Bouncing through the years

Hey, so I have three kids. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that...seems that I keep forgetting one or the other. And we're not just talking about getting their names confused. My mom used to call us by every name (even the dog's) before she got the right one. What I mean is that the Boy had a birthday and I never even mentioned it.

When I was LARGE with child during Boo's 6th birthday, we let Build-A-Bear host it for us. A bit on the pricey side, yes, but so very worth it to a woman giving birth in a few weeks. Since the Boy's birthday was wedged between our Spring Break camping trip and my departure for a cruise, I needed something on the easy side. The Boy began campaigning for a local collection of bounce houses as his dream location. Kangaroo Zoo has always been popular with my kids. They have rooms for parties and offer special packages so I decided it might be worth it. Turns out that the party packages are much cheaper on a weekday and I found a $20 off coupon. That put it within my budget! They even provided custom-made invitations, complete with waivers for parents to sign before the kids could jump.

(And here's where I'm going to rant for just a moment...if your child is invited to a party, please call and RSVP! If your child is invited to a party at Kangaroo Zoo, Build-A-Bear, or another locale where the parents are forking over some serious cash in exchange for your child's entertainment, an RSVP is absolutely mandatory!! While we only had two kids who told me they were coming, we also had one kid that never responded and never showed. Since the party is for a set number of kids, it costs me the same if not all of them are there. So please drop this terrible habit that society has engendered of not responding to an invitation and call the hosts! Okay, rant over... for now...)

The party guest ran around like crazed baboons, jumping, sliding, and bouncing on every inflated surface. There was even a "party host" provided that chased them, taught them games on various structures and showed them the new attraction they recently installed:

Blaster guns! These are air-powered guns that shot foam balls. The goal was to get them in the black net bag in the middle of the room. That was soon abandoned in favor of other targets, such as the party host or the birthday boy. I got in a few good shots, too.

Then we had presents! Each party room has a special throne for the guest of honor. 

And just to make singing "Happy Birthday" a little more fun, I had the kids sing it as loud as they possibly could. The Boy loved that! For another picture (and explanation) of the cake, go to here.

A good time was had by all and the kids were very whiny when it came time to leave, which I always take as a sign of success. Added bonus? No after-party hurricane debris for me to clean up!

Happy (BELATED) Birthday, Boy!

Can't Buy Me Love

So...I'm kinda in charge of a party. It's a daunting task, with the participants having high expectations and not being the easiest bunch to please. There's an intense time frame that I have to work in, not to mention the fact that I really need to find some additional bodies to help me.

It's the Valentine's Day party for Boo's second grade class.

The teacher would like me to have different stations, with at least one adult per station. One station should allow the kids to pass out their valentines, another to make some sort of snack. The rest of the details are left to me.

I need your help! What are some really good games/tasks/treats that your kids/neighbor's kids/cousin's sister's brother's kids have done in the past? Ideas, please!

Here's what I have so far, with the kids divided into five groups of six kids, with about eight minutes per station:

1. Group gets to deliver cards to their classmates. Not sure this is going to fill the allotted time...any suggestions for filler?
2. Valentine Bingo. Everyone gets conversation hearts to use as markers.
3. Some sort of treat...I'm thinking sugar cookies because those are easy, decorated with candies that I'll ask the parents to send to class. One of the kids has a pretty intense set of allergies so not sure what to do here.
4. A craft. The kids will have their valentine boxes made before the party. I'm thinking I'll get some pompoms, pipe cleaners, wiggly eyes, and have them make warm fuzzies. That's kinda lame. I'm sure someone has a better idea.
5. Another game. I don't know what yet. Yikes!

Any suggestions, links, or detailed descriptions are most welcome! (And helping me might just get you a couple extra entries into my next giveaway...)

Party Pooper

Hey, I've got a dilemma and am having a heck of a time making a decision. Care to weigh in on it?

Da Boo's birthday is fast approaching. She decides a year in advance what the theme will be and then insists on discussing ideas for her party on a weekly basis. And believe me, I wish that last statement was an exaggeration. It is not. This year, since her birthday is so very close to October 31st, she decided she wanted a Halloween party. Cool. I love Halloween.

Now, here's the problem. Halloween is on a Sunday this year. We don't, as a family rule, have friend parties on Sundays. Breaking that rule just this once is not possible. Ain't gonna happen (we Mormons are hard-headed like that). So that's Factor #1.

