My Superheros are 4 and 6!

Last Saturday we celebrated the boys' birthday with a superhero bash.  It was tons of fun, honestly.  I think i found the perfect birthday-party-at-home formula.  Drop-off for all the parents that aren't your closest friends so you can focus on the party and not entertaining other adults; add 6 family and friends that know their way around your house, pitch in without asking, and have lots of simple but fun activities.

After briefly flirting with a CareBears party a few months back the boys chose a superhero theme for the party.  I started doing some online research and compiled some great ideas that guided our party*.

It came down to the last minute, but the boys finally let me take their picture, outdoors, in decent light, in full superhero regalia.  I used this, along with picnik to create really simple invites which i printed at home on photo paper i found at the thrift store (4 in stack of paper for .80$!)

Guests arrived and their custom capes were draped over the back of their chair.  They could choose any color arm warmers they wanted, along with a mask.  I intended for them to color and decorate them, but not so much.  There was also batman coloring book sheets, word puzzles, etc. on the table which kept 3 kids totally occupied and happy.  The other 9 ran around like superheros of course!

The party started at 11 am and by about 11:30 we headed upstairs for the Superhero Training Academy.  There was the "batcave" of course, in which each child had to crawl through a tunnel and retrieve a glow stick from the inside of the cave (small tent in a closet).  Another spot was Spiderman's Web-Jumping practice and finally there was "spray the villians."  I think all a hit.  We put the kids into two groups-- the younger ones and the older ones and roughly rotated.

Then it was back downstairs for lunch at almost noon.   Hotdogs, fruit, veggies, cheese and crackers.  Nothing cute, just easy finger-food which provided something for everyone.  Because while almost all kids love hot dogs, Silas does not. ("They make my breath smell stinky.")

I believe there was a little free play and then an impromptu dance party which was a huge hit.  We played freeze dance with two songs and the kids had a blast.  Definitely going to work this into all future parties.  At this point i lost track of time but it was about time to head down for the pinata.

 The weather was really terrible and the only upside was that it was predicted that way well in advance, so we didn't even try to set things up outside.  The cape pinata was awesome, but i need to remember that all those kids are stronger than i think.  A few didn't get a chance to whack it, but all was forgotten by the time they were scooping up candy.
A visit from the cupcake thief who claimed to have eaten all the cupcakes, and then it was time to head upstairs for happy birthday and cupcakes.  We had about 20 minutes after the kids finished eating and i realized i had forgotten one activity.  So up the stairs we went again.  Each kid got a unique superhero card, they had to find 3 more just like it hidden all around the room.  I set it up as a cooperative game, there was no prize for finding them fastest, you just got to keep the cards, and help the others that couldn't find there's yet.  Sorry Owen, we still haven't found your 4th card!

Then back down for good and right on time the drop-off parents came to retrieve their precious little ones.  Everyone got a "goody bucket" with their glow sticks, gloves, mask, stickers, little superhero blank book, and their notecards.  They also got to take a balloon-- one or our birthday traditions.  And don't forget the capes!

*
Superhero images for notebooks and notecards
Goody bag idea
Capes, Hats and Arm Warmers
Invitation idea
Homemade notebooks
Paper bunting
Superhero Training Academy, including spray the villain



 

Right Now

:: celebrating Silas' last day as a 3-year old
:: anticipating his 4th journey around the sun tomorrow
:: planning a whole day in pajamas with nothing on the docket but playing with new toys, friends, and eating the birthday boys' favorite meal, pesto!

Frog and Toad Outtakes

Maybe the title is misleading, but i thought i'd do another post more targeted at family and friends to relate how the party actually went.  If you've stumbled onto this post looking for frog and toad party ideas click here.


When the boys first guest, arrived i told Henry he needed to greet his guest and welcome her to the party.  These formal social interactions often leave him him hiding his head but he jumped up, put his arm around her and asked if she wanted to play his new game (Kids On Stage).  After a few more kids arrived i asked if they were interested in decorating some frog and toad houses.  They were very enthusiastic and jumped into the decorating process with Nonna. 


