B Turned 7!

We are entering the "odd years" with our kids, and by August they will be 9, 7, and 5. B's birthday was this weekend. She is in love with the Disney movie "Tangled", so that was our theme. She actually had three parties - #1 at school (10 minutes, max - i brought in donuts and juice - they sang); #2 at out house with family friends (had the fancy cake, did a few of the activities with the kids); and #3 her official with the friends she wanted to invite party (about 7 girls from school - whole shabang: fancy cake, 2 crafts, 1 game, lunch, movie, and favors). It was actually all fun, although I really needed to start working on all of it earlier than a few days
before. I had been planning it way before that, but just didn't get around to actual prep til way to late!

My favorite thing was the cake. I found several versions of this online, and put my own spin on it. I used Entemann's pound cake, a dowel, and mini chocolate-covered Krispy Kreme's. I love a cake that is no baking, and just assembly! B loved it. This is the second one. B insisted I add the little picture of Rapunzel (that I just cut out of paper). The "house" on the top is a cupcake, with a ice cream cone on top. The braid is just icing, as are the vines and flowers.

We used everything we could find on the Disney Family Fun website, and the kids made the Pascal party blowers and paper lanterns. We also played pin the flying pan on Flynn Rider, after using a projector to blow up the printable on the website.

For favors, the girls were given one of these necklaces I made with bottle caps, and a box of colored chalk (Rapunzel loves to paint and draw, and uses chalk with little kids in the village).

All in all, a very fun party. A little nuts, but still fun. At the grown up party we even launched a real "floating lantern" with fire. But we were scared and attached some yarn to keep from burning down the neighborhood. It didn't go up very far with the string weighing it down, but it was still cool.

And now my little B is 7!!! I can't believe it. She is 100% girl, very witty, and incredibly witty. I can't wait to see what the next year will bring.

Little Chefs

When K turned 9 at the end of April, she wanted a cooking party. (Well, first she wanted a pool party, but thought of it too late and all the indoor pools were booked). It worked out great, so I thought I would share what we did.

First, we kept it small. She invited 8 girls from school, and only 6 were able to come. Awesome!

Second, we kept it simple. The girls were "making" three dishes. We did pizzas, smoothies, and cookies.

Third, we had tons of fun!

When each girl arrived, she was given a chef's apron off (ebay - $2 each), a small rolling pin ($1 each), and a chef's hat ($1 each). We had written the kids' names on both the hat and the apron in fabric marker. They could then spend 15 minutes of so decorating them more.

Then they washed their hands, and came and sat at the kitchen table. They each got a pile of flour and a lump of dough. On the table were bowls of sauce, cheeses, and pepperoni. Once they rolled out their dough and made their pizza, I put it on the pizza stone to go in the oven. If I ever do this again, I will figure out a way to label them, because it was hard to tell whose was whose when it was done. Ditto for the cookies later!

We cleaned that up, and then the girls lined up outside the kitchen. They came in two at a time (I had two blenders) and helped put together their smoothie. We had vanilla yogurt, mango, orange and apple juice, frozen mangos, bananas, strawberries and raspberries. We also had big straws and fancy drink umbrellas. The smoothies were a HUGE hit. The girls loved trying the different flavors and combinations.

They ran around playing a bit, then the pizza was done. The girls came in and ate, and then we had our one organized game - feel the shape. I bought this 101 cookie cutter pack, and we laid about 50 of the cutters on a table with a sheet over it. The girls had to reach under the sheet and try and determine the shape of the cookie cutter without looking. Each girl could get up to 5 cookie cutters.

Then it was back in the kitchen, where they were given a lump of cookie dough (premade by pillsbury) and tons of sprinkles and decorations. Again, wish we had somehow labeled whose cookies were whose! There was also frosting when the cookies were done. The girls had a blast with this (and despite a few tears over cookie-owner confusion), and loved their designs.

They each left with their outfits, rolling pins, and cookie cutters.

It was a big hit, and everyone had fun!

