Hammer the Grammar

On our way to our fifth grade Christmas dinner/gift exhange/reason to enjoy an adult beverage, we found ourselves behind this vehicle:

 First, I had to laugh. Because, well, it's so very Christian like to have a snarky bumper sticker. Then I forced Lauren to take a picture because I was in the back seat. Which made me laugh some more at my own ridiculousness. Yes, I force others into partaking in my madness. They call this leadership.

Next, I had a private, chipmunkesque little chuckle over the questionable use of the word close. Inner monologue: "Come on Mr. Bumper Sticker creator. WWJD yo? You need an adverb there dude. Cause you're modifying the verb following? Are you following me here?? Closely? The word you want is closely. Unless of course, you want to get into the whole ambiguous adverb debate, but really who wants to do that? Best to stick with established forms for professional writing. Wouldn't you agree? I bet Jesus would."

Giggles at my own nerd girl ways were quickly followed by a few nervous guffaws to mask my growing concern over the decreased level of my own sanity for having an entire conversation with myself over the grammatical virtue of a red rectangle stuck to a minivan. And all that before I even had a single sip of this...

Mango Margarita. I will be following it quite closely. As it goes in my belly! Religion found. Which probably explains why for the rest of the night my response to every question was: WWJD dude? Whatever it is, I'm following Him thhhhhiiiiiisssss close, Lee. *snort*

Farm Birthday Party Games

Before I start on the meat of the post, there are two things I need to mention about this little informal poll:

1.  Initially I was shocked that no one admitted that she was only here for the pictures. But then I realized that anyone who was only here for the pictures wouldn't have read/participated in this little exercise anyway. 
2. No one wants to know about the food?? Is this because ya'll doubt my kitchen clout? I'm going to develop a complex here soon. I hope you're prepared for that, it won't be pretty. 

And now for the winning topic as voted on by 6 happy little mouse clickers: Games!!  I can hear the "Woohoo" echoing throughout the Internets, or maybe that's just the dog asking to go out? Either way, here we go.

Farm Animal Sort

  The first game of the day was the only one that ended up being outside. I had originally planned for all of the activities to take place in the yard, but Mother Nature decided to put the kibosh on that idea. I had found these cute rubber duckies that were disguised as other farm animals:

So my mom and I made a duck pond to put them in.

 The high end water feature is just a Rubbermaid plastic bin with a blue sheet laid in it and some cattails and a fern for a little added ambiance. Then I told the kids that they had to put those crazy animals who thought they were ducks back in the barn where they belong.

The barn is just an outdoor canopy tent thing that I used red plastic table clothes to make 3 walls and red crepe paper to make the front. White crepe paper made the Xs for that barn door aesthetic. Inside the barn, we made pens for the animals using yard flags, crepe paper, and mini-trellis things I got on clearance from AC Moore.

 The trellis had a picture of each animal so the kids knew where to place the duckies. I was originally going to use rope to make the pens, but I was afraid the littles might trip on it and fall. So I went with crepe paper so it would just break away if someone walked into it. For older kids you could probably use the rope. Or maybe even barbed wire depending on how rowdy they are. (kidding. unless i'm not)

I probably could have done this game inside too, but I spent a lot of time thinking, planning, gathering and assembling the barn, so by golly someone was going to go out there and play in it!  And I do believe the kids thoroughly enjoyed it and appreciated all of my hard work.  In fact, I think I heard two of them discussing my mad skills. They probably would have stayed out there longer if all of the adults hadn't been there to drag them back inside to the air conditioning.

Explaining the game. I am a teacher, dontcha know. 

Strategizing our plan of attack by the pond. 

Round up those animals kids!

A job well done. High fives all around. Now get inside, it's hot yo!

One note, I had ~10 guests participating and 24 ducks. This was not enough. At all. I'd say you'd be good having about 5 per farmer. Maybe even 10 if the weather actually cooperates and people aren't rushing to get the game over fast so they can go back inside. 

