Lightening Online

I have to admit I’m a bit of a party girl. Not the “go out, get drunk and dance all night” kind of party girl. More of the “fairy bread, pass the parcel and lolly bags” type party girl.

I love organising parties for my kids (with the exception of the past couple of years when I’ve been in a “less than capable” state of being). I love planning what cake they’ll have (or watching them pour over the cake books choosing something). I LOVE presents. I love buying presents and wrapping presents and giving presents (and getting presents ).

So naturally our trip away gave me LOTS of reasons to smile. I got to go shopping for TOYS (I LOVE shopping for toys). I got to wrap them up and tie lolly necklaces and watches to the outside just for fun (and of course to make me the BEST aunty!!! ). I got to help pack lolly bags and buy party food and enjoy watching my children and my niece and nephews have lots of fun together.

Best of all, I was actually well enough to enjoy it and participate (although next time I’ll have to remember the pass the parcel).

Now that the camera is unpacked, here are some photo’s of the fun:

Fun on the big slide at the indoor playground.

“Happy Birthday to the Cousins”. (I hope my in laws don’t disown me for publishing their photo online )

These 2 cousins were stoked to get the same toys. What we didn’t think about was them having the same frequency so they kept triggering one another’s vehicles with their controls. Not that it phased them any - they were having too much fun. Oh what torture for the dads not to wear out the batteries before the boys got a look in though.

When the presents were all unwrapped, the lounge room floor resembled Christmas morning.

This one has nothing to do with the birthday party. While we were in Adelaide, Farmboy took the opportunity to take the boys to a Crows game. Here is Leighton in all his gear, ready to go. The boys went to the football while the girls stayed at my SIL’s and ate chocolate. Singstar Princess finally got a copy of High School Musical 2 and she got to watch that after the younger cousins were in bed.

My children lead a charmed life. I hope one day they look back on their childhood with fond memories.

In other smiley news:

I received a lovely Tasmanian postcard from Ann (thank you Ann).

My parents eventually sent me a birthday card. No phone call but at least they didn’t forget.

I’ve had some wonderfully supportive emails and some lovely e-cards from friends recently. Thank you.

I’m part-way through another medication decrease and the effects seem to be a little less horrible than last time.

I enjoyed wandering through my garden and taking some photo’s when we got back from our time away.

Over To You:

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Happy Smiley Saturday everyone. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Our main reason for shooting off to the “big smoke” for a few days was to get together with Farmboy’s two sisters and their children for a “cousins birthday party”.

My sister-in-law mentioned the idea last year when we both encountered the issue of our children wanting each other to come to their birthday parties. Her eldest and our youngest are only a couple of months apart in age and living 500km apart causes them quite a bit of grief.

Travelling 500km in order to make it to a birthday party is not always practical (in both time and finance).

The idea had merits on a LOT of levels. We try to all get together over Christmas (whether it be Christmas Day or a time close to Christmas) so having something mid-year where we all got together really appealled to us.

Originally the idea was to simply get together for a bit of a celebration/party. However, with my children all celebrating their birthdays within a month of Christmas, I mentioned that I would LOVE to for them to wait and have gifts mid-year. This spreads things out for the kids but also spreads out the financial load of people buying them two gifts at the same time of year.

We don’t often get to see our nieces and nephews ON their birthday so it suited everyone to have a get together with a little gift exchange. Even better was the fact that both Kmart and Big W had toy sales that started right before the planned date.

It was a lovely day. We had a delicious BBQ lunch then the dads took the kids to an indoor playground for an hour or so while we cleaned up, finished wrapping presents, organised a party afternoon tea and grabbed an ice cream cake.

We sang “Happy Birthday to the cousins” and indulged in too much food (resulting in not needing to eat any tea). Then did presents with the kids. Each child received 2 gifts each (from the 2 other families). The day ended with party bags - because is it a real party without party bags???? Wish I was one of the “cousins” - wouldn’t have minded a party bag myself.

It all worked out so well that we’ve decided to make it a new family tradition to have a “cousins birthday party” on the first weekend of the mid-year school holidays each year.

