Birthday Party Planning

I am late this year! I just started planning Sam's 5th Birthday Party!!!

Here is what we know: We will be having her party on Sunday September 1 at 2:00 PM. It will be at our house this year! Samantha wants to have a dalmatian theme, 90's I know, but it is what she chose. So we are going to do white table cloths with black plates. (It will look like spots. :p) And then of course everything else will be black and white and we will draw spots on her white balloons. Simple stuff. I can't find many really creative ideas, which I think is unusual. 

Also, since we are doing it at our house, we were going to rent an inflatable, but Samantha opted to be in gym AND dance instead. (There is just no way-living within our means, and not "sliding the credit card"-that we can pay for both activities and $150.00 for an inflatable. It just isn't going to happen, not along with birthday pictures and her birthday week, etc.) SO, she made the smart choice and opted for something that will last her all year long instead of something that would only last her a day. At first I couldn't think of what to do instead, because I don't like party games, but I didn't want to do just a pool or sprinkler. We decided to do an outdoor play party with hula hoops, jump ropes, balls, bubbles, chalk, and a sprinkler! 

I went to the Dollar Tree today and bought 3 of each type of toy. (She only has 6-10 friends coming and they can all do different things or take turns.) I also got all the plates, cups, napkins, etc. that we will need for 40 people. (We are only inviting 29, but I wanted to be safe in case she invited some dance friends or friends from her new groups this year.) Anyway, I only spent $20.00 on everything! Not bad for a whole party, of course not including the food.

Speaking of party food...we recently took Samantha to the doctor to get her tested for diabetes because sugar makes her stomach hurt and she gets tired. We were told that she does not have diabetes, but that she seems to have a sugar sensitivity-only to artificial sugars, and that really what we need to do if we don't want her hurting is to just stop giving it to her. The doctor said it could be caused by our recent change to ALL organic foods. (She has been having the problem for a few months now, but I started noticing it a lot more after we started shopping at Earth Fare.) It has only been a few weeks since then, but it has caused a major life style change, for the better. Before we really didn't eat much sugar, but we did get her ice cream from Sonic now and again and we would let her have the suckers at the bank or when grandparents gave her candy, but she can't have ANY of that anymore. Now I just have to make sure to carry organic suckers, which are decently cheap and healthy-with real fruits and vegetables, that way she can have candy when other kids around her get candy. (She really does love them too, which is even better.) We also just have to make sure not to do certain things like getting ice cream on the weekends or Oreos for a late snack. Knowing it will make Samantha sick makes it way less tempting to do those things.

Anyway, I said all that so that when I say what I am going to say next, I won't look like a complete health nazi...This year, I will be making an organic cake and having all organic snacks at her party. We will probably also buy natural soft drinks and juices so that Samantha can have whatever she wants. I am kind of anxious to see how it all turns out. I pretty much have all the ingredients for her cake and such. I will just need to buy the drinks and snacks a little ahead of time, and that shouldn't cost much. 

Outdoor Games-3 Hula Hoops, 3 Jump Ropes, 3 Balls, Bubbles and 2 Sets of Bubble Trays and Wands, 20 Pieces of Chalk, and 1 Sprinkler

Decorations-2 Table Cloths, 2 Sets of Plates, 1 Set of Spoons, 1 Pack of Napkins, 1 Pack of Cups