Super Mario Party....!

I don't know about you...but the older my oldest child gets....the older I feel.

He turned 12 today....!

What a doozy of a Birthday?! Such a milestone...!

He really wanted his party to be at Otto's Video Games and More...right down the street from us.

Since it is a Video Game Store, we opted for our favorite Super Mario Theme.

The Party Room Wall decorated up...!

 My banner was really easy....just pennants made by hand. I cut out the letters with the Cricut. On each pennant are characters from the Mario Game. I saved clip art from around the Internet, inserted onto Microsoft Word and printed them out.

 My husband worked on these Piranha Plants for a couple of days.

*We didn't make this idea up...I've seen quite a few of these around the Internet.

He used cardboard tubing for the base, painted it green. For the top, he bought foam from the Dollar Store and made the rim. They only had white foam, so he painted it green. A wooden dowel is what is holding up the Flower. He painted that as well. The leaves were foam painted and cut. The Piranha Flower is a Styrofoam ball, painted red. He then used the foam to make the mouth, dots and teeth. He adhered everything with a hot glue gun.

 This is the Game Room.

So, basically it's the quietest party EVER....!

They play video games for a couple of hours.

I mean, they come out when they want to munch or drink and then go back into the cool lair...!

Noah was excited because he got to hang out with a couple of his friends from his old school where we used to live. His smile was priceless.

 There are different packages, but the kids play age appropriate games.

Each television had a different game in it.

They get headphones to hear the games with and they get to sit in movie theater chairs.

 

 We really love Mario.

This was one Halloween.

 Noah was embarrassed by this picture, but I warned him I would put it up...ahead of time. The lady at Costco said it was the cutest picture she'd ever seen when she printed it...!

I try to joke around with him about stuff since he's my only boy. I told all his friends that they couldn't come in unless they laughed at the picture. Nobody thought it was embarrassing.  So, he lightened up about it.

 

 

 Star Power....!

I ordered these cookies because my baking stuff is in storage...first year ever not baking.

I said "Mario" Stars and even described the eyes. They said they knew...! Being anal, it secretly bugged me. But they did taste good and I wouldn't complain to the bakery or in front of the kids. I'm not like that...!

 Time to Re-Fuel and Power Up...!

 The Goody Bags...!

At the end, I had them open them up and put all that candy and everything left on the table in them.

*I'm not bringing that back with me....! I might eat it. WINK!

 

 My Birthday BOY...I mean Birthday TWEEN...!

He is so big...ok...I need to get over it....give me a bit then I will...maybe.

 

 I took a bunch of pictures. What, I didn't know what else to do?!

It was seriously, so relaxing. I should have brought my craft supplies to make Valentines.

The kids were preoccupied and when I would try to talk to them....they were playing video games.

The staff watched over them and helped them the entire time.

I am so not used to that. My husband left to heat up some food and text me what I was doing....I said "I organized my wallet!"

I even got to eat...! I never eat at any of my parties. Too busy...!

 

 The Birthday Cake is a TURTLE Ice Cream Cake...Get it?!

My son is so into Delicious Cakes.

 He never lets me fondant his cakes or put too many decorations.

He likes Double Fudge Brownies or Homemade Cheesecakes on his Birthday.

We saw this and he drooled. He's our food critic...!

 

I took it really easy this year.

 Just did Pizza Bagels, Breadsticks with Sauce, Meats and Crackers and Cheeses....for Mario's Italian Feast.

 

 Chocolate Mustaches....!

 

I would wish that I could turn back time....but he is growing into a great young man. I am so proud of him. He makes me burst with happiness. He is so level headed and practical and well-rounded. I am so glad he is my oldest. He's a great example.

 

I {MUSTACHE} you....

How cute are they?! 

Super Mario Goody Bags.

"Mario!" in my Italian video game voice.

Guess what I get to do? I get to plan a Super Mario Party for my son.

His birthday is this weekend and it was just decided that we get to have a party for him.

 Planning a party in one week....sounds like a fun challenge. He is excited because the party destination is at Otto's Video Games and More. We have never had a party anywhere except our home because ummm....I'm pretty particular about things and don't like rules, but they are very cool over there....letting me do almost whatever I want...!

These Goody Bags are what I was working on last night....

 Inside of them:

Stickers, Notebooks, Pencils, Markers, Mustaches, and Brick Candy.

*Everything found at Party City in one single trip! Hey, I told you that I planned this quickly {Smile}

 Are these not amazing?

The handy-work of my artist husband.

 

Easy enough and SUPER cute...!

Shadows..!

Groundhogs Day has come and gone...however, I thought I would post this anyways because it is awesome...!

I was gone on February 2nd, but my husband taught our 4 year old about Groundhog Day.

One of the activities that they did was study Shadows.

He started her off early in the day tracing a shadow on the sidewalk with a piece of sidewalk chalk.

*Below is the second picture, first one didn't turn out.

 Throughout the day, they came outside and traced the shadow. He explained why the shadow moved.

 This was a hard shadow to trace. I'm proud of her...!

 My baby hard at work learning...!

 

She had such a fun time making the shadow traces with Daddy.

I heard aaaallllll about it...!

100th Day Project...!