10-pin bowling sounded to me like the perfect theme for a 10th Birthday Party. Even more so given how much Leighton enjoys it. One of the drawbacks of living out here in a rural area is access to these kind of things. It’s almost 2 hours drive from our home to the nearest Bowling Alley.

This meant that in order for him to have a 10-Pin Bowling party, we needed to transport the guests to and from our nearest town, turning what could be a very simple party (for those that live near a Bowling Alley) into quite a complicated one.

We gave Leighton a choice for his 10th Birthday Party. He could take 4 friends bowling (we have a 7 seater car) or we could have a larger party more locally. He chose the option of having just 4 friends and going bowling.

A couple of years ago I saw some Ten-Pin Bowling candles and grabbed them, thinking it would make a great theme for one of the kids birthday cakes. Perfect! It was great to have them in the cupboard when Leighton decided he would indeed have a 10-Pin Bowling Birthday Party. While you have to be careful not to end up with too much stuff that doesn’t ever get used, I’ve learnt living out here that I need to grab stuff like that when I see it. Chances are, when I wanted them, I would have had trouble finding them.

Farmboy ended up decorating the cake for me (bless him). He quite enjoys a bit of cake decorating. I didn’t notice until I was just downloading and resizing photo’s, just how well he did with using the red licorice (which was leftover from Singstar Princess’s cake).

I noticed in this photo that the alley have used red to border their lanes. Not that I expect anyone really noticed (other than me just now looking at the photo’s). If you click on any of the photo’s, it will take you to a larger copy which shows the red lines between lanes a little clearer.

We met in town at Farmboy’s brothers home and did the presents and cake before heading off for the day. I think some of the parents thought we were very brave taking 5 boys for the day. The kids were SO GOOD though. Very well behaved and polite. A real credit to their parents in my opinion.

I had quite a bag of snacks packed for them to munch on as well as some cans of drink I bought for 40c a can. We also took a couple of DVD’s and played them in the car DVD player. I expected them to be extremely noisy but they were quite quiet. The DVD on the way up there finished just as we were driving into town.

It was amazing how the day seemed to fall into place like that. One thing seemed to roll into the next quite naturally and without fuss. KFC for lunch followed by a trip to the park for the boys to kick the footy around (we couldn’t get into the Bowling Alley until 2pm due to Penant Bowls).

The Bowling Game took around an hour then Farmboy gave each of them a few gold coins to play on the games.

I had a couple of hours shopping after lunch while the boys did all of that. Then they picked me up on our way out of town. We were due back in town at 5pm and arrived with about 6 minutes to spare. Parents started arriving around 30 seconds after we got there and all the boys were gone by 5pm.

I just couldn’t believe how smoothly the whole day seemed to run!!!

I think it’s a party Leighton will look back on fondly (at least I hope he does ). Here’s a shot of him with the candles lit.

My heart just melts when I see him. My beautiful little baby on his way to becoming a man. He was such a GOOD host all day. I was SO proud of him. At lunch time he was making sure everyone had food (including me and Farmboy).

When we did the birthday cake in the morning, he insisted on cutting it and serving everyone with a piece. Then when his younger brother dropped his, he raced off inside to get him some more. I kind of expected he would be focused on his mates and not care about his younger brother and sister. So that little expressed of thought and caring really touched my heart.

We have our moments but all in all, he’s a GREAT kid!!!!

As much as I love birthday parties, I must admit I’m glad I don’t have to think about anymore for a while now. I’m a tad “partied out”.

If you are having a party, one thing you will need to purchase are party favors. There are many various types of party favors such as bridal shower favors, themed favors and wedding reception favors, all perfect for your next big bash!

As promised, here are some pics of the party. I was pretty flat out most of the time so didn’t get to take photo’s of many of the activities. I hope you enjoy the ones I have managed to take.

