• Buddies,  painting,  party party,  the sticks

    It was a Real Circus!

    Boo is 10!

    You guys all know my neighbor, Boo, right? She’s popped up a time or two on this blog. She’s a super cute girl who lives across the street from us. I love her. Anyway, she turned ten and her mom (my friend Wendy) threw her this fabulous circus-themed birthday party. It was awesome.

    Pop Corn Candy! circus guy

    flags Circus Cupcakes

    Face Painting

    I may be a tiny bit biased because there was FACE PAINTING!!!

    true heart

    Princess Mariposa

    dragon

    Done by ME!! I know. You’re rolling your eyes because I have to brag about every little thing but seriously, I have wanted to be a face painter since forever. I have gone to carnival after carnival and paid the five dollars or one dollar to watch some mediocre painter paint some kind of blob on my daughter’s face and call it a butterfly. I have been holding myself back from grabbing the paintbrush right out of their hands and taking over on the spot. You don’t know the willpower that requires! It was painful!

    face painting kit that ROCKS

    Bethany bought me this kit (I added my own paintbrushes) probably a year ago but I haven’t had the chance to break out until now. I didn’t even get a chance to practice. But guess what? I didn’t need to! It was totally easy and kids are such great sports about things. They were thrilled with everything and if a bit ran or looked funny, mistakes wipe right off with a baby wipe. It was the most pleasant experience ever. I’m going to hire myself out starting tomorrow. Need a face-painter? Call me up. I’m serious. How much do face-painters charge these days anyway?

    Birthday Goober

    So right. This party was about Boo, not me face painting. I hope she loved her party because it was super sweet.

    Chris and Wendy

    Her mom (that’s Wendy on the right) is the best game-inventer ever. I might need to tap into her talent and start a company or something. Too bad we both have plans to move out of town next year.

    hot potato

    There was hot potato.

    cousins

    Musical chairs.

    lion dance

    Freeze Dance.

    Roarrrrrrrrr! The ferocious lion and her trainer

    You might wonder why Bug is dressed up as a lion. She was part of the show. She was the ferocious lion that Wendy (the lion tamer) led out on a (necklace) chain. You should have seen Wendy play-acting that the lion was growling and giving her a terrible fight in the bathroom before she brought her out. Then this little pip squeak in a tutu came out and everyone rolled on the floor laughing. Bug ate up all that attention of course.

    There were a ton of other games too, all carnival style but due to privacy issues and some funky bright lighting, I didn’t get any photos of those. She had tic-tac-toe toss games and a spider toss game that Boo made up herself. It was so cute. You had to throw a spider onto a giant web and if you got it in the middle you won. And of course there were prizes.

    crazy kids

    big tie family Boo and Wendy

    Fun photo ops.

    yumm!

    Cupcakes with circus-animal cookies!

    impromptu splits

    And random break-dancing.

    singing to her

    And of course a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday complete with whistles.

    Birthday Goober take 2

    It’s great to turn ten. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOO!

  • Alpha+Mom post,  Buddies,  party party

    The Angry Birds Craze Continues

    Bug poses with her set

    This is my friend Carrien’s oldest son’s idea. He had played the game briefly on his dad’s phone and then no longer had access to it so he invented his own version (with his sisters and little brother) with bean bags, boxes and a sling shot. I thought it was brilliant and with his permission, recreated his game in my backyard for Alpha+Mom. We had a blast.

    angrybirds battle plan

    He even drew me a diagram which was a little loftier than I had in mind but we sewed up some bean bags and set it all up.

    pig lair

    Here he is setting up the pig’s lair.

    launching

    And then we blasted it to pieces.

    destroyed!

    It was so much fun.

    I’m thinking I might just have to throw an Angry Birds Theme party someday with this playing in the background. There are so many great ideas out there.