Dinosaurs do things!

I like having specific activities for kids to do at birthday parties. Sure, they can hang out and play with toys, but that's really something they could do any old day. I firmly believe birthday parties should be fun and special, not just for the birthday boy or girl but for all the kids who attend. With that in mind, we had some super-fun activities for the kids at the Little Guy's 4th birthday party.

We were fortunate to have amazing weather for the Little Guy's birthday weekend--we were wearing shorts in October!--so it was a no-brainer to use the bouncy house. A bouncy house is always a hit with kids.

I found plastic dinosaur skeletons at Dollar Tree and buried them in the sandbox--instant Dinosaur Dig!

I really lucked out with the good weather for this activity.  A Dino dig is not something I could have replicated inside the house.  All the kids really enjoyed digging for dinosaur skeletons.

The third activity required quite a bit of research on my part, but it was worth it: I made a Dinosaur Growth Chart!  I put it in the foyer along with the favor bags and dinosaur hats so people could check their height right as they came in.

The Dinosaur Growth Chart reached 17 feet (almost to the ceiling) and on it I had written the name and height of nearly 20 dinosaurs.  Did you know that a Stegosaurus was 10 feet tall, and that a Tyrannosaurus Rex was 16 feet tall?  And, unlike in the movie Jurassic Park, Velociraptors were only 4 feet tall.  It's true! 

Kids and adults stood next to the chart to see how they measured up.  And after the party was really rolling, kids were standing ON adults to recreate some of the larger dinosaur heights. Below, Little Guy stands on top of the Big Guy, and yet they still aren't quite as tall as a Triceratops (10 feet).  Little Miss is about the size of an Oviraptor.  I am really proud of this activity--while I get a lot of inspiration from party blogs, books and magazines, this was an original idea that was both fun and educational.  Woohoo!

Tomorrow, I'll show you the amazing cake and cookies.  They turned out great, if I do say so myself.

A dino-riffic birthday

Last month, my Little Guy turned four.  FOUR?!?! Can you believe it? Where does the time go?

Anyways, he's been into dinosaurs for months (years?) and it seemed like the perfect theme for his birthday party.  I used Pinterest to create an inspiration board for the party, and it quickly became the blueprint for the actual party.

Invitations and thank you notes came from Vistaprint. I've used them before for business cards and address labels, and for the price, I was happy with how they turned out (the picture below is from their sample).

The invitations let guests know what to expect (a birthday boy who is totally into dinosaurs) but the decorations set the tone for the party.  Outside, the Big Guy used sidewalk chalk to make Dino footprints leading up the driveway and sidewalk to the front door.

And here's Little Guy following the footprints in his dinosaur costume (and yes, he wears that costume everywhere!):

Inside, I taped crepe paper to the ceiling to transform the hallway into a rain forest.  I used three shades of green, one yellow and one blue streamer that featured a dinosaur and "Happy birthday" on it.  I thought five rolls of crepe paper would be enough, but I could have used five more. Lesson learned: keep ten rolls of every color of crepe paper ever invented on hand at all times.

The dinosaur balloon idea came from Family Fun magazine. The faces were drawn with permanent marker on regular balloons. While the original idea involved helium balloons turned upside down, I just used air-filled balloons and let them hang from the ceiling with ribbon. These were extremely easy to do and very cost-effective.

Kids and adults had fun roaming in our 'rainforest.' The streamers and balloons were attached to the ceiling with painter's tape, so I had no worries about what would happen when it was time to take the decorations down. 

For additional decoration, we displayed Little Guy's toy dinosaurs all over the house.  Fun!  Tomorrow, I'll share all the Dino Do-ings that happened at our Dino Party. ROAR!!!

Martha Monday--Turkey time!

There are only 18 days until Thanksgiving, and my mouth is already watering for delicious turkey and cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving may not have all the fun of Halloween or the glitz associated with Christmas, but when it comes to meals, it definitely has the best one. 

If you are hosting Thanksgiving, check out Martha's Everything Thanksgiving holiday section. She features instructions and recipes for turkey, side dishes, appetizers and pies galore. She even has great ideas for Thanksgiving decor and what do to with all those leftovers.  Sign up for the Everything Thanksgiving enewsletter to have menus, recipes, tips and more delivered right to your inbox.