This is Singstar Princesses party cake. Her choice of cake AND decorations. I think she did quite a good job of visualising what would look good on the cake. It has taken a few years for the kids to understand that they can have a number cake that ISN’T decorated the same way as the cake decorating book has it. I have to admit I was quite pleased that she chose to have a number 7. Nice and simple!!!! These are Singstar Princesses decorated biscuits. I just HAD to take a photo of these to show you. The two at the bottom - are SINGING. She has no idea that I call her “Singstar Princess” but she sure is one!!!! Their mouths are open and she’s added a lolly in the middle which is their “tongue”. Here are some of the decorated biscuits made by a couple of the party guests. I have the most beautiful photo of the kids holding up their puppet biscuits but can’t (well won’t) put it up here because other people’s kids are in it. You’ll have to take my word for it how happy they all look with their creations. This one is of a couple of kids building their marshmallow constructions. It was really interesting seeing how different kids tackled this project. Some got right into it while others stuck to lollipops (single marshmallow on a toothpick) and weights (toothpick with marshmallow either end).The construction work in the foreground of this photo is quite a work of art. He has placed diagonal support beams into it to make it all stronger. Pretty impressive for a 7 year old I thought!!!

And that is all I have for you I’m afraid. It would have been nice to have a few more shots. But making the day enjoyable and a success had to take priority. Naturally the most important thing was the kids having a great time! Which they did!

Today is the day of DD’s making party. That’s why I’m sitting here typing away at the computer and sucking on one of the Chupa-Chups Marita sent for my kids. Do you remember chocolate flavoured chupa-chups???? Well, DS just asked me to unwrap a lollipop for him and it was a CHOCOLATE one. So I went rummaging in the box to see if there was another. And there was!!! So now I’m sitting here with a lollipop stick hanging out my mouth feeling like a big kid. It’s great fun!!!!

And of course, procrastinating on getting the rest of the stuff ready for DD’s party.

I spent most of yesterday getting stuff prepared. In fact, I’m not sure who’s doing all of the “making” for this party - me or the kids! I have to admit that this kind of party has taken a lot more preparation than I would normally put in for a party. In fact, DD’s last 2 party’s were “throw a snag on the barbie and the kids play on the playground” type parties. All I really needed to do was make a birthday cake and a pass the parcel.

But when Leighton turned 7, he had a football themed birthday party. So it seems we’ve begun a tradition of 7 being a “themed” party of some description.

So, what are we going to be making? Well, I’m so glad you asked because I just feel like talking to somebody about it. Guess that’s why I have a blog.

Firstly I made a heap of brown paper bags for the kids to decorate. Now that I’ve spent the last week making these 15 bags, I guess you’ll all give me an easier way I could have done this!!! I couldn’t find any plain gift bags in the shops other than some white glossy ones which I wasn’t sure texta would work on. Plus at $1.50 per bag that’s over $20 just for empty bags.

Instead I used a $3 roll of brown paper and made them myself. I’d show you a photo but I haven’t taken one. How did I do it? Basically I wrapped up a weet-bix box leaving the top part open. Voila! One paper bag about the size of a weet-bix box (a 1.2kg I think it was). Then I cut up the box (well, 2 boxes) to make a cardboard insert for the bottom.

We’ve got textas and stickers and glitter glue for the kids to decorate their bags with. Oh, and we’ll add some curling ribbon handles (providing I remember to get it out of the top cupboard).

Once that is done we have a list of edible treats for the kids to make:

1. Lolly bugs - 2 jaffas for eyes, 1 boiled lolly for the body and 2 bananas for the back end (tail or whatever you want to pretend it is). Wrap them in cellophane then add pipecleaner legs by wrapping the pipecleaners around the body. (I’ll try and put a photo up later)

2. Biscuit Puppets. The original idea for this came from some lollipop puppets I saw. Only problem was, the only lollipops I could find suitable were HUGE and $2 each. Instead, I pinched an idea from those kids packet mixes (Fairy Wands or something). Made up a plain batch of biscuits, rolled and cut out circles and inserted a popstick into each one. The kids can ice them and use lollies to turn them into whatever creature they want.

3. Icecream Biscuits. With the leftover dough I cut out some ice cream shaped biscuits for the kids to ice and decorate as well.

4. Fruit Loop necklaces. This one has very little preparation. The kids just thread fruit loops onto some string and tie the ends together.

Hmmmm……we lost our power so this post didn’t get finished. I’ve just iced DD’s birthday cake (phew! Another job down). Now where was I???

Oh….

5. Cheese Things Carrots. Just cheese things in a bag sticky-taped into a piping bag shape and tied with green curling ribbon.