Nothing lasts for long of course and they were off to play in the playroom with everyone else that had arrived at that point.  I moved a few of them outside for games and had a blast watching the kids play and make up their own bean bag toss games.  Silas headed out with us but didn't want to participate.  He seemed like he was freezing, but he refused to put on a coat and pretty contentedly sat with Nonna.

The kids seemed like they were getting too cold so we moved folks back inside for hot dogs which were ready.  All the parents were helping the kids get settled with their plates and i assisted one of Henry's friends.  She asked for just a plain bun.  I assumed she meant no ketchup or mustard, but no, actually she just wanted the bun no hot dog.  Okey dokey!


While all the kids were eating Silas grabbed his guitar and decided to do two complete songs for everyone.  Usually he'll sing a few bars or strum a few "notes" and then get shy.  This time there was so much hubub and no one drew attention to him and he performed two complete numbers.  He had the time to do this because he declared that he didn't want a hot dog at his party, he wanted to eat peanut butter and jelly after the party was over.  Okey dokey!

Then we herded the cats... i mean guests outside where they got to listen to a frog and toad story called the "corner" about searching for spring around every corner.  While Nonna was reading the story there is a part where frog (or is it toad) looks for spring but just finds pebbles instead.  Someone said something about pebbles could hurt us.  And someone else chimed in with an awesome non-sequitor about how cacti can hurt us also.  Then another little girl said, "actually i have a cactus!"  Somehow Nonna got them back to listen to the rest of the story and when they finished it was time for their own search for spring.

 
Silas helped me put out the clues which had the kids running from the front of the house to the very back and then back again.  We almost weren't quick enough and as usual i think i could have done double the clues and the kids would have liked to keep on hunting.  After it was over they continued to hide the flowers for each other.


I finally ripped them away with the promise of cupcakes and we went in to sing happy birthday and blow out candles.  Both boys seemed to love this part even though Silas looked a little freaked out about all the singing directed at him/them.

After cupcakes were done it was about 5:30-- two hours after the party start i was starting to relax and was handing out in the kitchen with lots of other guests.  Silas was there too and loudly said... "when is everyone going to go home?"  If that didn't give folks a hint i don't know what would and after a bit guests trickled out. 

Frog and Toad Birthday Party

Just wrapped up our frog and toad birthday party for Henry's 5th and Silas' 3rd birthday.  I wanted to try to get an overview of the party and the stuff i made-- then i'll give friends and family the rundown of highlights and the funny bits.

We decided back in January to do a frog and toad party and i started to work doing web research to see what kind of ideas i could unearth.  The only hit i got that was exactly what i was looking for was this one.  This got me brainstorming and much searching and scheming later we came up with the following plan for the party.


For decorations i bought blue sheets to cover the tables, cut out lily pads from green card stock, and made little origami frogs to decorate.  I made cattails for the vase i put on our front step.  No matter how much searching i did i couldn't find any ideas or other crafters that had tried to make cattails-- so i invented my own.  I wrapped bamboo garden stakes with a 5" piece of batting several times, and then used knee-highs to cover the batting.  I poked a small hole in the toe of the knee high-- put the stake through the hole, pulled it down over the batting, and then double the knee high back over to make it a little darker.  I just tucked both ends into the top and bottom to make it look neat.


I also made a new birthday bunting that we hung up in our kitchen.  I can't find where i read how to do this but i just cut fabric into triangles using pinking shears, then sandwiched them between a ribbon that i folded over on itself and stitched with a zig-zag stitch.  This is one of the easiest hand-made decorations you could ever do and they look so festive!  And next year they'll be ready to deploy again!


