I Forgot to Shiver My Timbers!!

Pirates & Princesses Party

I decided for this event since Riley has an amazing pirate costume that I would be a princess. I originally intended to wear my Halloween costume, but it needs some alterations. So, I did what any absolutely insane person who loves costumes would do...I put on my wedding dress. I borrowed Roo's crown to complete the ensemble. I love how we matched! It took some engineering to drive in, but I adore that dress and I was happy for an excuse to put it back on.

It was a wonderful afternoon of treasure hunting, dress up clothes, pirate-y snacks and sillyness!

Pirate Event at the Library

One day of pirating is never enough, so the next day after a lunch of pirate shaped macaroni and cheese we set sail for pirate fun at the library! We met a silly pirate captain, who thought Riley was "a bonny lass" and learned that the best treasure is inside books (of course!). They read us How I Became A Pirate which not surprisingly Roo had heard before. I quite enjoyed it. We sang pirate songs, made a treasure chest necklace, ate an adorable pirate snack and played pirate games! Roo's favorite games were popping bubbles with a sword and walking the plank!

Ready, Set, Summer!

We originally thought everyone would stay home this summer, no camps or programs at all. While I sat back, NOT doing my usual chicken-with-it's-head-cut-off stressed out summer prep (researching, deciding, scraping pennies together, etc) it all fell into place by itself. First, Roo's school had said that there wouldn't be a a summer option at their location. We were fine with that because we took stock of Isaac's options and decided he done most of the things worth doing around here camp-wise anyway.

Everything changed when we went to an orientation meeting for Isaac's new school and they told us there was a free four week program over the summer. It's S.T.E.A.M. (Science, technology, engineering, art and music). It's set up for kids entering the magnet program. It is 4 half days a week for the month of June. So, of course we jumped on that. He'll get to make friends and get the lay of the land for next year. I think it will be great for him. Plus, it's only 8:30-12:30 four days a week so he'll still have lots of free time.

After that we were told Riley's school was doing a summer program at their location after all. Roo gets to be with her friends from the school year and her teacher for next year all summer. She is beyond thrilled. They're going to have the staff we already love and fun Summer Only things like "Wet Wednesdays" too. I think it'll be great for her.

We're blessed this summer for sure. Programs are handled (budget and schedule flexible schedule in-tact), the inflatable pool is up in the back yard, my list of cheap and free activities is filling up and invitations are trickling in. I started talking to Mike about a short, cheap couple of days away from the house. We're still batting around some ideas, but it's kind of nice to do a low key, low budget trip because the preparations are much easier. I think it's going to be a good summer!

30 Days of Gratitude: Day 22

Day 22: School Events! The picture on the left is from the Thanksgiving party at Riley's school today where she performed the "Turkey Pokey". Those are her wing/tail and beak for the performance. She was rewarded with Thanksgiving feast and pie! It was a rare occasion when Mike and I could both attend. I'm so glad we did. I'm so glad her early years in school are filled with special days and fond memories (even if only Mike and I will remember them).

The picture on the right is from Isaac's Fairy Tale Breakfast in 2011. He's dressed up like a king and reading his original fairy tale. His story was a rehashing of Coraline (Only Isaac!), but his presentation did his actress mother proud! Even little Miss Roo dressed up like a princess to come along. He had a great teacher that year. It was an amazing day. I even got his presentation on video.

I love being able to "invade" my kids world without me now and then. I feel so included on those days. They always appreciate my presence way more than at home too. It's nice to celebrate with them and meet their friends. It's always worth squeezing into the tiny chair!

"It Is Fun To Have Fun, But You Have To Know How"

Bounce House!! Slide!! Balloons!! Face Painting!! Pony Rides!! Hot Dogs!! Dance Party!! It was like a kid triathlon! My pin balls bounced from exciting thing to exciting thing, filled their bellies and then danced off the calories. Good. Day.

Office Party

Since Riley was a tiny thing that I wore on my chest we've gone to Mike's work Christmas party. This year was special for me because a)I had a brand new outfit and b)I was healed enough from my surgery to hoof it on crutches. Getting things for myself this holiday season (clothes and an apron) has been a big deal. I don't mean I've put us in the poor house acquiring things, the opposite actually. Between holiday sales in store and online my party outfit costs less than one new pair of jeans at retail. I felt good because not only did I look good, but I did it on my terms. Aside from my clothes it felt good to be on my feet. Last year I was in the wheelchair still recovering from the original hip surgery.

Every year the owner of the company has everyone over to his house. Everyone brings a side or dessert and he grills up steaks. At this point Mike has standing orders to bring his mushrooms. Mike's boss and his wife are two of the most hospitable people on the planet. It's always a pleasant gathering.

The food is nothing to sneeze at either although like all good things, it comes to those who wait. We all huddle around the veggie tray/cheese and crackers/shrimp and chat in the meantime. It's a company of about 12 people so everyone knows each other. When the impossibly big slab of beautiful meat gets cut and thrown on the grill we all get excited like kids at Christmas.

After we've eaten our fill they pack up anything we couldn't and insist we bring home more food. It's a wonderful thing to be full of good food and headed home with some to eat the next day.

I think all the time about how grateful I am that Mike found this job when he did, but I feel especially grateful this time of year. If only everyone could be lucky enough to be appreciated at work. We are both blessed by his job.

Working in the Livingroom

I have a "work space" in the living room. It's a desk and a super yard baby gate.I usually enjoy crafting, writing etc...in the middle of everything. I have a view out the window of the backyard and of Riley's art table and play kitchen to my right. There's lots of sunlight coming in and I can hear when the washer/dryer stop. The difference this weekend is that my 9yr old is staging a continuous battle of wills with no regard to how big, small or even pleasant a request is and my 2.5yr's volume knob seems to have broken off.

