Jake and the Neverland Pirates Party

We had Dallin's birthday party today.  It was the coolest coldest party we've been too.  So we are really grateful to our friends for hanging out in the wind for us.  Just for the record, the average temperature today is in the 70's!

 The invite (mailed out ones didn't say to come as a pirate!)  Dallin wanted a "Jake" party.  From Disney Juniors show Jake and The Neverland Pirates.  The show is so new you can't buy anything from it.  So I am very grateful  Disney put these free printable invitations on their website!

 Thank you gift bags had a ring pop, eye patch, some "gold" candy, Jake bubbles I created, Jake coloring pages from the Disney website, and crayons.

We loved the location of the party.  The park is on the lake...perfect for little pirates!  And this slide looks like water.  They loved racing each other on it!

 It was too windy to lite the candle.

Food was put into sand buckets and other sand toys.

 And every pirate needs a {balloon} sword and eye patch.  I learned how to make the swords on YouTube.  Super easy!

We made this poster print of Dallin so we could play pin the eye patch on Captain Dallin.  But it was super windy, and after wind blew a drink over on it, (thank goodness it had been framed!)we decided to just keep it safe in the car.

My New Hobby

And we can blame Grandma P.!  For Dallin's last birthday he received a kit to make balloon animals.  We just opened it two days ago,{and yes I know his next birthday is in 10 days.}

So finally instead of hiding it, like I've done for the past year every time it managed to be re-found, I looked up how to make balloon swords.



After about 6 swords, the boys convinced me today that they needed parrots.  So, I googled that (what on Earth did mom's do before google??!!)   And what do you know...now I can do parrots too! {click HERE for video}  And I am thinking this is pretty fun.  And I like making balloon animals!  In fact I plan on making swords for Dallin's pirate party next month...and I am looking forward to it!

I even got Jerret in on the excitement, and he took over on the first try of the parrot, basically after the first two steps.  But I got to make the second {purple}one!

Teacher Appreciation Week

Yesterday was a special lunch for teachers because JC's school is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week.

I had the opportunity again this year to spend lunch with JC and his class while his teachers had an extra 30 minute lunch.  This year I did a full door decoration.  I was really happy with last years, but I think I liked this one even better.

In gold on the large bumble bee it read, "Mrs. Remkus and Ms. Rowe Are the Bees Knees."

Then in the colorful letters is says, "Thank You for helping us bloom!"  Each flower has a picture of one of the students, they wrote their names and decorated them to make them a little more personal.  It was a lot of fun!

Peeps Cake

My mom needed to decorate a cake for her Relief Society Meeting. She and I were bouncing ideas off each other and I mentioned peeps would be really cute. She totally took they idea and ran with it. I LOVE what she came up with, a peep flower cake! It may still be snowing in McCall, ID but she brought a little much needed Spring to the sisters of her ward!

Mad Scientist

Today we had a party to celebrate JC's birthday.  He invited his two closest friends.  We had a blast doing science experiments and playing science themed games.  

The kids safety goggles I ordered still haven't made it since weather has caused package mayhem, but the kids didn't care.  JC plans to still hand deliver them to his friends once they've arrived.

 The little scientist.

Lab coats were just mens plain white t-shirts cut down the front. 

I gave each child  a name tag with Dr. their name.

We made their hair crazy with gel and mousse.

Creating their own shade of frosting and decorating mini bunt cakes.
How awesome are the sprinkles in vials?   I found those at Targets after Halloween clearance last year.  Worked out perfectly!

 Everyone needed a candle to blow out for good luck!

Atoms and Molecules ice cream!

The funky glasses were won in a game of Operation.  Each time they successfully removed an item they got to pick a gift, trade theirs, or keep what they had.  Amazingly in the end everyone got what they wanted most!

Blowing out the candles!

Here is a link to the flask cake, I kind of tried out my own thing with my mini bunts, it wasn't awesome.

I put this one together for my mom as a Birthday Gift. My mom is 50 today by the way, Happy Birthday Mom!

I remember when my mom turned 30 and I thought she was soooooooooo old. Now I am just one year, actually just over seven months, shy of being 30. I don't feel old, though I am sure to my kids I am. I have to laugh. But even funnier still is how perspective changes and even my mom seems young now.

Anyway, back to the frame. I found the free printable online. You too can find it here.

I really want to frame it as a gift for each of the ladies I Visit Teach  My problem is that I love the frame I sent my mom, and I can't find anything I love as much. But I think it would go great along with the recent conference talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, which I loved.

Of Things That Matter Most

"Elder Dallin H. Oaks, in a recent general conference, taught, “We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families."

The search for the best things inevitably leads to the foundational principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the simple and beautiful truths revealed to us by a caring, eternal, and all-knowing Father in Heaven. These core doctrines and principles, though simple enough for a child to understand, provide the answers to the most complex questions of life.

There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions.

For example, it wasn’t long after astronauts and cosmonauts orbited the earth that they realized ballpoint pens would not work in space. And so some very smart people went to work solving the problem. It took thousands of hours and millions of dollars, but in the end, they developed a pen that could write anywhere, in any temperature, and on nearly any surface. But how did the astronauts and cosmonauts get along until the problem was solved? They simply used a pencil.

Leonardo da Vinci is quoted as saying that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”  When we look at the foundational principles of the plan of happiness, the plan of salvation, we can recognize and appreciate in its plainness and simplicity the elegance and beauty of our Heavenly Father’s wisdom. Then, turning our ways to His ways is the beginning of our wisdom."

Reading Like A Rock Star

I swear I didn't read this much in first grade. Am I just forgetting? I remember reading Dick and Jane in like the 2nd grade maybe?  JC had a bunch of site words in kindergarten; first grade has only proven to pick up the pace.

JC continues to impress me at how well he retains most site words, but of course there are always a few tricky ones.  We try to make the chore more fun by making as many games out of it as possible.  One favorite game is to write all the words out in chalk.  Then to improve on this idea, making it even more fun we took turns throwing rocks, bark, whatever we could find, on a word.  Then whatever word it landed on JC had to read.

JC was reading last night with his "Rock Star" glasses.  I don't know how he could see anything!

He was more than happy to show off the book he just got that afternoon from the school bookfair.