Guests arrived and were directed to our kitchen where i had pre-painted and assembled "frog and toad houses" for the kids to decorate.  I saved cracker boxes, cereal boxes and the like, stuffed them with newspaper to make them stand up, used painters tape to "peak" the roofs, and then painted them with acrylics.  When dry i cut out sticky-backed foam to cover the roofs.  I had out some pre-cut pieces of the sticky-backed foam in various shapes- to make windows, doors, grass, etc.  We also had some flowers and bees that were sticky-backed, as well as half-sheets of the foam and scissors for the bigger kids to decorate as they wished.  This went over well and it occupied it the kids for a solid 15 minutes. I didn't get a great picture of the decorated ones yet, but will try to add that soon.


Then we headed outside to start games.  The day was chilly but sunny so we could be out, but the kids wound up getting cold so a chunk were inside playing in the very tiny playroom and a few were outside with me.  I used this post to come up with the idea for the bean-bag game, and this template to make the lilypads-- i made them bigger for the ones i made for the bean-bag toss and the same size as the template for decorations on the table.  The kids played "team" bean-bag toss and tried to get all of their bean bags from one lilypad to the next.  After they seemed to tire of that, i challenged them to balance the bean bags on their head, stand on one foot and so on until another 15 minutes had passed.


I had planned to read "the hat" next, but a lot of kids were inside, so we just launched into the next game-- a relay game with a hat.  The kids had a blast doing this-- especially Henry but after a few rounds they were done and the girls were ready to head in.  So we went in and had Chicago style hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans-- our traditional birthday fare. 


After the kids refueled, i sheparded them outside to our front steps where my mom read "The Corner."  Then it was time to begin the hunt for spring.  I had written up 4 clues and had them basically running from the front of the house to the back several times-- at the end they found a "vase" of spring flowers.


Henry and i made these by water-coloring coffee filters, and after they had dried, using craft glue to attach them to disposable chopsticks (something i always find uses for!).  We used a few of the coffee filters to glue to a juice can for the vase that could be "hidden" outside.


As in past years the treasure hunt was a big favorite and the kids spend a chunk of time hiding the flowers for each other over and over until i called them all in for cupcakes.  The cupcakes were super easy-- Cooks Illustrated yellow cupcake recipe, my mom's icing handiwork-- and the idea for the frogs from this site.

  
We had thank-you bags for the kids which were a labor of love.  Bean bags in the shape of frogs from this tutorial.  A special shout-out goes to Oma for sewing all of them on their last visit.  Henry and i stuffed them with lentils using a funnel and i sewed them up.  I also included a frog and toad paratrooper.  These looked really cute, but they took forever and they didn't work very well.  I'm not sure if i did something wrong (i'm thinking the parachute wasn't big enough maybe), but they are cute and it was fun to try my hand at them.  I used this tutorial to make them.  Finally a packet of buttons and a little treat-- hopefully they were fun gift bags to get.

So, that was the party.  Now to relax my aching legs and get some rest!

Silas Turns 3!

Silas turned three yesterday and we enjoyed a nice day with a low-key celebration at home and fittingly, Silas stayed in his pjs all day.  There were some tantrums just to remind us that we're not out of this difficult phase yet, and a lot of hoopla over going to bed, but he enjoyed his birthday and i do feel like this one was a good celebration that we all made it through this year!


We started with a special breakfast that Silas chose and JT cooked.  Then lots of time playing and some Diego videos and after naps, time to open all the presents.  When Silas woke up from his nap i went in to him and while i was snuggling for a minute Henry brought Silas a dora balloon and said "Happy Birthday Silas!" and gave him a big hug. 

Henry's really helpful attitude continued while we opened gifts which was nice.  Because when we opened an early gift a few days ago, Henry had a complete and utter meltdown that the gift was for Silas and there wasn't a gift for Henry-- and that Silas might want to play with "his" gift first.  In a way it was nice that happened earlier because we had been prepping for Silas' actual birthday for a few days, talking with Henry about how it would go-- that the presents would be for Silas, etc.


When the time came Henry was great.  He was excited and helpful to Silas opening gifts but he didn't take over or try to steal anything away.  I feel like they've both been loving all their gifts and it was definitely fun to watch their excitement.


