How to Throw a (better) Birthday Party

The boys' party turned out very well, but there's always room for improvement, right? Here are a few notes that will hopefully help me execute the next party better.

Party Prep

• Create 2 seperate shopping lists - one for Sam's Club and one for the grocery store.
• Allow enough time for the Sam's Club trip FIRST. Add anything unavailable at Sam's to the other shopping list.
• Be sure to buy Fruit & Veggie trays at Sam's Club - they were less than half the price of the grocery store and served us well!
• Plan an activity for Craig and the kids to do together so that they are occupied while I prep.
• Run the dishwasher and EMPTY IT before the party, so it's ready to be filled again when the party is over.
  

Menu

• 8 lbs of ham is a lot! Freeze half right after slicing.
• Buy more Swiss cheese (we ran out within minutes! Who knew my family likes Swiss so much?)
• Buy fewer salty snacks.

Party time!

• Remember to hand out favors to the guests!
• Try to determine if any guests need to leave early (my cousin and her family had to leave just as we let the kids open some gifts - I wish I would have known she had to leave so that we could have started things earlier).
• If it's a nice day (and it was), put outdoor toys in an obvious and accessible place for guests to use. We were scrambling for bubbles mid-party.

Clean-up

• Disposable table cloths are our friend.
• Somehow steal a few minutes to vacuum - even if it's late (perhaps have Craig get the kids ready for bed?). We found a few ants the morning after the party!

Hopefully I'll come back to this post before Maddie's birthday party in May!