6. Marshmallow Construction. BIG bowl of marshmallows and hundreds of toothpicks and let their creativity go nuts.

7. Chocolate Making. Now you can’t have a making party without making chocolates!!!! And since I have a box full of chocolate moulds, it was a logical activity to do.

Then to keep them occupied if they finish all that earlier than expected - butchers paper tablecloth and an ice cream bucket of crayons so they can decorate the tablecloth.

Only 3 non replies out of 12 invitations so I guess that’s not too bad.

Photo’s to come in the next day or so (I hope). If I disappear for a few days…. I’m probably in bed recovering!

P.S.  Don’t forget to check out Lightening’s Blogworld today.  My first “real” article was published and it’s all “official” like now.  Just need some visitors and comments to keep me smiling.

AND WE ALL HAD A BLAST!!!!

Plus I’m still smiling and the house is in tact - so it’s all good! LOL.

The cardboard box Lightning McQueen cars were a real hit. It’s such a simple idea and yet so effective. It provided an activity (making the cars), a game (racing around the track) and a take home gift. I think our biggest cost for these were the paper plates! LOL.

Here is a photo TJ modelled for me yesterday. We made his car up as a “prototype”.

Here is an action shot showing some of the “racetrack” we set up using a couple of pieces of white rope. I was thinking of buying some of that white spray on stuff but this worked just as well and we already had it on hand. It’s amazing how something so simple can work so well. The kids loved it!

And here is the cake! Can’t get much easier than a nice square cake. LOL. It really only took a few minutes to ice, decorate and assemble. I did purchase a brand new Lightning McQueen car for the top of the cake but the rest were toys from the cupboard (carefully washed or wiped over) and ingredients from the cupboard.

I think somewhere along the way, my journey into simple living has simplified the way I do kids parties. I kept the food simple, the cake decorating simple, the activities simple. Yet the kids all seemed to have a lot of fun, were stoked with their stash of items to take home and a couple of the mums seemed to think I should go into the party throwing business. LOL. All the while I was able to relax and enjoy the day as well (this is a BIG thing for me - usually I’m stressed out the whole time wanting it all to be “perfect”).

I did a quick calculation this afternoon and think I’ve spent around $60 on this party for 7 children and 8 adults. That was without actually “trying” to keep costs down. It was only supposed to be morning tea but I know none of our family have needed lunch and there are plenty of other leftovers as well.

All in all I’d have to say it was a succesful morning.

Now I feel like I can focus on Christmas……

Here is the first birthday cake I made for DS’s 4th birthday. He chose what colour I put in the icing (yellow seems to be a favourite at the moment). The lollies on the top are little lolly cars. (Yeah, I know, they look like frogs don’t they? At least, that’s what DS thought they were lol). Chucking a few lollies on a number cake is my idea of a birthday cake - nice and simple!

I had to include this photo as well (carefully edited to remove as much of my “first thing Saturday morning hairdo” as I could manage lol). Doesn’t he look so excited when he sees the Lightning McQueen Beach Towel?

I love kids birthdays - they’re so much fun!!!! I’ll be back tomorrow with some photo’s from the party.

The BIG day has arrived. Today my baby turns 4!!!! It sounds so BIG, doesn’t it? Last week I was talking with a friend of mine who also happens to be one of the staff members at my son’s kindy (preschool) and she was sharing about a conference she went to which taught them to remember that the 4 year olds in their care were just 48 months old. When you put it like that, it doesn’t really sound so old after all does it? I think it was just what I needed to hear at the time.

My boy is SO proud of how big he is! It really is very sweet.

This year Lightning McQueen is featuring very heavily. For those of you not familiar with Lightning McQueen, he is a red racecar and the lead character in the movie “Cars”. I LOVE the storyline as he learns what it truly means to be a friend and to have friends. And that “winning isn’t everything”.

We gave him a Lightning McQueen beach towel and wallet (he FINALLY has his own wallet!!!! A fact he is very proud of. We tend to start teaching money management to our children from 4 years onwards - that’s probably a subject for another post). We also gave him a Leapster that included a Lightning McQueen game. Being the youngest, he is being introduced to computer games a little younger than the other two. DD now has a gameboy and our other DS has a Nintendo DS so this is TJ’s very own “gameboy”. They work out fantastic for travelling in the car - we drive quite a few km’s a week living so far from everything.

