Great birthday party ideas & tips....

I had a few minutes to browse the internet and some of my favorite sites and ran across this gem and her great birthday party tips and ideas.  Here is what she has on her business site but I'm not sure how often it changes so I copied it here so we can all find it a little easier for future use.

First, here is the website address of Twiggle Box http://twigglebox.com/news.html, which they give out fun free ideas and tips along with their inventory of adorable hair clips, barrets and headbands for children.  Just adorable and they are reasonable too so if you or know of anyone in the market, please pass this little gem on!  The blog address is http://www.twigglebox.blogspot.com/

If she starts posting more soon, this may be another one of my favorites!!

Here are her tips:

Better Birthday Bashes!

Kid’s Birthdays seem to be getting bigger and better every year. But a great birthday doesn’t have to be a headache, or break the bank. Here’s 5 tips for Better birthday Bashes from our experts at TwiggleBox.com.
1. Begin with the End in Mind! I always purchase or make my thank you cards at the same time as my invitations! I pre-address the thank you’s, even though I’m not sure which guests are really going to come. I’d rather throw out a 5 cent envelope than have to look the address up again. And if the Thank You’s are sitting ready and waiting, it is much easier to remember to complete the task and send them out.
2. Keep it Simple! Theme’s can help a ‘party planner’ (aka MOM!) focus on invites, decorations, games and more, but they don’t have to be complex (think circus with clowns, tents, and animals....sounds like a headache). Here a some SIMPLE theme ideas that will help reduce the stress and headaches, and still bring unity to the party. Pick a color (pink, green, yellow etc.) and use that to unify invites, thank you’s, birthday cakes and more. Use your child’s initial. It’s easy to find a letter stamp to monogram favor bags, cards, and even table cloths.
3. Keep it Small! When I had my first 2 children with birthdays 2 days apart, throwing a party (actually, 2!) seemed overwhelming. My mom gave me this great tip: Invite as many party guests as your children’s age. This has been a life-saver for me! Now a mom of 5, I still use this rule. My 8 yr old invites 8 guests, my 3 yr old gets 3. This helps keep our parties manageable, affordable, and fun. Little kids can become overwhelmed by large groups, so this rule works great!
4. Keep it Short! There’s no reason to have a dozen screaming children for hours on end. I use the 20 min rule... 20 minutes for each year of age. My 6 year old got a 2 hour party, my 3 yr. old 1 hour. Since children’s attention span expands with age, it makes sense that a young child’s party shouldn’t last as long as an older child. Birthday parties are not a ‘free babysitting service,’ and they should accommodate the needs of you and your child, not the guests!
5. Over-Schedule! It’s hard to tell how long party activities will take. I have a few kickbacks that take no prep, but will entertain birthday guests just in case we have extra time. Duck-duck goose, charades, red-light-green-light, or even just a favorite story book on hand are all easy to adapt to any theme (just change the name!), and can be used if you have extra time. I also like to keep some fun upbeat music on hand, most kids love to dance, and this takes no prep. It’s even more fun if mom and dad get in on the action! On the other hand, if you’re short on time, they are easy to cut out, and no time or preparation energy is wasted.
Birthday parties should really be about the child who’s growing up, and both mom and dad should be able to enjoy the moment WITH their child and friends. Kids will be more relaxed if their parents are, so remember don’t over-do it!

March is half-way over ALREADY!?!?!?!

So, where the heck did February go?  I think I must have lost a month during our furious house hunting trips plus running back and forth between MN and WI constantly didn't help matters much I'm sure!  I was just looking at the calendar for the next few months and I couldn't believe my eyes...St. Patrick's day is just 2 days away.  Sheesh! 

With that thought of time flying by, I reallys obviously haven't been doing so well on my resolution  list but...now that I really sit and think about it, I'm doing fairly better than some folks.  At least I'm TRYING to make an effort towards my goals for this year.  So let's see...


#1  Try to write more regularly on my blog and add pictures...so I was off to a good start, or at least I thought I was until this house dilemn took over and I was away from my computer more often than preferred.  BUT, I may be making a come back now that we found a house, will be moving w/in the month and hopefully settled into our new home by May.  So, overall, this goal is going okay.

