"Gingerbread Pirates"

Jack read a book in kindergarten a few weeks ago. He's been talking about this book, this activity, this "amazing thing" everyday since.

It's called "Gingerbread Pirates." His teacher let me borrow it so I could see for myself why he loves it so much. And, it's adorable. It's every bit as awesome as he made it out to be.

Today, this book, this activity, this "amazing thing" happened. My boy loved it. (He did get very frustrated though every time he tried to decorate a pirate because his left hand would accidentally rub across his frosting and mess up his design. Being left handed is hard.)

Our cookies, pirate cookies, for Santa won't just be left over ones that we've been given as treats from family and friends this year. We actually did the hard work ourselves. 

Turns out this activity was an "amazing thing."

"So I get to build a stable?"

Jack was interested when I said let's build something.

Afton was excited about coloring.

Jocelyn was napping.

I just needed a quiet activity to keep them busy while the baby slept and possibly could keep them from killing each other as they had tried to do all morning.

Saturday is a Special Day

My kids have been singing this song over and over since church last Sunday. 

So, I asked why it really is such a special day?  Why do we need to do so much on Saturday to help us get ready for Sunday? 

They looked at me and couldn't exactly answer, other than quoting the song. I wanted them to explain it in their own words. 

They couldn't. So we had an FHE on it. 

I made this little activity. It had a picture of someone resting on one side, along with an important scripture. On the other side were some reasons as to why we "REST" on the Sabbath day. 

First, we sang the song. Then, we read the scripture. Then, I mixed up the pictures so they had to put them in the proper order to form a picture. Once they did that, we talked about how that picture could connect to the scripture we read in Exodus. After that, the kids had to flip over each part of the picture puzzle to read the things we can do on the Sabbath to help us  keep it a reverent and spiritual day.  

The kids enjoyed this activity, except for trying to keep Jocelyn from ripping the puzzle pieces every chance she got.

Playtime with my Jocelyn.

We are sitting and reading books.  

Jocelyn stands up and has decided she's done reading.  

She grabs my hand and leads me to her next idea of fun.

We sit and play.

She screams and laughs. 

She decides she wants to eat them.

I tell her, "No, you can't eat them. They are toys. Not food."

She laughs at me for telling her such nonsense. 

She decides she wants to play in a different way.

Like 52 Card Pick-Up kind of way. 

I tell her, "No, we don't dump them out."

She didn't listen. 

She gets mad when I laughed when she bonked herself in the face. 

She gets over it and decides to continue her destruction. 

I tell her, "You need to take care of sister's toys. She loves them so be nice." 

So, she gives the toys a hug. 

I ask her to help me. "Let's clean up okay?" I even sing the song. 

"Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere."

She laughs at me. 

She doesn't help.

She left, and returned to reading. 

Playtime with my Jocelyn.

Tee pee = T.P.

So, I thought of this idea to have a tee pee inspired baby shower. This soon to be new baby would be Totally Perfect (T.P.), so why not go with that as the theme?

I checked Pinterest and found that once again my original ideas had already been done by somebody else. And better than what I had come up with in my head. Ugh. I seriously hate Pinterest. But oh well, I was committed to the T.P.

I wanted to have it in an actual tee pee. Ok, that's a lie, but I did want to have one at the party as decor.

I knew I could make one if I was really ambitious, but I'm not, so whatever. We asked some ladies at church if anyone had a pop-up tee pee, you know, the little ones that are so popular on Pinterest, that blasted site full of more creative and smarter people than me. But, sadly no one had one. Ugh. A sweet sister did offer her giant 10 foot tall tee pee, but I declined since it would not fit in my living room. (I could have actually hosted the shower in that giant thing. Oh well.) Ugh to normal size living rooms.

But, I persevered. I would have a tee pee no matter what.

I talked to my mom and asked her if she had anything I could use for the party and she said, "Well, I think I still have your old tee pee from when you were a little girl." Say what!!!! Sure enough, she did!

I was stoked. I finally had a tee pee, just the right size for my crazy vision of this party.