Preparations continue apace here for the Frog and Toad Birthday party.  While Oma was here a few weeks ago she sewed the bean bag frogs that will be the main item in the kids goodie bags.  I got them stuffed with lentils last night and all sewn up.  Aren't they cute!?  I used the tutorial here which worked great (or at least i think it did-- Sheree did the hard part!)

I also finished the birthday crowns for the boys.  Here's a picture of Silas' which predictably he liked but wouldn't deign to put on his head.  Henry's will make an appearance on his actual birthday.


I've also finished the pennant flags which i don't have a picture of yet and i'm close to finishing the frog and toad parachuters, which i will definitely post once i've got them ready.  

Welcoming Spring

This week we got a sneak peak at spring and it was lovely, really lovely.  Warm temperatures and sunshine allowed me to pick up the boys and hit the park most days after school.  Henry and Silas resurrected their bikes from the basement and Henry was getting quite comfortable on his by the end of his first session.

JT has been working on end of quarter projects and will be starting spring break next week which we're all looking forward to.  We've got plans to get the yard prepped so that when it's really warm we'll be all ready to plant in another month or so.

Preparations for Henry and Silas' frog and toad party are continuing apace.  I've got the birthday crowns about 75% done, the frog bean bags were helpfully sewn by Oma, and this weekend i've got to hit the thrift store to find hankerchiefs for the frog parachutes.

Clearly i need to take some pictures because i don't think i have anything new to share.

Pirate Party

We hosted an (ill-timed) pirate party for our 4 and 2 year old sons and i wanted to share our party preparations back with the internet. Many of my initial ideas came from various web pages i saw so i felt like i'd like to both a) give back and b) show off a bit; isn't that what the web is all about?


Invitations:
I used the suggestion you'll see most everywhere to tea-dye paper and write the invitations on this paper. We found what worked best through some trial and error. It turns out regular old lipton definitely work best. Green tea and mugicha are just too light. Tear the paper when it's too wet. I soaked two sheets at a time in a baking sheet and then put them on wire racks to dry. My 4-year old helped with this process and had a ball. I made some extra sheets for invite mishaps and to write the treasure hunt clues.


Pirate Costumes:
I had some scarves left over from an international trip. I didn't have enough for everyone so i split the scarves in half and sewed up the edges. The kids tied the sashes around their waist. I made some eye patches out of felt, used an ice pick to poke a hole in the sides and tied some skinny elastic in the holes. I really made the elastic too tight but figured the kids would just tuck them in their sashes or wear them around their neck-- which they did. My mother-in-law found a treasure trove of old beaded necklaces and i gave each child two necklaces. The remaining "booty" we used to decorate the table. I also made pirate hats from this pattern (http://www.kidscraftweekly.com/pirates2_issue.html) and added feathers to the hats.


I had all the parts of the costumes lined-up and as the kids arrived i let them pick a scarf with all the rest of the costume. I measured the child's head and stapled the hat band-- voila! They were off to my my mother-in-law for the crafts table.


Crafts:
In advance i made some spy glasses. I collected paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes. For the toilet paper tubes i used two and rolled-up thick paper inside both of the toilet paper tubes. I cut-out squares of cellophane, covered the ends of the tubes, and put rubber bands around the cellophane. Then i covered the tubes with brown construction paper. These were all pre-made and on the table. We also had jeweled stickers, other stickers, etc for the kids to decorate the spy glasses. I had planned to print out some coloring sheets but just ran out of time.

Activities:

The kids then started to play outside and then we moved on to the "planned" activities. First i did the treasure hunt. I made a treasure-chest by painting a shoe-box with a hinged top all black-- just with acrylic paint. Once it dried i "painted" the shape of a lock on the front of the box and coated it with gold glitter. I made little envelopes out of blue construction paper, put gold coins inside each envelope, wrote each child's name on the envelopes, sealed them with gold wax, and put them in the treasure box.

