A Shark Party

Edison is five--FIVE! In our family, when our kids turn five, we offer them a choice between $100 or a party. If they choose the party, they have to stay within the $100 budget and plan it themselves (With mom's help. Mom also has to follow the $100 budget which is very hard to do.)

 For his invitations, we used these shark squirters we found on Amazon. We rolled up the invitation and put them in its mouth. Here's what the invite said:

"Edison is turning FIVE, (we hope you survive...)

It's YOU we invite to stay for a BITE.

(Hold the shark close to your eyes and SQUEEZE tight for a surprise.)

There were two little guys that legitimately squirted themselves directly in the face, to Edison's delight.

Most of what we used for the party we found on Amazon. Love that Amazon.

Edison chose red velvet cake because it looked like BLOOOOOD. 

I used a new vanilla buttercream recipe I found from Cake by Courtney that made my husband want to marry me TWICE. It was so good.
Little Lottie helped me decorate with the blue and white beads.

 My lovely mother-in-law came to my rescue and made this watermelon shark that was a hit. Also, there was only ONE Ken doll in all of Walmart and he now belongs to Edison. He didn't care much about that.

 Fish 'n' chips. Ha!

 Gummy sharks. Simply irresistible for both old and young.

 Goodie bags were pretty simple and the kids LOVED the shark tooth necklaces.

 I had my older girls hide these leftover sharks all over our backyard over at our house so we could walk the kids over and play outside. Did I mention that this entire party was taking place in our 3rd floor 800 square foot apartment? 

 It felt so good outside, I just kept making up more games to keep us outside. I put Hazel on the spot and asked her to work her hula hoop magic.

 Little bit of "Fish, fish, shark..." Then charades, then Shark freeze tag...

 His sister ended up blowing it out for him just before he did. She said she was only trying to help.

 Proof that you can still throw a big party in a tiny space. I love these parties and over the years I've really learned a lot. I've learned to not take everything out on my husband when things go wrong, I've learned to relax and take less pictures and play more. I've bought more and made less, and today I found myself at the bottom of a dog pile of all these little boys and thought, "THIS. This is why it's worth the work."

A special thank you to Vicki, for helping out in countless ways and just for being there.

Happy Birthday sweet boy of mine.

I love you forever.