Party! Party! Party!

Knowing that we are going to be out of town for the three weeks prior to Morgan's fifth birthday and that she has her dance recital the day before, I have been working on getting everything ready now. Early on, we decided that we were going to keep her party small this year -- last year was out of control - probably 20-30 kids. Since her last day of preschool is tomorrow, there's no need to feel like we need to invite her entire class again. Invitations will be handed out outside of school, so as to not upset anyone. I told Morgan that she could pick five friends to come over for a pajama party. She is very excited about this. It's not a true sleepover since the kids are only 4-5, but they will wear their pajamas, bring a sleeping bag, and we'll decorate pillow cases, play games, eat popcorn and watch a movie, and we'll be having breakfast for dinner - pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit, etc.

Not wanting to spend too much money on everything (keeping it to five really helped!), I made my own invitations. I think they turned out pretty cute, if I must say so myself. I'm always amazed because I'm the least crafty person on the block, so when something isn't a big mess when I'm done, I'm happy. Of course, I rely heavily on a digital scrapbooking software, which gives me options that I would never come up with on my own.


I decided to buy a book for each of the kids ($1 each at the dollar store!) which fits the theme since they can be used for a bedtime story. I also put together a container of homemade pancake mix as favors for the kids. The card on them says "Thank you for celebrating Morgan's 5th birthday with us! Add the following incredients to this mixture to make up a batch of Morgan's favorite pancakes!" Then it lists the ingredients to add and the instructions. I know Morgan loves to help me make pancakes, so hopefully this will be a hit with both parents as well as the kids.


I got the plates and cups at the dollar store, where I also got those red and white striped popcorn bags that we can divvy the popcorn into so as to eliminate fighting over it. We are pretty much set!