Shout it, Shout it, Shout it out loud....

A dear friend of mine threw a fantastic birthday party for her son's 5th birthday. He and my kid have been friends since they were infants together at daycare and are two weeks apart in age. Her son requested a KISS rock-and-roll party. Well, that would be a feat to get the actual band to play (at a cost effective rate) at a five year old's birthday party in Richmond, VA, so she did the next best thing and secured the Diggity Dude's to play for a half an hour at our neighborhood's recreation center.


Per the invitation, parents and kids alike were instructed to come dressed as their favorite rock and roll performer. A few parents did in fact pay homage to some hair bands of the '80's while another was dressed as Madonna in the Lucky Star days. I along with a few others wore concert tee's to show props to our fave bands.

My husband however did not have time to get into costume as he was busy becoming KISS's replacement make-up artist. My kid and a few of his close buds had decided that they are in fact KISS rock'n roll (as they like to say) and he has been given the honors of portraying Peter Criss, the former drummer.

Needless to say the party was a success. We (I helped the day of with decorations and management) had the hall plastered with rock band posters, streamers and of course a craft table where the little groupies could decorate their own cardboard guitar. In addition, there were accessories such as tattoos, guitar necklaces and rock handkerchiefs for the kids to adorn.

The dance party lasted for a record one hour, which was the perfect time before everyone came crashing and a huge cost savings as well. The Diggity Dude's also covered the KISS song "I wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day." The dance floor was a rockin'.

Oh, I almost forgot, the invite also instructed to bring a donation to the children's hospital (books or puzzles) in lieu of a present.

A good time and a good cause.

Opening Day

Every year before my son's birthday I realize how much I enjoy planning his party. The real challenge is doing so on a limited budget, all the while being loads of fun for all of us. After his 3rd birthday and $250 later, I had a moment of clarity. Why do I feel compelled to spend so much money on a kid's party that he won't remember in a few months?

So the next year, I decided enough was enough and began the party planning myself. For his 4th birthday party he announced that he would like to have a superhero party. Here in lies the challenge. I always feel the need to have a party that is creative, don't ask me why, I just like the challenge. So, how can I make this somewhat original and incorporate the one thing that he is interested in?

So this was the plan:

- Create our own postcard invites that were mailed - infuse some personal style of our own

- Order random superhero, specifically Superman paraphernalia, from the Interwebs
- Devise some activities to keep the little munchies occupied

- Only allow 10 total kids, including my own funky monkey

- Find a cake: because I am incapable of baking anything that will end up looking or tasting good

- Subtly try and rid the world of the goodie bag for party attendees, by incorporating take-a-ways in the activities or not provide anything at all (not sure if I am ready to take that mom stance just yet, but slowly working on it)

In the end, we had an excellent party, good fun for not too much moolah. All the chillens came dressed in their fave superhero costume and played pin the "S" on superman and took turns whacking a superman logo pinata along with some free play of course. Good times!

Here are some pics: