Friday, November 7, 2008

Party Hero, Party Foul

So I'm helping out a dear mom friend get ready for her kiddo's fifth birthday party on Monday, and it's a school holiday for Will today. Both things are AWESOME, by the way, because I love love love birthdays, and I love love love having Will home from school for an afternoon. But yeah, it does change the way things roll around here. Instead of having a non-"productive" morning and then a couple of super-productive hours in the afternoon while Will is at school and Syd naps (pleasepleaseplease), I can have, perhaps, a slightly productive day by working all day and including my two little co-collaborators in everything.

First, we make books. I need to fold and sew up 17 blank books for the kiddo gift bags that I'm putting together. I'm periodically asked to make additional blank books for the girls, who are digging through my cardstock stash and apparently finding gold. Syd dictates a book that goes something like this: "Now a cat. Now a cow. Now a horsie. Now a pig," and Will dictates a book about a pony princess who sails the ocean in search of polar bears. Illustration is crucial:
The girls are working so happily that I sneak off into the study to stitch up my 17 blank books, yet something seems awry...
Obviously, what fun is a creative and engrossing activity engaged in on your own at the living room table, when you can run off into the study and squeeze into the three inches of space in between Momma and the wall and run little dinosaurs up and down her arms while she tries to sew?

We did books and blocks and lunch and nap after that. But while the baby (I can still call Syd a baby, right? She is only two-and-a-half) napped, Will and I made some melted crayons with a new mold that I got on big sale--I've been itching to try it out. Although I'm sure it's an enviromental nightmare, I LOOOOVE silicon baking molds. I don't actually bake in them, of course, but they're terrific for melting crayons:The mold comes out of the oven and separates from the crayon so easily that it's just pure happiness itself. You can't tell, but this mold is half pumpkins and half leaves. Will did all the pumpkins, which came out AWESOME, and I did fall colors, red/orange, orange/yellow, green/brown, with the leaves.

And so after an entire day, here's the party stuff so far:

We have all 17 blank books in the back, the birthday girl's birthday bunting, TWO birthday crowns in the making (Syd insisting upon her rights as the baby, I suppose), and some little tchochkes from Learning Treasures to fill out gift bags. Coloring pages made from the party attendees' names are still in process at my computer, manilla envelopes for the birthday girl to decorate for gift bags are with the birthday girl, the party music mix is being compiled in my itunes, and a citywide search is underway for the best price for Crayola 8-packs, on account of I do NOT use RoseArt.

And that's the party hero. Party foul--At 6:30 pm, getting ready for Soup Night at a dear friend's house, Will throws a big screaming fit so I, who am exhausted anyway, lie down on her bed and invite her to lie down with me and snuggle. She lies down, sings the continents song to herself a few times, plays with her fingers a bit, and falls soundly asleep. Apologetic phone call is made.

Curse you, Daylight Savings Time!!! Curse you, MyManMitch!!!

3 comments:

cake said...

i love that you can have a sense of humor about the fact that they had to leave their happy work at the table to come harass you while you work. i am becoming desperate to find things that cosmo can do INDEPENDENTLY, but i am sure it has less to do with the chosen, activity, and more to do with mood, or just needing mama's company. still, it can be frustrating.

the party stuff looks fantastic. lucky kids.

Anna said...

Hiya. I know Big Lots is not the loveliest place, but if you're not opposed, you may want to look for crayons there. I found a bunch of cheap school supplies there a few years back when I was collecting things for a friend who was doing Teach for America. She had nothing for her classroom, and I unapologetically bought the cheapest stuff I could find to send to her.

Also, I bet that the Soup Night you missed was the same Soup Night I missed. M and I had discussed the idea of Obama soup last week, and she apparently created some sort of pineapple peanut potion. I was too zonked to drag myself over there, but I'm sure it was lovely.

julie said...

I know, I am constantly sending one kid or another flying across the room with my butt because I'll bend over to put bread in the oven or something and both children, having an entire house to play in, will have chosen to stand an inch and a half behind me.

Aw, I can't believe I missed Molly's pineapple and peanut concoction! I love Soup Night so much, but that is the hardest event to get to--I don't know why, but if one kid is not flipping out on a Friday night, then the other one surely is.