Planning ahead

The Little Guy turns 2 in October. Naturally, I've been planning the party for months. Okay, years. I've been planning a Sesame Street themed birthday party for years. Ages ago, before the Little Guy was even a twinkle in my eye, I bought Sesame Street invitations, plates, napkins, cups and decorations. Why would I buy these things four years before I had a child? 1. They were on clearance, and 2. I like to plan things in advance. Really, really far in advance.

Lately, and by that I mean just this week, not three years ago, my attention has turned to dates, times, menu and fun activities for the kids.

Menu: my ideas include easy recipes that can be made the night before or morning of the party. I'm thinking Italian Beef, mostacolli, Normandy mix veggies, salad, chicken Parmesan and some kind of pasta smothered in Alfredo sauce. Possibly some taffy apply salad.

Cake: this, more than any other birthday component, will drive me nuts. The cake will be homemade, naturally, but I'm thinking of trying a shaped pan. I have several Sesame Street character cake pans, but my decorating skills are not up to par to making the cake into a recognizable Sesame Street character. To become good enough so that the Little Guy and guests can tell it's Big Bird, and not a big yellow bus holding balloons, I'm going to have to practice. Probably twice a month for the next three months. At least. Just in case, I'll have cute little Elmo cupcakes in addition to the Big Bird/yellow bus cake.

Fun Activities: we know people who own a bouncy house, so if the weather is nice, we'll borrow that. I'm also planning a small and easy craft. Since this party will be a Sesame Street theme, each child will have the option of making a letter or number magnet. Get it? "This party is brought to you by the letters L, G, and the number 2." Gosh, I do love Sesame Street.

Of course, this craft will have adult supervision and include truly washable markers.

Stay tuned, folks. There's three months to get this party planned, organized and completely ready for the grand entrance of the Terrific Two's into the TMI Household.