Party Time!!

The big day has arrived!! Tuesday wasn't the day he was REALLY looking forward to. Nope. Today was! Today was the big science party, that we've been planning for forever.



The decorations stayed up, but we added some decorative beakers and some party favors.

Thanks to the wonderful website Pinterest, I found these really cute favors. Homemade slime in mason jars! The best part was that when squishing the flubber inside the jars, they made farting noises. Instant hit with this crowd!

We decided to keep the majority of the party downstairs, because they really can't hurt anything down there. We set up a big table of experiments on our pingpong table.

We had a whole bunch of different ones to do. The bags (there on the left you can see Livie's) were the first thing they did. They came downstairs, found their spot at the table and decorated their bag. This was the bag they got to take home all their experiments in, along with the slime.

We got out some dry ice and had that "steaming" throughout the party. Then I walked them through the experiments.

The first one we did was make rubber worms. We had "worm activating solution" and blue gel. Once the gel was squirted into the cup with the activator, it instantly turned into rubber. They LOVED that!

They made miles and miles of worms. It was really cool!

Here, Noah and his bestie Nicky shared the worm goo as they made up their worms.

I didn't take pictures of all the experiments, but we made giant orbs. We turned water into a solid. Made insta-snow and played with water gel beads too. Our grand finale was the boo bubble machine. Pete talked to the kids about that and showed them how to work it.

We put dry ice in the water basin and the hose that came out was dunked in dishwashing detergent. That made it blow bubbles with the fog of the dry ice inside. Each child got to catch those bubbles with the gloves we had and bounce them around. Again, another hit! They really enjoyed that a lot! They were so excited throughout the experiment time, that the noise level with those 11 kids got very, VERY loud! Thank goodness my friends Patty and Lisa stayed and helped out. It got a little crazy! But, it was a lot of fun and the kids walked away with a bag full of experiments.

Next came the donut cake. I do believe Noah is becoming famous for his donut cakes. I don't have to bake and it's cheap, so I can't complain!

Darn! Not sure why this picture is on its side, but I wanted to keep it on here to show how cute the kids were while they ate. They all sat around my grandma's hope chest and chatted and ate. We had a fun little drink today that I found on Pinterest. I made a bunch of koolaid ice cubes and we added them to 7-up and it changed the 7-up to different colors and made it taste like fruit punch. Really cute!

After all that, we just let them play for a good half hour or so. They mostly played with the lightsabers and nerf guns. They just enjoyed running around and fighting each other and playing pirates and stuff. They were really fun to watch. :-)

In the last 15 min or so, before the party was to end, we went upstairs and had Noah open his presents.

Nicky got him some money and a really cute card. He had to give Nicky a BIG hug! This started a big hug fest between all the kids. So silly!

Noah walked away with a new nerf gun, a playmobil set, and a Jack Sparrow outfit, complete with 2 swords! Plus, we got him 2 books, 2 Kung Zhu playsets, and a new sleeping bag with matching pillow. Once again, totally spoiled rotten and LOVING IT!!

Look at his face when he saw the giant Pirate sword!

After the presents, some of the kids got out the slime/flubber. Once they realized that it made farting noises, there was no stopping them. We're so classy.

While Madie played pirates with the boys, Livie lived it up with her friends Janessa and Alondra. They had a ball together!

Yep. I think I can safely say it was a great party and they kids had a pretty terrific time!!! I am now ready for a nap!

Noah's Birthday and More

Today was a busy day full of fun! First off, we had to celebrate Noah's birthday!!



We continued our tradition of decorating the night before. Noah loved waking up to his science-themed birthday decorations. :-) He doesn't like cake, so he requested that I make him snickerdoodle bread this year. He and the girls ate it for breakfast. I believe he ate 5 slices and took one for lunch and had one this evening, because he had a low blood sugar. I guess it was a hit! We didn't celebrate very long this morning, because we all had school and work to go to, so we had a short snickerdoodle celebration and headed off to our destinations.

I got to have a really fun day with my 3s today. We had "Special Person's Day", where the kids got to invite someone really special in their lives to our Valentine's Day party. They made bookmarks for them and these cute little flowers they are holding. They had a fantastic time and were sooooo excited to show off their school to their guests. It was so stinkin' cute!

I got home in time to swing by Papa Murphy's and grab some pizzas to cook for Livie's school party. Now that Noah's been diagnosed, I've been a lot more conscience of the sugar stuff the kids eat, so we try and keep those to a minimum. Papa Murphy's had $7 heart-shaped pizzas, so that's what we went with today. Got home, cooked those up, then Pete and I headed over to the school for the parties! I'm the head room parent in Livie's room, but that means I've missed out on going to Noah and Madie's parties, so today Pete lead the activities in Livie's room and did the roaming thing. I started in Livie's room and read them "I love Monkey", which is the cutest book. Shared that with my 3s today too. They loved it! Then, left Pete and the other parents in charge of passing out the pizza and snacks, while I headed over to Noah's room. Livie was thrilled to have her daddy with her today. :-)

Noah's the lucky one! Not only does he get a Valentine's Day party on his birthday, but he gets his own as well! We brought in sugar-free fruit popsicles as his treat and they were a hit! They also had a pizza party. Tami (the head room parent in his room) feels the same way about candy and sweets as I do, so she did a great job of keeping those to a minimum. She's also been amazing about making sure Noah doesn't feel left out. She's terrific and it doesn't hurt that her son is Noah's best friend. :-)

I next went up to Madie's classroom. This is her last year to have a party, so she really wanted us to stop in and see her. Next year, when she's in 6th grade, they'll have dances instead of class parties. Eeek!! Not ready for dances!! But, it was great to see her and her friends. I've known nearly all of them since Kindergarten and they are so much fun. Madie has a really great group of girlfriends that care about her as much as she cares about them. It's a great thing to see!

