Giving Too Much

By Angela on December 3, 2013

Is there such a thing? . . . Maybe.

Christmas gifts
Giving is an important part of the Christmas season. It reminds us of God’s gift to us in His son. It’s a celebration of a birthday that forever changed the world. It helps us express our love and gratitude to those who have impacted our lives. I don’t want to get rid of it.

But giving too much to our children can make them unhappy.

For example, have you ever watched a 1 or 2 year old on his birthday? He opens one gift, and his eyes get wide. He wants it out of the box and to play, right now. But there are more gifts to open. Someone takes it from his hands and gives him another unopened package. It won’t be long before there are tears. He just wants to play!

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Fast forward a few years. Now the boy is 9. There’s a huge stack of presents under the tree, all for him. He thinks in his mind, “It will take forever to open all of these.” I can’t wait! But it doesn’t take forever. Soon he’s sitting in a pile of wrapping paper and opened gifts and feels a strange feeling. Disappointment…loss. Aren’t there any more?

I noticed watching my own children that they appreciate more what they are given when they aren’t given too much.

If you’ve kept things small from the beginning, it’s much easier than to take it down a few hundred notches when the kid’s already have big expectations. But what if you are already there? The kids are expecting pirate loads of loot, and you are ready to simplify. What are some things you can do to make it as painless as possible?

Here’s a little brainstorm list I made one day of things that might help. It’s not meant for one family to do everything on the list. That would be overwhelming! But there might be something here that sparks an idea you know your kids will really respond to:

If you have older kids (age 5 or older) Gently tell them in advance that you are only buying X number of gifts this year. The earlier you tell them the better (it’s easier to take news like this when D day is far away.) And tell them why–you want to save money for their future, your home is too crowded with stuff, you want to spend more time being together than shopping…..What are your reasons? Children younger than 4 won’t need an explanation.
Get their input on ways that you can get the season back to what it should be. Let them express their feelings about simplifying.

Christ is born

Switch focus: From gifts to Jesus. Spend time in childlike worship– Start with a colorful story then add two of the following: coloring page, simple craft, game, music, or snack that reinforce the lesson. Make it fun and keep them a active. Then do gifts after. Or spend time during December preparing a gift the children can offer to Jesus for His birthday. It should be something that uses their talents like singing a song, playing an instrument, writing a poem, or making a piece of art. Then present the gifts in a small worship time on Christmas day.
Switch focus: From receiving to giving. Help the children buy gifts for each other or others in need. In our family we buy 2 or 3 gifts for our kids. Then they each buy one for each other, with their own money, that they earned all year by doing extra chores. I love it because I get one on one time with each one, and they learn what things really cost and that it takes hard work to get money. They can also choose an angel from the tree at church and buy a gift for a child their age in our community who otherwise would have nothing.
Switch focus to service: Volunteer as a family at a local shelter, soup kitchen, or community services center where children can give relief to those in need.
Switch focus to global need: Sponsor a child through World Vision. Or participate in the Operation Christmas Child program.
Prolong the gift opening, with a game like a treasure hunt: Use scriptures as clues to where you hid the next clue, and the next clue and eventually where they can find their gift. Or make them do something athletic to get the next clue, such as run up and down the stairs 5 times, or do 3 push-ups :). The sillier the better.

Have you found a way to keep things simple at your home? We’d love to hear about what works for you.

The Perfect Christmas

By Angela on December 2, 2013

I easily get caught up in wanting Christmas to be perfect and dreaming huge dreams for the short future. Dreams so huge that when the future speedily comes my way I flail and flounder and botch everything up.

In the past I’ve had lists of 25 activities that I want to do with the kids and thought I would make an advent garland of sorts where we could open each envelope and do that amazing thing. Something like this:

Only I never made (or bought) the garland…..and we never did a thing from my list.

Oh, we stayed busy all right. Just trying to manage all the rehearsals and activities that we get to be part of since we have an amazing school and a big church family. But all my dreams had dust on them.

