Balloon Fun

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It's always fun to see what the kids will do with leftover party stuff.... (=

 

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Birthday Dance-Party Fun!

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If you know us, you know we like to do fun theme parties at our house. In the past we've done everything from Cars parties with Pit Stop signs on the bathrooms, to actual Cook Off themes with little trophies for the winning cooks.

For Riley's latest birthday we did a Dance Central dance competition party. To get the festivities started we had a little bubble machine in the mailbox by the front door - because every destination feels special when you walk through bubbles to reach it (even in the winter). 

We had prizes for the Best Costume and the Dance Champion. And just for the fun of it we had tons of costume accessories people could have -- they got two accessories to start, and then for each dance off they won they got to pick a new accessory to keep. The costumes got better and better as the day went on.!! (note: we ordered all of the dance accessories from Oriental Trading so they were pretty inexpensive) 

We also set up a Photo Booth area to get lots of great photos of all the party attendees. (=
And I have to say, the Photo Booth was a big hit! We were lucky enough to be able to borrow my cousin's photo equipment and backdrop, but you could easily use a large sheet and whatever camera you have to do the same thing at your party.  
Bonus: the printed photos are great mementos to include in the thank you notes later!! (=

We got tons of great photos - but, because I don't want people boycotting our parties for fear of being highlighted on the internet later, I'm only going to share the Photo Booth photos of our family. I'm thinking it should be our next Christmas card - what do you think?? (=

I'll also include a couple other photos from the festivities. And isn't that cake awesome!??! My mom does all the cakes for the kids - whatever they want. I should dig up the photos of the cake that was half Lightning McQueen and half Francesco.... amazing.... (=

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January Birthday Board

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We do a Birthday Board for Riley's school each month and I think this month is our favorite yet! (=
Check it out......

Here's the song the Sorting Hat is singing in case you can't read it on the photo.

Not to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff,
And Slytherin definitely will not do…
I’ll send you where dwell the best of the best,
I’ll put you in Ridgeview!

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Muffin Making Madness, Day Number One

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Riley decided that this year he wants to bring muffins to school each day for his snack. (I think because he likes the super-cool little cupcake/muffin container we have to bring them in) Since I know I won't have time to make muffins every night we decided to do a couple "Muffin Making Madness" days and bake a bunch of different flavors to freeze. Then each day Riley can pop a frozen muffin into his cupcake/muffin holder and it's thawed by snack time. We are HOPING all of the flavors taste good (and moist) while cold since there is no microwave at snack time. (=

Muffin Making Madness Day Number One was John and I late at night. Not only did we have a bunch of muffins baked, cooled and frozen by 1:30 am - but John also cleaned out the upstairs freezer so we had a place to store them. (=  Muffin Making Madness Day Number Two is planned (by Riley) for tomorrow after school.

If you have some good muffin recipes - please share!!


Summary of Muffin Making Madness Day Number One:

Coffee Cake Muffins (from a cookbook, I'll find it and post it later this week)
Notes: These are NUMMY! And, really are a cake.... (= We used only about half the topping it called for and they were still delicious.
Riley's Snack Verdict: They taste good after being frozen/thawed.

Orange Muffins 
Notes: These were my favorite - so good warm!! I'd add a little extra orange zest next time too. And maybe not melt the butter for the topping mixture... I'm going to try 2 T cut in.
Riley's Snack Verdict: They taste good after being frozen/thawed.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins
Notes: I did not try these ones (for some reason I really don't like blueberries) but all the boys said they were good. The recipe says it makes 8, but we made 12 with it (with a modified cook time of 13-15 minutes). Also, didn't even use half of the crumb topping mixture and it was still plenty! We saved the rest of the topping mixture in the fridge and we'll use it on the next batch - of you double the batch, don't double the crumb topping mixture! (=
Riley's Snack Verdict: They taste good after being frozen/thawed.

Banana Crumb Muffins
Notes: These were GOOD! John (the hubby) said these were the best of this bunch of recipes. Definitely try these. (= The recipe says it makes 10, but we made 12 and modified the cook time to 15-18 minutes. 
Riley's Snack Verdict: They taste good after being frozen/thawed.
Here's the newly cleaned freezer after Muffin Making Madness Day Number One - many more muffins to come. (=

 

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Riley's First Photo Contest Entry

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Riley(8) has always been into photography (really, always... since he was a toddler and we gave him one of our old cameras) and this summer he and I took three SLR camera classes together. He's learning a lot, practicing a lot, and just entered his very first photo contest! He entered the MN Zoo Photo contest - and I think he has a good shot at winning the kid category!! He had so many excellent photos it was very hard for him to decide which to one to enter - check them out and I'm sure you'll agree he is one talented little photographer! (=

Here is the photo he entered:

Here are some others he took:

Monster Pillows!!

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We had a Monster Making Marathon at Nenny and Nohn's house this weekend. Actually, they were monster reading pillows for Riley's classroom this fall (and a few for his old teachers too). But, before we bring them into the school the boys decided to have some fun with them. (=

(thanks Nenny for helping us make all of these!!!)

Rainy Day Fun - To Infinity and Beyond!

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Rainy Day Fun!!

I recently ran across these photos from awhile back of the boys playing “To Infinity and Beyond!!” One rainy day they came up with this idea – and they dragged almost every blanket and pillow in the house down to the living room. They spent HOURS playing this game (and many days afterward too) and miraculously they never once hurt themselves. Maybe because we have so many quilts in our house…. (=