Skyler's Party

So to start things off lets do some clarification I am not creative, in fact I am far from it, I am a class A copycat, and will give credit where credit is deserved! Also, I don't often do just for the heck of it parties for my kids, I go all out on their birthdays, but my husband for some reason loves throwing Halloween parties - he says it is the best holiday to throw a party for. Anyways I go along and totally get stuck on all of the details and trying to make his party the best that it can be. Last year Skyler was terrified of Halloween, but this year he is excited and loves all of the Scary things there are to see, so I decided that he could have a party of his own - I think I will probably let him have one in the future as well, tweaking some things of course and learning from the past.

This year he invited all of his cousins (they are only on one side of the family) and then of course Grandma and Grandpa had to come because they were going to be in Europe on Halloween and not get a chance to see the kids in costumes, and because they were there they were a ton of help! The grand kids all love them!

I am horrible at taking pictures at these kinds of events though because I am the one organizing everything.

We started off with dinner - nothing too festive, just something fast that we could all enjoy so that we would have time for the fun before bed (fresh rolls, crock pot tortellini, Jello Salad, and Strawberry poppy seed salad)

then the fun began, we made witch cupcakes found at Martha Stewart although they have popped up on blogs all over the placethe kids loved making them - Skyler really loved the hair for some reason, and made really hairy witches!

We made Caramel apples, and I would say it is the best way to go about it, we used craft caramels (about 2 cups) with 2 Tbsp of milk, melted them in the microwave and went nuts! Jordan especially likes the Smartie, Caramel combination
We then played Spider web bowling which was so fun, the kids loved it and took turns really well, but I forgot to get a picture of it.

Then we carved the pumpkins, again I only have a picture of our 3 after the fact because I was up to my elbows in Pumpkin guts, and then we decorated Sugar cookies! I did up a few extra plates to take to some neighbors, and it was quite obvious that I had a 3 year old helping, but it was his party after all right?

Dinosaur Party

The day of Skyler's birthday party finally arrived. We had 6 of his little friends over and celebrated Dinosaur Style! One glitch, and I think it is a huge one. Our Camera Battery, which we have only had to charge twice in the last 3 years decided to die in the middle of the party. Jordan did video some of the remaining party, but I am still seriously put out!
this is the invite that I made up a few weeks ago, and gave to the parents of the children.
the cake. Funny story actually. I had the cake and the icing out, and had iced the outside of the cake, and went upstairs to put Ethan down for a nap, and when I cam back down stairs the cake had icing smeared all over the place, and the lines to follow for the dinosaurs belly and leg were scraped off of the cake. the commentary that followed.

Me: Skyler what did you do?

Skyler: I dunno (shoulders shrugged)

Me: Skyler what did you do?

Skyler: I dunno (arms up in a I didn't do it fashion)

Me: Skyler come look at the cake, what happened?

Skyler: I just ice the cake, make the cake, and eat it Mom, that's why. That's why!

It was quite challenging to draw the lined on without any guides (I am not very crafty) and the picture I had to look at is a mirror image of the cake I was working on. I was happy with how it turned out, it just took way longer than anticipated.
I made all of the party kids foam dinosaur visors, and they were just perfect for a group of 3 year olds!
as the kids were arriving they made dinosaur pictures, but only 3 got made, because the kids all showed up about the same time, so we got the party started!
it is so fun asking kids questions about things that they really don't know anything about. I spent most of party time on me knees so that I was on their level. I told all of the kids that I heard somebody say that there were dinosaurs buried in my backyard, and asked them if they thought that was true. Off they went to explore, and they found a bin full of sand and sure enough there were dinosaurs buried in my backyard.
next the kids went back inside on a dino egg hunt. It was soo funny, some of the kids were getting them al while others were still trying to figure out what was going on.
I made several batches of playdough and wrapped it around little dinosaurs, and then saran wrap (in interest of saving my carpet) the kids then got to bring them outside and "hatch" their eggs.
they were ecstatic to find that there were really dinosaurs in the eggs.
then I slowed things down a bit, and read them a story about dinosaurs, and we sand a song (this is where the battery died) I adapted the song 10 little ducks into 10 little dinosaurs went over the hill and far away. Mother dinosaur went Stomp Stomp Stomp, but only 9 little dinosaurs came home, and each time a child got a little stuffed dinosaur to add to their buckets. The kids we all stomping away as we sang.

I made a "dinosaur egg" pinata which turned out great, and I love that a homemade pinata allowed the kids to break it on their own vs. a store bought card board pinata. This kids broke a huge hole in it, and then my brother knocked all of the candy free, and the kids had a free for all. Before we brought out the pinata I asked the kids where dinosaurs come from and got the answer of "the sand!" close, but not the answer I was looking for, so I changed my question a bit, and asked where baby dinosaurs cam from "pay dough!" again not the answer I was going for - what have I taught these kids?
my husband did take a picture of the table before the camera died. I lucked out, and found land before time decorations at the dollar store. what a perfect match!
this is what the kids ended up taking home, most of which was accumulated throughout the party. Skyler loved it, and I think the other kids had fun too.