#2  Drink more water...I almost want to laugh at this goal because it sounds so simple but in reality it is one of the hardest things I've had to try to overcome...I am not a huge water drinker and so, it takes tremendous will-power to even think to grab a glass...let alone more than one in a day!  I really haven't been doing well on this goal...need to think of ways to keep this on the radar daily...maybe the summertime will help since I love to drink suntea which has lots of water in it...does that count?

#3  Lose 20 pounds this year (I lost a little over 10 last year w/o being too serious about it)
...At first, I was working out and dancing on our Wii, and actually w/in the last week I've decided to kick it up quite a bit and workout during Morgan's naptimes and workout to a DVD that is a cross trainer program so during the week (almost every day) I either do cardio, yoga, strength training, or ab specific workouts.  I'm actually enjoying them!#4  Try to make a menu for each week and stick to it!!...yeah, I haven't had much time to really put this trick to the test yet either.  My goal would be to make a menu for the week and prepare some foods that can be frozen then be able to pull them out when needed as back ups or as the main courses.  Maybe in the new house I'll figure out how to make this work.

#5  Try to make more things instead of buy them (greeting cards, clothes, etc.)...so this goal I've actually been excelling at.  I believe every card that I have sent out this year has been homemade by Morgan and I so that is a miracle in itself!  I just bought 2 books that I'm excited to try to use that have ideas on things to make from older items like T-shirts.  Gotta love recycling old stuff into new usable stuff! 
Well, I think that sums it up for today...some goals are on track, some are coming along slowly and a few at snails pace...BUT...I haven't dropped the ball completely so that's always a good sign since a lot of folks lose interest or quit a month after they set their goals.

Girls just want to have fun...

Morgan and I have really been having fun together...here are a few pics from our recent play time.


FINGER PAINTING

STATIC HAIR...

and HAIR SALON...

We have lots of fun staying home...especially when it's cold outside! Looking forward to spring so we can go outside more!

House shopping...we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted on here.  I guess I need to work on that part of my new year resolutions!  Anyway, the house that I spoke of in my last post was in Stillwater, MN that had many multiple offers on it and we did not get the house.  I think after the decision came in, we were okay with it.  It would have been nice...but...

So we continued with our search, found yet another house that we liked, this time in Eagan, MN and put in an offer only to find out hours later that we again were going to be in a multiple offer situation.  I thought the housing market was having problems?  Not from our point of view except that a lot of the houses that we have looked at were just trashed, so that may be why the few that we liked enough to put in an offer were also the few that others were trying to buy as well. 

So... we put in an offer on the Eagan house on a Friday, ran across another house in Cottage Grove that caught our fancy and decided to look at it in the event the Eagan house fell through.  After looking at the Cottage Grove house (which was a traditional sale), we decided to put in an offer on that house as well with the stipulation that we could pull out of the Eagan house.  We really liked it that much more; especially since it would be move-in ready with a 3-car garage and nice fenced in yard...a good start to our list of wants. Our offer was accepted that night!  It was a nice change from working with bank owned properties the last two houses.  So, after it was accepted, we had a long Sunday to wait and see if we could get out of the Eagan house offer...and Monday morning we got word that we were free and clear to move on with the Cottage Grove house!  Hooray!!!

Working with traditional sellers is so much nicer than banks, since during the inspection there were a few questions and things that needed to be addressed.  So many times with the bank owned properties, they are sold 'as is' and you really have to invest more money into them.  I was greatful that when we found these issues, and addressed the issues to the sellers... they were more than willing to help get things fixed.  Yay!

Now we are waiting to hear about our official closing date which should be around the end of April...and now that it's already March, the time is flying by!  We are preparing our move paperwork so we can get the movers scheduled and even more importantly, get my mom's visit scheduled so she can help get us settled into our new home!! 

We're all excited, a little scared since our home in Sparta has not sold yet, but with some sacrifice and patience, I know it will all work out for the best!