FOUR!

I will share with you all, my recipe in how to make a 4 year old have a great Birthday Party.  It was easy, inexpensive and yet we all had lots of good food, good laughs, and the memory of Bubba so happy at his fourth Birthday party is planted so perfectly in my memory. 

Here we go........

The who:  He wanted to invite all his family and everyone from preschool.  Don't judge.  I said no.  We invited family only, which lucky for us includes his cousin that is 2 years older than him and his other cousin that is Marmalade's age.  Perfect playmates!  The noise decibel in the house from 5 children is way more than anyones ears should have to endure on a daily basis but, we can handle it (barely) for a couple of hours.  I can't imagine the noise level with more children involved!  I also needed to be nice to myself and make this party a breeze.  Having 3 kids is a challenge everyday enough on it's own.  No need to invite everyone in town and make it harder.  Plus, he had a great time with "just us."  We ended up with 5 kids and 9 adults.  Perfect. 

The what:   Let your child pick the theme.  He happened to pick a "Seashore-Spongebob" party most likely because we had just returned from a trip to the beach when we talked about it but hey, who doesn't love the shore?  Great idea, Bubba.

Then when:  A Sunday afternoon sounded like a good fit.  Right after Marmalade's nap.  Don't try to have a party when your children usually nap.  That is not fun for anyone. 

The where:  At our home.  It is easy and free.  We haven't had the chance to have many parties there because we have been in a state of remodeling for years.  Things are pretty much wrapping up in the rooms we would need the most to host a party, so it was a great chance to enjoy and share our new space.  We still need to redo the kitchen and bathroom downstairs,  but things were good to go in the living and dining room,  and the kitchen was functional so it worked out. 

The how:  Search Pinterest for some clever ideas and try using things around the house that you already have to keep the cost down.  

Blue streamers from the Dollar Store makes the windows into an ocean.

Spongebob banner and table clothe from Target, crab, dolphin, turtle stuffed animals that they kids had work great as accents around the room.

Buckets, shovels, blue napkins, cups from the Dollar Store.  Pineapple center piece that Bubba picked out at the grocery store is the perfect finishing touch to the table.  We added a Spongebob toy that came in a Happy Meal.  We served up chocolate Goldfish, Cheddar Goldfish, Krabby Patty Gummy candy, Swedish Fish, popcorn, shrimp cocktail, a veggie platter, and cookies to munch on.  We also got 3 party pizzas from the grocery store and added some veggies to dress them up. 

Fish in a fishbowl.

Add one goofy Sister.

Add one little Sister who has no clue what was going on.

A few presents!  By the way, Goodbyn makes fantastic lunch bags.  Ecological and economical accessories to make packing a lunch easy and fun.  Plus you can buy dishwasher safe stickers to decorate the reusable plastic containers.  He loved it!!

Add some Monster trucks.

And a little something for the Sister too.

A cousin to help unwrap and show off the gifts.

Add family around to "ooh and aaah."

And don't forget to make the Krabby Patties!  Use this recipe.  I only bought one container of frosting rather than two and it was just enough.  And we used flax seeds instead of sesame seeds because we had some handy.    It made 24 Krabby Patties.  Bubba helped assemble them and had a great time.  Order up!

Cousins all in a row eating the Krabby Patties.  Yum yum. 

Grammy and baby.

And there you have it.  A Seashore-Spongebob Party for all to enjoy!  A half an hour at most of cleanup after every one left, and the house was back to normal.  Easy peasy and Bubba had a great day.  We all did.