A Look Back - Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party

I think the more kids you have, the crazier you become.  It really is a good thing we stopped June because anymore kids would send me farther over the edge.  Yes, farther because I'm pretty sure I'm at least partly living in Crazy Town.

Example of my crazy was throwing the Wee One a birthday party when June was 2 weeks old.  See, I could have had it at the park or Chuck E Cheese's, but no I had to throw her a Strawberry Shortcake birthday because that's what you do when you live in Crazy Town.  

She's Three!

Invites

See that blank spot?  That's because I have no memory of doing an invite and record of one.  People managed to show up so there must have been something.

The Scene -The party ended up being a variation of Vintage Strawberry Shortcake picnic party.  The colors were pink, red, and green with daisies and strawberries.  The Wee One has a July birthday and that means very little decorating needs to be done.  It's hot, the tundra gets hot, and we spend most of our time in the inflatable water slide.

Food - We had fried chicken, grilled corn on the cob, blueberry muffins, pasta salad, potato salad, and strawberry applesauce.  That applesauce was so good it is still in my freezer - untouched.  That means I've had it for almost a year and I moved it.  

The food was served in wax paper lined baskets.  The guests had their choice of pasta salad or potato salad served in small cups.

The kid tables were done with green disposable placements and a gingham runner made from fabric.  

Strawberry lemonade and lemon water to drink.

The cake was a double decker strawberry shortcake.

The Fun - We had the inflatable water slide, chalk, an enchilada (pinata for those who don't speak Wee One), and plenty of running around.

The Favors and Thank You - Each guest received some chalk, berry flavored lip balm, a jump rope, a visor, and some candy from the pinata.  

The green berry baskets were lined with the same gingham fabric as the table runner.  

And the thank you cards that never happened.  Confession:  I am really bad about Thank You cards.  Really bad.  Maybe a mid-year resolution?

This was as good as it was going to get.

So I am only behind two birthday parties now?  Maybe it's denial that my kiddos are growing up.  Probably not.

Funny Birds

Ladybug loves art.  She could paint, draw, color, collage, cut, glue, glitter (no, no, no) all day long.  When I stumbled across a James Rizzi birds art lesson from Deep Space Sparkle, it checked off all her artsy crapsy criteria.

We started by watching YouTube videos of James Rizzi art.  During the videos, we would pause and talk about his style of art, his use of bold colors, and the use of a black outline. 

Then, I walked the kids through how to draw a James Rizzi inspired bird.  Since the Wee One is three, I used some really kid friendly language.

First draw an ice cream cone.
Make your ice cream overflow on the sides.
Draw two circles that are kissing (eyes).
Give two dots on the ice cream cone.
Draw a big oval for a body.
Add a straight line down and two sticks for feet.
Add some scallops or zig-zags on the body.
If you want you can add some hair.

The Wee One's bird.  She was so proud!

 We outlined our work in some oil pastels.  This was our first time working with oil pastels and there was a big learning curve. 

 

Next we added some watercolors.  This was our second attempt after they got a little crazy with their painting.  It was just short of a disaster.

Why yes, those are Santa pajamas in April.  It 14 with the wind chill right now.   

 

 

Ladybug's finished bird.  

I loved these birds so much that I put them in frames.  They are whimsical and colorful and really, really awesome. 

Birds for June

Sweet June should be left out of our birds, so here is her April Treasure Basket

• Blue egg - Rice
• Purple egg - Barley
• Orange egg - Beans
• Feather
• Squeeze penguin
• Plush bird
• Rooster with straw comb
• Two empty eggs
• Boook

It's a Bird's Life

This month is brought to you by the Peregrine Falcon.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/peregrine_falcon/id

Mister has a tendency to get really focused on one thing and will not let it go.  If you guessed his latest obsession is the peregrine falcon. 

" Hey, did you know that the peregrine falcon can fly 200 mph? If it was flying on the highway, it would get a ticket for flying that fast." 

"Did you know they eat other birds?"  

All day long I'm learning about these birds.  Unfortunately, we won't see one of these birds in our backyard, but that's not stopping him from looking every day.  In the meantime, we are learning about birds.

To kick off our month, here is their Backyard Bird Sensory Bin.

• Green Rice - Grass
• Seeds for eating
• Birdhouse
• Duck Pond
• Nests
• Eggs
• Flower for nectar
• Insects for eating
• Labels
• Backyard Bird Toob plus a hummingbird
• *I will add a tree when I find a branch (we have no trees and no sod right now) or my trees, which are probably packed in a box.