A 100th Day Project can basically be whatever you want it to be....! That is the beauty of it. A collection of 100 things...!

I suggest getting a poster board to draw or cut a shape out of and attach 100 things onto it.

My daughter's favorite thing in the world {aside from Dragons} is Minnie Mouse.

After pondering making 100 dragon scales or adding 100 teeth to a dragon....we decided upon Minnie since we just did the Chinese New Year project.

Noe searched the Internet for a Minnie picture and got to work sketching it.

 She had to put 100 circle dots onto Minnie's Outfit.

Since, we guesstimated wrong....he drew a mushroom besides her really fast to use up the last sticker dots.

 We counted to 100 again and again.

Counting to 100 can be FUN....!

I'm Stuck On YOU...!

Can I just say how much I love our Valentines this year?

It's my blog, so I can...! {hehe}

It all started with a stamp that I saw in the Dollar Section at Michael's. It was a little Porcupine that says "I'm Stuck On You!" So adorable. I decided to get it and find something to work with it.

After brainstorming....bubble gum, stickers, band aids, peanut butter and jelly {brainstorming here.} I asked the hubby. Immediately he tells me, "What do the kids love to play with that are sticky? Sticky Hands!"

Ummm....YES!

It just so happened that I have a gift card to Oriental Trading Co that I got around Christmas. I know...I'm lucky or blessed sometimes...one or the other. I ordered up these bad boys 72 for $7. I needed at least 90 for 3 kids classes....so I ordered 2 packages and have leftovers.  

Once I got them in, I had to decide how to make them into Valentines. I found a pack of Doilies in my Art Supplies and the rest was history.

 These are seriously so easy, that I told Noe "I feel like I'm being Lazy." He said "You're making Homemade Valentines, how are you being lazy? You are so weird." Leave it to your man to put things into perspective.

 

My favorite thing about these is that they aren't edible.

I'm usually having to stay up late the night before parties getting 90 {30+ in my 3 kids classes} treats ready. With these, I can start early. I've been doing a bit each night. 

The kids are going to write their names on the back....and we are good to go...!

Plus, they LOVE Sticky Hands.

Chinese New Year Frames.

Happy Chinese New Year...!

We celebrated today with just a wee bit of fun.

It's the Year of the Dragon, which is my son's Zodiac Sign.

We talked about Chinese New Year and the history around the holiday. I read the children their Zodiac Signs and the characterstics in which they are supposed to have.

They then did a craft project.

I had looked up some Written Chinese and copied some of the words onto a piece of paper; words that I thought the kids would like.

I had them choose a word and the copy it's character onto a piece of paper.

Once they were finished, they got to decorate around it however they wanted.

With a hot glue gun, I glued chopsticks around the paper. I asked them if they wanted to decorate the frame and they chose to put some pompoms on there.

Lastly, I hot glued some red ribbon to the back for them to hang the frame up.

 Maelyn's "Beautiful" Frame.

 My 4 year old chose the word "Dragon." She tried to write it at the bottom. Don't you love that early developmental stage of writing...? When they run out of room and don't quite understand how a word works, so they write the rest of the word above it. Darling.

Patience chose the word "Faith."

My son practiced writing the Chinese Characters on a piece of paper. He's older and finds it fascinating.

For dinner, we made Orange Chicken, Fried Rice and Pierogies....and we didn't forget the fortune cookies...!

My fortune said "I Inspire Others With My Principles."

I like that {Wink!}

Year of the DRAGON.

2012 is the Year of the Dragon for Chinese New Year....!

How fun...we love DRAGONS.

My husband and I worked together on creating this dragon project with my daughter.

He set out designing the body, yes, he is a perfectionist....unlike all my sloppy projects.

I worked with Carmendee on the handprint scales.

 For the scales, we mixed green...red....gold..and gold glitter paint onto her hands.

Pressed down on a piece of paper and then when dried...cut out.

Noe used several pieces of green construction paper to create the body and just taped them together.

Carmendee glued the handprints onto the body. She also made more scales using her thumbprints.

I am digging our Chinese New Year Dragon.

Next, comes my favorite part....celebrating with a delicious dinner...!

Envelope Mini Album.

Valentine's Day is coming up and I really wanted a Mini Album to celebrate how much I love my Kiddos...!

What to make a Mini Album out of???? How about Envelopes? I have a bunch of them.

Now, I realize there are a bazillion Envelope Mini Albums out there, so if you do yours a different way...awesome. This is just how I did mine, this particular time. Everything totally FREE with what I have. No fancy machines to bind it together. Nothing like that.....good old fashioned envelopes and paper...!

{Decided to do my tutorial on the pictures...click them if you need bigger. Let's see how this tutorial turns out that way?!}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairly simple right?

I toyed with some titles like "10 reasons I love you.."

The album is going to get fatter as I add my photos and all my embellishments.

Hope this is a craft that you try or have tried....because I think it's adorable!

*Disclaimer: My Posts are from my Life as a Stay-At-Home Mommy. I do not get compensation on the majority of my posts {not that I haven't thought about earning some more moolah..wink!} The reason being, I want to post what I want, when I want to post it....no advertising that I don't approve of and if criticism of my posts occur...I can delete it. I'm just me :) No pressure to live up to...!