Yogurt

Last year we told Adreana that we were no longer doing piñatas for her birthday. It is what happened for us as kids so we thought we would continue as our culture would. It doesn't mean we don't celebrate her but this year we headed out for vacation the day after her birthday so we didn't get to do ANYTHING with friends. So after my mom left and soccer was over she came to me about her birthday and had a wonderful idea of frozen yogurt with a couple of friends (it turned out to be 3 plus siblings) and pipe cleaners to create with. I asked her about gifts and she was fine with no gifts which made me so proud of the girl she is becoming.

Adreana's Birthday - Last Year

Just like I did with Benjamin I thought I would post Adreana's birthday from last year. We invited her friends to the pumpkin patch! If I could convince her I would do the same thing every year. It was so fun. I have sooo many pictures that it was hard to not make more pages. :)

Adreana's 7th Birthday

Incredibly enough my girl is 7!!! She is a first grader and reads. For her birthday she wanted a movie party and so it was... Here are the pictures of her party:


First the decorations:
I wanted to make sure the party still had a girly feel so we made a name banner and flowers that I had been seeing on line. Adreana loved the flowers so much we still haven't been able to throw them away. She helped make them and I think it added so much to our space.

We found a director's frame piñata and that was part of our center piece like usual. We also used a lot of red yellow and black to go with the theme.

I was supposed to make cake balls by petition of the birthday girl but I ran out of time so I only made one for her. A little popcorn box. Adreana cut up the marshmallows to look like popcorn as part of the decoration. You saw that the rest of the cake balls became ghosts and mummies for Halloween.

Jorge was in charge of the movie theater look so he printed some posters and put them around so it looked like a real movie theater. As you can tell they watched How to train a Dragon. He also set up a projector and used my photography background stand with my white background for the movie. It was pretty amazing. The party was at night so we didn't have to worry about making the house dark.

On the picture above you can see her invitation: A yellow ticket. I didn't get pictures of this either but I still have one so I can get one and add it later.

Here are the kids watching the movie. The picture isn't great but it was dark and so the flash hurt our eyes!

I didn't get any pictures of our concession stand but when the kids arrived they got money (that I printed of the internet with Adreana's face on it :)!) and then they could go to the concession stand and order hotdog, pizza, nachos, candy, drink (about 6 different types of juice and soda pop), and caramel, butter or white chocolate popcorn. Adreana was the cashier and she was speedily asking everyone for their money. It was a bit chaotic so I didn't get any pictures which is pretty sad as I think this was the kids favorite part of the party. Jorge made a price list to put on the wall and one on the ipad which the kids loved. If it hadn't been for Angie we might not have served everyone :)! So thanks Angie! We even charged for refills. Luckily for the kids we had a grandpa (Dave) at the theater and as you know since grandparents like to spoil kids if they ran out of money they could go get some. A few took advantage of the fact when they used the last of their money, just in case they needed more. They were also only allowed to purchase 2 candies because I was afraid some might not eat and only have chocolate!

After the movie we had the piñata and cake:

Happy Birthday Adreana!

The cupcakes were pretty special. If you know Adreana you know she is a food network junkie like her mother and in summer they had a cupcake challenge show where it seemed that they filled all the cupcakes so for her birthday she wanted them filled. So I went online and searched until I figured out how we were going to do that. We ended up using hershey's already made caramel to fill chocolate cupcakes and then I made a caramel buttercream that was delicious. I normally don't like frosting but this one was yummy! The cupcakes ended up being a bit too fancy for some of the kids but my little girl loved them. Thankfully I had made some without caramel inside for some (including my Benjamin).

The favors were popcorn bags. I usually make bigger favors but since we were feeding them I decided to not spend much on them and thankfully Marsha had done this before and I was able to get them ready in no time.

This is the first party we do where parents didn't have to stay (I mean we do that for the valentine's party but it is only about 4 girls so I don't think it counts). This was a great party for this because after they ate and the movie started we didn't have to do much. I actually almost fell asleep for a little bit.

And at the end of the day this is how I felt. I wish I was Molly and could actually have done just this.....

As usual I wish you could have all joined us!

Benjamin is 5 - Party Part 1

Benjamin is 5! It is hard for me to believe but it is true...

