Andrew’s 9th Birthday Science Party

Last Sunday we had Andrew’s party!  We had lots of fun, and made many messes.  All the children seemed to have a great time.  With tons of pics, I’ll try to explain what we did…

Andrew wanted a nuclear t-shirt, so I did the freezer paper method to do that.  He loved it!  I decorated the chalkboard on our front door for the children to “scan” their hands before they entered.  It was Andrew’s idea that we prop it up against our doorbell to ring and they scanned their hands, and it worked!  Chad’s mom made the cake with Andrew the Scientist on it.  Decorations and all kinds of materials used came from an incredible free science kit I received from the American Chemistry Society.  The party favors were little beakers from Target (got them cheap!) filled with the following: Pop Rocks, mini test tubes (Target) filled with Fun Dip, plastic spring toy, a spinning top and eraser that looked like science (Dollar Tree), fun color striped glow stick (Dollar Tree) and candy like the Splash Soda (local candy store) that was fun and fizzy.  Petri dishes were filled with Jello.

I made everyone a name tag that said “Scientist Name”.  They were laminated and hung on lanyards brought home from Chad’s latest meeting.  The children had a pair of goggles, too, given to me by a friend.

The first experiment Dr. Chad did was Elephant Toothpaste.  Then we let everyone make their own volcanic eruptions with the classic baking soda, vinegar and color mix.  The weather was warm.  We were under a tent, thank goodness!

The next experiment was making our own lava lamps.  Fill a test tube 3/4 full of oil.  Top off with water.  We added a color tablet (10 cent Easter sale!) and then add a piece of Alka Seltzer.  The neat thing with these are you can just keep adding that seltzer and continue the fun!

Cake & Slime (lime sherbet) and presents were next.

Then we made slime!  Two different kinds from a science kit Andrew had plus extra supplies.  I’d be happy to send you some recipes!

What would a science party be without some Mentos and diet pop explosion?!

What a blast!  Andrew told me it was the best one ever!  He has some pretty super friends.  I think it was definitely a good age for this one.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

My boy is 9 years old today.  He’s growing so much in so many ways.  Some things I can say about him today:

He is one lovey dovey.  He loves to cuddle, hug and get his head scratched.  I told him I used to get paid by my brother to brush his hair.  I know one day, I’ll be paying Andrew just to let me scratch his head!!!

He is very passionate about inviting other families to our church.  I love that.  Just today at the park I was talking to another mom of three little boys.  He made sure I invited them and wanted to know what they said.  I told him the lady didn’t seem to interested, and that bothered him.  I told him all we can do is tell and leave the rest to God.

He loves his dog.  He loves sleeping with his little brothers.  He loves babies.  He hates taking showers.  He would wear the same piece of clothing for a week.  He’s crazy about his daddy, and everything daddy is in to.  If there was one subject he could skip, it would be math.  But he’s so good at it.  He loves to read and dreams of inventing something someday and traveling as a missionary.  He’s one handsome guy.

He has big hands and big feet.  He loves to climb trees and play long jump off the deck.  He’s all boy, and proud of it.

And I’m proud of the little guy he is.

Sunday is his party.  We are looking forward to some fun with 10 other kids his age.  Science!

Puppy Party!

We had a puppy theme for Ethan and Samuel’s birthday this year.  I had way too much fun with this one!  There was quite a bit involved, but it was all very easy and all very inexpensive.

The invitation was made by a friend of mine.  It was adorable.  She also made all the printables!  I got a lot of my inspiration from Pinterest.

That same friend had a party for her little boy the day before.  They had Chad make a picture cut out board.  Her mom beautifully painted the safari theme on one side and the dogs on the other side.  The top one is our dog, Casey!  It was darling and I thank Momma for doing that so very much!

Get ready for picture overload!  Enlarge each collage.  I couldn’t use only a few!

The cake table was filled with beautiful and delicious “pupcakes” that my sister-n-law made.  She came to our rescue when Mamaw was not feeling well.  The boys loved them, and I appreciated her doing it on such short notice!  I also made bone shaped sugar cookies.

The food was all dog treats!  We had:  Snausages (little smokies in the crockpot), Greenies (veggies), Freshies (berries esp for Samuel!), Pupcorn (popcorn snack), Canine Cheese & Crunchies (cheese & crackers), and Jalapeno Chow (cups with a dip inside).

I made the circle garland.  That is so easy and I am addicted to making it now!  The dog food bowls came from the Dollar Tree.  I printed dog bone shapes onto brown paper for the food labels.

