I usually give my two sons one b-day party together. My oldest that will be turning ten has a b-day tomorrow and my youngest has a b-day the 2nd of Aug. He will be turning seven. On the day of their b-day I usually give them a card, small gift and make a cake just for us. Then on the day of their joint b-day party I try to go all out. I have a theme, balloons, party favors, games, and of course cake and ice cream. One of the problems I'm having is that since their b-days fall in the months that they don't have school they usually don't have alot if any friends to show up. They play baseball and see some of their friends but still not a whole lot of people show up on their b-day. Basically we just have family which comes to another problem some of them don't like each other and you can feel tension. I am totally stressed on that day trying to make everything perfect and it usually turns into a flop. This year is going to totally stress me out because my dh isn't getting paid alot( he works production pay). His machine is constantly breaking down or they are running out of parts etc. I don't want to disappoint my kids but I am going to have to budget if this is going to work. I don't even know what date or where I'm going to have this party. Usually by now I'm more organized. If anyone has any ideas it would be appreciated.

Why don't you go somewhere special as a family instead of throwing a party? For my dd's 3rd bday we went to Great Wolf Lodge for two days and it cost the same as throwing a huge party does! I would still do balloons and cake on their bdays, not combined. And I wouldn't throw a big party, since you are on a budget. I don't know where you are located, but I'm sure there is something special your family could do to celebrate together and it would be more cost effective! Don't stress, then it sucks all the fun out of it for everyone!

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale

You could do a party at the park. No decorations, just a couple ballooons to say the party is here. If u time it right all u need is cake and I would skip ice cream. My kids are in august and sometimes we have only a few kids and other times I have alot. I do call/email with a reminder b/c of summer schedules. My middle dd's best friend has missed every bday since they became best friends(2 yrs now). But she knows alot of people are out of town.
Ohhhhh, what about a wet and wild party in your backyard? HTH, not sure that it did.
edited to add: when we did a water balloon fight and the end we gave everyone baggies and who ever collected the most scraps wona prize. we did 3 for differnt age categories. I weighed the baggies on my home scale.
allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time

My son's birthday is Sept 6, right when school is starting back and at labor day. We did a party at the park with just cake, had a few balloons and a themed tablecloth and pinata. I gave each of the kids a themed goody bag and they filled it with the candy from the pinata.

Another birthday I had at a state park that has a beach and a lake. I picked up a bunch of beach balls and sand toys on clearance at the dollar store and the kids played in the sand, water and playground. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs and had sodas. But just cake would be fine too. By the time we got to the cake the kids just wanted to go play on the beach.

Maybe a pirate Theme in the backyard. Have the kids dress up, have pirate craft like a pirate hat or sword or eye patch or loot bag, make a treasure map to the'treasure chest' you buried with goodies(candy,etc). HTH

I'll tell you what i just told another friend today.....Children don't need huge birthday parties every year. IF money is tight then just invite a few friends out to a movie or have a party at your house with a couple kids. You could just have the little parties on both of their birthdays and maybe get them a little bit nicer gift.
When did it happen that kids had to have a huge party every year? I don't remember that being the norm when i was a kid.

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Jodie....Wife to Andrew (1995)
Mommy to Riley (2000) and Wyatt (2003)

I want to give my kids so much more than I had as a kid. I guess I'm wanting the party for myself also. My dh says we didn't have all that growing up and we turned out fine. He just wants us to spend their b-days going to a movie or something as a family. I feel we can do that on what we call family fun days. Financially it isn't looking that great for us now but I want to do something for my son's b-day. I am baking him a cake and I bought him a portable cd player because his broke a couple days ago. I also got him a Tony Hawk cd case. I would love to be able to get more but I really think he'll be happy. I know some of the family won't feel like they have to get him anything if their's no b-day party and that's sad. I am hoping to set aside a little money each week and purchase them some bunk beds. I want to really fix their room up. That was going to be part of their combined b-day gift. I was going to use their b-day money they got from relatives too every little bit would help.

You could still have a small get together with just family. Maybe a few balloons and your cake. Until my kids start school they only get family parties. And even when we do invite friends only one shows up. Also, I don't know if this works for boys, but on year was really tight so I let my daughter have a friend sleepover-which never happens around here. The girl came over after dinner, I bought some chips and sodas and other munchies, and a music cd, they played in my daughter's room all night. I let them stay up as long as they wanted and sleeo in the next morning. You could rent movies too for the older son.
They had a blast and I spent maybe $25.