A Simple Birthday, Actually Two

There is a week in March that is just full of birthdays for my family. First my husband's, which I wrote about in SHMILY and German Chocolate Cupcakes w/Choc. Caramel Filling. Then 3 days later is my oldest son's birthday and then four days after that is my birthday. It can get pretty crazy around here but at least our house is full of yummy goodies for awhile.
In this world of so much media and social media it is easy to want to go overboard with birthday celebrations. I mean have you seen some of those kids parties on Pinterest?! We try to not go too crazy around here but have fun and make the birthday kid feel special.
This year I really wanted to throw my son DP a Magic Tree House themed party. I came up with the idea while writing the blog post for his last birthday (A Very Buggy Birthday). My son loves the Magic Tree House books!
I was thinking a multi-layer cake in the shape of a tree house (I figured this was still in my cake skill level because it would just be square cakes) and a scavenger hunt featuring some of the eras the characters in the book had visited. I was envisioning an awesome party definitely Pinterest-worthy until my husband burst my bubble.
He reminded me that we had no free Saturdays around my son's birthday. He suggested we go bowling until he remembered how many young children we have. So we (my husband, son and I) decided that my son would have some friends spend the night and just have cake.  It turned out he had his cousin spend the night the day before the "party" and a couple of friends come over after church with their younger brothers. And one of those friends spent the night that night.
And you know what? They had a blast! They ran around outside, helped us move the chickens, built birthday presents, and didn't miss my fancy cake or games at all.  We might have been able to squeeze in the Magic Tree House party I was envisioning that afternoon but I am so glad we didn't.

My mom saved the day and make this
Magic Tree House Cake
Sorry about my poor picture
taking, we were in a hurry
to eat cake!

Love his reaction to
Aunt Kerry and
Uncle Lance's gift

We kept my birthday pretty simple too. I asked my husband to rent "Wreck-It Ralph" and bring home pizza. He bought the movie instead, which is awesome since we loved it, and we had a great time chilling, eating pizza and watching the movie.

My cutie Jet

My mom and kids had fun making a huge "30" sign and hiding sticky notes with "30" on them all over the house. I guess they didn't want me to forget how old I was turning. (Like I could!)

Made from magazine pages

I also had so much fun with the Pinterest party we threw on our Facebook page. The party board was filled with some really awesome pins, and giving away stuff is always fun! Thank you to everyone who participated.

The Party Board

Do you prefer simple parties or all-out ones for your kids? or for you?

Check out our link parties here.