It's A Girl Birthday Party

You can make any theme you want into a great party! My daughter just turned 5 and she told me she wanted to have a baby birthday. She is obsessed with babies so it made perfect sense. It was very simple to plan, I only started to prepare a couple of days before the party. At the dollar store I found these tiny baby bottle favors and tiny plastic babies. I filled the bottles with nerds and placed a baby on top of each pink cupcake. I decorated like it was a baby shower. There were pink, lavender and white balloons and It's A Girl! banners all over. I also got out all of her baby cradles and beds and set them up. I had a few jars of baby food and said that any one who tasted it would get a prize. (Just pulled out my ready to go prize basket). They actually tried them. I was a little surprised. Then we played Stinky Diaper. It's really Hot Potato, just changed the name. I bought a small bag of disposable diapers and rolled one up to use for the game. The next game was Pin the Binky on the

Baby, which I created by making a simple baby face on a poster and paper binkies. I got a Baby Shower Bingo game at the dollar store. Last we had a baby dressing relay between two teams. I had everyone bring their own doll and I could have had everyone do the relay by themselves that would have been fun too. My daughter wanted to give out real baby bottles to everyone. I wasn't so sure that I wanted to do that. But I did. I filled them with fruit loops. It was probably a mistake because now I have a 5 year old that wants to drink from a bottle!

Circus Circus

The other day I was at Dollar Tree and they have a whole line of Circus and Carnival things. I got the idea to have our very own circus. I talked to my friends and asked if they were up for doing a circus that day and I was a little surprised that they were. We threw it together in just two hours! I grabbed cotton candy and punch balls from the Dollar store. Each of us moms (3 total) came up with a game or two and contributed $4 for expenses. We decorated my friend's basement with balloons and crepe paper and I brought my roll of tickets, yes I own a roll of tickets and they come in handy for all sorts of things. Everything cost one ticket. The games included a bean bag toss, a fishing pond, face painting, a cupcake walk, a balloon stomp and the best part of our circus was the show. Each family performed a circus act. One 3 year old girl wore her tutu and walked across a 4x4 as her balance beam, her sister performed, in costume, one of the dance numbers she learned at her dance studio. One boy balanced on a rolling surf board, which was very impressive, his older 8 year old brother did a magic show with his mom, and their little brother performed summer saults. We had the ugliest woman show and I starred as the ring master. I got some crazy bug in me and wrapped a turban around my head and painted a black mustach and called myself Alibabwa speaking in a very allaborate accent. It's amazing how crazy you can be when you're in costume. I think I want to join the circus now. Prizes were no problem. I have a prize basket. I use it all the time. I bought a cheap unfinished wood basket at the craft store and
let my daughter paint

it. Now I keep all sorts of trinkets in there. I'll let you in on my secret! When your kid leaves those cheap toys on the floor that he gets from McDonalds or at a party, I don't throw them away I just put them in the prize bucket. At any birthday or school party, I have a prize basket ready to go. At every neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt I put notes in my eggs that say to come and pick a prize from my basket. The kids love it and I am hardly ever buying things to go in it.

The Hunt is On

I was planning on taking my kids to the dollar movies.

When I found out that the show we wanted to see was no longer playing there I came up with a new plan. I raided the change jar and put different amounts of coins inside plastic Easter eggs. I filled twelve eggs for each of my kids. I told them to wait downstairs while I planned a surprise for them. Then I hid the eggs all over the house. When I told them that we were going to have and Egg Hunt and that there was money in the eggs, you would have thought that I just told them we were going to Disneyland. Boy were they excited! I mean, who doesn't love an Easter Egg Hunt! After they counted up their money (they each ended up with around $2) I told them that we would be going to the library to get a movie and they could either save their money or spend it on treats for the show. It was an exciting game and took no planning.

