I am sitting here, exhausted, after organizing and hosting a pirate-theme pool party for my 6 year old son's birthday. As all moms know, a good party doesn't come together at the last minute. They take at least a day or two of planning. For this party, the preparations truly started last weekend when I spent a couple grey, muggy days making this pirate pinata.

Seriously! I actually made this myself! (Did you know papier-mâché paste doesn't have any glue in it? Neither did I until I used this recipe from Family Fun).

Pirate props came from the dollar store and iParty – and yes, I gave each of the kids a sword. And no one got stabbed or lost an eye!

I made the cake last night (I was going to go with store bought, but Anders asked me to make the cake), and decorated it this morning (after a last minute run to the grocery store to buy decorating supplies).

So the party went well. The kids had fun. No one drowned in the pool. The pinata survived long enough to let everyone whack it, then fell apart on demand.

All that is left now is the thank you notes. Which I've asked my husband to deal with. I'm going to bed.