Sometimes Family Parties Are Just More Fun

You might consider this post a part 2 to the birthday one I published earlier this month.  I can see the connection, so we'll go with it.

M had his 7th birthday last month.  While we usually do something small on the actual birth day, we also like to celebrate with friends or family when it's convenient for everyone, ie. on the weekend.  Because parties for 3 kids get expensive quickly, we employ a "one year on, one year off" party strategy.  Last year was the "on" year, so he had his Tron-themed blowout.

This year, we kept it low key with pizza and hot dogs at Grandma's.  With three cousins, 2 brothers, and an aunt who is a giant kid (Tilte, I'm talking about you), he's pretty much guaranteed a good time regardless of whether it's an "on" year or an "off" year.

I've already established in part 1 of this post that I failed to plan properly for his birthday this year.  As a result, I had no gifts for him on his birthday and nothing planned for the weekend gathering at Grandma's.  I felt like a bit of a bad momma for forgetting his presents, so I used the 2 days between his birthday and the weekend to scramble to put together his "family party", as we refer to them in the ol' Number Whisperer household.

It's a good thing I did, because on Friday at child care pick up, the kindly lady who supervises the kids wished me good luck with the "family party".  Apparently M had been telling everyone about his weekend plans.

I had been throwing around the idea of a Minute-to-Win-it Christmas party after spotting a pin on Pinterest, so I did some quick googling, and came up with a birthday party to rival the best of them.

Most of the ideas I stole from this site.

This party ended up being one of the best ones I've had.  There were no over the top themed decorations and there was no huge party budget.  I think I spent about $12 total, because most of the props I was able to find around the house.

Here's a photo parade of all the fun.

Stick a tennis ball in some pantyhose, shove it on your head and do your best to knock down the bottles.

This game only gets funnier the more you play it.

EVERYone wanted in on the action.

The adults had to knock down strategically-placed bottles.

At this point, we couldn't breathe from laughing so much.

And then we moved on to the "eat a cookie off your face" game.

Even the teenagers had fun.

Flick a ping pong ball into the basket across the room.  We used L as a weight.

Well THAT doesn't look incriminating.

Transfer a skittle from the table to a container, using only a straw and your lungs.

Everyone was feeling the love that night.

And it quickly turned into a "who is stronger" contest.

I think she won.

I would be remiss if I did not say something about the disaster that was M's birthday cake.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  I'm not a baker.  I'm the equivalent of the angel of death to cakes, cookies, and other sugary treats.  I think this photo of my offering needs no further explanation.

My sister took one look at it and said, "You need to submit that to epicfail.com."  Thanks Tilte.

The Trouble With January Birthdays

A few weeks back, M turned seven, and like any other six year old, he had been looking forward to the big day, oh, since about a week after his last birthday.  Completely disregarding the fact that Christmas was only 23 days earlier, he was practically salivating at the thought of what he might receive in gifts.

Have I mentioned that work has been crazy lately?  It has, since October.  And between Christmas and his birthday, I barely had time to breathe, let alone plan a special day for him, which is how January 16th rolled around, and I had yet to purchase a single gift for him.  

His birthday is the 17th.  Totally my fault, I know.  I should've planned better.  So when the night before his birthday appeared (out of nowhere) and BH called from the freeway to see if I had bought anything, I felt a twinge of guilt saying,"oh no!  I didn't yet (yet, ha).  Did you?"

I only asked him in the hopes that he would shoulder some of the guilt with me.  But he and I both know full well that birthday planning is my job.

So the night before M's birthday, 3 weeks after Christmas, BH hit every toy store in the county.  He returned at 9pm with a video game and a hot dog toaster. 

Really?  A hot dog toaster?  And yes, the Christmas decorations are still out.  More about that later.

Turns out the toy inventories had not yet been replenished so soon after Christmas.  I guess I had never noticed before, probably because I had never been in the position to need a bunch gifts on short order.

So it's 9 o'clock, the night before his birthday.  I had to think quick.  How was I going to save this one?

M, who had been counting down to the big day since Thanksgiving, was pumped for his birthday, which would be arriving in less than 12 hours.

Me:  "M, since tomorrow is a school day, you'll only get to open one gift in the morning."

M:  "Ok, Momma.  Can I pick which present to open?"

Me: "No, Daddy and I get to chose for you."

M:  "Ok!"

The next morning, M opened up his hot dog maker and marveled at his new appliance.  It was decided that he would cook dinner for us on his birthday.  Thank goodness, because I  had also forgotten to plan dinner or dessert.

The toaster diversion bought me some time.  I would need a miracle, but I was determined to find him some birthday presents.

Enter  TJ Maxx.

Who would've thought that TJ Maxx, of all places, would have a ton of Star Wars figures and other 7-year-old-boy appropriate toys less than a month after Christmas?  I've been in this store nuuumerous times in the last 6 years, and I've never known them to carry good toys.  But I wasn't going to question it.  I scooped up everything in sight and loaded up the minivan.

So I did it.  Shopped, wrapped, picked up groceries for dinner, baked monkey bread AND put in a full day at the office (or at least that's the story I'm sticking to).

