goodie bag alternative.

I hate goodie bags. There, I said it. I've come a full circle on this and here's my journey: growing up I had three younger brothers. When it came time for birthday parties, I generally opted or was voluntold to stuff goodie bags, to the extent that I considered myself an expert. I could balance the content colors/options with my homegrown organization system and could have them knocked out in no time flat.

Enter parenthood: as a parent who is throwing a party, you feel compelled to stuff these little bags with themed items that balance out candy, favor, gender, etc. As a parent of a child who comes home with one of these goodie bags, you're left with a bag full of crap that you'll sneak to throw away as soon as your kid goes to sleep. A plastic top that doesn't spin? Trash. A four-page notepad that is as big as a stamp and rips as soon as you open it? Trash. Erasers that a toddler will surely eat? Trash. Candy that will jack them up after you worked to wear them out at the party? In my tummy.

So I turned to my fellow parents online and (thank goodness) I'm not the only one out there. LOTS of parents feel the same way that I do! Sanity check, complete. As we prep for Nate's fourth birthday this weekend, I decided to take a stand and do a goodie bag alternative. I'm so happy with the results that ended up being a little over a dollar a piece (score!). My mission: provide something that can be used and then discarded easily, while not being a labor intensive project. This took about 30 minutes to assemble, with frequent distractions:

Materials: 
(some of these are completely optional and can be easily substituted for items already in your house)

• 4-packs of Crayola chalk (20 packs at $0.60 each) 
• 1 pack of double-sided tape, generic brand ($0.97)
• Multicolor card stock ($3.18) 
• Edging scissors ($5.99) 
• TOTAL: $22.14

 Directions:

• Shop for your supplies. Use some time and planning so that you can buy all of your materials on sale or with a coupon. Everything that I bought was either on sale and/or had a coupon. Craft stores are great places to find good deals. Also use generic brands whenever you can or want. 
  
• Decide how you want to convey your message on your product. I wanted this to be a 'thank you for coming' gift that also tied in with my son's theme (Scooby Doo). I used PowerPoint (2 slides per page) to make sure that I had uniform size and spacing, a fun font, and a stock photo that would easily print with black ink. 
• Cut out the designs printed on the card stock with your edging scissors 
• Affix each thank you message to the chalk with the double-sided tape (I opted to cover all of the labels that described the different themes of the chalk - easier to pass out at the party!)
  
  
• Voila! Enjoy your finished product! Pat yourself on the back for breaking the vicious goodie bag cycle and for cutting down on your expenses and other parents' clutter :)
  

nearly thirty.

Yep, that about sums it up. On the eve of my thirtieth birthday, of entering a new decade of life, I realize that I am precariously balanced between not wanting to let go of my twenties and embracing a new tier of adulthood. I'm at a place in my life where I drill into my son's head that he must say "yes ma'am" but cringe when anyone else calls me the "m" word.  My hair follicles are waiving a quite literal flag of surrender, as I've skipped having a few stray grays to having blindingly white hairs that I rip out in horror on a near daily basis. Lucky that I have thick hair, eh?

I hit a lot of life's milestones in my twenties: graduated with my Bachelor's, started my first "real" post-college job, got married, bought a house, had a baby, graduated again with a graduate certificate. Check, check, and check. I'm not sure what all of my goals were for my twenties, but I think I had a pretty great decade. Supposedly your thirties bring on stability but the fun continues because you're not that old. We'll see!

The planner in me wants to put a thirties to do list up for the world - but hopefully this new decade has a few good, unexpected surprises peppered in:

• Finish making babies: I really think I could go through one more pregnancy, max. I'm not one of those women who loves it. I'm forever in love with my kiddo and the selfish part of me doesn't want to divide that attention in too many ways - one more would be a perfect balance.
• Finish my Master's: in something. I have lots of grad coursework in about 3 different areas. It's commitment time! 
• Hone the art of mothering & marriage: practice makes perfect, or at least helps you keep things in good shape. Relationships require constant maintenance and I love working at these. 
• Learn how to cook: the older I get, the more unacceptable it is.
• Do more fun and spontaneous things: again, the planner and practical side of me wins. On one hand, I am organized and dependable; on the other hand, I live and die by the calendar. 

 Okay, that's enough introspection for one night and certainly for one post! Back to prepping for Nate's fourth (!?) birthday party. If my own birthday doesn't make me feel old, my kid's birthdays certainly do :) 

fourth of july.

We had the best weather for Independence Day this year: temperatures in the mid-seventies, no humidity, and not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful. After spending the day with Nate playing in our kiddie pool in the backyard, we headed to the old town part of our city for the local fireworks display. I am not a fan of going to D.C. even though we're so close (heat, traffic, motion sick on the Metro, no real restrooms), so this is the perfect alternative for us. Plus, our city supposedly puts on the largest show in Northern Virginia, so I'll take it.

Not too shabby for a city display, eh?

Unlike last year, Nate made it through the entire display without getting bored or asking to go home. Do I attribute this to being a year older and more mature, or the fact that he was sitting with one of his friends and my parents? Nah, it was the food. This little stinker got cotton candy and fries!

At least he drank water? Chris brought his CamelBak and I think my child must have drank half of it. The bladder on that kid!

 We managed to get a semi-presentable family photo after the fireworks went off. Amidst the sugar, running around, and watching other kids with sparklers he at least looked at the camera for a few seconds, smile optional.

Hope that everyone enjoyed the holiday and the wonderful weather that we were blessed with this year!