Factor #2 is the fact that I am Goddess of the Activities for my church (or Ward Activities Chair, for those of you in on the lingo). I have to plan, prepare, and pull-off four activities per year with an average attendance of 250 people. Not an easy task. The Fall event -- already scheduled and half-planned with other committees contributing -- is set for the Friday before Halloween. Since I will already be going half crazy from the ward event, I cannot, for the love of sanity, mix Boo's party into the same weekend. That takes out a Friday or Saturday party. (And let's be honest, Thursday's gone, too.)

So maybe I just have it earlier; like the weekend before or maybe sooner that week. However, I, like many of my mom friends, usually do not have the kids' costumes completely finished this far in advance. Do I have it early and risk some kids not coming because they don't have an outfit yet? There's Factor #3.

Boo's actual birthday is just a day or two after Halloween. So here's the dilemma you've all been waiting for: I've considered holding the party on her actual birthday. Would this be totally lame? Would the costumes already be stashed away? Too much of a candy overload? Put yourself in the parent-role of a child invited to a Halloween costume party after Halloween and tell me what you would think.

Leggo My Legos!

I saw a friend's post about her son's birthday party and realized I never posted about the Boy's party! Oops!

Since the Boy is mildly obsessed with Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, and Lego Batman games on the Wii, it was pretty easy to get him excited about having a Lego party. And they have some really cute shirts out right now so he got one to wear for his party. He asked me every day if he could wear, maybe thinking he'd catch me off-guard. He didn't.

This party, I was ready. The treat bags were filled and ready to go. The table was covered. My floor was even vacuum well before the guests arrived. I was dressed and wearing makeup; the kids were dressed and didn't have peanut butter smeared all over their faces. I was in rare form! And I have to brag a little bit...most of my plans for the party came from sites online, except for this little piece of genius:


It's a plastic table cover with matching plates from Wal-mart. I wish I had more plates so I could have made all the doors into Legos!

When the guests arrived, they got a seat at the table (now big enough that kids didn't have to share chairs!), a Lego coloring page, and lots of crayons.


I knew this would be tricky because some kids use lots of colors, take their time, and really enjoy coloring. Others stab at the paper with a crayon once or twice and call it good. So for the fast ones, I had them try to write their name or draw a picture on the back. That held their interest long enough for everyone to arrive and get a chance to color.


Next, the kids got a bag of Lego bricks (I got the big 650-piece set and used less than half for the party). They could build whatever they wanted using as many or as few of their Legos. Originally, I intended to give everyone an award for their creation, like "Most Colorful," "Tallest," "Most Deadly If It Were Real," etc. But at the last minute, I couldn't find my award ribbons, so we just skipped over that portion.

After building, it was time for the pinata!


I got this one from the local party store and thought that if we used our imaginations, squinted our eyes, and had recently suffered a head trauma of some sort, then it would look like the 5 was made from Legos instead of whatever stuff was leftover from making those Mexican llama pinatas.

And why is it that store-bought pinatas are impossible to break? We were heading into our fourth round of taking swings -- and I didn't even blindfold the kids or make them dizzy! -- before the Man used a box cutter to weaken the integrity a little. These ought to be recycled for a new maximum security prison facility. Inside, I had filled the pinata with Starbursts, Tootsie Rolls, and more Legos. 'Cuz it's not a real party unless I've worked the theme into every nook and cranny.

After using all their energy to break the pinata-that-wouldn't-die, it was time to refuel with some cake and ice cream!


For better pictures of the cake, check it out on my cake blog. And once again, there's diversity amongst eating styles but I was prepared! Each kid got a handful of candy building bricks (sold in bulk at my local grocery store). These went over so big that we spent more time at the table so they could build with them/suck on them until their tongues turned colors.

And I have to show you the lemonade:


I made these using the ice cube trays from the Lego stores.

After cake comes presents!


What a surprise...he mostly got Lego sets.

With almost perfect timing, the parents started to collect their little ones. Each guest was sent home with a balloon and a goody bag. This is what was inside the bags:

Homemade soap (which was surprisingly easy), molded crayons (which were agonizingly tedious), with more building brick candy and their Lego creations. Oh, and there was a kazoo, too. I'd like to apologize to all the parents...the Boy insisted.

While I didn't feel like the party was chaotic and out of control, I was still exhausted at the end. I really ought to consider changing these to every other year...

