Where is Harry Potter when I need him?

Emma Mae will turn 4 years old next month. We've always just given her a small family/close friend of the family birthday party. So this year I decided she could have a bigger party and invite whoever she wanted to. She is very excited. After much deliberation we have settled on a My Little Pony theme. Which is way less scary than the Jack Frost theme she wanted last week. I was not relishing the thought of making ice sculptures and painting all the children's hair white.

A few days ago I did what all good mommies who are planning birthday parties do nowadays. I got on Pinterest. And I actually found several cute ideas for the party. Everything from My Little Pony cake ideas to party favors and games. One mama even hired a magician for her kids party because in My Little Pony land "friendship is magic!"

My first thought for entertainment was to rent a bouncy house. Then I did some research and found that the smallest one I could rent would cost $125. That is ridonkulous. I could take 10 of her friends to a bouncy house for the afternoon for cheaper than that.

Then I started thinking about this magician idea. It was fabulous! We could hire a magician to come and entertain the kids and then all I would have to do is give them a piece of cake on their way out the door. So today I did some research on magicians. Now, I'm sure magicians are lovely people. But all of the pictures I looked at made these guys seem slightly creepy. Plus, their names were weird. There was Magic by Carlos whose website claimed that he had been doing magic for a long time. No offense, but I've been singing for a long time but it doesn't mean I'm good at it. The second guy was, well I don't remember his name now, but it had an MD. after it. Which they proudly stated stood for Magic Dude. He also claimed to have been voted Austin's best magician for 2013. Uh, excuse me? We are only five weeks into 2013. You must be pretty confident in yourself. I'm gonna go ahead and vote myself "mother of the year 2013" for the entire world.

Then I actually phoned a third person. He had a lot of good reviews, looked more normal than creepy and seemed to be the best choice. He was very nice and upbeat on the phone. He told me that he would perform for a group of 4 year olds from 45 minutes to 1 hour. He could also juggle, dance and throw machetes.?!? All for $225. And that was a discounted price for booking in February. He could bring in a balloon artist to make animals out of balloons for an extra $125. Sooo, yeah. We will not be having a magician at Emma Mae's birthday party this year. Unless Mike can go on YouTube and learn some tricks ASAP. I'll even buy you your own cape honey! We can call you Magic Mike. Oh wait, I think that name's already taken.

Instead I'm trying to figure out some different ideas. Like how to make magic wands for the kids to play with. I think we'll have a mani/pedi station set up and bedazzle the kiddos with sparkly polish so they can look like their favorite pony. Maybe some tattoes. And I might have to spring for the pink hair paint Emma wants to put in her hair to look like Pinky Pie. Still a lot cheaper than a bounce house or a creepy magician. Oh, I know! We'll tell the kids that Brady's a horse and offer pony rides! For $1! I'll make money off of this party yet.