For the girls' 4th birthday party, we decided to do a Scooby Doo Mystery party. The girls each invited 5 friends, and it worked out perfectly with 5 from the neighborhood and 5 from school. We got a Scooby pinata, and a ton of goofy decorations from the Party Store, some Scooby Doo themed and some all flower power themed. Of course the girls changed their minds several times after we had begun to plan this party, and wanted, instead, a Horton theme or a princess one, but I rejected those ideas for them.

For the life of me, I couldn't find any Scooby posters for purchase. It turns out that it's a licensed product, so it can only be sold by stores that pay for the licensing (like the party store). I went to Kinkos and asked if they would make color copies of a book for me, and they couldn't do it for fear of being sued. I went to a comic book store, but they didn't have any posters. Finally, I went to Staples, made some transparent copies myself and then used a AA flashlight and blew them up and drew the characters myself. They turned out pretty good too! What a challenge though! And it was pretty funny to see me sitting in the dark with this teeny tiny flashlight trying to draw on butcher paper. I think I thoroughly annoyed Dave during March Madness with that!

So the day of the party, the girls got to dress up in their special new dresses. They were so sweet. They HAD to have the purses that matched, and of course the accompanying headbands. They were really excited and could hardly contain themselves until 11 AM. They got to help do finishing decorations, and wove streamers in the bannisters, which actually looked quite cute. Dave and I were frantically doing last-minute details, like making sherbet punch (gross but good), getting ice for the beverages, vaccuuming and other stupid stuff. By the time the party was officially going, I was happy because I got to finally relax!

Once all the guests were present, we began the party with lunch - Scooby's favorite- pizza! While the kids were finishing up, I asked them where the presents were, and showed them a "letter" written by a villian, saying that the toys had been stolen and that if they wanted them back, they had to play games to earn clues. The kids were totally hooked! Game 1 was Pin the Pizza on Scooby. They loved it, and mostly did great. The first clue was, "The presents might be up, they might be down, but don't worry, they're not out of town." Game 2 was Wrap the Mummy. Dave and my dad sat on little chairs while the kids wrapped them in toilet paper. The paper kept breaking and it was much harder than we thought it would be. But, of course, the mummies got wrapped enough and then they chased, and scared a few, kids through the house. Clue 2 was something like, "Spiders live there, but turn on the light and you won't care." Game 3 was Shaggy, Shaggy, Scooby, ala Duck, Duck, Goose. Even for this game, the kids were very into it. It's hysterical to watch little kids play this, because they forget to sit down in their spots, and just go round and round and round! Clue 3 was something about going down the stairs, which all the kids figured out immediately; the presents were in the basement. So we all trooped downstairs and had opening presents time. The girls got a lot of outdoor toys for spring, some princess stuff and some art goodies. Every present has already been played with, even the ones meant for outside. My parents got them bikes, and they're already very good on them, so much so that I might need a bike just to keep up with them!

Cake came afterward, and was actually very yummy. It was Scooby themed as well, and had a scene of Shaggy and Scooby frightened, as usual, and a Mystery Machine driving away. This was followed by the nutty pinata, which we got to do outside, because the weather was cooperating. Each kid got 3 wacks with a bat, and then we switched to the pull string part of it, and it opened immediately. The mad dash for candy was civilized, at least. Each kid brought me their bag filled with candy and toys, and I put that bag into their goody box. And that, folks, wrapped up the party, or it wrapped up another mystery, as the "gang" would say.

It was exhausting, but totally worth it. The only crying was when the mummies chased and scared a couple of kids. Of course, that was two days ago, and each day since, both girls have asked me if they could have another party "today." Ha! Not quite.

Oh, and I drew out a picture of the mystery machine, taped it onto cardboard and let the kids pose as if they were in the machine. Amazingly, they all really liked this too. Weird, but cute!

Off to NY this weekend for a tourist trip with the girls. I can't wait!

I didn't hate it, Mom!

Here are some updated pictures. Cassidy is fascinated with Jesse from Toy Story right now, so she's been prancing around in boots with a braid in her hair lately. Taylor loves her red lady bug shirt that says "Don't Bug Me" on it, which you can't see in the picture. They're pretty much still always naked at home; the second they walk in the door usually. It is what it is! Good blackmail pictures in the future?


We've had another busy day here, and we're all quite tired. It's a perfect opportunity for me to update you on our goings on!

Today is ballet day, and the girls did a great job as usual. I have to admit that they seem to be some of the best dancers in their group. While they're not on the beat exactly, at least they know the moves to their dance, unlike a lot of the other girls. They have a recital coming up in June, which they've been working toward since September. They have two numbers in the show, one tap and the other ballet. The tap portion is to the "Candy Man" by Sammy Davis Jr. and the ballet is to "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. Thankfully, we have until June, because it's would be one crazy performance if it were now!

After ballet, we went to the gym, amid protests from both girls. Apparently, they got some message from somebody that they couldn't go there any more, and they complained as we drove in the car. Ha! I stuck to my guns and told them to buck up essentially, and they seemed okay when we got there. As we were leaving, walking to the car, Taylor, who had been really sad upon arrival, proclaimed (in a loud voice), "I didn't hate it, Mom!" She was so happy at that point. It cracked me up. I wonder where she figured out that sentence. Maybe she realized that I always tell them that they'll "love" something, and she knows her opposites better than I thought she did. It was great.

We haven't been to lunch in ages, so we headed out to this funky Mexican place nearby. The first thing they ordered was sour cream for their chips. They ate gobs of it. I was a little repulsed. But they did eat their quesadillas, and even their rice and beans. Cassidy tried to compliment the waitress on her flashy ear rings, but the lady didn't hear her and just walked away. Poor Cass was sad about that, but she needs to learn to speak up! It's hard for little kids, I know!

Our day wasn't done yet! We headed over to the jumpy place, airtastic.com, and had a bouncy time! Oftentimes when we go there in the later part of the afternoon, we're almost the only ones there. Today it was a little busier than that, and some of the kids were really little, so we had to watch out for them (so as not to jump on the poor guys!). We ran into a group of unsupervised 3 to 6 year olds, and that was sadly devastating. Their moms were gathered around a table at the front, having a pow wow, totally ignoring this group. And of course, they were being really rowdy and rude - one little you-know-what stuck his tongue out at me! At one point, Cassidy and Taylor were frozen to my legs when one of the older boys was blocking another little boy from going where he wanted to, and so of course, he was screaming. Uggg and grrr, it makes me really angry at the parents for not watching their kids better! Regardless, we moved on, and had a wonderful time. So much so that they were exhausted by the end of our hour and sadly requested to go home and rest.

They're watching School House Rock right now and drinking milk. They're snuggled up on the couch, trying to keep warm because it's only about 29 degrees today, and a little cold in the house. Hopefully we can still get out to Costco this afternoon, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Can you think of a better day? Well, up the temperature about 40 degrees first. Seriously, though, what can beat it?