Its a Pirate Party

Big Man decided he wanted to wait a few weeks and have his 4th bday party when we were at the beach with our friends. This was fantastic news to me, as it would be so much easier to plan. And, even better - there were exactly 12 children. Can you say Oriental Trading?

The kids each got an eye patch, a sword, and a telescope. Then we sent them on a scavenger hunt (in 3 teams) around the house. There were 5 clues in all. The first had them jumping to the bottom of the pool (cannonballs are a favorite of pirates) to retrieve pieces of eight; then spying a jolly roger hidden across the street on a neighboring property; eating pirate booty (popcorn) to find a clue; searching the galley for treasure (under a dining chair); and lastly reporting to Pirate Bluebeard (daddy) to collect 15 doubloons (Big Man still says "balloons) to receive the treasure (pinata). The clues were all written in pirate speak and they had fun tracking down everything.

Then we did the pinata, which was a big hit, and filled with nearly everything pirate Oriental Trading sells. The cake (which mom tried to make from scratch, but ended up crafting from store-bought pound cake) was a big hit! Lastly, they made their own oceans-in-a-bottle.

All in all a very fun party, and pretty easy to do!

My Fancy Girl

B turned 6 last week. And being the fancy girl she is, she wanted a Fancy Nancy party. It was a huge success. All the girls were invited to wear their "most posh ensemble" to the "soiree". As each "mademoiselle" arrived, they were provided a boa and 'pearl' necklace.

We had 3 stations with fancy crafts. We decorated headbands with flowers and bows; clips (for hair or dresses) with flowers and bows, and flipflops with ribbons. I have no pictures of this, because DH, Nana, and I were busy working the stations.

Here are the supplies, mostly purchased at the amazing Halo Heaven, which is basically Oriental Trading for girly girls. LOVE IT!


Following the crafts, the girls had tea sandwiches and punch.


We also did a photo shoot with the girls at their fanciest:


Lastly, we finished with "parfaits". (My daughters don't like cake??!!)


All in all, a smashing success!
(a great picture of B and Fancy Nana, who really got in the spirit!)

That's what works for me! For more works for me ideas, visit We Are That Family!

By the way, got the awesome Fancy Nancy dress B is wearing on Etsy. I LOVE that site. Type in nearly ANYTHING, and you can find it. And if you can't, you can post it and solicit people to make it for you! Have to love that.

Cowboy Birthday!

We had a busy weekend, K turned 8! She wanted a cowboy party (absolutely no idea where that came from but, ok!). We had 18 kids, a successful party, and an exhausted mama. What did it take?

• 1 cowboy boot cookie (K doesn't like cake)
• cowboy hats, bandanas, and sheriff badges (thanks Oriental Trading!)
• holsters (hand made by yours truly!) with water guns
• hobby horses (again, made with love)
• western tableware (local party store)

It was all worth it - K loved it and all the kids had fun!
Happy Birthday, baby! Can't believe you are 8 years old already!!

Happy Birthday to Me

Let's keep our fingers crossed that I don't actually break my leg (or arm, or hip!) on my 42nd birthday!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays

So B's birthday was in early June. But she wanted to wait to have her party at the beach with her friends. SUCH an awesome idea that made it really easy on mom. Like her big sister, B does not like cake. So..we had vanilla ice cream in the shape of a cake. B wanted a beach theme, so we did a sand castle cake with "Nilla Wafers crushed on the top. (note to self: this was awesome tasting!). For activity, the kids decorated beach balls (thanks Oriental Trading). Nice, easy, low key party!



Big Man's 3rd birthday is next week. But we are going to be out of town for a family thing, so we had a party this weekend. Again, very low key. Big Man loves Mickey Mouse and he loves bagels. So we had a breakfast party with bagels and cream cheese, followed by Mickey cake. Big Man was very happy!



Those are our summer birthday parties. So nice and easy. I love that to date we have been lucky and able to do simple home things for the kids!

Middle is 5

woo hoo - B turns 5 today. Happy Birthday, gorgeous girl. You were born at a time in my life where I needed some sunshine and you have consistently given it to me. You are my silly, goofy, pretty, and smart girl. Hope you have a perfect day!