Tiny Party

Something you may have noticed about Boo: she is tiny. I mean really, really little. She is often mistaken for the Boy's twin because - despite the 2 1/2 year age difference - they're the same size. So when we were discussing themes for her birthday party (last November, no less), I told her about a Tiny Party I'd seen in a Martha Stewart magazine (because, let's face it, when it comes to parties, Martha and her minions are far better at it than I am). Boo was pretty excited and wanted to plan it right then...with 11 months before it would happen.

Finally, her birthday arrived. So we had a Tiny Party. Small party, huge fun!

As the kids arrived, we played musical chairs with small chairs. Not that creative but hey, I needed something for them to do while I finished setting up. Next, came hats. I ordered the party kit (because, once again, she's better at it), so I set the kids to decorating their own tiny hats with stickers.


And here's a party tip for ya: when ordering supplies for your party, keep in mind that the birthday child counts as one, too. Not enough hats for Boo. She didn't seem to mind when I presented her with an awesome hot pink crown.

After hats, we had a couple games. First, there was the Mini Ring Toss.


I used lollipop sticks wrapped in ribbon and stuck in a Styrofoam circle. The rings are bracelets. We had to keep moving the line closer because, despite years of party game practice, the rings weren't landing around the pegs. After the ring toss, we had a miniature bowling set. We kept it inside the lid of a large box, so the pins didn't scatter all over the room, but also to give them a hard surface to roll the ball. That went over big and even though they had to wait a long time, they still wanted to keep playing. While they played, I began setting the table...and it took me far too long. I had to create a new game for them so I went with an old grade school favorite: Small and Smaller. The kids sit in a circle on the floor. The first one names an object (usually a pretty big one, like a house). The next kid has to name another object that is smaller than the previous one, and so on and so on, until they can't think of anything smaller. Then, the game starts over with another large object but you cannot repeat any objects from the previous rounds. This games lasted about two rounds and then they were done.

Luckily, I was ready by then.


I really ought to take a class in table setting or food styling...it looked much cuter at the party. Visit The Cake Cow for better pictures of the cake. Along with cupcakes*, the guests got scoops of ice cream (made with my melon-baller), root beer floats in their little cups, Mini Oreos, Mini M&Ms, and Baby Goldfish. I just loved the tiny forks that came with the party package!

After cake and ice cream, we realized we forgot one more game: Mini Pin-the-Candle-on-the-Cupcake. I made this using leftover stickers from a previous birthday. There were just barely enough candles for each child, including the Boy.


And I'm proud to say that da Boo cheated. Takes after me, she does! (That isn't Boo pictured...that's one of her friends who would never, ever, ever cheat. Ever.)

And what do you do after tiny games? Open tiny presents!


When it was time for the guests to go home, they got a pretty spiffy goody bag.


Using Marth's boxes, I filled them with all the fun miniature items I could gather. There's a magnifying glass, mini maze, tiny art set, small bubble kit, tiny deck of Uno cards, little cup, miniature Reese's peanut butter cups, and Hershey's Miniatures. Of course. Tucked inside the coordinating tiny tote (seriously, how does she come up with the cuteness??) is their own mini bowling set.

And then I took a nap for nine hours.

* I will admit that I had grand plans for the cakes. Grand, I tell you! I intended to make each guest their own miniature cake because how adorable would that be? But when it came time to make the cakes, I had just finished putting together and executing a party for 300 people. I was beyond exhausted. Mini cupcakes seemed an acceptable substitution...but I'm still kicking myself for copping out.

Tiki Time!

I have the best, most wonderful readers! All of whom are very attractive, too. Thanks for you encouraging words...I really needed to hear them, even if I was totally fishing for the compliments.


Saturday was the Boy's 4th birthday party. A couple years ago - which seem like only a couple weeks ago - we had a big BBQ to celebrate. Well, it was so much fun that we decided to do it again. I forced convinced the Boy to go for a luau theme (since I already had a bunch of decorations from the Man's 'Survivor' party - which we had before I started this blog so sorry, no pictures - and I am nothing if not cheap). We had to limit the number of people invited because we weren't sure what the weather would do (we got over six inches of snow a few days before!) and can't fit that many people in the living room of our house and be happy about it. Then I had to decide what to make for the cake that was a) unique (I've made too many volcanoes) and b) would make the Boy happy. I decided to shift the theme to tikis and made the cake to reflect that. Wanna see the cake?

