The Theme of this Party is "Fire Hazard"

I love a good party, and a good challenge. This is why Gabby and I are well matched. Gabby knows what she wants and it doesn’t really matter whether the rest of the world thinks it is possible or not. Example: Last fall, Gabriella decided she wanted to be CORN for Halloween. No store or internet site offered such a costume (popcorn: yes, corn-dog: yes, CORN: NO.) and no amount of suggesting, hinting or bribing would convince Gabby that Tinkerbell or a kitten or even a pumpkin would be just as good. So…we made the corn costume.

*Facebook 10/31: Aaaand Gabby wins the Costume Contest at the Mall...obviously.

I was holding my breath as we asked Gabby what the theme of her birthday party would be this year. In the past, I have hosted Butterfly, Teddy Bear, Tea for Two, Fairy, Beach, Rainforest, Nutcracker and Rock Star Diva parties for Emily and Hannah. Sam has celebrated Train, Golf, Mickey Mouse, Square (yes, he was four), Bowling, Hard Rock, Harlem Globetrotters, and Football parties. But this was the first party I would get to throw for Gabby. She thought about her party theme for a long time until one day in February when she walked up to me and sat down at the table. She handed me my cake decorating book, crossed her arms and said, “Let’s talk about my birthday, Jo-ee (Gabby-to-English Translation: That’s me). You got any horsey cakes in there?” Okay. A horse birthday. I can do it.

“What do you want to do at your horsey birthday, Gabby?” I asked.

“Old McDonald Hide and Seek.”

“Oh. What else?”

“Big Horsey.”

“Okay, done. And?”

“Friends. Cake. Okay, Jo-ee?”

Okay. Sounds doable, right? But what is Old McDonald Hide and Seek? Once again, no internet search revealed any definition and no one had ever heard of such a game. We would have to make it up. I can handle this. This ain’t my first rodeo! (South Dakota to Boston translation: this is not my first time having this experience.)

“Jo-ee! Hay too.”

Oh, of course.

So I planned and shopped and organized and by the weekend of the party, we were good to go.

*Facebook 3/5: Shopping for Gabby's bday party-cake ingredients: check! Goody bags: check! Balloons: check! Hay bale: check! Wait-what?!?! That's how we roll.

In preparation for the party, I decorated little horse cupcakes, planned “Old McDonald Hide and Seek” and made Gabby trailmix for our guests (mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, pretzels, fruit loops, cheerios and gummy Dora the Explorers). I made goody bags of horsey themed items wrapped up in bandanas inside cowgirl hats. We bought Gabby an adorable little cowgirl outfit and all the other kids joined in with their plaid, their bandanas and their boots. I stuffed a hay bale full of prizes and candy and Bill dragged it into the middle of our living room. (He decided we had to put a tarp under it - so boring.) I hung the huge horsey cut out with the pink streamer tail in the family room. I covered every inch of the house in pink streamers, because if you’re planning something for Gabby, more is good. As I laced the streamers in and out of our light fixtures, I asked Bill to set up for the S’mores we were planning to make in the fireplace after the kids finished tearing apart the hay bale in the living room.

“So the theme of this party is…fire hazard?” asked my responsible, likes-to-think-things-through-and-not-burn-the-house-down husband. “How ‘bout I pick up the hay after that activity while you play McDonald Hide and Seek. THEN we can start the fire for the S’mores.”

This is why I picked him. I think of fun ridiculous ideas and he goes along with them, but he also guards against the circling emergency vehicles.

*Facebook 3/6: 2day's festivities include: "needle" in a haystack searching 4 prizes, pin the pink tail on the pink horse, horse cupcakes & Old McDonald's Farm hide + seek, Gabbi-fied trailmix + goody bags inside cowboy hats w/ bandanas! PS Bill is wearing a western shirt...he's getting a bandana 2, but doesn't know yet. Now where did I put those boots???

When Gabby walked into the house an hour before her party was to begin, her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. She stood still, shaking for almost a full minute. Then, suddenly, she started screaming! She ran around and around the hay bale and from room to room pointing at things and saying, “My Party? My Party!”

Gabby loved every minute of her Horsey birthday and I loved every minute too. Sometimes in this step-mother/step-daughter dance routine we’re learning, we step on toes and fall down, but this day was a perfect ten. And we didn’t burn the house down, either.

Next week is Sam’s birthday party. As he grows he gets “cooler” and less likely to want a party with a theme. “I just wanna hang out with my friends in the playroom and watch a movie okay? And can you order some pizza?” He is letting me make a cake, but I wasn’t allowed to buy fun plates or balloons. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s going to make me take the pink streamers down.