This kid starts looking forward to her next birthday in the middle of her current birthday
And not for the gifts - because to be honest, she's never even asked for anything
Lucy looks forward to her birthday for the party
And who are we kidding, I look forward to her party...planning it, making the stuff for it, decorating for it, hosting it, the smiles on Lucy's face and her friends' faces....
I love throwing birthday parties
We talk about every detail from the cake to the games to the decorations and the food that we'll eat
Party's 1, 2 and 3 can be seen here and here
Party #4 may have been one of the best yet - and the only one we forgot to take pictures of
It was a dinosaur themed party
The house was decorated with inflatable dinosaurs (including a T Rex as big as Sean)
The front door was covered in dinosaur decals
The cake was a forest full of dinosaurs and the cupcakes were frosted in green or blue (grass or water) and a dinosaur sat upon each
We played outside - Pin the horn on the triceratops and a dinosaur egg hunt (plastic Easter eggs hidden around the yard with a mini Dino inside each one)
The climax was the fossil dig
We filled aluminum baking trays with sand and buried in each tray fossils that we made from salt dough (I used Lucy's toys to make imprints in the dough) I also managed to find some small plastic dinosaur skeletons somewhere and buried those in the tray too
The kids had a blast (at least I think they did)
They went home with a bucket full of dinosaurs eggs, fossils and a Danny and the Dinosaur book
I can't believe we forgot to take pictures
This year....well this year I thought Lucy would want to go big - not Vegas big (though she tried)
But we have spent the last year attending parties that have included the whole class (sometimes both classes) at gyms and arcades and bouncy house places (and they've all been great fun)
I thought that was what kind of party she would want - so all her friends could come
And I sort of dreaded that kind of party....we had had so much fun planning her last three parties.....
But we offered a "destination party" to Lucy
We told her we could go bowling, to the bouncy house place, to Gym Street - wherever she wanted
She thought about it for all of 2 minutes
No thanks Mumma
Are you sure honey?
Yeah Mumma I'm sure
But we could invite all your friends in your class....
No thank you Mumma - I like it when you do my party here at home - I like it when you make stuff and decorate......can we just have my party here?
So it was settled
Small party at home with the friends she wanted there the most
And that's what we did
This year, Lucy started out wanting a Frozen party
We saw Frozen on Thanksgiving day
We saw it a second time the day AFTER Thanksgiving
We were singing the songs and reciting lines weeks before anyone else was
I'm not kidding you - we feel like we discovered this movie
And then everyone else discovered it
And Lucy lost interest in it because everything became about Frozen
So we nixed the Frozen party
Then she wanted a Lego party
Midway through planning that, she informs me she does not think a Lego party would be a good idea
Why honey?
Well Mumma, not all my friends like Lego's and I don't want anyone to not have fun
Oh Lucy....
Then she thought maybe an animal party - like a zoo party
But then she realized that not all her friend like animals the way she does
So we went back to a Lego party - but she was worried Jake and Katie would not have fun
Sometimes this child is so thoughtful it makes me stop in my tracks and realize that maybe, just maybe I have not screwed her up as badly as I think I have
Honey I love that you are thinking of your friends, but what kind of party do YOU want? What will make you smile?
Without hesitation she blurted out with a giggle and a chortle and a snort
A kitty party!!!! Mumma I really really really wanna kitty party!!!!!
So we planned a kitty party
I immediately found some hanging kitty decorations (including a happy birthday sign) with matching plates, napkins and balloons covered in paw prints
Our other decorations would be to simply bring out all Lucy's stuffed cats (of which we have waaayyy more than we should) and place them strategically around the house
Our first idea was that all our friends who came to the party would adopt a kitty
So we bought stuffed kitties (found on super sale at the craft store)
I made adoption certificates which were filled out the day of the party with the names each friend chose for their new kitty
Then Lucy and I made collars for the kitties - a piece of ribbon to which we attached bells and paper key chains for the kids to decorate at the party
Now as luck would have it the past few years, we've had pretty good days (weather wise) for Lucy's party
We figured since we were having it so late this year, we'd be okay again
So we planned outside games....including a bean bag toss, whiffle ball, sidewalk chalk and pin the tail on the kitty
And then there would be the big finish....the grand finale.......
The Great Mouse Hunt
Because what do cats like to hunt but mice
So I turned 130 plastic Easter eggs into mice
I cut 130 tails out of pipe cleaner and attached them to 130 eggs
I cut 260 ears out of adhesive foam
I glued on 260 wiggly eyes, drew 130 thirty noses AND 780 whiskers
Then I stuffed those eggs with stickers, bouncy balls, tattoos, paratroopers, frog hoppers, Rolos, Hershey Kisses and M&Ms
I stayed up until 3 am making those eggs....and the collars.....those mice looked amazing
I was so excited for the mouse hunt I could barely stand it
I planned which trees and rocks in the neighborhood I would hide the eggs in and under
I even had a couple little "nests" made
I counted and sorted out the egg mice by color and what they had inside them so each child would get the same number of eggs and the exact same prizes
This mouse hunt was going to be totally kick ass
And then it started raining
For three days leading up to her party it rained and rained and rained and rained
And the day of her party.....it rained
So we shifted gears, moved around the furniture and had the party all inside...including an abbreviated version of the mouse hunt
But no one cared
The kids (and parents) ate and laughed
They adopted kitties and decorated collars
We colored wooden cut out cats and put on tattoos
We danced with balloons to the noises we made
We ate pizza on the living room floor
And we hunted for mice as best we could with 8 kids in 1100 square feet of living space
And we had a blast
The kids left with new pets, plastic mice, a Pete the Cat book and who knows how many little toys, Hershey Kisses, and Rolos
And it was fun
It was so much fun
And now Lucy is five......
The mice! |
See that bag? Sean drew, drew with his free hand, a dozen of those bags for me....coolest Dad/husband ever!!!!! The kids used the bags to collect the mice in then it was loaded up with all their treats before they left |
Making kitties and collars...... |