No, the party didn't have any killer ants. It went off without a hitch. Well, mostly. I did forget to take any video. I was so busy running the show and trying to take pictures that I forgot to shoot any video. I have now designated Nathan to be the official video taper for all the parties hence-forth. Did I use that word correctly? It really just sounded good.
Why "killer ants" in the title, you ask? As many of you have been reading for awhile, you are aware that we have the huge ants on our front porch. They have huge pincers for a nose and they are basically indestructible. I was sitting in the rocking chair, minding my own business, when out of the corner of my eye, I see one making it's way up the couch towards Brenna. "What are you doing in my house big mutant of an ant?" Since Nathan was not at home (my official bug killer), I rushed to the bathroom to retrieve a huge wad of toilet paper. I grabbed the ant and squeezed will all my might. Would you believe that ant was still alive when he landed in the toilet water? These ants must be the super heros in the ant world. Hopefully that one is gone in his watery grave.
I just thought you would all like to know what my day looks like. Now, back to the main interest of the day. Yes, I am finally going to post pictures of the party. It was a great party as far as a three year olds birthday party goes. Everything went well and the kids all seemed to have a great time. I loved watching Brenna play with all her friends. That is really why I wanted a party. I wanted Brenna to really enjoy having fun on her special day.
I had planned several games and activities for the kids entertainment. First I had them color a barnyard placemat. Some colored more diligently than others, but they all had fun for a short time at least. My plan was to put contact paper over the paper so that the kids could all take them home and use the placemats. I didn't really think that one through. Luckily Aunt Peggy and Uncle Roger were patient enough to endure the trials of contact paper. I hear it wasn't fun especially since they had a perfectly good laminating machine sitting on their office desk. Oh, well. I know for next time now. Thanks for your endurance.
Once everyone got there, we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cake. It was fun to watch Brenna's face when all the kids sang to her. She really understood that it was for her this year. She was all smiles and loved blowing the candles out. Unfortunately I missed the blowing part, but I did get the smile before.
I made a chocolate lamb cake and butter cake cupcakes. Brenna requested yellow cake and I wanted chocolate. I was up quite late finishing them all on Friday night. That would be one reason to avoid a morning party. It seems to be a theme in my life. I wanted our wedding in the morning. Brenna's party in was in the morning. I must just be a morning person, but sometimes it would be nice to have a little extra time. Anyways, at about 10:30pm on Friday, I was decorating the cake. My icing kept getting too hot and as you can see it melted some on the lamb. I just said the lamb decided to roll a little. Despite the melting icing I was pleased with the result, and Brenna loved her cake and cupcakes.
I had dad draw a sheep on a piece of poster board. The kids got to put fleece on the lamb. (They glued cotton balls on the poster.) I had no idea how much fun that could be. I took the basic idea of "pin the tail on the donkey" and made if for 3 year olds. They loved it. They all wanted to glue lots of fleece. I think that game took the longest of anything.
My original idea for the party was to have a stuffed animal parade, but I never really got that together. I was going to have them all parade around the yard. Instead they all got their animals and stood by the "barn" for a picture. Not sure if that really meets the qualifications of the invitation, but it made for a very cute picture.
And all good birthday parties have presents. Ours did although one of the other kids had to ask when we were opening presents. You see, Brenna is most interested in the cake aspect of a party. Sure she likes the presents, but because we ate cake first, the order of anything else didn't really matter. We did open presents and it was a little chaotic. I hope all the other parents don't hate me now. I let the kids help Brenna open. They were all around her anyway and she didn't mind. She actually told several of them they could help. Like I said, the cake was the most important part. It is a good thing Brenna and I aren't claustrophobic because we would have been in big trouble.
The last organized game was a stick horse race. The parents were wondering aloud how I was going to organize that one. The answer, not very well. I gave two kids a stick and said, "ready, set go". They went. It was so funny to watch them all run through the yard with huge smiles. They loved it and everyone got a prize at the end. So much fun.
At the end, all the kids got to pick "apple" party favors. They had all been asking about the "apples" hanging from the tree in the middle of our yard. I kept telling the kids that the apples were for later. Thanks to the internet for that idea. It was a hit too.
The day was great. I loved being able to do this for Brenna. I was exhausted when it was all over. I'm glad that birthdays only come once a year. I guess I must start thinking about what to do next year. It is going to be hard to keep being so creative. Stay tuned for year 4.
