Aloneness (AKA back to school)

I sit here all alone feeling guiltily giddy. Everyone is gone . . . well, everyone except for the puppy and kitty.

"The Jimmy" has been going in to work early lately, since we all are getting up so much earlier for school. Even he is gone.

Connor is in the first grade!

Ahhhh, the peace and quiet. Ahhhhh the clean house. Ahhhh the smell of baked goodies wafting through the cavernous house.

Oh the possibilities! I wonder what large and fearsome task I should accomplish for the day. It would be uninterrupted--the most effecient way to work.

(Mom: "I'm going to be all alone today!" Connor: "Awwww!" )

Or I could just sit and read one of the library's finest, pausing only to take the puppy out, or to refill my water bottle and pop some Hershey's Kisses?

Hunter's in third grade!

Carpe Diem I must sieze the day!

And I don't need to feel guilty for enjoying myself on days like today, when all is quiet and I'm home from work.

I get to refill my cup so to speak, so I can fill every one elses. They will all come home to a fresh, clean house, something warm and wholesome and amazing smelling in the oven, and a mom who actually has a smile on her face!

Back to school really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Pikachu Party Photos

 

The Perfect Pokemon Pikachu Party

Hunter turned 9 and wanted a Pokemon party.

Dejavue! It seems that every party Alex ever had, I'm redoing for Hunter.

I'm always last minute with these things, yet it came together with the help of the entire family and had great results--except for the weather.

As I was scrambling around, trying to decorate the cake and get some last minute game ideas off the web (5 min before the party started) I heard the weather service warning come on the radio! I was not happy but hopeful that it would kind of pass around our area. Not to be so. It hit with a vengeance right after all of the kids arrived. We had to rearrange a few things and have the party inside.

So here is what we did:

1. Okay, so this one took a lot of prep time: We made a Pikachu piniata using a balloon for the body, a paper plate slit to the center and slightly overlapped to create his cute pointy nose and face, attached with some crumpled newspaper under it to get the perfect angle and shape. Hands and feet were created with toilet paper tubes slit down the side and bent. Streamers cut into fringe covered the body. Printer paper rolled into a cone shaped the ears and card stock made up the features.

2. Welcome Craft: Create a Pokemon. After coloring a Pokemon picture, the kids each got a paper bag and craft supplies to create their own Pokemon for a future game. They put some crumpled up newspaper inside and twisted the bottom. Then they took feathers, sequince, crayons, googly eyes, etc. and made a Pokemon. Then they tied a string to the bottom. I told them not to be too technical because they may get ripped in the game.



3. Games: I think the pokemon game is way too complicated, so we played some simple games with a Pokemon theme. "Gotta Catch 'em All" was adapted from a game that I found on familyfun.com The kids sat in a circle with their Pokemon in the middle. One person is the "catcher". I yelled "gotta catch em all" and the catcher would try to catch one of the pokemon with a bowl or lid at the same time the children try to jerk their Pokemon out of the way. They loved this game. It can also be played with candy on a string and you use dice. If the catcher rolls doubles the lid comes down.

James played "Ash says" with the kids while I prepared the Pikachu ears party hats. (this should have been done before hand, but since it's me we're talking about, it happened during the middle of the party)

The next game was a relay. Pokemon Trainer Practice: The kids had to put on a baseball cap and back pack, run through a tunnel and tent, up the stairs (since it was indoors :( , shoot Team Rocket with a nerf gun, throw a Pokeball (practice golf balls painted half red with black line around middle) into a bowl and run back and tag the next player.

If we would have been outside, we would have done one final game of catching the pokemon. The older siblings would have dressed up like a specific Pokemon or worn a picture of a Pokemon on their backs and the kids would have had to try to capture them with their pokeballs. Then they would have recorded the captured Pokemon in their Pokedex made from printer paper folded into a booklet and stapled with a picture of a pokeball on the front. It would have been awesome.

4. Food: I am learning as I get older to simplify things if possible (yeah, right). Well, I simplified with the food, anyway. I like to have parties in the afternoon--too late for lunch, too early for dinner. It also helps if I have the morning to prepare since I always wait until the last minute. So cake and ice cream it is. I made the cake in my round Pyrex bowl and added a round cake pan to make the circle a little bigger. I used way too much red food coloring and it made the frosting really yucky, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

5. Presents: I always take a picture of Hunter with each gift and gift giver. It's nice to have a record for those thank you notes ;)

7. Piniata: Still raining, so we just dumped the contents of the piniata onto the carpet and let the kids go for it. We taped an image of a pokeball to a clear goodie bag and gave each child a bag. They loaded them with loot from the piniata. I'm glad we didn't have to smash up Pikachu after all. He was way too cute for that!

The party went over about 15 min, and then they all went home. AAAhhhhh. The perfect Pokemon Pikachu party!

Happy Birthday, Hunter!