What a morning! What a month!

Mornings are no fun at my house.  I try so hard to make them joyful and somewhat enjoyable bearable, but wow, that is a stretch.  I just remember hating mornings my entire life, and I want my kids to have a stressfree morning to make their day just a bit easier.

So this morning? Well, here's the rundown:

1) Kids are in GREAT moods because they have a play date after school.  BUT they don't want to get dressed. I have to physically hold them down to put on their clothes. Fun times.

2) As I'm walking around in my bra and towel, my newly turned 6 year old says, "Mom, you should try to lose weight. You look like a triangle." Nice. And let me just say that I am all about positive body image and not talking about size, BUT she is learning all about fitness and nutrition at school. Help me, Lord.

3) My newly turned 4 year old fought everything this morning. I also had to hold him down to brush his teeth. And believe me, we've gone many mornings without brushing.

4) He kicked my seat almost the entire drive to school while screaming and throwing things, including himself out of his carseat.

Let's just say I couldn't drive fast enough to get to the preschool/daycare. So, tell me about your worst morning, or if you're so saintly, tell me about how smoothly your mornings go.

On another note, February is the birthday month in our house. My kids are 2 years and 2 days apart, and minus their first birthdays, they've always had a joint party.  It's always stressful and expensive, and I always say NO PARTY NEXT YEAR, but as you can see, they've never gone without a party (but seriously, maybe next year).

This year we had our own backyard carnival.  I got ideas from so many different blogs and Google sites. I know I'll leave some out, but here are a few to die for:

Circus Party

Carnival Party

And I know I looked at other sites, too.  And when you see my pictures, you'll see that I was on a much stricter budget than these gorgeous parties. The kids had fun and didn't notice the lack of decor.  For the food we had hot dogs, hamburgers, Cracker Jacks, Barnum's Animal Crackers, cotton candy, and popcorn in adorable bags from  Lulu's Cupcake Boutique who also sold these cupcake toppers.

I'll post more pictures in an album. See? Over there on the left?

The beautiful birthday banner that my Dad and Ginger gave me, made my Moda Home.

Fishing Game

Can you believe this was the biggest hit and was the easiest to set up? I even had to move it the morning of the party because the jumphouse was ginormous and took up most of the backyard.  The only original idea that I had (that probably isn't even original) is to clip Goldfish crackers, Swedish fish gummies, and gummy worms to the pole instead of just regular prizes.  I think the gummies were the real hit, not the game.

Face Painting

Next, I hired a babysitter to do face painting instead of paying the ridiculous prices for a "real" painter. I actually think she could be a "real" painter if she decides to skip out on college.

And then there was the ring toss and ball toss.

Ring Toss

Ball Toss

Picture Board Thingy

And the easiest game and thing of all, The Lollipop Tree

It was a little stressful getting everything together, but the party itself was not stressful at all and a fun time for all (or at least I'll keep thinking that).

Comments

[Juli]

Best. Birthday. Party. Ever!!

If it makes you feel better, my girls had to BOTH sit in time out for 20 minutes before we left for school one day last week! They were maniacs. Possessed. Demons. Crazycakes!

I'm so glad you're blogging again! Almost makes me want to!

[abbs]

love love loved the party. you didn't seemed stressed at all, so you played that off nicely. seriously, it was so much fun and I loved all the games that the kiddies could play. 'twas perfecto.
love you jenny from the block.

oh and our morning started off with eden yelling at me that she wasn't going potty, and with charlotte having an ear infection. the rest of the day was me talking to myself in my head saying "it's ok that there are toys every where", "calm down", "you can do this all by yourself for a few more days"...etc.