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The Great Big Green Puppet Show Birthday Party Post

January 19, 2009 /

Bug and Me

You guys! The party was so fun! Would it be cheating if I just sent you over to read Bethany’s post about it? I’ve been trying to punch out some sort of report but I think she covered the most humorous angle, which is that I’m a crazy old bat.

Of course the other obvious angle is Bug herself. She was the birthday girl after all. And most importantly, she inspired all this craziness. I might complain that I can’t get anything done now that I’m a mom but I have to give credit where it is due. She repays me four-fold with inspiration. These are the things she loves best…and now I love them too.

She’s my silly little green-loving munchkin. Do you see her in the photo below? She’d be the crazy kid in the front guffawing her head off. Somebody quick take her food away before she chokes!

the audience

I think she had a good time.

happy girl

Toby jokes that it’s a good thing we don’t have six kids. What kind of parties would I throw then? Probably normal parties with cake. To be honest with you, I’m ready for a normal party next.

After this party was finally happening and my grand vision was realized, I was done. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the party. I love hanging out with all our friends and family and seeing the birthday girl filled with glee but it’s really the planning part that I manically love. After that is done, I’m happy to just blend into the wall and watch.

Harriet and Princess Penelope

Putting on the puppet show was a bit nerve-wracking for me. I might like attention but not so much on the stage. My niece Rapunzel did a really good job. She stole the show. I think I should have just let her do it all on her own. We had so much fun together, writing the script and painting the scenes.

the scenes we painted but did not use

In the end we didn’t use the scenes because they were way too time-consuming to take up and put down. Maybe with a lot of practice we could pull that off but I think a loose, ad-lib style of puppet show is better. I think the kids loved it most when they could interact with the puppets and you just can’t script that.

scary bird is a crowd pleaser

Actually, one of the highlights and negatives of the party was how much the children interacted with a character that we created. Every time this one bird puppet came out they were supposed yell, “Oh No!! It’s Scary Bird!!” But instead everyone screamed and that scared the youngest kids and made them cry. I don’t think Scary Bird was very scary but the screaming was. Poor things.

I think mostly everyone had a good time.

craft busy-ness

The kids seemed to really like the craft table. I set them up with crayons and colored pencils, pom poms and felt bits, washable glitter glue and safety scissors. I was going to put out marker pens but after Baby Bug snatched a marker and drew a big green line on her nose, I made the executive decision that maybe three-year-olds don’t need marker pens at birthday parties.

The planned craft was that the children would create puppets out of paper bags. This worked out better than I ever expected. The children needed little instruction. Before I knew it there was a quiet buzz while they all crowded around my coffee table making their creations.

They were way more creative than I ever expected. It just goes to show, all you need to do is give children supplies and let them do the rest. I had accidentally left the container of party blowouts on the table and before I knew it several kids had incorporated those into their puppets. Arms, legs, long tongues. They were ingenious.

puppet with HAIR

I also had planned to make sock puppets. I had delegated button-sewing (for eyes) to CC since it’s not really safe to put needles out for three-year-olds. (I have been a mom for three years now, I’ve learned a few things!) We had some yarn for sewing on the buttons that CC cut up into small lengths. What we didn’t plan on was that the kids would find that yarn and use it for hair!!!

We never did end up doing the sock puppets. There was no need.

palette of green

Another thing that really worked out better than I expected was the green food bar. I love the way all the little round containers looked like a palette in green. I wish I had put spoons in each one but I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off and forgot that detail.

a girl needs organization

I’ve learned from past parties that no matter how badly I may want to do everything, I can’t actually do everything myself. People really do want to help and they are always asking me what they can do. In the past, I’ve just stood there stuttering about this or that but this year I made a food diagram with all the many bits listed. If anyone wanted to cut something up or help put something out, they could just consult the diagram instead of asking the crazy woman who was buzzing on some other frequency. It also helped me a lot because I tend to forget about food that I’ve bought. Then I find it after the party and am stuck trying to get rid of two gallons of mint ice cream for the next three months.

Which I did forget by the way. I forgot to put it on the list!!! Anyone want to come over for a mint-chip ice-cream social?

Bethany helps with the punch

So I’m pretty good at delegating now that I’m old. As you can see, Bethany helped make the punch. She also made the cake which was sooooooooo yummy! I’m glad she made extra because I’m hankering for another piece right now. It was a lemon cake with lemon-zest cream-cheese frosting, all colored green of course. Delicious! I could eat it all day.

Bethany prepares the cake

HAAAAPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BUUUUUG...

green beer chillin'

limeade

There was green beer and green punch and green friends…It was just a great green-filled day.

girls in green

a hat from cc AND A SUPER DUPER ARIEL CRAFT KIT!!!

Then at the end of the party Bug got a RED hat as a present from her Auntie CC. She picked out that color. It was sort of funny when it happened. We were in the yarn store a few weeks back and CC took her off to pick out whatever color she wanted. CC showed her the green of course, but Bug very pointedly chose red. Did she choose red because I have a red hat and she wants to be like me or is she moving on? I don’t know.

Toby wears green socks

Now that we’ve got everyone trained, are we officially done with green now? I kind of doubt it.

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