Animal Noises: 

   The gist of this game is that each kid gets an animal card

and has to make the sound of the animal. It helps to review these sounds with the little ones. Again I'm a teacher, it's what I do. Then they're supposed to find other guests who are making the same sound. Originally this game was going to be outside and they were going to put themselves in their proper pen in the barn. Which would have gone really well I think. Unfortunately, we were inside in a circle on the floor. 

And the guests seemed a bit hesitant to get up and run around looking for their animal friends. But they did enjoy making noises. At least my son did.

So after one round, I abandoned that game in favor of 

Pass the Parcel

Jeanne says this is a very big game in her homeland of Ireland. It's kind of like musical chairs but with passing a package that has been wrapped several times around a circle instead of the whole find an open chair thing. Each time the music stops, the person holding the parcel unwraps one layer. Whoever unwraps the final time gets to keep the prize. MellonTip #1: Use different colored tissue paper for each layer. 

The kids really liked this one, though a few of the younger ones had a hard time relinquishing the parcel from their chubby little hands. I found a crowbar to be helpful when that happened.  We played 3 rounds. Afterwards, I had little animal figures for anyone that didn't get to win a prize. This kept everyone happy. Which brings me to MellonTip #2. Have all of your needed game materials handy in a central location. I use a basket: 

Piñata
 Self explanatory, but the pictures are fun so I had to share.

They hit it

and hit it

and hit it some more.

But that stubborn bovine had no intention of breaking open. So I had to take matters into my own hands. Finally that stingy cow gave up the goods--it may have involved me throwing the heifer down on the ground and going all Body Combat on it. I'm not sure as I kind of blacked out for minute or two there. The next thing I knew, there was candy all over the ground around me and the Holstein was in shreds at my feet.

The kids got their sweets so they were happy. That's the important thing here. Not my rage issues. Remember that.

Egg Gathering

I hid plastic eggs in shredded paper-filled baskets for the kids to find and then put in mini-egg cartons to be shipped off to the market. I'd planned to hide the eggs in hay in the barn, but I think this worked well too. The cow print plastic table clothes helped to contain the mess a bit.

This game was an independent activity in conjunction with the

Art Table

 Here we had:

• balloons that could be decorated with stickers to look like a pig, cow or chicken. MellonTip #3: include a balloon pump.Kids will cheer. Parents will thank you. You will be Queen.

• Drawing paper with markers, pencils, and foam-farm shaped stickers.
• A paper plate craft to make even more farm animals. Moo!
• A trash pail.

And that's it. Well, I did have that other thought of renting piglets for the kids to chase all over the yard, but Drew vetoed that idea right out of the gate. Which is probably a blessing since I don't think I'd like to have had those slippery little buggers running all over my house when the games got moved indoors. Point Drew. 

The Cakes Did Not Melt

I am pleased to report that no one suffered from heat stroke at the party yesterday. Not only that, but I think that despite the last minute changes the ridiculous heat forced me to make to the itinerary, the party could be labeled a success.

The honorees certainly look happy, right?

And I think that I looked awfully cute in my J.Crew summer clearance dress.

Well, I did before the party started anyway. What I looked like after it was all over isn't important really.

I have lots of details about the do to share with you, so I'm thinking I'll probably need to break it into a couple of posts. Of course if history is any indication, I'll probably get lazy and drop the ball after one post. So maybe you all want to tell me what you're most interested in reading about so I can be sure to cover that first. Here's your chance, don't waste it cause if I don't hear from ya'll, it'll just be Mellon's choice--and then you'll have no one to blame but yourself.

Have tots, will exchange gifts.

The week after Christmas saw not one, but two gift exchanges hosted at the Mellon house. First up, Chase's playgroup.

Out of 10 shots Andy took, this one is the big winner. Speaks more to the wiggling nature of the subjects than the photographer's ability I'm sure. (wink,wink)


Amaya's party was the following evening.