A lot of my Thanksgiving meal preparation comes from Martha: my turkey is adapted from her Roast Turkey with Herb Butter recipe (see picture above).  And I brine my turkey each year per Martha's instructions--I'll have a tutorial for you next week.  Of course, my apple pie recipe is from Martha as well.

If you are looking to change up your normal Thanksgiving day menu, take a look at Martha's 19 different options, complete with recipes. Or mix and match if you prefer.  There's plenty of inspiration and ideas to make your Thanksgiving memorable, whether you are hosting or bringing a dish to someone else's house. 

Finally, if you are tired of the standard mashed potatoes and gravy, I recommend baking this Potato Gratin.  I made this a few weeks ago as a side dish, and it was delicious!  I am always amazed when just a few simple ingredients come together to make something so perfect. 

If you must have mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, then give this recipe a try for a weeknight side dish. Everyone is going to love it.

Happy Thanksgiving season!

PW's Bananas Foster

Do you read The Pioneer Woman? Why am I even asking?...nearly everyone does. If you don't, you need to know that Ree (the Pioneer Woman) is very funny and one heck of a cook.  She has an entire section of her blog dedicated to recipes, and she recently posted her version of Bananas Foster.  

I had Bananas Foster in a restaurant once, loved it, and never had the opportunity to try it again. When I found the recipe on her site, I just had to make it in my own kitchen.  With butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, pecans, cinnamon, dark rum and bananas, you really just can't go wrong!  Setting the whole thing on fire is a tad nerve-racking, but a must.  And if I can do it without burning my house down, so can you! Just be careful!

Ree's recipe makes a great deal of sauce, so much that it can easily accommodate four bananas instead of her recommended two.  And, should you have leftover sauce (minus the bananas), know that it stores really well in the fridge for several days. 

Bananas Foster is absolutely amazing over vanilla ice cream.  In fact, this is my new favorite dessert...which is REALLY BIZARRE considering that there's no chocolate to be found here. 

If you're looking for a way to expand your dessert repertoire, or maybe you just want to set something on fire, give this recipe a try.  It's delicious!

The Dynamic Duo!

Halloween was fun for me as a kid, and it's even more fun now that I have kids of my own.  And I even got my wish: Little Guy and Little Miss wore coordinating costumes.  The Dynamic Duo enjoyed Halloween.

I took them around our neighborhood as a very subtle Catwoman.  Notice Little Miss's fancy black dress shoes. She put them on herself, and these were not the best choice for walking around the 'hood.  Can't blame the girl for wanting to look good, though!

We were one of the first groups out and they practically ran from door to door.

The Little Guy was very good about saying "Trick or Treat," "thank you," and "Happy Halloween."  Little Miss knocked on doors, while saying "Knock knock." She started to say "YOOOUUUUUUUUUUU" at the end of each visit, and I'm going to go ahead and count that as an attempt at "Thank you."

One of our neighbors dressed up his dog as a sheriff...

...and even had a real bat outside his door!  It was really neat.  Now, I need to think of how I can incorporate real bats into my decor (and environment) for next year. Bats are a good thing!

Remember those black dress shoes?  Little Miss decided those weren't working for her and tried to make me carry her after house #7, and we still had 12+ more houses to go.  Um, sorry sweetie, but no.  We went back home, changed her into some sensible tennis shoes and grabbed the umbrella stroller just in case her shoes weren't the problem. She rode in in for a few houses, but then decided to push the stroller the rest of the way.  I guess the problem was the shoes after all.

We met up with neighbor Adithi and Little Guy had fun comparing treats with her.

After we were done trick-or-treating, Little Guy and Little Miss enjoyed the rest of the evening by handing out candy to all kids who came to our door.

We enjoyed the pumpkins for a while, but as it got darker and colder and the crowds dwindled, we decided to head inside.

Little Miss entertained us with a Jimi Hendrix-like version of "Rockin Robin"...

...while Little Guy, fueled by two fun size candy bars and one sucker, ran around the living room yelling, "LOOK AT ME I'M A BAT I'M FLYING AROUND IN YOUR HOUSE BECAUSE I'M A BAT AND I LIKE TO FLY."  Good times!

What a night!  I hope you and yours had a wonderful, safe and fun Halloween.

Now, on to November and Thanksgiving!