My Little Monkey turns 3!

Ava will be 3 in March, and I lamented and lamented over having a party.  So far we have just had a little family gathering with a hay ride and it's been so sweet.  Why do I want to mess with that?  I don't know, but let's just, ok!  So, off to the blog search for some creative ideas.

First came the invitations, I decided to stick with pre-K kids, as we have a couple of circles, and it could get out of hand really quick.  The budget is tight right now, so I am trying to keep it simple.  I got the initial idea from HERE. And it evolved from there.  This was the final product.

EVERY SINGLE TIME I try to do anything crafty, I end up having to do extra labor because I get ahead of myself and leave something out.  In this case, it was Ava!  And the fact that it is a birthday! That does not technically appear on the invitation.  But I had already printed them on the card stock, and as I have said before, the local craft store is on Jamaica time.  So, I went to the added trouble of making my own stickers.  Thankfully I had JUST bought a pack of do-it-yourself stickers and was anxious to give it a try.  So I incorporated a few elements from the invitation, and then added Ava and the fact that it was for her birthday!

Then came the idea for a banner.  I really loved this little monkey, so I will find a way to put him on each letter.

Then I started thinking about food, and again, went blog shopping.  I found the idea for an ice cream sunday party and made it banana split as monkey's and banana go together!  I won't be doing it that elaborate I can tell you that, but I like the offerings in the muffin tins, and I may make cupcakes and let them decorate with frosting and sprinkles as well.

Now for some preliminary "To Do" list.  While I have toddlers, that does not mean I am "hip" on entertaining a gaggle of them.  I am more the sit in the living room and socialize while the kids jump on the trampoline kind of mom.  So I did a little googling here for some advice.  Apparently it is better to have a bit of structure for toddlers.  I know we will have a hay ride, but a few simple games handy helps too.  So I picked Down on the Farm, where you make up a story about farm life and when kids recognize a word they make the sound, like duck or tractor etc.  I MAY need a script for this! I also chose Pair Them Up.  Here you gather items that come in 2's, like socks.  You give several "one pairs" to the child in a bag and have them look for the hidden other pair.  Whoever gets the most first wins.  But apparently with toddlers it is best if all win, so I will keep that in mind.

It was also suggested to have some soft children's music playing in the background.  I use Pandora a lot and created a Baby Einstein station that I will have playing.  And that's that!