Monthly Archives: August 2010
Lego Party
One of my favorite things to do each year with the boys is work with them to plan and throw their own unique birthday party. This started when I went a little over the top with the Big Guy’s 1st party and has continued for 5 years now.
Since they could talk or really communicate at all, I work with the boys to figure out what “they are in to” and we make the whole event to reflect this theme. My only rule….nothing violent. I guess this is a boy thing, but we have had to have friendly pirates and smiley robots in the past. This year’s theme:
LEGO’s
In the past we have done all kinds of crazy things to develop an invitation. This year…I found a template that I loved, so I purchased it for the invitation, bookmark, thank you, etc.
The templates were downloadable .pdf format documents that were easily customized in Photoshop. I think you could use any of them without Photoshop, but this is what I used.
(A neighbor and fellow Lego Fanatic brought over some of his models to show the kids and display!)
Next, to keep the Birthday Boy engaged in the planning of the party, found an idea from one of my favorite Podcast/Blogger and we made a Lego Bingo Game. He built 20+ Lego “Model’s” and I photographed them, and photoshoped (yes, that is a word….if not, it should be) them into a grid. I used the Living Locurto template for a door sign for a background. And voila….after some tedious mixing of the grid to have different bingo cards…..we had a custom game for our party.
I suggested to the Birthday Boy that for favors, we give each party-goer a bag of Lego pieces that they could use to make a car. He helped me pick out all of the pieces from the Giant Lego Wall and then suggested they all have drivers….I did not have a strong argument against the idea and decided that including pieces to make a driver for the car would be less expensive than renting a princess for a day….so, there you have it….favor bags with Lego pieces that were used first as bingo chips, then to build cars and drivers….and, of course they had to race.
Birthday Boy designed a track, I painted it, Law Man Built it…..in that order, and the party was a huge success.
I will say it was one of the hottest (as in temperature) morning birthday parties I have ever been to. In fact, I was a little disappointed in the pictures…or lack there of….I was so hot and concerned that the kids might get sick…..apparently I missed a lot of great shots.
(See the plain kitchen napkins in the picture?….I forgot to grab some coordinating napkins at the store, so the morning of the party I told the Birthday Boy that I needed to run out and get some. He said, “Oh, Mom, just use plain ones…it’s no big deal.” It doesn’t get much better than that.)
On a side note…..in the past, I have invited everyone in school, church, neighbors and family with kids…..along with Grandparents. This has led to some VERY chaotic parties. (The chaos doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother some of the past guests.) This year, I decided to take a different approach and limit the number to a few of the Birthday Boy’s classmates, family with kids, and a couple of neighbor kids…..and Grandparents….I would not ever hear the end of that. I think I offended people who normally are invited. Completely unintentional, but I felt terrible just the same.
***How do you handle invitation lists to your kids parties???***
My Nephews are FOUR!!!
Today is the fourth birthday of my identical twin nephews. I am so proud to have them as nephews….not just because the look exactly alike but because they are the sweetest little guys I know. And they should be since their mom is the greatest person I know!!!!
Every time I look at them…..right after I figure out who is who, I think about the scare they gave us before and during their birth. They are and will always be our little miracle babies. Yes, J & C…..even when you are as tall as your dad.
My guys are so lucky to have you for cousins. I assure you they love you very much even though the often refer to you as both as Jesse-Charlie, or twin, our cousin, or hey you. No holiday, or vacation, or dinner, or trip to the zoo is the same without “the cousins”.
THEN
NOW
We love you Jesse and Charlie!!!!
No Judgment, Please
**This post has come out a bit more “back to school blues” than intended. If you are not a mother, you may not understand. I assure you the usual snarky tone of the blog will return soon. I was just thinking that I am probably not the only mom who feels this way this week. So, no judgment please. 
Back to school is always a bitter sweet event. I remember this being the case as a child and it has remained as a parent.
The sweet –
- New Beginnings
- New Friends
- Knowledge
- Challenge
- More “me” time….for mom
The bitter –
- One year older…the boys, not me….I am fine with another year (for now, anyway)
- More responsibility
- The unknown
- The unknown
- The anticipation of the unknown
The first full week of school this year has been dramatically different than the ones in the past. We now have two boys at two different schools with two different schedules. We have restructured our days and our schedules to accommodate and it has surprised me how easy the physical adjustment has been….the emotional adjustment, not so much.
I look around at the first drop off not sure yet what to expect every morning. I see so many new faces, a new building, a new teacher. Then off to the second drop off. I am reminded of the security of familiar faces, a building that we have had so many memories in, and teachers that feel like family. I spend most of the day feeling a little lost without two little guys saying, “momma look at this”, “hey mom….I’m…..hungry, tired, bored, excited”, “look at what I built…drew…made”. In a way, I have looked forward to this day for quite a while, on the other hand I feel a little lost. I have so many things I want to do, but the challenge of deciding the best way to spend this in between time is proving to be more difficult than expected.
I think about my mom a lot these days. I wonder what she did during this time. As a kid, I never really considered what she was doing. She worked some. But I often wonder, was she happy, did she spend time alone or with friends, how did she prioritize. I teared up yesterday when I saw this clip of Elizabeth Gilbert. She talks about the challenge women of today have by having too many options. That is where I am. I feel guilty that I have so many choices of how to spend my time that I am wasting time worrying about it. This seems like such a “bratty” thing to say, but that is where I am today. Â
***Addendum***
I wrote this yesterday and ran off to pick up the kids before I published it…oops. Anyway, I picked them up and we spent the entire afternoon at the Science Museum and then we sat outside of the museum and had a little snack picnic and talked about everything that had happened that day at school, at the museum and then we talked about the next day….our first day of gymnastics and Wolf Night!!! This is where I need to be!!!! It was perfect.
***Addendum 2***
We were so tired both the boys through a huge fit in front of all of the neighbors when it was dinner time. Priceless!!!
To a new day!!!!
First Day of School
Today……28 years, to the day, after Law Man started Kindergarten, Big Guy had his very first day. It was emotional for everyone. Law Man argued with some faculty about which door we should enter. The Little Guy held on first to his brother’s hand and then gave him a dozen or more hugs. Big Guy chanted, “I’m not nervous, I’m not nervous.” I just stood and watched in amazement of how grown up he is and how old this makes me. I got most of my emotion out last night in the middle of the night with thoughts that went from….
“It’s just Kindergarten.”
“I still have him for thirteen more years…….oh gosh, only thirteen more years.”
“It’s not like it is the first day of high school or college……crap, I still have to make it through the first day of high school AND college.”
He was so proud to be going to such a big school!!!!
After I dropped him off, there might have been a few brief tears when I thought, “I need to call Mom and Nanny (my grandmother) and tell them about our big day.” Then I realized that Mom and Nanny are not here anymore to call. So, I just told them in my head. About an hour later, my stepmother called to tell me she and my dad were thinking about us on this special day. She has never tried to replace Mom and we both know that will not ever happen, but it meant the world to me that she called. It made my whole day!!!!
I have a lot more to share, but I still have the Little Guy home and it is best not to leave him unattended. !!! I will be back in a few days to share all about our “last day of summer,” the Meet and Greet, the Lego Party, and the list goes on and on….
