Ladybug Picnic

When Kaylee turned four, I planned a Princess party and she invited all of Logan to come. It was fun, but by the end I was completely exhausted! I really didn't think birthday parties were that big of a deal, ya know? I mean, after all, I worked for two years at the Lion House as a birthday party hostess. My job was to entertain ten to twelve children, generally around the age of eight for two hours. We played games, took a tour, pulled taffy, ate lunch, cake, ice cream, and opened gifts. I LOVED it!!! What happened to me? I lost all of the magic I used to possess to get kids to listen and follow instructions. I also lost my zest for parties. I dread them. I decided after Kaylee's Princess party that we would only have four birthday parties in our house. Ages 4,8,12,16. I should have stuck to that! I caved in because all Kaylee talks about is birthday parties. Who is having one, who is invited, what they are going to do. I realized that right now that is a really big deal socially. I figured it couldn't hurt, but we HAD to cut the list down! We still ended up sending out more invitations than I probably should have, but it's hard to know where to stop! I think Kaylee had fun, I was pretty frazzled, and I was worried that all the kids went home and said, "Kaylee's mom is a witch." That wouldn't be far from the truth, so if your child did say that and you defended me, thanks for the vote of confidence, but know that they were telling the truth.

I made bug antennaes for each of the kids. Actually, Amber came over and I roped HER into making them! Thanks, Amber! The kids looked great running around with their bug stuff on! We played "What bug am I?" "Categories" "I'm going on a Picnic" "Hide the Ladybug" and "Ladybug, Ladybug, who's got the ladybug?" After games we went into the kitchen and sat on the floor for the picnic. We ate butterfly sandwiches, ladybug apples, bug grahams, bug fruit snacks, and bug juice. (I couldn't find the actual 'bug juice' bottles, so we used Kool Aid bursts.) After the picnic we went upstairs and played "musical spots" to the tunes of "Ladybug Picnic" and "The Ugly Bug Ball." It was more than wild at that point. We went back downstairs to frost individual bug cakes. I used my friend's pan that makes four different types of bugs: ladybug, bee, dragonfly, and butterfly. The kids did a great job and I took a picture of each of them with their cake. (somehow I missed Megan, though. rats!) Then it was time for gifts. I was overwhelmed with how nice and numerous the gifts were! Oh dear! Next time I will tell Kaylee if she'd like a friend party she has to put "no gifts please." It was crazy and I felt a little sick as I watched her tear through each present without much thought to thank or recognize what was being given. I tried to talk to her about that later, but to no avail. Hmm... All in all I think it was a success.

A little recap of Kaylee's day: She picked donuts for breakfast and then later on Charles and I took over a birthday treat of... donuts to share with her Kindergarten class. Her teacher made her a birthday crown to wear and wrote down four nice things her friends said about her. That was fun to watch. After school Donna and Steve surprised Kaylee by picking her up and taking her to lunch at A& W. Poor Charles was a bit distraught when he found out she'd gone with them, but I kept reminding him that his birthday will come soon. Amber, Andrew, and Simon stopped by with a gift for Kaylee. The Princess and the Pauper- the Barbie movie, ya know? Confession, I LOVE that movie!!! Kaylee enjoyed watching that while I finished preparation for her party. Then came the whirlwind party! We ended the night with a spaghetti dinner and cake and ice cream with Tressa, Jake, Squirmy, Donna and Steve. Kaylee got to talk to her Grandma Kobe and my brother, Zach even called! She was so happy! I certainly hope her birthday was all she dreamed of.