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My standard poodle, Darwin (AKA Dardie) turned 2 today! Here’s how we spent this special day . . .
Birthday Party invitation
Morning photo shoot for the birthday boy
A special treat
Pretending to be an elf is fun!
A whole lotta lovin!
A little grooming
Wrestling with Daddy
Homemade peanut butter carrot cake with cream cheese honey frosting
Time to sing “Happy Birthday”
Best buddies chowing down on cake
0 Comments on Darwin’s Birthday! as of 1/1/1900
My daughter is almost 16 now, so themed birthday parties are a thing of the past. That makes me a bit sad! I can honestly say she had the BEST birthday parties growing up! They were always homemade, inexpensive and creative. I dug out these old photos, which are almost 11 years old (way before digital photography) and took photos of the photos with my digital camera. I wanted to share them with you.
We always had small parties so they would be manageable, less stressful and more fun! I used to go crazy when I’d take Rachel to parties years ago where there were dozens of kids running around and parents yelling. And who wants all those gifts all over the house? We actually attended one party for a 3 year old with more tan 80 guests. It was horrible, and we left as soon as possible. No one was having fun. And I’ve never seen so many gifts scattered all over the place! Can you imagine a 3 year old opening 80 gifts? It really repulsed me. I think parents forget that young kids can get easily overwhelmed. A good rule to follow is to invite around the same number of kids of the age of the birthday party child. So when or child turns 5, have 4 guests plus your child to equal 5 kids for a 5th birthday party.
Now, back to the party….I remember that first I sent out invitations that looked like a treasure map. I drew water and a pirate ship and land with squiggly lines that led to our house. (You can use clip art if you like.) There were only 6 invitations, so I made each one by hand. (You can make 1 and take it to a copy center also.) I did them on yellowish/cream paper and them burned the edges to make them look authentic.
I made this cake to look like a pirate ship, with the back end starting to sink a bit. I always started each cake by making a sheet cake first and then cutting it up and stacking it to look like whatever I wanted it to be.
I bought a cardboard treasure chest from a catalog that came with pirate related finds and I also added more goodies for the kids. They had to play a game and do a treasure hunt to find the chest. I hid clues all over the house. First I gave them one index card that I aged and crumbled a bit. It had a rhyming clue that would lead them to the next rhyming clue on an index card and so on. I think I had about 10 clues before they found the chest. One was hidden in the dishwasher, another in a flower pot in the back yard, in the shower, pillow case, etc. The kids were running all over the house and were so excited when they figured each one out. The parents were following them back and forth across the house and yard. It was a blast.
I dressed my husband up in this homemade pirate costume and pinned a stuffed parrot to his shoulder, and he held some sort of hook in his hand. He came out of the bedroom in costume playing his guitar, singing “yo ho ho…” and since the kids were only 5, they did not recognize him as Rachel’s Dad. They REALLY thought he was a pirate. All the parents were hysterically laughing. We even had a pinata of a pirate filled with candy. We blindfolded the kids and let them take several whacks at it. They loved that! The pinata was so hard to bust, that my husband had to do it at the end with his hook hand!
I hope you try a pirate party. Not only will your kids have a great time, but so will you!
I’ll be sharing many more party ideas with you. Stay tuned!
This is just to say that Alkelda of Giggleswick's feast day is this month: March 28, to be exact. I just thought I'd mention that to you because it might be of interest to those of you who are in a scholarly mindset...
Oh, all right, it's also my 36th birthday. You know what I've always wanted for my birthday? A surprise party. Actually, I've already had one. Here's the story:
For my twentieth
I always laugh at funerals.
Was that Homer Simpson? I think so. Anyway, I went to a wedding last night in my hometown. One of the other guests was my 8th grade science teacher and junior high homeroom teacher.
Wow, Jennie that's really exciting.
It is actually, because guess who said teacher was?
Connie Roop! As in co-author of such books as
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie and
Buttons for General Washington and 100 or so more books for children.
And no one ever believes me that I know her, let alone she once threatened my friend Caroline and me with detention if we didn't start doing... I can't remember. Knowing Caroline though, we probably deserved it.
The wedding was lovely. And I'm still in Wisconsin gorging on super-fresh cheese curds and hanging out with my family.
Happy early birthday! Surprise parties are cool. The only one I ever had (that was really a surprise) was the one our mutual childhood friend threw for me on my 16th birthday - I felt cherished (she actually stole my address book and invited people she didn't even know as well as our friends from school and she collaborated with my mom who was not her biggest fan). Some colleagues tried to throw me a surprise baby shower once, but I could tell. I hope your birthday is full of wonderful surprises.
Man, I wish I could give you a surprise party! (I hate them, myself, but I've never had one -- I just hate surprises!)
And may I say: OY. Olive Garden?! If they wanted you in a good mood, they should at least have taken you somewhere actually ethnic. Olive Garden is as Italian as... well, I just don't know what. But it's NOT Italian!
Anyway. Happy Birthday in Advance, and may your fun day be much better this time around!
I'm so behind! I'm behind on all of your blogs. Anyway... thank you, LSM. I think I vaguely remember the birthday party our MCF threw, though that may be more the power of suggestion than anything. That's pretty cool. With all of the cattiness that can go on in high school, it's good to remember how cool our friends could be.
TadMack: There was one good Mexican restaurant in my college town, and it was quite good, but alas, that was the only "actual ethnic" place nearby. For anything more that was a bit of a South Bend was the place to go. I remember going back to my college town a few years ago and trying to order a proper salad in vain-- the best I got was shredded iceberg with a tomato wedge on top. Still, when it came to breakfasts, my college town could not be beat.
Thanks for the early birthday wishes! When the actual day rolls around, I'll probably grind the ground with my toe a la Anne Lamott and pretend to be modest.
Well, happy birthday! I hope it's wonderful!
And as a present, I finally sent you the CDs! Well, not really, I was sending them anyway, but it sounds good. :)