the angry birds party

I can't deny it any longer--we have a four year old in the house. Shepherd turned 4 on September 13th, and his party was just last Saturday. His party was at The Little Gym, and let me just say this: BEST DECISION EVER.

On his actual birthday, the whole family (except me) had a cold, so we had a low-key celebration at our house. He woke up to balloons in his room, and we baked funfetti cupcakes, sang to him after dinner, and he opened his presents from us.

The day after his birthday, he got to take a special treat--Eat n Park Cookies--to share with the class. Not only that, but his teacher lets parents come in for the last 15 minutes of class to read a story and participate in the celebration. Shepherd picked out Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 to share with the class, and he got to stand next to me as I read. The birthday crown from his teacher really helped make him feel special too--he didn't take it off until bedtime!

The big day, in my opinion, was the best birthday party we've had yet. And the least amount of work. I booked The Little Gym during their Christmas in July sale, so we got a huge discount on the party. I'm debating having Zoey's party there too, but that's a discussion for another day. All previous parties have been backyard BBQs, and have really stressed me out. There was the 2nd birthday party when I forgot to put the pork in the crockpot for the sandwiches. And I'm always worried what people think of our house. And it's small. What if it rains. Yeah. I stress. All we had to do was bring cake, which I ordered, juice boxes, party hats, and some decor. Some people do more, some do less. They set the tables, entertained the kids, and cleaned up. SCORE.

So the cake was the main attraction of the party, and I think they usually are. I spent months on Pinterest researching Angry Birds parties--mainly because I wanted to find an acceptable cake. When I was ready to order for the party, my old standby bakery told me they were only allowed to use an edible image kit for Angry Birds because of copyright restrictions. Well, thank God for Twitter, am i right?! Michelle referred me to Mindy, who made Shepherd's AWESOME cake and cupcakes. And yes, it was just as delicious as it was beautiful. Go here for more details.

I was thrilled to find the above birthday banner on etsy. It fit the theme without being overstated. Now that Shepherd has Angry Bird sheets, I almost want to turn it around so the "happy birthday" doesn't show and hang it in his room. Almost. The etsy shop has since closed up shop, which is sad, but a trend I noticed on etsy is that you need to search by "really mad birds." ;)

And finally...the one thing I DID make--the party hats. I found this tutorial, not even on Pinterest, just through old-fashioned google. I was looking for face templates for another DIY project that fell through, and this project popped up. I'm so glad it did, because the kids looked hilarious and adorable in their bird hats. I'm not much for crafts, but if it only involves cutting and double-stick tape, sure. I can do that.

I wish I would have done something about my camera settings in there, but the kids moved so dang fast. I still have a lot to learn!