The puppy station was the best part.  The children were as cute as can be!  They were so excited to adopt their little puppies and name them.  I adored all the names they chose as they promised to take care of them.  Samuel was so interested in all of his new toys that he didn’t even take part in this!  I think he had seen it around the house so much that it wasn’t as exciting as it was for all the other kiddos!

So each child chose a puppy to adopt.  I filled out the certificates and they signed their names.  My MIL gave me most of the dogs from her Beanie Baby collection.  The others were purchased for super cheap!  The cute basket is our dog’s treat basket!

I made a stamp with RUFF on it using foam letters and a block of wood found in Chad’s workshop.  I stamped that onto white lunch bags.  All stuff I had!

Each puppy had to visit the vet.  The proud owner’s received puppy vitamins.  Those were Skittles I found on closeout in bags Chad had from his pen making kits.

Then onto the groomer!  I had a bucket and sponges where the children pretended to wash their pets.  They each received a brush that I found at Walmart after Christmas for a quarter each.  They also received a collar that was made from $1 ribbon.  I hemmed each end and attached velcro dots that I’ve had for a few years now.  The puppy mats were from some material I’ve had since Andrew was a baby!  I just hemmed the four sides.

The last stop was the Pet Store.  There each customer received a tennis ball.  Those were in a two pack for 20 cents at Walmart after Christmas!  The little dog house toys have dogs and Candy inside.  Very cute, found also at WM for a quarter.  Now these deals at Walmart…I didn’t just stumble upon them!  I had an afternoon alone without the boys.  As I was on my way to the store, as I often do, I prayed for the Lord to show me some frugal ideas since I would be doing this for a dozen kids.  As always, He never ceases to amaze me even in the little things (which are big things to me!).  Thank You, Lord, for finding joy in that.

The puppy chow was Reese Cup cereal in Glad containers I found half off at Kroger.  Fun!  I know I would have love being a kid.  I guess I have been for the last few weeks as I have planned this.

We had a great time.  The kids were so well behaved.  We played a round of “Pin the tail on the Puppy” using a 97cent poster and homemade tails.  We also made a doghouse they enjoyed running in and out of.  It was also a great jail for the balloons!

A Magical Birthday Party

Andrew decided a while back he wanted a “Magic” birthday party.  So that’s what we did.  And it was magical!

Here are the invites I created in Microsoft Word.  If you want the file, send me an email!

Andrew and I went out to look for decorations, party favors, etc.  It was so cute watching him find things here and there that would be “just perfect” for his party.  We went to the Dollar Tree and found these cute and shiny favor (gift) bags.

The treat bag insides were:  Magic Mint Candy (party store), Pop Rocks (Target dollar section), Chinese Finger Traps (party store), Magic Tricks (Target Easter Section), Squirt Gun (Target clearance).

The decorations were mainly in black, white and red.  Andrew was particularly proud of these table decorations he found at the Dollar Tree…

 We had a magic potion for drinks.  I used the Kool Aid Fun Fizz in clear cups so they could see the action.  All dozen kids thought those were cool!

We had Annie’s Bunny Crackers I put in a plastic top hat.

Watermelon is Andrew’s absolute favorite fruit.  It was for the rest of the kids, too!

I made little pretzels magic wands that were gone in a hurry!

And then the super yummy and awesome cake that Mamaw always makes for my boys’ parties!  There are little magic toys on each corner…even a miniature magic wand!

We had such fun.  Like I had said in an earlier post, we were blessed with great weather.  It was incredible to see a huge patch of rain to the west of us before the party, and see a huge patch after the party on the east side.  Yet, we didn’t get it!  Thank you, Jesus!  Because these crazy kids needed to be outside!

We had a pinata.  I hated to spend a ton of money on one.  A lady at the party store found me a High School Musical megaphone for $5.  I knew I could take the stickers off of that really easy and make into something magical.  And that’s just what I did!   I also gave each child a test tube to use.  We made a magical potion using red food coloring, baking soda and vinegar. That was a huge hit!  Chad did some magic tricks that left the kids with open mouths.  That was funny to watch.  Chad got a kick out of it, too.

Andrew received a lot of really nice gifts!

I think they all had fun!

Ethan and Samuel’s Birthday Party

Sunday didn’t turn out exactly like we had planned, or how we would have wanted it to.  We got an early morning call that Chad’s step-mom was in the hospital.  It’s been a long few days, but we are trusting in a God who is in control and who has the power to heal.  We had most of the family here in and out throughout the day, but it wasn’t the same.  We were all a bit frazzled.

