Help me with my big and little birthday party questions!

Sounds good.

I'm not sure if my central point about giving/ receiving came through... If you are teaching that it is a good thing to give a thoughtful gift, it seems (to me) like a logical disconnect to teach that it is not a good thing to get a thoughtful gift. If people shouldn't want gifts, why give them gifts?

I do get and respect what you're saying overall. I think we agree on most of it, just a matter of where to draw the line; my arguments could probably be used to justify the sort of ridiculously expensive and choreographed birthday party that I find distasteful.

Have fun!

Boomer--

Great! I should have known you'd grasp Controlled Chaos.

Just have little gems like "Farmer in the Dell" and "Pin the Cutworm on the Tomato" on tap for games. You don't have to play them--just keep in mind that you might need Civilized Diversions.

Remember, once upon a time, "Farmer" and "Pin the" were both multi-generational games. You might need them to pull the party together.

Also multi-generational Musical Chairs (starting with accumulating the chairs) is a great ice breaker.

You might need Ice Breakers through the whole party. Be prepared!

I wish I could come.

Hold your dominion.

I know what you're saying, soz. It is a very fine line. I'm not asking them to not bring anything - just to bring seeds.

Civilized Diversions amidst the Controlled Chaos if a very sound idea. I am planning some activites that were suggested here. I've been cleaning out my garage so that we can use it as a rainy day play area. A little more moving and cleaning and stashing should make it a perfectly acceptable paint/pot/play area.

I really have a feeling that some of the bio-people will not come, knowing that the other "side" will be represented.

Here is what I have come up with for the inside of the invitation. I left the gift thing a little open ended-ish so we'll see what happens.



Should I request an RSVP?

yes.

know your enemy.... before they approach.

Very cool.

I like the icons you chose for the bottom.

That's more towards hint than teeth, I bet you'll get some non-seed gifts with seeds on the side too -- maybe people will call to clarify?

I like the color of the font, too. All very cheery for mid-winter blahs and looking forward to SPRING!

Just stopping by to say I love ya, Boomer. You're doin' great and I'm absolutely positive you'll pull it all off without a hitch. Everyone will enjoy themselves, and Mo will be exhausted at the end of the day and will fall asleep with a smile on his cute little face.

Love the picture with the flowers, as well as the inside of the invite. Personally, I think the seed gift suggestion is great. If I received that invite, I would build on it if I wanted to do more. (Pot, with tools, garden apron, and seed packets, or a really cool ladybug whirly-gig or other garden related stuff.) Or, if I couldn't afford to "personalize" it, I would feel better knowing a couple of packets of seeds was okay to bring as a gift.

I wouldn't fret too much over the wording. If someone wants to be picky / nasty, they will be no matter what. That's their problem, not yours.

Remember, kids enjoy playing games with adults--and structured action is very soothing for unsophisticated and insecure adults.

The invitations are printed. I used CJane's design (thank you again) but sampled some colors from the photo and replaced the original colors - the orange of the carrots, the blue of his eyes, the green of the plant stems - that seemed to bring it all together very nicely:



I caught the typos on the interior.....

Everything came out looking GREAT! I printed everything on photo quality cardstock - print, flip, print, fold - they look very professional!

They are addressed and stamped and ready to go. I still have about 12 hours to chicken out.

I was really excited to hear Mo, unpromted, telling mom's boyfriend and Aunt T about the garden party over the phone today and sounding very excited about the idea.

I REALLY want to thank all of you for your advice. I went with some of my original plans but you really forced me to think it through and that is invaluable.

Mo is spending the day with his grandma tomorrow so I'm going to try to get a lot of the shopping and stuff done (and get a for real haircut from my long lost hairdresser, Frank!!!! I'm so excited).

So far on my list:

Gummy worms and other bug candy
Pots, dirt, plants or seeds
Paint- waterproof
A big sign that can be pounded into the ground
A waterproof paint pen for everyone to sign the sign
Paint - regular*
Garden party looking plates
Disposable forks/spoons or sporks
Napkins
Party favors**

*I have this giant box waiting to be used for something. I though I could carve the box up, paint our pin the blank on the blank on this box, affix it to the wall with heavy tape and be set.

** I'm thinking of making a birthday blend of bubbles like I did for Christmas. A lot of the kids still have gobs of bubbles, I'm sure,but I still have gobs of bubbles too - a little food coloring... a new label..... What do you think?

Thomas junk - Harvy train, volcano for our little party.

I hope all of you know how much I love you!

Ooooh, aaaaaah. Gorgeous photo and flowers. Love the colors. It sounds like a great party is in the works!

Bubbles are always popular!

I know this is said often but it bears repeating, Mo is awfully lucky to have you in his life.

What a great idea to duplicate the colors for the flowers that
are already present in the photo, boomer. That's an invitation one can keep on the refrigerator or frame.

As for party favors, ToysRus has cute ones that are real cheap.

Target has some too, including cheap stretchy garden-type creatures (geckos and such, I think insects too).

Awww. Thanks soz but I'm the lucky one.

I'll let you know what people think of your artwork, CJane. I expect they'll be well recieved.

Now that I'm committed, it is almost fun to plan.

I've got a couple of weeks to come up with all the junk I need but I'll get a lot of it knocked out tomorrow.

I worked up a bubble lable because I know that will be an easy goody bag gift. I think I'll dye the bubbles green.....

That is awesome!

Thanks, FreeDuck.

Holy crap have I done some shopping today. I usually go to the grocery a couple of times a month and I think THAT is too much shopping so I've got a good six months worth under my belt today.

Here is how the party is shaping up:

Visors and pots to paint for the craft projects.

I bought some cosmo seeds since they germinate so quickly and I'll start those off in my little plant-starter greenhousey thing so they'll have little plants to pot too.

I found cool goody bag stuff. I decided to go with bubbles because that's easy, I just needed jars and wands. I found these cool hinged wooden snakes that are about a foot long - very cool. Some toy but still pretty nice binoculors. Some pellets that you drop into the bath and they turn into little bug sponges. Lots of rubber worms and bugs. I think that's it - that should be enough, shouldn't it? Maybe toss in some "gross" candy?

I found cool plates and napkins with a kind of pop-art, kid looking garden theme with bright cups.

I'll need to enlist Mo in making some simple decorations - maybe some construction paper chains or something. Make a pin the blank on the blank thing. Get some kid type music (Mo likes Queen and won't really listen to anything else). Clean out the garage and set up a craft area. Bake a cake.

I should be able to handle that in two weeks!

I feel like the little engine that could.

You can do it!

Sounds fabulous all around!

sozlet's pin the something on the something idea -- antennas on the caterpillar. (The caterpillar could be fun for you and Mo to make, just a lot of construction paper circles cut out and then taped together. Antennae could be pipe cleaners, maybe...)

Pin the antlers on the caterpiller is a great idea! I wish the sozlet could come to the party. And her mamma too, of course. And everybody else here! Wouldn't that be fun?

The initial reaction to the invitation was very positive - especially from grandpa (it feels so weird to call these people grandpa and grandma since they are about my age). Grandma asked if she could bring him a worm farm and that sounded too good to pass up so I said okay.

It was kinda cool that she asked, huh?

I dyed and decanted the super happy fun bubbles tonight. They turned out his rather beautifully grotesque shade of green.

I'm feeling a lot more confident.

Don't forget some butterfly and bird decorations. No garden is complete without some colorful motion. How about some gnomes?

Sounds like a grand party to me!

Can I come too?

The worm farm is great!

Very cool that she asked.