I made multiple requests for Mike to be on kid duty this weekend so I could finish my work for my company's first event next weekend. It would be important to me either way because the guest of honor is my sister-in-law. I want to give her a great shower and make a good first impression. I've got a great team on this one and I'm working with a unique, fun theme (which is my FAVORITE) so things are going great. I just needed a few hours to finish up some projects.

Mike, bless his good intentioned heart, decided I couldn't work at my desk single moment more without additional shelving. We did recently shuffle things to make room for Leeloo's big girl bed and he did use all pieces we already had, but I had no access to my desk most of the morning Saturday. Once the new shelf was up my desk was demolished so it took awhile to get it back into a state I could work in and by then nap was over. Sigh.

I got a few things done Saturday, but nowhere near what I'd hoped. So, this morning as Tangled blared and Riley sung along at the top of her lungs I tried again. It's the stop and start that throws a wrench in the creative process. If you can't see each step in your idea to an ending point you lose momentum or the idea entirely. Perhaps you're painting letters on a banner with a stencil and a 2.5yr old in dress up clothes grabs hold of your desk chair forcefully turning it towards her while proclaiming that she needs her movie restarted. Argh. Maybe, you're trying to write something clever for a shower game that will become a keepsake for the new parents and even through headphones blaring music you hear your 9yr old asking in a whiny almost tearful tone for help finding something for his lunch (that you are positive is right in front of him). Sigh.

I have accepted that whether my business takes off or not I will never be granted an 8hr work day. That's ok, but when I have a hard time getting an uninterrupted hour or two a week it's really disheartening. It all got done because well, I wouldn't have it any other way, no matter what. It's just more adapting to motherhood in another context. I know the kids won't always be happy to make forts together on the weekend. Angst and broken volume knobs and all I like their chaos better then the idea of how quiet the house will be in a few years when they're both in school all day.

Party Season

When you became a parent and your children are a year old or older your weekends will be consumed by birthday parties. I've had three in one weekend before. According to my experience so far there are two busy seasons, late spring and mid-summer. We have hit the summer surge and I have four parties on the calender of July and one for August, so far.

I love to throw the kids birthday parties. I enjoy creative invitations, running with whatever theme we've agreed on, all the anticipation and the resulting house full of excited children. LOVE IT.

There are things to remember when throwing a successful birthday. Please, give a reasonable amount of time between invites and the party. First, for the parents sake especially in the busy season. Also, a reminder week of (brief email, quick text) is always welcome. Second, for your kids sake. If they have a summer birthday and they want to invite friends from school you have to get in touch with them early (and then remind them). If you're not up for friends and family, just remember the brunt of entertaining will fall on you.

Consider the season! I threw a party or two in the hotter months, outside where no amount of shade or well aimed fans prevented the guests from melting Wicked Witch style. Also, if you are doing an outdoor party at a hotter time of year, please don't go buy party store balloons. They wilt and pop in the heat, it's a waste. I have no luck getting streamers to stick to those park shelters. I've tried everything from scotch tape to duck tape and they always blow down anyway.

Food is always a big issue. You want kid friendly foods they can eat independently for the most part so that they can eat without assistance after their food is plated, but also something for the parents. The smaller the guest list the easier it is to please everyone. I highly recommend multiple flavors of juice and take and toss cups with lids. For our house warming I bought 2packs (figuring people could take them when they left and we'd end up with a few extra left over). There was nary a drop spilled on my rug. The older kids ate on the back patio which had to be hosed off afterward. Please, think ahead about food/drink spillage/mess before your carpet is ruined.

On a related note buy the party table cloth and napkins skip the plates. Get good sturdy paper plates, but don't worry about them having characters on them nobody looks and they're soon covered with food. Trust me, I once bought a pack of silver plates printed 100 different robots from the internet, cut them out, glued them on and glued clear plates on top. After all that hard work no one noticed. People notice the tablecloth and the cake those should be pretty skip pretty plates.

Be mindful of nap time when picking start and end times for your party. Otherwise your little one may miss it or worse yet be cranky and uncooperative. If you have little ones make sure you have a quiet place to escape to if they get overwhelmed. Change diapers right before guests arrive. Take pictures of the birthday boy or girl looking all spiffy and then give up keeping them that way. Keep parties in the 2hr range between the excitment and the sugar that's all kids can handle.

As far as going to a party, there are a few thing too. If you don't know the child well use the invitation as a clue to finding the right gift. Sometimes however you get this and you have to wing it. Depending on the age and communicative abilities of your child they may be able to help. Watch out though ever since the age of 5 Isaac always thinks the birthday boy or girl really wants the Lego set he's had an eye on. Always buy batteries for battery operated toys. Any parent trying to explain to a excited child why they have to wait to play with a new toy will thank you. Consider carefully what you do know about the birthday kid and do your best, there's always gift receipts. I recommend them because sometimes you nail it so well they already have one. I stay away from gift cards for kids there's no instant gratification. Also, I fully admit to using Isaac's to get him socks and underwear on occasion. I always prefer to wrap kids gifts when ever possible, gift bag opening is no fun. Also, cards for the little ones are a complete waste. They can't read them and don't care about them. I did save every 1st birthday card Riley received for the baby book, but Isaac's the first one to dump his cards in the trash after a party. Unless they're interactive in some way. I prefer a brief colorful note for the under 12 set myself.

Happy Parties!