Tyson's 7th "ALL-SPORTS" Birthday Party

Another year has passed and I was able to find the time, energy, and “moo-la” to bless my children with a birthday party. Tyson’s parties are getting a tad easier because I no longer have to entertain the mommies and daddies too. This year Ty requested a sports themed party. I took the initiative to concentrate on the four sports he enjoys playing… baseball, basketball, football and occasionally soccer. As usual, I focused on the three most important topics of a party… 1. INVITES (it sets the tone), 2. CAKE/CUPCAKES (every child looks forward to this part of the party), and 3. FAVOR BAGS (I love giving each child a long lasting memory, of the party, to take home.). All of the other details in between were also needed to create this special party, but I put most of my energy on those three.

Invite: The children received a invite to a sporting event and a personalized jersey to wear to the party. It arrived in a ticket master envelope, making this event seem even more realistic. The boys were told they have been recruited to play on a team. All twelve boys were divided into two teams to create opposing teams.

Darren, Brett, and Ty painted the backyard to replicate a real football field. This was a really neat detail. All of the boys “oooo-ed” and “awe-ed”, one by one, when arriving. A special thanks to Brett for taking time out of his day to make this happen.

My favorite detail aside from the invites, cupcakes and favor bags, was the “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” snack table. Most all of the items came from the dollar store, thank goodness, because I had to buy each of them x 12 boys. It contained cotton candy, cracker jacks, popcorn, big league chew, sunflower seeds and peanuts. The kids were told that they could feast off of it, at their leisure, but that they were only able to have one of each item. My favorite part of this table’s “look” was the referee fabric used to make this table really “pop”. The adults were so impressed by this. One momma even said, “Girl, you put Martha Stewart to shame.” HAHA. Sweet, but NOT QUITE.

The food we served was similar to what you would get at a stadium: soft pretzels, hot dogs, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, and fresh fruit (okay that one is not served at a stadium, haha.). The boys ate like birds. I think they were just too excited and way too hot. Next time maybe I will just serve popsicles. J. We were sure to serve refreshing ice cold water and we also had a large cooler filled with every single color gatorade offered.

A few other tiny details that made this party memorable…As the boys arrived, they were asked to personalize a pair of “eye blacks” and place them underneath their eyes. This made them look like real football players. I also provided some fabric pens and while we waited for all the guests to arrive, I had the boys sign the back of each shirt. This will be a wonderful piece of memorabilia for them in the years to come.

At the party we played on array of games: bobbing for sports balls, pop the balloon relay race, whiffle ball relay race, water kickball, “pad’em up” toilet paper race, free throw shot competition, flag football, silly string war, water balloon fight and so much more. Each boy went home with at least three great prizes.

To cool these sports enthusiasts down, Darren and I purchased an inflatable water slide. This was the BIGGEST hit of the party. WELL worth the $200 that we spent on this “ON-SALE” item. The boys played on it for at least 1.5 hours.

The Cupcakes: As if the “take me out to the ball game” snack table wasn’t enough junk, we of course had to sing “Happy Birthday” to the birthday boy. Afterwards, the boys were able to enjoy a sports-themed cupcake. Wrapped in a referee cupcake “wrap” and topped with a sports fondant topper were these adorable cupcakes. The boys argued over which sport-themed cupcake they wanted. Whoops! I should have known that would have been an issue.

The Favor Bags: Each guest went home with a ARRAY of sports goodies including a water bottle, a night light, a pack of playing cards, a lollipop, a washcloth, a wallet, a hacky sack, a wrist band, a notepad, a box of chocolate, and so much more.

Ty had an absolute blast and I think it’s safe to say his buddies did too. Many of the mommies said their son went home and passed out from exhaustion. The night before the party I was up decorating until 2:35 am and then set my alarm for 4:35 am to continue decorating. Needless to say, I too was WIPED OUT!!!!!

Enjoy the entire photo album if you are willing!!!