Nevertheless, the boys had a great birthday party.  They had several friends here and we had lots of fun.

The theme was Toy Story.  Decorations were easy to find.  Some were found around the house!

Mamaw did a great job on the cake, as always.  It’s always a fun surprise for the boys.  I made Cake Pops.  We had some snacks that I named after Toy Story characters.  We had Cowboy Carrots, Buzz Bites (soft pretzel bites), Slinky Dogs (mini hotdogs in sauce),  Mr Potato Head spuds (potato chips), and Andy’s Apples & Dip.

Treat bags were easy.  There’s so much out there in the stores with Toy Story theme.

I think the alien rings were the biggest hit.  The children loved coloring them, and then eating them!  Chad did a few magic tricks to “wow” everyone!

It looked like Christmas hit again!  Both boys received all kinds of nice gifts.

So the party was a success!  I love celebrating my boys!

More Party Pics

Click to see all the fun!

Andrew had all kinds of fun at his birthday party. He had all of his buddies here to celebrate with him.  Nana and Papaw came to celebrate with us, too.

He got all kinds of fun stuff…science kits, water guns, Legos, and his favorite…a hermit crab and kit from Justin!  He also got some money, so he is thinking about a skateboard or a ramp or something.  OH my, he’s getting dangerous!

Sunday afternoon he went with Mamaw and Papaw to Red Robin for lunch.  They gave him his present when they got back home.  He loved that one, too!  We got out and flew it.

NASCAR Birthday Party

We had a great time at Andrew’s 7th birthday.

I love doing birthday parties!  I thought I would share all my pictures and ideas for someone to use.  The more personal party pics and info will come in a collage later.  :)

The invitations were for a general race party…purchased from a party store.  April/May in the Indy area is a great time to buy that sort of stuff!

Here is the birthday guy all ready for his party.

This was our party area.  The decorations came from the party store.  I scored a deal on most of the items.  I used some Nascar toys my boys already had.  I put a blue rope light on the table for a fun effect.  We had red, yellow and white with checkered flag balloons.  Andrew likes Jeff Gordon, so we did more decorating with that in mind.

We served Papa John’s pizza, chips, fruit, and of course cupcakes and ice cream.

The treat bags were red sacks from the party store.  I designed little name tags and stuck them on the bags.  Here is the pdf for that: Treat Bag Tags

The insides of the treat bags included:  snack bag of Oreos (tires), Nascar toy (Dollar Tree), a Pop Tube (pulled apart really fast sounds like a race car going by!) and candy treats.

The cupcakes were simple, but cute.  I made a confetti cupcake, iced it with an almond buttercream icing, rolled them in sprinkles and added the little flag.

As the children arrived, we made little Nascar driver’s licenses.    I had pictures of the kids already on each license.  We filled in the rest.  Then we laminated them, punched a hole in the top and then tied a cute ribbon on it.  They loved it!  (I smudged out the info on this little guy’s)  Here is the file for that: NASCAR Driver’s License

The games were fun.  We had a little obstacle course set up.  We had the children pair up.  One child would be the driver, and the other the crew chief.  The driver put on the driver’s outfit (Nascar outfit from Halloween, hat and sunglasses).  They ran up the stairs of the playset with their crew chief right behind them.  They each had to grab a race track seat pad (I used these on my bar stools before the games…purchased for cheap at a yard sale last year!) and slide down the slide on it.  The crew chief had to push the driver in and out three cones and then stop at the pits.  I had a gas can for them to fill up the gas (I had them “glug” 5 times).  I also had a drill that they had to pretend to fix the tires.  Then they went through to next three cones to finish with a friend waving the checkered flag.

The other game we played was called Musical Race Car Drivers.  My neighbor friend made these up for me.  I printed them and slid them in sheet protectors.  We put them on the ground and had the kids race around them to music.  When the music stopped, they stood on a driver and called out the driver’s name (with help).  It is played just like musical chairs, having one less sheet than number of children.  That file is here: Nascar Musical Drivers

So a really fun theme for a party!  Everything was fairly easy and I was able to get most things pretty inexpensively.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

I love you, Buddy!

This is Andrew on his birthdays over the last 7 years.  We’ve had the following parties:  Fish, Sailboat, Letter A, Spiderman, Basketball Jet and Nascar.  Fun stuff!

Birthday Pics

I hope they had as much fun as I did!

Andrew’s Birthday Party

Here are several pictures of the party on Sunday.  I loved celebrating my boy!