, check out Mike Perello. The boys give him two thumbs up and he was well worth the price tag. For additional magic party details, see below! As I mentioned earlier, I literally waited until the last minute to order party supplies and managed to luck out with some magician-themed odds and ends from Amazon. 

After 6 years of party planning, I think I'm ready to hand over the reigns. While the boys have always been equally excited about whatever theme I've chosen for their parties, I think it's high time that I begin to relinquish control and let them begin to plan their own parties. Not to mention that as each of the boys begin primary school and begin to gain a small network of their own friends, joint birthday parties will soon be a thing of the past.

Although now that I think about it, I did just read about this really cool reptile guy who comes to.... you guessed it... your house. 

Will I ever learn?

Misc. Party Details:  40" Gold Foil Number Balloons Gold Polka Dot Balloons Black Top Hats Magic Wands Tinsel Streamer Photo Backdrop Happy Birthday Sign Novelty Mustaches