A Totally Awsumb Spider-man and Friends Birthday Party

Awsumb 2004

Happy 3rd Birthday!

I think my husband wanted this party more than my 3 year old!

All the kids were invited to come dressed in their Halloween costumes.

Decor: Poster of Spider-man, red and blue balloons

and a giant spider web made out of black yarn

The kids had fun climbing around in this spider-web. 

Eventually we helped them each follow a string from on end to the other to find their prizes:

Spider-man Pez

I took pictures of the kids making their best Hulk faces.

The mayor sent over some award ribbons for all the super-heroes...

 Then it was time to the let kids "jump around"

The Bounce House 

OK - on one told me that blue frosting would be a mess to clean up! 

There are so many fun things

you can do with super hero themes,

depending on the age of the kids. 

I kept things pretty simple, it was plenty.

If I hosted a super hero party again I would make each kid their own cape.

This can be a simple cut of fabric

pinned to the kid's shirts

or with a simple tie, snap or velco around the neck.

Awsumb's Big Present:

Spider-man and Friends Playset

(I guess this is the equivelant to the Barbie Dream House?!)

Disclaimer:

I really wanted a Pirate Party and only did this Super Hero Party

to make my little boy and husband happy!
And I wouldn't let Awsumb wear the Spider-man costume for Halloween

because it just wasn't up to my standards! LOL!

I knew I would get to do a Pirate Party eventually,
And I did just that for his 8th Birthday!

Awsumb 2004

A Totally Awsumb Bob the Builder Birthday Party

Awsumb 2003

Happy 2nd Birthday!

"Can we fix it?  Yes we can!"

Awsumb simply LOVED

BOB THE BUILDER!

Decor:

Construction Tape, Cones,
Orange, Blue, Green and Yellow Balloons

Awsumb's big present:

Little People Construction Set

and Bob the Builder Legos (Duplos)

Each kid received a plastic construction hat

 

 Bean Bag "Rock Toss"

I sewed up some simple 'boulders' filled with rice

Parachute Play

You can get a small parachute for about $20

This parachute has been used over and over throughout the years.

Stick the hammer on Bob's Tool Belt

Pull String Pinata's are great for little kids.

One lucky string pulls the pinata open!

Donuts and Juice 

Each Kid took home a Little Tikes Plastic Hammer

I ordered these from the Little Tikes Parts department.

Much more fun than disposable goody bag toys from the party store!

The Gifts:  Bob the Builder everything! 

Including PJ's made by Gma Hardy 

As Awsumb's Birthday falls in October his Halloween Costume was a no brainer!

I think you can easily put together costumes

 that are much more charming

than any flimsy thing you'll find in the store. 

 I sewed a little patch Auntie found on some overalls,

 let him wear the flannel pajama top Grandma Hardy sewed,

added Little Tikes tools Grandpa Awsumb bought,

his Bob The Builder Party Hat

and he was ready to Trick or Treat!

These ideas will work for Handy Manny or any other construction theme.

A Totally Awsumb Little People Birthday Party

 Awsumb 2002

Decor:

Pictures of Little People such as

 firetrucks and boats

 glued them to colored paper,

 tied up some balloons, passed out hats - instant party!

Awsumb's big present was a Fisher-Price Amusement Park

First Activity - Play with Little People!

 Fish Your Prize!

Put the Frog in Eddie's Pocket

(I simply blew up clip-art I found online and pasted this on posterboard)

Awsumb's 1st Birthday Cake

Let them eat Cake! 

When you pick a popular theme

the party store will have everything you need including

 invites, decor, cups and napkins, prizes, goody bags and thank you notes.

At the time you could get one of these birthday figures free by registering online with Fisher-Price

One year olds don't need anything more than a cupcake,

but I was excited to finally get to plan a kids birthday party. 

Just remember simple is best!

Other themes I love for 1st Birthdays:

teddy bears, winnie the pooh,

farm or zoo animals,

gold fish or rubber duckies!

Totally Awesome Kids Birthday Parties

When your Awsumb it's easy to throw Totally Awesome Kids Birthday Parties.  I usually get excited to start planning my son's birthday parties when I attend my best girlfriend's parties in May. This gives me about six months to hide the expense so my husband thinks my parties are inexpensive!  I prefer to avoid large party venues, as I think they are impersonal, loud, chaotic and well, I just like that picture of all the kids lined up on the couch.

I don't understand why some people get all stressed about planning a party. Sure some of us like to go all out, but that doesn't mean you have to. A you really need are a few balloons, cake, friends and it's a PARTY! As a child I remember meeting a little boy on a camping trip and attending an impromptu party, pretty much consisting of a 2-pack of Hostess Cupcakes and a cool climbing tree - it was great!

You don't even have to pick a theme as long as there is an activity for the kids and especially if you have  a cool backyard or host it at your favorite park.  Unfortunately my sons birthday is in October, we live in the northwest and it is always rainy weather. So, we don't get to take advantage of the backyard or local park.

A good suggestion is to invite only the number of kids of your child's age... I have trouble with this because I don't want to leave anyone out. Plus, I am always so excited about my plans I want to share them with everyone.  But it's a great way to lower any stress in your party planning.

