Goodie, Goodie....

Kate's real birthday was yesterday 

and it was pretty good to be her, I'd say...

The morning arrived with breakfast in bed (tradition), 

school was enhanced by the school spring performances 

(her class sang an Australian song) 

and she donated a book to the class in celebration of her birth... 

Remember your mom bringing cupcakes to class for your birthday?  

Those days are looong gone... 

Unless you bring an Epi-Pen with every snack, you can forget it...  

Now, I sympathize with those with allergies, 

but I do mourn the loss of some childhood fun... 

Sigh...

Oh well...  

At least the class can read "Henry's Show and Tell" for all eternity.....  

After dinner, Jack, I mean Kate, or was it Jack who opened the gifts...  

My first born has some control freak workin'...

and he just had to boss 

Kate around on her own birthday... 

I mean, does he really know more about Bitty Babies than she does?  

With the real birthday under our belts, 

on to the mayhem tomorrow that is her party at the YMCA.    

The PreK rule is that your party must include the WHOLE CLASS to avoid hurt feelings... 

I see nods in the crowd...

you have experienced this fun mandate, too, I see...  

Yep, well it conflicts with our family rule that 

the number of guests conveniently coincides with your age.  

Ie:  if you are turning 5, then you may invite 5 guests...  

   

Instead, we are hosting 15 three to five year olds....

Thus the party at the Y and not in our home... 

It will be a Zoo Theme, they tell me...  

All I have to do is show up and pay...  

Can't be all that bad, can it?  

Anyway, I had to come up with a goodie bag... 

All moms supply goodies bags....

Kids expect them and compare them to other parties...

The pressure!  

Most of us are pretty tired of the goodie bags,

packed with dollar and party store plastic crap 

that disintegrates in the car on the way home from the party... 

It then ends up jammed between the seats 

and is found only after it leaves a permanent dent 

or stain in the upholstery.  

At a recent party, one mom gave out sport bottles with some candy inside...

good idea!  

One year, Tom made music cd's of Jack's fave tunes to hand out to the boys... 

He even made a custom label of Jack playing a guitar... 

Good idea in theory except that he put off execution until 

15 minutes before party time... 

Note to self:  proof all selected songs before burning them to a cd... 

Not a good idea to include songs for a kid's cd 

that has lyrics with the 

F-bomb....

I'm just sayin'.....   

So, what to provide as a goodie that 

won't have the kids throwing them back at you?   

A good friend suggested T shirts...  

So what I did was have a custom design created here... 

LOVE Etsy.... 

I bought little tees online in bulk...  

and did the DIY.  

I jazzed up Kate's tee with a few sparkles I had lying around, 

and voila'...

For a little added fun, I found this SUPER easy and fun treat.....

Jungle Oreos.   

Jessy Simonson give this great tutorial on how to make 'em.... 

There is nothing to it...

Really....Aren't they so cool?  So awesome when it really works!

I will bag these cool treats and tie them to each bundled tee.  

Hopefully, the kids will like them.  

Hmmmm, what cocktail would be in keeping with a zoo theme....

Pina Colada?  

I'm just planning ahead what Mommy gets to drink after the party is over......  

Just sayin'....