As people began arriving, I had plenty of help getting the food ready and the chairs set up in the backyard. I should have done a LOT more prep work but we had just returned from a camping trip the evening before. It was all I could do to have the cake baked and cooled before collapsing onto my much-missed bed.

Da Boo's job was to give leis to our guests as they arrived. One little boy took it upon himself to show his sister how much he likes her.


He was very proud that he emptied the lei box. It was too funny!

It turned out to be a lovely day and we stayed outside for the most part, enjoying hot dogs and hamburgers, chips, fruit and the Boy's favorite drink: Black Cherry Kool-Aid (soooooo glad that was outside!). There was only one game. The Boy - during our argument discussion on the party theme - had insisted on having bowling. So I suggested coconut bowling - with a real coconut.


The kids loved it and I got hit with the coconut only once. I taped the tiki printouts to empty soda cans. If I do this again, I might try to make them a little heavier. After bowling, it was time for cake!


I'm going to do a product review on the new kind of cake mix I used but it was very tasty. There were only a couple cupcakes and one slice of cake left. I served it with vanilla and chocolate crinkle ice cream.

Since the house was getting a little crowded with all the sugar-stuffed kids, we moved outside to open the presents.


Shortly thereafter, our guests began to leave. The treat bags were kinda lame because I spent most of my budget on the food. But hey! There was candy inside so the kids were pretty excited.

We got everything cleaned up and let the Boy bust through the packaging on a few of his presents and start playing with them. He got a lot of cars and a big walking monkey/King Kong type toy. It didn't take him long to start sending King Kong crashing through his new car lot...


Oh, the imagination of a little boy!

Party in the Sand

Saturday was the Boy's birthday party. We delayed it two weeks because the Man was going out of town and he actually wanted to be there. So I made plans, invited friends and crossed my fingers that we'd have nice weather.

Since I've been at death's door all week, I had a minor freak-out on Friday afternoon when I realized the party was less than 24 hours away and I had done nothing for it. I didn't even have all the stuff to make the cake! So I left the kids with a sitter and dashed out the door, madly searching for party supplies.

Luckily, I had ideas and pretty much knew what I wanted to do. I saw a really cool sand castle cake in Family Fun magazine (everyone who loves this magazine, please raise your hand!) and decided to use that as the theme. I had sand toys for party favors along with a bag of the Boy's favorite candies and a bottle of bubbles. I only invited four of the Boy's friends because I didn't think I could handle more. I am getting to the point where if I don't feel the need to invite every child in my kid's age range to the party, just the ones with whom he has playdates. Also, the Co-ed and the Man would be there to lend a hand, should I need to cough up a lung. Aunt Denise is our family videographer and would record the events for posterity.

When the kids arrived, we tossed bean bags into different sized sand pails. No points or a winner, just lots of hurling of bags and cheering like crazy. I made the bags by quickly sewing together scrap fabric and stuffing them with dried pinto beans. They didn't have to be fancy and they only had to last one afternoon.


The kids had a difficult time with the whole "taking turns" issue but I kept them moving fast enough that pretty soon, it wasn't a problem. The Co-ed was there to show them how it was done.

After that game, it was time for cake and ice cream! To see a better picture of the cake, go here.


Here's the Boy blowing out the candles. And he didn't even spit on the cake this year! My baby is growing up! After cake, came presents. I asked for no toys (we have way too many) so he got lots of puzzles, which are his current addiction, and pjs. The gift from Mom and Dad was a three-wheeled scooter with helmet and pads. He'd wear that helmet to bed, if we'd let him.


After presents, I gave the kids their sand toys and we headed to the backyard. I had borrowed a neighbor's sand box and let the kids have at it.


To keep the party mood going, I set up a bubble machine. Pretty soon, the Boy found another use for his shovel: bubble popper. This machine is called Gazillion Bubbles...and that's what we got! I've never seen such a cloud of bubbles!


Even Aunt Denise got in on the bubble action! We ran out of bubbles after about fifteen minutes but luckily, I have a ready supply of bubble solution on hand, as every mother of preschoolers should.

Parents came and gathered their sand-covered little ones. The Boy went down for a nap (blessedly) and the adults tried their hardest not to crash, too.