But, I wanted more. So I bought some cheap fabric at Joann's in the remnant section, cut some branches off of my Mom's oleander tree, and tied them up with a hair band. BAM! Mini tee pees on my dining room table as centerpieces.

Then I just needed one little thing that said "Totally Perfect." So just in case you weren't getting my theme of T.P., this little sign would clear it up for you.

Man, I have problems. But whatever, this party turned out cute, it was well attended, and most importantly the Mom-to-be was so incredibly thankful.


Basically, the party was Totally Perfect - T.P.

I divided the table up into two sections of food.

Hunters - "Man Bites" Sweet Baby Rays Crock pot meatballs and "Skewered Meat" Marinated Grilled Chicken breasts on a stick

Gatherers - Fruit, Veggies, and Tribal Trail Mix

In the center up front on the table was "Tribal Treats" vanilla cream cheese frosting cupcakes. 

I can't take credit for all the food. 

All I did was the meatballs. 

Shout out to Tacy, Vicki, JoAnn, and Shyanne for their wonderful contributions.

I used the leftover sticks as decor anyway I could. 

To tie back my curtains, to pop out of large pots, and to make pretend arrows.

This stuff was free! 

Woo hoo. I love free.

I also borrowed some yellow, brown, orange, and red paint chips from Walmart that I cut and turned into ombre feathers. I made a feather garland that hung in front of the window where the food was. 

I didn't get a picture of it. It was cute. UGH.

Just believe me when I say they were Totally Perfect.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

So there is this boy I know. He has the sweetest little heart, the cutest little smile, and the most magical eyes/eyelashes anyone in the world can possess.

This little boy asked his mom for a Ninja Turtle party for his 5th birthday. So, because he has captivated his mom's heart, she put together the best little Ninja Turtle Party that she could. (She even had help from the little boy's daddy, because he loves this little boy as much as the mom does.)

This mom had good intentions of making this party very low key - very different from her traditional parties. Just a few green balloons here and there, posters of the Ninja Turtles, and the Ninja Turtle cupcakes for sure. This mom was trying not to stress because her son's birthday would be after returning from a long trip to Seattle and the first week back to school. AHHHHH!

But, her mind began to come up with ideas. Then she went on Pinterest, and holy crap. This simple low key party, seemed to change into something a little bit more intense.

Food - Anchovies (Goldfish crackers), Nun chucks  (Ho Ho's and Twizzlers), Sewer Lids (Oreos), Turtle Snacks (TMNT Fruit Snacks), TMNT cupcakes, and of course PIZZA!

Decor - Ninja Turtle madness all over!

"SHELL SHOCK" Game - I found these water grenade balloons at Walmart and thought they looked like turtle shells. So we made 60 water balloons, I drew Kraang, a member of the Foot Clan, a Robot Droid, and Shredder on the wall with chalk, and had the kids run as fast as they could trying to "Wipe out" the bad guys! It was so stinking hot so this water game was a hit. 

"SPECIAL DELIVERY" Game - I found some white plastic plates, made them look like pizzas, had 5 pizza boxes donated, and cut out some bad guys from a TMNT coloring book. The kids had to attack the bad guys with their pizza throwing skills as fast as they could. It was pretty funny to watch.

I ask our guests to take a picture with the birthday child, whichever one it is for every party I do. Then I use these pictures to write a thank you note for their gift/coming to the party. This way they get to keep a little memory from the party, along with being appreciated for their kindness.

All of Jack's buddies got a mask (felt), a turtle shell (roasting pan sprayed painted green with yarn strings), and nun chucks (pipe insulation, rope, and duct tape). 

This is where I got a little carried away. 

His face throughout the party, made it worth every minute of it going from low key to intense!

So this boy I know, after having his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party came up to me and gave me a big hug and said, "I love you Mommy. Thank you for my party." Did I mention he has the sweetest little heart, the cutest little smile, and the most magical eyes/eyelashes anyone in the world can possess?

We love you Jack boy! You are such an AWESOME little DUDE! Cowabunga baby boy.