Once the parties were over, we went home and they got out all their valentines. About an hour after we were home, Noah remembered he had presents!! He's having his birthday party with friends on Sat, so he only got to open a couple. He's saving the other 3 for his party. He was excited to open the ones he got today though!

Livie got these things for Christmas. They are bendable foam sticks and Noah and Madie have loved playing with them. So, Noah got his own package today. It is a boy set, so it came with sword attachments and a cape.

Gee, those kids weren't excited at all, were they? ;-)

Another tradition is taking the birthday boy or girl out to their favorite restaurant for their birthday. We've created a prime rib monster, so he wanted to go to Hanks again. We go there like once every 2 years and here we are going twice in one month! But, hey, it was his birthday. Couldn't say no. :-) Since Hanks is on a farm, they have turkeys and peacocks and ducks and goats running around. This giant turkey came right up to him. And, can I say, they are the ugliest things ever! Amazing that they taste so yummy. :-)

Those are some eager prime rib eaters! Every one of us ordered prime rib - though Livie and I split ours. It was delicious!!

They have a little shop next to Hanks that sells costumes. He got money from his Nana and Papa Trolinger, so he decided to buy this Jack Sparrow costume. He LOVES it! He made a foam sword out of the things we got him earlier and put on his costume and was a pirate the entire rest of the night. Even ran around the house like Jack, which was hilarious. Looks like he had a great birthday and he still has a party to look forward too. I'm blessed with the best 3 kids in the world and am so thankful to have a healthy, amazing 9 yr old. Happy Birthday, Noah. We love you!

Thirty-One Catalog Party

Some of you may be receiving an email about the catalog party I'm having. I love their products and have several of them and thought it would be fun to share that with my friends. You can order online if you're interested. Just follow this link:

http://www.mythirtyone.com/Gark3/

That will take you to my friend Audrey's homepage. Click on "Events" and click on my name. If you're not interested in ordering, that's totally ok too! Just wanted to open it up to anyone that might like them. :-) They have lots of great stuff and all the bags come in different colors and patterns. If you're having a hard time viewing the online ordering page, you can go look at the catalog by clicking on this link:

http://catalog.thirtyonegifts.com/

or, you can click on the first link I posted and click on "View Our Catalog" at the top. Ordering ends this Sunday. Happy Shopping!

ZONTA Tea

Every year the area schools nominate young girls from 3rd through 5th grade to attend a tea put on by the ZONTA group, which is a group that works to empower and celebrate young girls who show good citizenship. Madie was nominated by her teacher in 3rd grade, but we weren't able to go then. She was nominated again this year and we were able to attend.




I took Madie and Livie to get their hair straightened on Saturday (since Meaghan isn't open on Sundays), so that she would look extra cute for her tea. Livie got hers done, just because I didn't want her to feel left out. :-) Madie got on her cute little outfit and we headed out for the tea.

They began it with a welcome and then they had a magic show. It was cute!

Then they had cookies and punch and tea. Madie ate lots and lots of cookies!!

At the end they passed out certificates to all the girls and congratulated them on being good citizens and encouraged them to continue on the path of having a strong character and showing respect, trustworthiness, kindness, and a couple other things that I can't remember. It was all good stuff though. :-)

You can tell I didn't take this picture. My friend Laura, who is QUITE taller than me, held this up and took it, so we could get the whole group in. Madie's at the far left.

We recognized several friends of hers from dance, her friend Chloe (who is my co-teacher's daughter), and our friend Tessa. Here she is with Tessa.

Audrey (my co) took this picture of Laura, Tessa, Madie, and me at the end of the tea. It was a fun little thing that celebrated what a great girl Madie is! And I am so proud of her!!

Another Little Something

In the sheet of chalkboard paper I got yesterday, I got a big sheet. I have a message board that has a place for our calendar week and lunch menus and paperwork/permission slips that we have. But, I've always wanted a place to put reminders of what the kids need each morning. They're getting pretty good at remembering, but it's usually at my prompting that they remember everything. So, took the big piece that I got and placed it by the front door, where we have our "staging" area. This is where I put their lunchboxes and they put everything on and gather everything up. Hopefully this message center will make sure we don't have any "OH NO! I forget" moments when we arrive at the school in the mornings. Well, at least not from the kids anyway. ;-)

Adding Small Touches

I have a parent of one of my 2s that sells Uppercase Living stuff. Years ago I sold UL and I still to this day LOVE it! I have a few things around the house that I thought would be fun to add a little extra touch to. I bought a big sheet of chalkboard UL stuff and am putting them in a few places that I wanted to label.



Right now, the only thing that I put it on was the snack jar. Thought it would be fun to add to the side. I had planned on writing something on it myself, but when Livie realized she could draw on it, any chance I had of doing it myself was out the window. Her creative touch is WAY better than mine ever would be!

So, here is our new snack jar label. It comes complete with a dinosaur, a valentine, and a picture of her daddy. :-) Looking forward to using pieces in other areas as well. Should be fun!