Okay, fellow momma hens…! Who can relate? MY BABY IS GROWING UP TOO FAST!
I am SO shocked at how BIG my little one is. He turns three today, and I canNOT believe that the gummy-bear-looking baby from my sonograms is now a small child. Where did my baby go?
I didn’t believe my own parents when they said kids grow in the blink of an eye, but here we are, on my little guy’s third birthday, and I am in shock. Will I cry all day? Maybe. No judgement, please – you either have or will cry over a special little one yourself!
This past Friday, I threw my kiddo a backyard birthday party to celebrate this new year of life. The theme? Hot Wheels, of course. Because what former Barbie-obsessed, lipstick-wearing little girl didn’t dream of being a boy mom and playing with race cars? (Seriously, this life is nothing like I expected but full of way more joy than I could have dreamt.)
I’m a big fan of backyard, home-made parties. They aren’t perfect – there are pictures within this post of crooked tablecloths and imperfect cupcakes and handmade photo props – but they are full of intentional effort and love. I so enjoyed thinking up this sweet party especially designed for my boy, and every purchase, every craft, every cooked or baked item – it was all full of love from beginning to end.
Before I show y’all the pictures, I have to give a HUGE shoutout to the best guy on the planet – my Jake. This dude isn’t officially a stepfather yet, but YIKES has he put in the hours and the heart. He goes 100% on everything, and I didn’t know a partner could or would match my effort in every way, including in hosting my son’s birthday party. Jake was a champ – cleaning some of the house, doing yard work, setting up tables and a banner, being the pinata master, and blowing up balloons. He is my hero. (If I wasn’t in love before, I was by Friday night – seriously, even with the “oh my gosh, we have negative three minutes to be ready, get out of my way” vibe at 6:33 PM. He’s dreamy.)
So, onto the Hot Wheels party!
We ordered Hot Wheels branded invites, race car checkered cupcake flags, and a race car checkered banner online.
For each of the stations or activities, I brainstormed cutesy car-themed or race-themed titles. I printed them on blue paper and fitted them to format frames (the frames were around a buck a piece at Walmart, and I knew I could save and reuse them with different inserts for future parties). The titles were things like:
- Kids Party Favors: Thanks for RACING by!
- Fuel Station: Food & Drinks
- Trophies, Bells, & Whistles: Gift Table – Thank you!
- Pit Crew: Stick a Car to the Track
- Winner’s Circle: Take a Picture with the Birthday Boy
For food, I really wanted everything to be finger-friendly and kid-friendly. I prepared PBJ triangles, roast beef rolls, ham and cheese sliders, a pepperoni and cheese tray, a veggie tray with my cheesy bacon ranch dip, watermelon slices, individually bagged popcorn and individually bagged veggie straws, and cupcakes. We had juice bags and miniature waters to drink.
I thought the PBJ sandwiches were a good idea in case any kids (including the birthday boy) didn’t want ham sliders or roast beef rolls. I just made about 8-10 PBJ sandwiches, cut off the crust, and cut the remaining sandwich in half diagonally.
I decided on individually bagged sides – the veggie straws and popcorn – for two reasons: I liked the idea of limiting fingers in a large bowl and we had gluten allergies on our guest list, so having gluten free choices like popcorn, cheese and meet, veggies and fruit, seemed like a smart move.
For the cupcakes, I went with a basic yellow cake with chocolate icing. I added the cute race flag picks – two to each, crossed like on race day emblems – and I thought they looked really darling. I found the blow-up, number three cake topper at Five Below, and I thought it was an awesome addition. Jake picked up really cute candles and I added three on one of the cupcakes in the blue and orange that are traditional Hot Wheels colors.
Jake stuffed the pinata, from Amazon, with dum dum suckers – a treat that I knew most of my son’s toddler friends are allowed to have occasionally. Jake was also the pinata master of the evening – he put it up, pulled it down, and made sure the kids took turns. I love this picture of the birthday boy at bat – my dad, Pop-Pop, is helping him with his swing and Jake is manning the pinata – all my favorite guys in one picture!
For activities, I had snagged two smaller, thick, black poster boards at Hobby Lobby for under two bucks each.
I really love adding a homemade photo element to my backyard birthday parties, because I think it helps you remember to take photos. (Of course, I somehow didn’t get a single posed picture with the birthday boy this year, which completely bums me out, but I did get some cute ones of others with my little one, that I’m sure we’ll look back on fondly when he gets older.) For this photo prop, I made a frame. I cut the middle out (albeit a little sloppily), drew on road dashes with a white paint marker, used orange letter stickers to spell out “Racing to Age 3” on the top, attached my son’s initials to the bottom, and added wooden chipboard racecars from Hobby Lobby to the bottom corners. I think it turned out fairly cute overall! (And here’s a sweet picture of my mom and my little one posing after presents were opened.)
I used the second posterboard to make a sort of kids’ guest book. The birthday boy’s friends attached stickers of race cars to a “road” and had their parents help write their names next to their car.
With us finally having other kids at a birthday celebration (COVID got us last year, and the year prior we only had one other little one at our party), I did goody bags. Jake and I had so much fun picking out hot wheels specifically for each kiddo on the guest list, and then I bagged up chocolate-covered donuts and tagged them as “spare tires.”
For our present-opening spot, I had Jake blow up several blue and orange balloons and a Hot Wheels-specific balloon. We tied them to little man’s wooden rocking chair and had him sit in it while he opened his gifts. While this was probably my favorite little spot of the party, I am most proud that I only had to tell him once, before the party started, that we say “thank you” for every gift we open. He did a great job being appreciative and grateful, and it warmed my momma hen heart.
We had so much fun celebrating our sweet kiddo this past Friday, and I hope you’ve enjoyed a little dive into my Momma Hen Life in today’s blog! I’d love to hear about your own backyard parties and kid-themed events, so be sure to comment below!
Kate with a Twang 