When I picked him up from child care that night, he was so excited to come home and begin celebrating.

As we're walking up the path to the front door, he turns to me and says:

"Momma, you remembered to keep the Christmas decorations for my birthday!  Thank you Momma!"

You're welcome M, you're welcome.

Q4 2012 Post Season Wrap-Up

Trying turkey neck for the first time.  Gag. 

Never trust the words, "You've never had them?  They're DELICIOUS."

 
Getting a family member to cry at the Thanksgiving table.  Sorry Mom!

Really?  I made someone cry AGAIN?

 
Going salt-free (a fate worse than death).

Low Sodium chicken broth?  Might as well be drinking water.

 
Rum cakes and polvorones.

World's worst baker, right here.

 
Family Time.

Crazy runs in the family.

Mental note:  Stop taking pictures with my 20 year old cousins.

Momma.

This would've been great if it weren't blurry.

 
Gift Exchanges.

Is anyone ever really happy with gift exchanges?

 
Discovering just how bad of a dancer I am.

 
Holiday eating.

BH and my three blessings.

I have no idea when M learned how to eat with chop sticks.

Now that's my kind of holiday spread.

I'm classically conditioned to salivate at the sight of Reynolds Foil.

Hope your holiday season was happy and filled with warm times.

Merry Christmas

An Unconventional Holiday Gift Giving Guide

Gift giving season is upon us, and with that comes the dreaded holiday gift exchange.  Every year, I do my best to bow out of this annual ritual, but they cornered me this year.  So I'm Secret Santa to some poor shmoe, and some poorer shmoe is Secret Santa to me.  

The problem I have with office gifts is that they're usually so generic and impersonal that they hold no appeal to me.  Wine, Liquor, Coffee, gift cards.  That pretty much covers it.  I like to buck the system and gift gifts that I think are pretty cool.  Like one year I gave this glass head to a coworker.

I thought it was fun and could be used a myriad of ways.

It was returned within the week.  And now I'm known as the tacky gift giver.

I thought last year's gift idea was great too, but it didn't take off as I had assumed it would.  I guess my tastes are eclectic.  So for those of you who happen to think glass heads and bulletproof clipboards are fantastic gifts, here are some more from you, straight from my personal wish list that's posted for my Secret Santa at work.

Vinyl Place mats

Star Wars Car Decals

2013 Hamster Sports Calendar

Rainbow Brite Snuggie

Mythbusters Mug Set

Beard Beanie

Doormat

Star Trek Door Chime

Wampa Snow Scraper

Happy Shopping!

Thrift Store Holiday Find

BH thinks it's hideous, but what does he know? 

What's To Be Thankful For? A Lot.

In honor of this day of thanks,  I'm going to brainstorm on all the things I am thankful for.

My kids.  As much as they drive me crazy, they fulfill me a thousand times more.

My husband, especially this morning.  I walked downstairs to find the house completely picked up.  Every room.

My health and the health of my loved ones. 

My mind.  I may lose it occasionally, but somehow I manage to find it every time.

The smell of crayola crayons.

Salt.

Butter.

Avocados.

The Internet.

Pain Reliever.

Hot Socks.

Sun Screen.

Windy Days.

Washing Machines.

My Job.

QVar.

Vyvanse.

Beta Blockers.

Lipitor.

Toilet Paper.

Charley.

Makeup.

Music.

Umbrellas.

My Minivan.

Home.

Digital Cameras.

Health Insurance.

Friends.

I'm sure I missed some obvious ones.  What's on your list?

Halloween Only Comes But Once A Year

My favorite holiday of the year has come and gone, and today I'm feeling a bit of a Halloween hangover.  Not from too much drinking or too much candy, but from too much excitement.  This over-sized kid got overstimulated and had to go to bed early; but not without first enjoying the holiday to it's fullest.  

And by fullest I mean, wearing multiple costumes, entering contests in cities that I don't even live near, and convincing all coworkers in my vicinity to dress up like the bunch of middle-aged fools that we are.

It was a great month holiday.  And now I'm tired.

Grandma stole every idea Pinterest had to dish out.

That's me trying to channel my inner Kia Hamster.

A few belts and a bed to jump off of are all a boy needs to feel like a ninja.

At our house, it's not a party unless donuts are involved.  And dog crates.

Guess who won the toilet paper mummy contest?

Coolest recipe ever for Halloween punch.

But if you lose the recipe and wing it, you may end up with a volcano-like eruption on your hands.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the costume contest, but my sister took some great ones and posted them on her blog here and here.  She made the best thrift store costumes this year...you have to see them

Back to the slide show.

That's me, trying to channel my inner Meadowlark Lemon.

Coolest costume of the season.

I sit behind this guy at work.  I guess that makes me the horse's ass.

Samuel L. Jackson Nick Fury stopped by for some coffee.

As you can see, I am clearly the life of the party.

I'll leave you with this short video, taken yesterday.  I should've been working...this is our busiest time of the year.  But the hours have been long lately, and we're all getting a little punchy.  Which probably explains why we thought this video was the funniest thing since Dave Coulier.