I really wanted to come and share about when Benjamin turned 5 but we also started school about that same time so I am just thankful we were able to have a party (although about 3 weeks late)! I do have to say that I had lots of help from moms at the party and Nay! So thanks. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you!

Anyway I am splitting this up into two posts because there is so much to tell...

INVITATIONS

I so stole the idea completely and utterly from here I even ended up printing her Caution labels because they were done and it was easy.

CAKE, CAKE POPS and food

We saw this on another site and he loved it. So he had to have the eye! I really wanted to make a volcano cake but the boy would not go for it. He wanted the eye.

The cake pops were the same story as above. I wasn't sure how big the eye cake would end up being so I decided to make some cake balls also and he wanted the eyes and would only consider eyes. So there you have it. Just for kicks we made them with red velvet inside.

Other than that we had Ice Cream, grapes, strawberries, chips and a veggie tray. The veggie tray was almost intact at the end of the party but I think they liked everything else.

For something fun I was lucky to find these fizz koolaid tablets at walgreens 1/2 off. We had a pitcher of water and the kids got to pick lemonade, grape or fruit punch to stick in their water and watch it fizz and become their drink. I also got some glow in the dark straws so they could sip their drink from. I didn't take pictures of those because since it was daytime they really didn't glow that much but the kids didn't seem to mind. But believe me when Jorge took out the trash later that day it was glowing.

DECORATIONS

I was so busy coming up with experiments (and doing school) that I didn't spend much time thinking about decorations. We had decided to buy him a microscope for his birthday so I knew I would have that. The test tubes contain slime and the others food coloring.

Now the cookie jars is something I have been seeing on blogs and have wanted to try for a while now. When Hobby Lobby had them on sale the week before the party I knew I was going for it. I think they turned out great. It added so much and the best part was when I opened them as they ate the cake, a couple of kids asked me if they were real lab worms :)! Anyway thanks to Angie I didn't keep anybecause she nicely packaged the candy up in ziploc bags to put in their favor bags before they left. BTW the TNT was this fizzing candy that I thought tasted awful but the kids seemed to like.

PIÑATA

I knew I wasn't going to be able to find a mad science piñata anywhere so Jorge and I came up with this idea. Some kids were a little hesitant about hitting it with all the caution signs but most figured out that it was all a scam and were ready to break it. We blindfolded the boys over 5 except the birthday boy and the girls just got to go at it. We only had 4 there anyway...

Which leads me to this story. When we had finally figured out what type of party Benjamin wanted, we started making the invite list and after naming his friends he said Hayden and Gunnar. Then I said something about Adreana and he said, "No, only one girl at my party and that is Hayden" Of course my girl was so sad but I told him she had to be there because she was part of our family and so did Katherine. He didn't get to pick those, they just were part of the list always. Well he was not very happy and after that he kept telling me, "but mom I only want one girl at my party! He really likes Hayden which makes it tough on his sister. I obviously won out and by his party he was ok with it. I know one day he will be a lot more interested in girl but for and I will have to bring him over here to read this post.

THE FAVOR BAGS

This year I decided to keep the bags pretty simple, so I bought sandwich bags and added a caution sign. Inside were a magnifying glass, pop rocks and a super sour gum. On top of that at the party they got to add their scientist journal and their slime. Some chose to take their straws home and their snow home too. More on that in another post.

I made the science journal because as a homeschool mom I couldn't let the opportunity go without teaching them something. The journal had one page with what we did (sort off) and another explaining the science behind what they found them.

THANK YOU CARDS

I loved the design of the m&m jar so much I decided to use it on his thank you cards. They were easy to make and I loved the look.

Anyway I will go over the actual party later. I am getting tired so it must be time for bed. I must tell you this has been by far the most labor intensive party we have thrown, but Jorge and I had a blast. If any of you have any questions about any of it... I would love to share what I learned.

Adreana's gifts

I took pictures of Adreana with her gifts from Tia tete (and tio Nery) and Abuela Ruth (and Abuelo Leon) since I buy them for them and this is the only way they get to see them. She actually picked them out herself so of course she loves them.


Gracias por querer tanto a nuestra chiquitina tia y mama! Las extraño!

I thought it would only be fitting to get books from Tia Tete (she is a librarian for those of you that don't know her). Her favorite books, from her favorite author: Mo Willems.