I really wanted a nap but had to get ready for Sunday, when we would celebrate Quatro De Mayo with family. See, Sunday wasn't quite Cinco de Mayo but we still wanted an excuse to have lots of Mexican food. We had fajitas with the fixings, fruit salad, grilled pineapple, homemade salsa (my first attempt and actually pretty dang good) and guacamole with chips, Sangria (non-alcoholic version), and flan for dessert. It was fun! Might be a new tradition.

By the way? Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cowgirl Boo and Her Posse

Since she is currently obsessed with horses, da Boo wanted a Cowgirl theme for her party. And that's what she got! This was to be her first all-girl party but when she told her buddy Jacob this, he was very upset. We made an exception.

The invitation was on brown cardstock with red bandanna print paper on top. On that was a two-toned brown cowboy boot. A white "Howdy, Partner!" block was outlined with tiny rope twine. Party information was printed on the back in Western-speak. The invited cowpokes were asked to wear Western clothes.

Upon arrival, the kids were given a cowboy hat (if they didn't already have one on) and then informed that they were being made deputies. And what do deputies have? Why, a badge, of course! So I gave them star-shaped sugar cookies, yellow icing, candies and sprinkles to decorate their badges.

When finished decorating, they were instructed to eat the badge. Some of the girls looked horrified. That was kinda funny!

After badges, came Lasso Practice. It was very much like Hot Potato, only they passed around a coiled rope. I didn't get any pictures of this because I was too busy running the music and consoling those that were out. Winner received a bag o' gold. (Really it was yellow bubble gum in a cute little bag.)

Now that they were deputies with lassoing practice, it was time to wrangle a varmint! Here's the posse giving me a big "YeeeHaw!!" before we started this game.


Wrangling consisted of tossing a hula hoop around a toy riding horse. The kids loved it! Winner got a little trophy.

At the end of this game, I noticed that we were running well ahead of schedule. I suggested we play the games some more and they were all for that, especially since I had more prizes (ie: stuff left over from putting together the loot bags).

Then we had cake.

They loved the cake.

A couple girls didn't want to eat it but once others starting calling dibs on various parts, they got into it eating horse flesh. Strawberry cake served with strawberry ice cream and strawberry lemonade. And yes, da Boo likes strawberries. Why do you ask?

When almost everyone was done with their cake, I ran into the kitchen. All the horses had escaped! I needed my deputies to hurry and help me find them. Small plastic horses were hidden all over the front room. There were enough for each kid to "capture" two. Still with plenty of time left, we wrangled more varmints. After killing some time, we opened presents!


And yes, she is trying to smell the Strawberry Shortcake doll. Only half of her friends gave her Littlest Pet Shop.

After presents, with still a good 15 minutes before parents arrived, we watched the Wonder Pets. If you've never seen the Wonder Pets, count yourself fortunate. We watched the episode where the Wonder Pets save a baby cow that was stuck in a tree when a twister blew through. Interesting how they have very little understanding of physics...

As parents started arriving, Cowgirl Boo handed out the goody bags. These were a knotted red bandannas that held a bag of gold (chocolate) coins, horse stickers, a horse finger puppet and candy with bandanna-print wrappers. And after a couple kids left, we remembered to hand out the balloons, too.

Must Be Stressed Out

So when I get stressed out, I bake. Perhaps this is the reason why I can't seem to lose much weight...

Last week I made these amazing Peanut Butter Layered Brownies for my neighbor. See, she's had three kids and is still stick thin. I felt sorry for the poor girl, never knowing the joys of plus sized clothes. Just had to take her some brownies.

We usually have Sunday dinner with Aunt Denise and now, with the Man's youngest sister (who I have yet to think of a nickname for...any suggestions?). I try to make an extra effort on those days. All four food groups are represented (and probably covered in butter) and there is always dessert. This Sunday, I decided we needed a layer cake so I made the chocolate cake from the recipe on the can of Hershey's cocoa powder. Mmmmmm...so chocolatey! I even frosted it all pretty and served it on my nice cake stand. Sorry, but it didn't last long enough for me to take a picture.

Then for Labor Day, we got together with some neighbors for a BBQ. Aunt Denise was there and so was the Man's sister with two of her friends. After burgers and hot dogs, we sent the kids upstairs with a Thomas the Tank Engine movie. The adults got to play the Wii. And while the men were distracted, I cut into the strawberry cake that I made. Because it wouldn't have been me if I couldn't provide a dessert. I guess they liked it because there was only one piece left.

