Better late than never...right

Ansley's birthday is in April. We were living in the rental house and there was a contract on the house with a date for us to be out just days after her birthday. Luckily, it fell through at the last minute but we didn't have an "official" party for her. The thought of planning a birthday party in the midst of moving was more than I could handle. Now that we are living in the new house she was sure to remind me of a promise to have the party once we were settled. So here is what went down at her 10 and 1/2 birthday party.

The cookie face race. 

Put a cookie on your forehead and get in in your mouth without using your hands.

Hidden bubble gum

I hid three pieces of bubble gum in whipped cream. The object is to find the gum and chew it and the first one to blow a bubble wins. The sugar from the whipped cream breaks down the gum so it's harder than it sounds. If you have kids at the party that have braces you can switch out the bubble gum with smarties. We put six smarties in place of three pieces of gum.

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I let the girls all take turns posing the group for pictures. Here are the boys crashing their pictures.

The doughnut game

This is my kids absolute favorite game! We do this at every party! Group the kids by height and string doughnuts on a piece of yarn. They have to try to eat the doughnut without using their hands.

What a sweet little face!

Watching this game is half the fun!

Her face makes me smile!

After these games we played hide and seek in the dark. Give everyone a flashlight or ask them to bring one from home. I ordered some from www.orientaltrading.com. They are cheap but they do the trick just order extra because they burn out quickly. Turn all the lights out (obviously) and two people are "it", just in case someone in your party is scared of the dark. Everyone hides but they have to stay put until they are found. The last thing you need is a bunch of kids running around in the dark. Once they are found they can either go back to the starting point or join in the search for others. The first ones found will be "it" for the next round. We also played sardines in the dark. One (or two if your dealing with a bunch of sissies) person hides then everyone goes looking for them and just joins them in their hiding spot until everyone is in the hiding spot. The last one to join the group is "it" for the next round.


Lastly, we all settled down to watch the Lorax. How ba aa aad can I be? ~Lorax reference, in honor of Ansley.

We had eaten so much junk that night we saved the cookie cake until the morning.

Happy 101/2 Birthday to you!

We had some kids show up late to the party so we did some "do over" games in the morning.

I think the party was a success but I don't think I'll be ready to do another in six months so maybe she'll have an eleven and a half birthday too. Or maybe I can just bribe her with money in lieu of a party.

Let's talk

So I haven't truly blogged about the house in a while. We are moved in and still getting settled. Ryan just finished putting the blinds up today. I'm sure my neighbors are super thankful for that. If anyone cared enough they could have seen one or all of us naked at one time or another. For that, I am sorry. I sincerely hope they will not be scarred for life. We have quite a bit of work still to do. Our painter, Darby Roach owner of "Elite" (quotes intentional) Painting left us pretty much high and dry. He didn't finish the job and the stuff he did finish looks pretty bad. We have been cleaning paint off of the floors, vanities, faucets, you name it! He ended up subbing out some of our work to another crew. The guy he sent over coughed the entire time he was here which really freaked me out. I told Ryan there was no way that guy was coming into my kitchen and painting...I was pretty sure he had tuberculosis. I cleaned all the light switches and doorknobs when he left everyday. Anyway, I guess I haven't felt much like blogging about the house. It's like when you have a newborn and you feel like all you ever talk about are their bowl movements and eating habits. Or maybe like a person that goes to the gym and they think you are as interested in their workout schedule as they are. I feel like it's been that kind of consuming. Even when I run into people they always ask, "How's the house coming?" I definitely appreciate their interest in what's going on with the house but frankly I'm tired of talking about it. I'd rather talk about how funny it would be to take a 13.1 or a 26.2 sticker and put it on the most out of shape person I could find and stick it on their window. It would be funny to see how people would react to them getting out of their car in their house shoes and PJ's walking into Walmart. At least in my head that is hilarious. Maybe I'd talk about how I've been watching Chopped and Master Chef and how it's inspired me to make Ramen Noodles and grilled cheese sandwiches. I made four last night and only burned two. I would also like to add that I was able to make them in less than 30 minutes. Maybe I would tell you that I went to the dermatologist because my face looks like a prepubescent teen and the doc says it's hormones! What? Hormones!?! Nooooo! Really? Crap is this perimenopause? On second thought...did I mention that I bought a new dining room table for my HOUSE!