Pocketful of Sunshine

In one of my earlier blogs, I expressed just how much I cherish my childhood birthday parties, so when it comes to my kids’ birthday parties, I try very hard to make them special days that will last a lifetime.

The twins were coming up on their Big 3, and they were all super heroes, all the time.  So it only made sense to have a superhero themed party.  That’s easy enough; the stuff is everywhere.  But the twins like ALL the superheroes, not caring that Superman is a DC comic hero and doesn’t hang out with the Marvel superheroes, so I had to be resourceful—the generic invitations, decorations, and cakes just wouldn’t do.

I started with the invitations, which proved to be the most challenging and frustrating, yet rewarding creative endeavor I’ve undertaken to date.  I usually make the kids’ invitations, so that wasn’t what made it hard; instead, it was the fact that I had gotten it into my head that I was going to replace super hero heads with the twins’ heads, and once I get something into my head, well, my passion, stubbornness, obsessive-compulsiveness, call it what you will, is unrelenting. 

After many nights and many hours of using various programs accessible to me on my home computer—ultimately PowerPoint and Paint—and many mumbled “bad words,” I finally achieved what I had in my head.  It’s not perfect, but I was pleased, and the twins were thrilled! (Until James David decided he wanted to be Hulk instead of Captain America.  I quickly informed him THAT was NOT going to happen!)

For the cakes, I found this awesome cake on Pinterest, but I’m not so delusional as to not know my artistic limitations.  And I really wanted to make the cake myself, so I had to find other more realistic options.  

 

I had already determined to make 2 yellow cakes with chocolate icing, in my opinion, the best cake in the world.  I wanted one sheet cake for the guests and a half cake each for James David and Jacob.  (They were really looking forward to blowing out their candles, so I didn’t think it would be fair to make them share that experience.)  I searched Amazon and found edible cake toppers with images of DC and Marvel heroes, respectively.  With some colored icing and superhero figures, they were a far cry from the Pinterest cake, but they were acceptable, and the twins got what they wanted.

 

So everything was pretty much ready to go.  I didn’t have to worry much about entertainment—we have a huge backyard with loads of outdoor toys and swings, so we always have the kids’ parties outside.  That part of the party is always low maintenance.  Until this year…

With a 100% chance of rain, my luck with outdoor parties had run out.  What in the world would we do with over a dozen kids stuck in the house?  Da ta ta dah!!!!!  Dollar Tree to the rescue!  With a little bit of imagination and around $20.00, I picked up enough baskets, balls, hula-hoops, frisbees, masks, and stickers to save the day!

 

After running the gauntlet of a half dozen training activities, our guests completed the “Super Hero Boot Camp” and earned their very own super hero mask, designed especially by them.  

Thankfully, my three boys and their guests are still young enough to be wowed by such simplicity—a pocketful of sunshine on a rainy birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my super Super Heroes!