I wrote out three clues for the treasure hunt (the kids were aged 2-6, although it was mostly 3-6 year olds doing the treasure hunt.) The first one said something along the lines of "as any good pirate should know, this is where the tomatoes grow." The next clue was in the raised-bed and said something about the clue being by the front gate. The last clue took them to the pirate box. I wish i had done several more clues-- probably about 6-8 total. The treasure hunt was the kids' favorite part of the party and i should have dragged it out longer.


Afterwards i attempted a "walk the plank" game but my plank wasn't really balanced and this didn't work out so well. I should have had a longer plank and some concrete blocks or something-- for some reason i used paint cans-- but the little ones. I covered everything with a blue sheet.

Cake:

I made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing from the Kings Arthur cookbook. I highly recommend the cake recipe (which also works as cupcakes) although like all icing, i found the icing too sweet. I basically used the Betty Crocker pirate template which uses 8 and 9 inch cake pans (http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=40763) It turned out great and was delicious too. Although we were worried that for 10 kids and 17 adults the cake wasn't big enough and we supplemented with a double-batch of cupcakes-- just one would have sufficed.

Decorations:

I bought two black sheets from the thrift store. One i folded over and painted Happy Birthday Henry and Silas in big white letters. I printed out the letters on my printer, big enough to be basically one to a page-- cut each one out and traced around it on the black sheet with my sons' white crayon. Then i painted in the ouline using white acrylic paint. This took two evenings worth of time so i decided to not put any kind of temporary decorations on the banner so that i can re-use each year-- simply adding whatever the theme is to the banner. This year i made little pirates out of felt and pinned them on to the corners. I hung the banner on the window behind the table where the boys blew their candles out.

I used the second table cloth to cover the dining room table. We covered the table with gold coins, the extra necklaces, the treasure box, and a toy pirate ship the boys have (draped with necklaces). The food was here early in the party and this is where we did cake as well. We did black and red cups, plates, napkins and utensils mixed-in with some pirate cake plates.

Goodie Bags:

I made little gift bags out of a pirate-print exclusive to Jo-Ann. This was the least cost-effective thing i did but it was fun to make them and they were super-cute. Basically they were receptacles for the costumes and the spy glasses the kids used at the party. We also sent them home with a balloon, some stickers and a tattoo.

Really the party was a huge success. Thankfully my boys share a party for now because it was quite a bit of work!

Birthday Success

So i hope to do a rundown on the pirate party planning I did for those that might be interested. I found lots of resources for getting started on the web and made some variations that people might like to see. In the meantime i thought i'd just give an update on the actual party- a smashing success i think.

From April 2009

The guests started arriving right before 4 and Henry was already decked out in his full-pirate costume. Silas wouldn't let me get closer than a 2 foot plank so even though he had previously enjoyed dressing up with the necklaces he did not sport any for the party. As the guests arrived they got decked out in their pirate duds and made their way to the spyglass decorating table. Oma helped them decorate with gems and stickers and they seemed to enjoy this. As more kids arrived people congregated outside since it was 70 and sunny that day.

From April 2009

JT had the food ready to go so after people filled up on chicago hot dogs, small hot dogs wrapped in pastry, potato salad and cole slaw we rounded up the kids for games. First we did a treasure hunt which i think was probably one of the high points of the party. I wrote a few clues that were stashed around the yard and after the last clue they found the treasure chest. The chest was filled with individual little coin purses i sealed with wax for each child with gold coins inside. After that we did a little walk the plank game.

From April 2009

Then, cake time and presents. People loved the cake and cupcakes (which we made when the cake didn't seem big enough). Guests were very generous with the gifts and the boys have been having tons of fun since then. It's a little crazy with a whole bunch of 3-4 year olds attempting to "help" each other open the gifts. For those that stuck around we all moved outside and Cullen organized races for the kids. Next year i'm just going to have Cullen run a "field day" for the birthday party-- he doesn't know that yet though.

From April 2009