His grandparents gave him his very own tool set (with REAL tools) - it came with a hat, goggles and toolbelt and he is ecstatic. So in many ways turning 4 has become a significant milestone for him becoming a “big boy”.

On Monday he’s having a few little friends over for a “Cars” Birthday party. To the left is a copy of the invitation we used as a base for our invitations. Gotta love the internet for being able to find HEAPS of great party ideas. The children who have been invited are all quite EXCITED at the thought of a “Lightning McQueen” party.

The plan is for each child to make their very own Lightning McQueen car out of a cardboard box (the kind you stand inside of). I’ve printed off some Lightning McQueen faces to stick to the front of the box and there’s a red piece of paper with a “95″ on it to go on the sides. Then of course the paper plate wheels and steering wheel. DH is going to mark out a track on the back lawn so they can “drive” around it

I think it’ll be lots of fun. The cardboard cars will take care of most of the activity for the morning and also become part of the “take home” gift for each child. I have bought “Cars” party bags as well and in them will go a few lollies, a small packet of chips and a couple of “cars” colouring sheets I printed off the internet.

I’m hoping that by the time they arrive and settle in, make their car and race around in their car, there won’t be a need for too much other organised activity. We also have a blow up tunnel type thing my parents gave our children for Christmas which DH will set up and the sand-pit. I do have some blow up egg and spoons they can play with and if need be we’ll do an egg and spoon race or two and play a few games like Duck, Duck, Goose. I find the whole “winning/losing” issue with party games and prizes a hard one at this age so I simply solve that dilemma by avoiding those kinds of games.

We have a little boy coming who is allergic to eggs, milk, nuts and a few other things so I’ve worked on party food that he can have (usually his mum brings food for him but they’re close friends and it’ll be nice for him to be able to come to a party and just be “one of the kids” instead of being different). I feel very honoured (and a tad nervous) that I am one of the few people she will trust with the life of her child. His first sleep-over away from home was here.

Party Food will be:

* fruit platter
* popcorn with icing sugar
* iced biscuits with lolly faces (I know which biscuits he can have)
* plain potato chips (he can have Home Brand salt & vinegar but DH accidentally ate them)
* toobs
* pretzels
* jelly cups with jelly frogs in them (if I get around to making them lol)
* cordial (plus tea & coffee for the mums)

He can also have my Chocolate Fudge Cake so I’ll make that for the birthday cake. I prefer to keep things pretty simple all up. There’s nothing worse than spending hours making party food only to end up throwing a heap in the rubbish.

Today I have to make 2 birthday cakes. One for his family birthday tea tonight and one ready for the party on Monday. I’m planning on making a number 4 cake for tonight. The cake for the party is pretty simple (photo’s Monday night hopefully). I’ve bought a toy Lightning McQueen to go on it rather than attempt to actually make and ice a Lightning McQueen (like I said, I like simple ).

I don’t think it takes too much to put on a simple little kids party that can be lots of fun without being TOO much work. If I make things too complicated for myself I tend not to want to go through all of that again. LOL. This way, we all have fun and I don’t end up in a heap. Having it during the school day means I only have the 6 kids who are coming plus 5 mums (2 kids are siblings) and DS and myself to cater for.

Our family tradition is to have a kind of party tea on the day of each child’s birthday. Generally I let the kids choose what meal they’d like and so far they’ve always chosen a “party tea”. LOL. Just like their mother really - that’s what I used to ask my Grandmother to do when she would do a special birthday tea for my birthday. So naturally, I’m happy to oblige. No party pies this time though (I don’t have any at the moment!!!). But we will have “little boys” (cocktail sausages), fairy bread (an absolute must), cheese & bacon fingers (some people call them “toasties”), potato chips, salad platter and slices of watermelon. I’ve also bought some brandy snaps and cream as a bit of a treat. And of course, the birthday cake. I *might* make a few mini quiches if I get really energetic today while the oven is on - we’ll see.

I think I’d best go write myself a “what needs doing when” list. More details and photo’s will follow over the next couple of days.