This may be one of the last photos of Amaya with her humungo pacifier. We took it away January first. Now she only gets it at night and nap. It was a much easier transition than I expected. Overall, I'd say I'm adjusting pretty well.
This photo just cracks me up. Emma looks like she's too cool for school, and Amaya's not sure she understands why. Funny.

M-I-C See you real soon! K-E-Y Why because we like you!

M-O-Uuuuu-Ssssss-Eeeeeee!
Mickey a Mickey Mouse,
Rock the House!
Mickey a Mickey Mouse
Rock the House!

Does anyone remember that "cool" version from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? You know back when Britney, Christina and Justin wore big ears and neon pants? Anyway I have to say that we rocked Jenn's baby shower. I mean the Mama to be looks pretty happy here, right?



Not that the soiree didn't have its fair share of bumps along the way. Lesser party planners may have given up hope when their dog ate 15 hand-decorated Mickey Mouse cookies in one giant bite, but not me. Nope. Nor did I throw in the towel when the neck of the wine bottle broke when I was mixing the Sangria. So, I certainly wasn't going to abandon ship just because I knocked over a vase full of daisies completely soaking a prepared tray of goat cheese, sun dried tomato and basil crackers. I won't lie--I did almost lose it when one of the cakes slid into the side of the box leaving a giant icing-less hole, but I practiced my deep breathing techniques, and focused instead on the bigger picture. Why should these minor catastrophes bother me when I know that looking at the pictures, no one would ever have the slightest idea that the party hostess was this close to self destruction? You see, our memory is only as good as the pictures tell us it is. So just forget I ever mentioned any of the above, and no one will be the wiser. It will be our little secret, yes?







For entertainment, we made the guests get up and act silly while I took pictures. No, no. What I meant to say was that we played charades and win lose or draw with all Disney themed clues. Tell me the Sangria wasn't a good idea.

Danielle was in charge of the games, so my mother-in-law can only blame her for the photo opportunities that were provided. Of course, I'm probably the one to blame for posting those pictures on the internet, but let's wait and see if she figures that out on her own.








There didn't seem to be a lot of artists among the guests, but there were some huge Disney fans in the mix. Somehow, this drawing led to someone correctly guessing Cinderella.

Huh, always thought she had legs. And a face. My mistake. But judging from the contestants' faces, I wasn't the only one confused.



Jenn did an okay job acting out her Pirates of the Caribbean clue. At least good enough that I felt no embarrassment in claiming her as family.



But then it was Jan's turn again. Not only did she do this to mime The Lion King,

but she also growled while doing it. Cheater. Not a blood relative, thank goodness.



Were the Village People the Miley Cyrus and High School Musical Disney machines of their time? Nope, it's just fun to stay at the YMCA when you're trying to get people to guess Hercules.



Presents! I love presents. Especially when they're wrapped in pretty colors and contain things like cute little socks and shoes.



Everyone kept calling me Martha Stewart at the party, but I'm going to have to pass the title on to the chick who put a giant sticker in the middle of the inside of her card. Now that's clever. Pretend you've never seen this when you get a card from me that looks exactly the same.



Have you ever witnessed such a show of feigned surprise when someone was presented with a gift that she picked out herself? Mad skills.


I guess trying to pack up all of those gifts was a more arduous chore than I expected. Holy Shine Batman!
As I was looking at the pictures, I mentioned to Andy that I wished I'd have looked in the mirror sometime during the day before the photos were taken. Do you know what he says to me? "Yea, you do turn into a grease factory when you're stressed." Thanks Drew for that delightful insight into my bodily secretions. Next time, just hand me some blotting papers and keep your trap shut!






Favorite picture of the day. Only would have been better if she would have stood up and danced the cancan for us. Now that's entertainment.




Let them eat cake!



Adam and Jenn look all happy don't they?I hope they enjoy these last few weeks of being a childless couple.




Of course, the best is yet to come.