[JessFinds] Another Saturday Birthday Party ...

I love birthday parties for little kids. It is one of my secret shames. I know that I should be bored or at least act put out that we have "yet another" party to attend. I just think they are so much fun. With the exception of Chuck E Disease parties (or as we refer to him: Charles Edward Queso) I think kiddo parties are the best. And I love girl parties - they all get hopped up on sugar and squeal and run about like squirrels on meth. It is fantastic.

I happen to be on the neurotic planning side - witness my child's party being picked up in a national design blog or my need to recruit six parents to staff my eldest's summer party. That is my own person demon to wrestle with ... birthdays bring out my Martha. But I believe that any reason is a good reason to have a party.

I hope I never turn in to one of those people that shuns their own birthday. Rather than moping about it being ONE YEAR OLDER I choose to see it as WOHOO! STILL ALIVE AND KICKING!

I really enjoy observing my children socializing. Miss Crab really has come a long way. She goes off and does her own thing, but every time a child needed a ride partner at today's indoor fun park, someone was calling her name and holding out their hand. So sweet. They love her.

She won the jackpot in tickets at the arcade and chose - of her own accord - to buy a tiara for the birthday girl with her winnings. She used what was left over to buy a paper fan for herself and her sister. I wanted to scoop her up and cry, but I refrained from having a public meltdown.

I overachieved with my offspring. Just sayin.

[JessFinds] Carnival Wrap-Up

Our Backyard Carnival for Miss Crab's 6th Birthday was great fun thanks to all the wonderful people who came (24 kids PLUS their parents!) and helped out...

[JessFinds] Party Planning Mode - Invites

So, this is the product (altered of course for general web audience) of me staring at photoshop for a few hours last night while Inglorious Basterds played in the background. I created it as a 5x7, so the resolution should be good. I uploaded it to a local pharmacy last night and will pick up the 4x6 photos today around 11am. Total cost: under $6 for 30 invites.

Take note: I avoided putting three sixes on the invite.

The quick-turnaround benefit of having the invites printed as photos means that I can get them in to her class folders before school is out today. Since it is a JPEG, I can also email it to local friends.

[JessFinds] A Goat for All Seasons ... But Especially Spring

We have a goat farm near our home.
Check the uni-goat. I wonder if he gets teased.

Goats are hilarious and will do just about anything for a snack.
I relate to that.

I think my petites would enjoy being goatherds. 

If these were our goats and they were fainting goats ...

My girls would be very popular with their classmates.

[JessFinds] Gonzo's 3rd Birthday

Once upon a time ...

The March Hare, the Mad Hatter and Alice.

 

The people here behave curiouser and curiouser.

The table is set ... for a very important date.

 

Extra padding on the chairs for little guests - a dormouse might show up you know.

A little Alice at each wonky place setting...

Some of the guests have arrived!

First stop -- the Mad Hatter's Millinery. 

Next ... follow the White Rabbit through the rabbit hole to Wonderland! 

  

 Sugar roses (in bright red) thanks to Cupcake Social on Etsy!

 

Lots of little tea goodies - cookies, mini cakes, cheese sandwiches, peanut butter, nutella...

The Mad Hatter serves the tea...and spills a bit too.

 Alice truly enjoys a good cup of tea.

The Mad Hatter made sure all of the guests were properly entertained.

[JessFinds] Party Prep - Setting the stage

I spent most of this morning making tissue pomanders.

 

... and hanging them up with filament. 

 ...and making paper lanterns and using the existing lanterns and extra tulle.

... and now it is almost 3pm and I still have a ton of stuff to get done.

[JessFinds] Party Prep -- Papering the Doors

I am starting to set up for the Alice in Wonderland themed party this weekend. Today we papered the French doors! Gonzo and Crab helped with the placement of all the papers.

 

The hat is a canvas hat from OrientalTraders.com - The kids party craft will be to decorate their own "Mad Hat" at the Mad Hatter's Millinery. Roses are courtesy of my dad - he sent them to the girls for Valentine's day. Sweet. 