As a general rule 3 Party Games is plenty.. then just let the kids run around, play the games again or make up their own games. My son attended a spectacular Army party... the floor was covered in those little plastic army guys and although the training course and shooting activities were a lot of fun the kids could have just played with those little green army guys all day!

In my next few blogs I will share some of the simple party ideas I have used for my son...

Click on the themes below to see

Totally Awsumb Kids Parties!

Fisher Price Little People

Bob The Builder

Spider-man and Friends

Hot Wheels

Baseball Bash at Safeco Field

Lego Knights

Lego Star Wars

Pirates Pool Party

Harry Potter

Indiana Jones Adventure

Check back in the following weeks for party ideas that I hope will inspire you!

What was your favorite birthday party?

3-D

I just hate 3-D.  So I was pretty mad when we showed up at the last Harry Potter movie to find out it was in 3-D.  I am pretty sure Kenneth knew this and choose not to tell me.  At least we got these cool Harry Potter style glasses (more about them later).

Why does every new movie have to be in 3-D anyway?  It's like they are just putting it into random things now, not even just movies that go with the whole 3-D effect.  I HATE 3-D!  It gives me a headache!  And when we end up at a movie we didn't realize was in 3-D I always pout about it. I get 3-D for a campy movie like JAWS.  But in general the 3-D effect should only enhance the movie - just enough to make it seem more real... The viewer should be able to forget about the effect rather than having something pop up in their face every two minutes reminding them they are sitting in a theater and removing them from the story.

Here are some of my complaints: 3-D glasses are always too big for me.  My 3-D glasses are always crooked.  My 3-D glasses are always scratched or foggy because they have cheap lenses.  3-D glasses at an IMAX leave that dumb mark on your head.  And finally that nasty headache I end up with...

Some people might say it's all in your head, but they are wrong, there is a name for it:  vergence-accommodation.  And apparently the act of trying to focus can cause headache for some people.

The night after we saw the final Harry Potter movie we went to see Captain America in 3-D.  As a joke, partway through the movie when my son left to use the restroom, I swapped my big glasses with his kid sized glasses. OH MY HECK They were soooo much better!  And he was so kind he told me I could wear them the rest of the movie.  I was able to forget the movie was even in 3-D!  Then I realized that besides the fact that my Harry Potter glasses were warped they actually fit better than any 3-D glasses I had worn... The lesson- wear smaller glasses?  Maybe that will help me in the future...

Click to read What's the problem with 3-D? 

2011 Brain Freeze Rally

"SUCK FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Sadly, Summertime Lime was no where

 to be found on the Seattle Eastside,

but Watermelon Lime is a new favorite of mine!

Kenneth is so busy at work that he just couldn't get away from the office and missed Slurpee Day this year.  So I took Awsumb and his friend Trevor.  We hit 10 Slurpees in 2hrs 40min... by the end Awsumb's friend thought he was going to be sick!  So I didn't push it!

(I have to upload a snap of the boys off my other camera)

We spend the evening at a big Summer Baseball BBQ, but did manage to get Kenneth at least ONE FREE SLURPEE before the day was over... Although we went to a store that was out of free cups they let us fill a small!  SCORE! 

SLURPEE ART!

Awsumb and SEV!

Sev and Even!

By Awsumb and Wendy

My sister Katie was so anxious to get started

 she went just a few hours after midnight and turned up with

THE FASTEST TIME and

The MOST Free Slurpees

15 each - before sunrise!

PRIZES:

Reloadable 7-11 Gift Cards and

 INDUSTRIAL SLURPEE STRAWS!

 GROUP HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Lowe and Grant Families

We hope the rest of your summer is

WILD!

(click to read our KILLER UNO RULES)

Click to see pictures from 2010 Brain Freeze Rally

Did you get your FREE SLURPEE?  Don't forget to mark your calendars for next year!

Tut, Tut, Tut, Looks Like Rain!

Seattle:  Home of the 78 Minute Summer!

Yep, that sounds about right!  According to this KOMO News article we have had exactly 78 minutes of temperatures of at least 80 so far.  And even if you count temps around only 75 degrees we have still only had 18 hours of summer - that's not even a full day!

INSTALLING SUMMER.....

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The season you are looking for

 might have been removed,

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or is temporarily unavailable.

Please try again...

Although one of the reasons I love it here is because of the mild seasons... it's getting a bit annoying to be wet all the time... and I have even started toting around an umbrella like some tourist!

I saw a post card like this when we first moved here...Four Seasons?  Not so much... at least that's how it feels sometimes!

So for now, we will just keep enjoying our muddy little hikes, soggy baseball games and make sure to take  a jacket with us if we are out after 8pm!

Update: Today we went to the pool to bask in our lovely rain clouds... Awsumb decided if we just wear blue goggles everywhere we'll have blue skies!

Reminds me of my favorite series of commercials by PEMCO Insurance... Awsumb saved all his money to buy Kenneth a tent for Father's Day... I better make sure to buy a BLUE TARP before we try the camping thing later this summer!

"We don't need to check the weather report, we brought our own blue skies!"