Decorate for Dinner

I can't believe how fast this time off track is going by! We have had a great time together. I didn't need to plan as many activities as I thought I would because friends would call for play dates, and birthday parties, and my boys are involved in sports which have kept us pretty busy. I did manage to get in a few fun activities though. I saw a frozen pina colada mixer in my freezer and got the idea to turn dinner into a luau. The girls and I made flower lays out of a pile of foam craft sheets that I've had forever and never known what to do with. It was quite time consuming I must admit but they turned out darling. We decorated with sea shells and we dressed in Hawaiian attire. I made chicken kabobs and fruit kabobs for dinner and invited my parents and brothers and sister to come over for a luau. We played our Lilo and Stitch soundtrack. After dinner we had virgin pina coladas with tiny umbrellas in them. The only added expense was the dollar I spent on the umbrellas.

This recipe is one of the best marinades I've ever tried. This recipe came from my late Grandma Gerrie. I hope you like it!

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Lemon Juice

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

3 Tbs. Ketchup

4-6 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/8 tsp. pepper

Mix well. Pour over meat, cover and refrigerate overnight and all day. Marinade for at least 12 hours for best flavor. Don't marinade longer than 24 hours. Barbeque on grill. If you want to do kabobs. Cut meat into 1 inch cubes and marinade. Soak bamboo skewers in water for one hour, so they won't burn. Slide one inch cubes onto skewers and grill. Enjoy!

Mosaic Murals

Just two days ago it was almost hot outside and today it snowed! The weather here in Utah is crazy. I am so anxious for some nice spring weather, but the day after that happens we will be in the blazing summer heat. Today my plans changed for inside creativity. We made tear art pictures. We used patterned paper and magazines for our color palette. It took longer than I thought it would, but they stuck with it and it kept them entertained for at least two hours and I think they turned out pretty great! I didn't spend a dime today. For instructions on how to do this project and many more click on the link below

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/cutpaste/specialfeature/kids-paper-crafts/kids-paper-crafts.html?campaign=NLC-NL_Crafts&link=Section1Link1

2 Weeks for $20!

Yesterday was my kids' first day off track. I've got 'em 24/7 for the next two weeks. I have a son in 4th grade, a daughter in 2nd, a son in Kindergarten and a 4 year old little girl in preschool. I've been thinking about my life and how fast time is going by. I look at pictures of my kids as babies and it makes me want to cry. Before I know it they will be all grown up. I was watching Good Things Utah on TV one day and they had a mom sharing her ideas for indoor fun when you can't play outside. I thought, "Wow this mom is so fun! I need to do more things like that with my kids." I want to make sure that I spend more quality time with them. I really don't play with them enough. So... I've come up with activities for the next two weeks and my goal is to spend only $20! That's right only 20 bucks! Some activities will be totally creative and others just simple. I will be using a lot of supplies that I already have to keep costs low and I will be reminding my kids that we are keeping on a strict budget. Yesterday: our outing was to the dollar movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. Monday movies are only $0.50 a person! So I only spent $2.50. No I did not buy any treats for them. I am so cheap!


Today was a baking/tea party day. We had so much fun together. The kids all helped mixing the cake and putting the cupcake liners in. We made mini cupcakes and then they frosted and decorated them. I set out a white tablecloth and places were set with a china tea set. I made sandwich wraps with a tortilla, ham, lettuce and mayo then rolled the tortilla and cut small sections which were held together with toothpicks. We cut up carrots and celery really tiny and had goldfish crackers which were referred to as "caviar". We practiced good manners and used language like, "Would you care for a spot of tea, Madame? Are you enjoying your caviar, good Sir?" The kids really enjoyed themselves and so did I. I only spent $1.70 for the cake mix and frosting.

Boredom Boxes

Do you ever go somewhere that you have to wait for a period of time with your kids and want to pull your hair out because they are bored and driving you nuts?

Well that's why I created these Boredom Boxes. They are filled with fun activities and games, and the best thing is that they are organized in an easy to carry and store case that is ready for you to grab when you're on the go. I take one with me when I go to a doctor and dentist appointment, when I'm waiting at baseball practice or at my son's basketball game. Many people have purchased them from me to take as a quiet box to church. Activities vary per box and include some of the following items: jacob's ladder, finger puppets, yarn and foam beads, card games, mini hugging animals, noodle ball yo-yo, suction ball, silly putty, playdoh, magna links, mini dinosaurs, tattoos, face crayons, glow in dark bugs. If you are interested in purchasing a Boredom Box contact me for prices at heathermecham@yahoo.com