  

The full French Door effect-- this will be the room that the actual Mad Hatter Tea Party takes place.

A close up of one of the decorated panels. I glued clear gems and used photographic frames that are normally used in scrapbooking.

 

This is my favorite. We glued photographic embossed frames on to tin foil to create "looking glass" decorations. Alice needs her looking glass!

(MarieFinds) Adventures in Archaic French Cooking

First: Baby Boy loved his birthday party. He got trucks, and new crayons to chew on, and he got to eat all the fat drenched beans he wanted, and then there was cake! Sweet, sweet cake. Which he ate very daintily. I will post pictures when I have the pictures near me at a time I have time to post...

Now, for the cassoulet. That was a blast to cook. Seriously. A double batch was truly obnoxious, and I won't do THAT again, but a single batch? Sure. The Lawyer was all, we are doing a casserole for EVERY dinner party from now on! Seriously... it was in the oven, with nothing for us to do, and we actually got to hang out with our guests!

Auntie Lola and I cooked on Saturday, and cooked tons of pig fat, layered it all up, and called it yummy. Squirrel helped me bake cakes on Sunday morning, and then we drank wine with friends. My idea of a good party, anyway.

I will post pictures of cassoulets when they came out of the oven and the obnoxious amount of leftovers we had. As well as the cake eating.

Oh, and he started walking. On his birthday.

(MarieFinds) Ambitious Birthday Plans

Baby Boy's birthday is this weekend. And what fabulously kid-friendly menu do we have planned? Casssoulet and brussel sprouts. Hahahaha. Seriously. I think the kids will love it. Well, at least Baby Boy will. Squirrel will probably hate it. She doesn't like beans. But, she will groove on the bread and cheese. And I'll let her have juice. In a small wine glass. It will make her feel like big people.

This is the recipe at Saveur.com. And Jess, there is no vegetarian substitute for duck fat.

There will be family, and cassoulet, and wine. And cake. I am making two. It is also my dad's birthday, so there will be a sugar free applesauce cake for him, and chocolate cake for the boy. I will post an update as we go along... my sister is making the confit, and coming over tomorrow to help cook. Then we eat on Sunday. Mmmm... anything that takes three days to cook damned well better be good!

[JessFinds] Pirate Party

We did it!

The pirate birthday party was a huge success thanks to Mother Nature and that big ball o'fire in the sky. We had a glorious day. In the 80's - nice breeze. Lots of kids in bathing suits getting their first sunburns of the year.


I am still in shock. I had a full plan B for inclement weather. If you are prepared for the worst, then you are pleasantly surprised by the best! It was pouring rain w/ t-storms on Friday. And it is overcast and cool right now (rain expected tonight). But for some reason, Miss Crab's birthday had brilliant weather. All day long.

Bouncy house, slip n' slide and hot dogs = 20 happy, happy kids.

We rented a sno cone machine at the last minute. It was such fun last year and turned out to be a hit again this year.

I love summer babies. Summer parties are so easy to throw together. It takes very little to exhaust a large group of kids. I love the chaos. The parents love being able to sit back and have a beer while their kids participate in contained chaos.


The highight of the party was when all the kids came inside to have cupcakes and Preacher went outside to bury (with help) the gold doubloon pieces of eight in our ginormous sandbox. Each kid was allowed to find four pieces of gold and then come to me to collect a "pirate pouch" to put the gold in.

I have already heard stories of one child telling her parents that they are "rich!!" and another going to bed clutching his pouch. THAT makes it worth going the extra mile to find replica doubloons -- made of nickle and painted gold. Heavy and realistic!

[JessFinds] Pirate Party

This is going to be a busy week!

We have about 15 RSVP's for Crab's 5th birthday party (plus their families). The pirate theme is so easy to do - pirate party supplies are everywhere.

eBay has been my buddy for finding unique party treasures and literal treasures. I have ordered 100 "gold" (nickle w/ gold covering) Atocha pirate coins - pieces of 8. We are going to bury them. In the sandbox.