Since I've been feeding everyone else my goodies, I didn't get much. Now I want to make something and hide it so only I get it! Mawahahaha! Okay, not really. I don't think I could eat a whole pan of brownies by myself. Since I've made most of my special recipes, I was wondering if you have something you make when you want to spoil someone or something that you could eat the whole thing and not feel the least bit guilty...wanna share the recipe?

We Had A Ball!

Yesterday was the Boy's birthday bash. Instead of herding toddlers, I invited their whole families and made it a BBQ. Then a cold front moved in and I started to get nervous. Saturday morning dawned a little cloudy but sunny. By the time we were setting up the tables, it was actually getting pretty nice outside.

Of course the morning starts with an emergency. It wouldn't be my life if something didn't go horribly wrong at the last minute. The previous night, my chivalrous husband helped me unload all the groceries from the car. He was also slightly medicated due to allergies and thus, forgot to close the sliding door. So when he headed to the garage this morning to pick up the balloons for the party, he was stopped in his tracks. The battery was dead. And his little car was too small for all the balloons. Luckily (now, anyway), our last car had a habit of draining it's battery so we had invested in a battery charger, which saved the day.

Now the party can start! When guests arrived, we sent the kids out into the back to play. The theme of the party was balls. Couldn't you tell from the cake and the title? There were about a dozen normal-sized playground balls and then one gigantic beach ball. It was almost as big as da Boo! I should have taken a picture of her with it.

The kids are having a great time playing with the balls and our next door neighbor (also at the party) let them use her little playhouse. The moms are inside helping me with food stuff and the dads are gathered around the grill, grunting and making non-sensical comments about propane and raw meat.

There were no organized games. Toddlers don't play musical chairs and they don't take turns. I did fill a tumbler-style thingy with peanut M&Ms, then the adults guessed how many there were inside. The answer? 307.

We start grilling. Burgers and hot dogs. Didn't even grill veggies. In fact, since I can't stand potato salad, I asked someone else to bring it! :)

There was also a strawberry caesar salad, fruit salad (with melon BALLS), lots of different chips, and several bowls of candy. And a vat of lemonade.

Food is served and everyone seems happy enough, munching away. This is Aunt Denise, keeping an eye on the Boy while I ran around like a crazy woman, making sure everyone was having the time of their lives before I got my hamburger.

After food comes THE CAKE! The Boy got to practice blowing out candles stuck in a mini cake on his actual birthday so he knew just what to do when I started to light the candle. He was a little too eager...a friend had to cover his mouth so he would stop blowing out the flame before the candle was lit! We ended up singing to him first and then lit the candle for him to blow out.

After cake comes the presents! The Boy was getting a little too distracted with each gift, wanting to play thoroughly with everything before moving on. Luckily, toy manufacturers, in their infinite wisdom, have made the packaging around the toy virtually impossible to remove. While the parents are wrestling with the heavy-duty, steel wiring that holds the plastic toy firmly to the metal-enforced cardboard, the toddler loses interest and will then select the next package to tear to pieces. And da Boo got to help.

In their goodie bags, older kids got a porcupine ball, a dog ball, a tangle ball, and a punch ball. Ball theme, remember? And then there were sixlets, dum dums, and mini Reese's PB cups. Since there were several babies there, I let them take home one of the playground balls.

It was pretty fun! Afterwards, while the Man was showing da Boo how to play with the Wii, I took a nap. Wanna help clean up?

Buggin'

Yesterday, I took the kids to a Bug Party. I have a friend who should quit her job as a neonatal nurse and start a party-planning business because she throws the coolest parties! Her daughter and da Boo play together a lot so we were invited to the Bug Party. Everyone had to get in character:

Then, it was a tea party! Since the participants were mostly girls, the Boy felt a little out of place. But once food was brought out, he started paying attention.

The kids were having a great time! The food was wonderful: cute little sandwiches and even sugar cubes. The Boy finally started getting into the party mood. (It was his birthday, afterall...)

At the end, the kids were given bug-collecting kits. Da Boo has been anxious to use hers. It's a little hard to find bugs when it is snowing. Yes, you read that right...it snowed yesterday. I am a getting worried about the BBQ we have planned for Saturday. There are 7 families coming, with two parents and 2 kids each. What am I going to do with that many people in my house? Any suggestions?