And from abuela ruth a Barbie with a doggie and a Tiniest Tyniest Pet Shop play set. She loves her tiniest most of all.

Thanks again!

Adreana's Birthday

I never posted anything about Adreana turning 6! I am still marveling at how time passes by. She is beautiful inside and out and I am so proud of her.

Here are six things she enjoys at six:

1. CHEESE.... She has always and I think always will love cheese!

2. Soccer... Still going strong

3. Swimming... She is a star/fish ray but will be a guppy pretty soon since she has to move up and be with the older kids. This week on Tuesday she finally touched the bottom of the pool and is ecstatic!

4. Mo Willems... Her favorite author. I think she likes his sense of humor, she loves the piggie and elephant series.

5. Singing and dancing... She made it into the church christmas program!

6. Littlest Pet Shops... might be her favorite toy at the moment.

We had her birthday party at Build-a-Bear. She had a ton of friends and a great time and everyone walked away with a new friend. Here are some pictures:

We had a cookie cake from Mrs. Fields. Yum!

Here she is with Teddy (that is what she named her doll - Benjamin picked Freddy) at the end of her party.

All her friends at her party.

Playing games

Birthday girl!

Build-a-Bear gave her a signature bear that all her friends signed for her.

My beautiful girl right before we sang happy birthday without candles because I forgot them at home.

Super Hero Birthday!

For Benjamin this year we had the hardest time deciding between a dinosaur party and a super hero party. In the end the super hero party won out. At first he wanted a super hero party with a dinosaur cake but in the end he chose a spiderman cake.


I made the capes and the piñata so I opted to get the cake at Walmart. Yes, I made the green gob... or kriptonite! After our fiasco with the honey jar last year at Adreana's party I decided to make it myself.

For games we had tag (because the birthday boy requested it). Benjamin was the tagger and after he tagged someone they became part of his team. We also played a kriptonite pass (hot potatoe with a glow stick) The kids loved both of them. We had tons of fruit and candy and cake.

Edited to add: I forgot to add the kids picked the "brand" to put on their capes. The boys all picked lightning flashes and all the girls but Adreana picked butterflies. Adreana picked a princess crown. The also made masks.

Adreana's 5th Birthday Party

Well my little girl turned 5 and I never posted anything about it.

This year we let Adreana pick a Bday place and she chose Young Chefs Academy. This is a place where children ages 6 and up (3 - 5 with an adult) can go and have cooking classes. They have parties and Mrs. Angie told us that they were so much fun. Since Adreana loves cooking we decided it was the perfect place for us to have her party.
The pictures only show my kids but there were 10 other friends there. It was crazy, but oh so much fun. If there is one in your area you should check it out.

Adreana kneading the dough.

With her finished pizza. She doesn't like pepperoni but in the excitement of the day she decided to try some.

Cute little chef.

Happy Birthday Adreana.

My pizza cupcakes.

A close up of my cupcakes

The favor bags - Red for girls, black for boys.

What was inside of the favor bags. This plus playdoh and candy and the pizza recipe from Young chefs.

After the pizza party we invited them all to our house to smash the piñata.

The piñata story: When I went to the store to buy the piñata Adreana insisted that it had to be food. She wanted it to go with the theme. No princess piñatas for her. Well it turns out there isn't a whole lot of food related piñatas out there. We saw a birthday cake but she wasn't convinced so we went to the other one and they only had a honey pot. So we returned to the first place only to find out they had sold it. When I saw the honey pot I thought the strings were for a trap door but the guy said it was for decorations. After I filled it, I tore the tags only to find out there was a trap door. Well needles to say the fifth kid hit it just right and the trap door flung open so the rest of the kids hit an empty piñata. Atleast they didn't have to be blind folded and they still had a blast. Live and learn.

And before I go let me tell you one more story. After everyone had gone, Jorge checked our messages and we had a message from Barnes and Noble that said Adreana had won the Curdoroy Bear they had raffled that afternoon at the Curduroy Bear 40th Birthday celebration. Jorge and I were ecstatic. What a Valentine from God that she got such a great gift for her birthday. It was perfect timing. That goes to show that there is no such thing as luck only a God that chooses to bless us at the perfect moment. Here she is with corduroy:

THANK YOU GOD!