We have a huge sandbox in our back yard - huge with a wooden swingset / fort structure built in the middle. We are going to decorate it with pirate bunting flags and some pirate helium balloons. We have a giant ragged pirate flat to run up the flagpole off the side of our house.

Future use: I like the idea of using the pirate flag as a signal to "those in the know" that our backyard is open for margaritas and lounging.

[JessFinds] Woohoo! Another Year and I'm Still Here!

My birthday is this month (insert singing here) and I am a believer that any reason to celebrate is a good reason. I am rocking my 30's. I plan to rock my 40's and 50's and so on.

So I am 35 this month. Ta-da!

The only thing I will cop to for this birthday is suddenly not being so judgmental on the botox. I don't think I am up for (nor do I have immediate cash for) injecting botulism in to my skin. That said, my forehead has some pretty bad perma-wrinkles that would benefit from a little, well, smoothing. I have the number 11 over my nose from furrowing my brow. I will exfoliate and hydrate and use a silicone based primer in the meantime. I really love that I have an expressive face. I come from an expressive family. I would hate to freeze it away.

Everything else can be dealt with via weight loss.

So since it is my birthday - wanna know what is on my wish list?

ROLLER SKATES! (Size 10 Womens, Preacher)

Yep. I want to be the crazy preacher's wife zipping around the track at the local playground, workin' on my fitness. These outdoor skates look comfy. I wish I had a partner in crime so I would not look completely nutbaggish, but maybe I could start a trend.

6.7 Fluid Ounces of DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

I love this stuff. I signed up for the DCH samples and every time the oil sample arrives I get all sorts of happy. I have been craving my own bottle of it for years. Why don't I buy it? I have no idea. It is just one of those things that falls to the bottom of the list. It makes my skin clean, soft and glowy.

I have been craving a bird nest necklace from ETSY for over a year now too. In silver with 2 pearl eggs.

Etsy is the best for costume jewelry. I usually just buy these things for myself. Their stuff is inexpensive and supports artisans. Again, I don't know what has held me back on finding a perfect little nest, but it just is not one of those things I have put at the top of my list.

A blue / green purse with a funky print from Mandy!

Mandy is so cool. She makes things. I have a seatbelt purse that she made for me (but the strap broke -- bummer).

[JessFinds] Gearing up for Gonzo

This is the crown I purchased from Etsy (dreamchildstudio.etsy.com) for Gonzo Tot's 2nd Birthday. She loves dress-up and, well, just putting things on her head. I wanted a crown that could be used for more than just princess play. I like the idea of the Waldorf inspired felt crowns that could be used for any purpose (winning a race? celebrating a birthday? because it is Thursday?). I also purchased this shirt from easyedges.etsy.com:

[JessFinds] Baby Gonzo becomes Gonzo Tot

Gonzo is turning TWO (2) !!

And because you asked...

She is wearing a size 2T
That translates to about a 90 in Hanna Andersson world.
She weighs about 27 lbs
She wears a size 6 toddler shoe (or a European 22 which I think is 6 1/2).

She has outgrown almost all of her clothes. I think she shot from 18 months to 2T in the month of January alone (Crab had a January growth spurt too, I am newly unemployed and they grow. Typical.)

She loves dress up and pretend anything. Love her baby dolls. Loves beating up her sister. She is in a big bunny phase -- all bunnies are named "coco." She also loves yogurt. And movies - watching a movie is a "big girl" thing she does with her sister. They both love "A Sharks Tale" with Will Smith and Angelina Jolie. Nemo is ok, but Sharks Tale is tops. Music is a big hit with her, she loves dancing.

A Gymboree Play & Learn level 5 class would be something that she would enjoy. She does not get much exposure to tots her own size. We have a Gymboree about 12 miles from our house. I just went there today for the first time and I was really impressed. Would not be something on my normal radar.