Birthday Party Planning

My husband and I decided to marry in January because it was the one month nothing ever happened in our family. No birthdays, no other anniversaries, nothing. So we got married, giving us plenty of reason to celebrate on the 16th of January every year. Then we had kids, both of whom were born in January. Now we have a lot going on the first month of the year, which is a killer because after Christmas I want to crawl into a hole and hibernate till the daffodils bloom. But I can't because there are children's birthday parties to plan, cupcakes to bake and goody bags to assemble.

This year the kids are having a joint party. I just can't do two parties. The kids are destined to hate me for something later on in life and a joint party for two January babies seems like something I could handle being hated for twenty years down the line.

The kids decided very much on their own to have an arctic-themed birthday party. They want an all-white cake with penguins, seals and polar bears, white tablecloths, white napkins and white plates and utensils. Can you say "easiest birthday party ever?"

I'm thinking (and I say thinking as in "it all sounds lovely now, but who knows what it'll be like three weeks from now") of making a sheet cake, frosting it white and making a miniature marshmallow igloo. A friend at work suggested giving the guests safety scissors and letting them make their own snowflakes as a party activity. Then we could play games like "leave the ice for four months while your mate incubates an egg on his feet in extreme darkness" (you had to have seen March of the Penguins). Seriously, the kids could put a plastic egg on his/her feet and try to march across the room with it. Or do an ice cube pass where the kids try to pass an ice cube from spoon to spoon down the line. Or pin the harpoon on the baby seal tail on the caribou.

This party is practically planning itself.