I was trying to orchestrate the perfect Christmas and life was getting in my way.

It’s been going on for years and my children are growing older. I’m missing opportunities.

I contemplated not even decorating this year. That’s how bad my attitude got. I even had some of the kids convinced not to bother with the tree. But what they really wanted was to make me happy. To take some of the stress away, and if that meant no tree or manger scene–so be it.

And then I realized:

My opportunity to give them the perfect Christmas, is giving them a happy, peaceful Mother.

If I made an advent calendar with an envelope for each day, I could put in every one of them–

Today your mother will be happy. And sing songs, and not feel stressed.

And if we only managed that one thing. It would be the perfect Christmas.

So, Friday, I gave a thankful prayer for my awesome children and husband. And for the one room in our house that could appear untouched by the remodel. Then we carried out all the tools and boxes of flooring, dusted and swept, and rearranged the furniture. Then played some Christmas Carols, whirred up some simple eggnog in the blender (recipe coming Wednesday) and Decked the Halls.

Our home will never appear on the Blogland Tour of Homes. I’m ok with that this year. To let the kids take part in the placing of the decorations, even if it isn’t magazine worthy.

I found myself loosing my cool, once or twice. When the kids would move a piece of furniture in the place I didn’t have in mind. Or when I found a toy had crept it’s way back into the clean space. It’s a process, but I’m more aware now. I’m checking myself. Reminding myself to speak gently, to train through these times, and not bulldoze through. To not let something so small steal our joy.

This doesn’t mean that I can’t look at ideas on Pinterest or amazing blogs and think about adding one (but not 25) to my plans this season. But it does mean that I will ask myself why I’m doing something that makes me crazy and whether it will really bless my children’s memories when they are grown.

This Christmas is the Year of the Happy Mother

If you liked this post, you might also like: http://groceryshrink.com/2010/08/you-are-a-window.html

$400 a month to feed 8

By Angela on November 27, 2013

If you are new here, my food budget has been $500 a month for the last year. The year before that it was $450. And the year before that it was $400. I have 6 kids aged nearly 14 down to 2, stair-steps. Here, I’ll prove it:

Family sitting

When we were working Gazelle Intense to get out of debt (in 2005,) Our food budget was $185 for 5 of us. My 3 children were aged 4, 2, and 1. Once we were debt free, I budgeted $50 per person per month, no matter their age. I gave myself a $50 raise when I became pregnant with the next little person. Even though I didn’t eat double (I gained weight like I was eating double!) I used the extra money to buy a few more convenience items to compensate for being sick while pregnant.

(Oh and this budget is just food–not paper products, not pet items, not soap….)

Over the last 5 years (hmmm what happened 5 years ago? I can almost put my finger on it…..) food prices have steadily risen about 60% (The average inflation rate is 2.9% food is a commodity and effected differently than normal inflation.) What used to cost $1 is now $1.50 and sometimes $2. So raising my expectations from $50 per person per month to this new formula made sense.

Under the new recommendations my budget would be: $550–which is plenty for us without allowing me to be extravagant.

But with our recent financial crisis, I wondered if I could spend less. (Interesting to note that I‘m not the only one spending less, and Americans in general spend less on food than most developed countries.)

So this month we dropped our budget down to $400 again. Oh, if you had heard my heart whine about this when I was at the store, we would both be embarrassed. Case in point:

Source

“Excuse me, Miss. Come with me. I want you to live in a big house that has no finished floors, or a working kitchen. The bathrooms don’t have doors, some don’t have walls. But it’s clean(ish), and dry, and warm. You’ll work 4 mini-jobs and your husband one big one. (Oh, yes. We found him. He’s alive.) There will be enough money there for you to pay your bills, but not more. And here’s $400 cash–you’ll get it each month. Use it to buy food for your 6 children (Yes, they are all safe too.)”

Do you think she would feel sorry for herself? Me either. It puts it all into perspective for me.

So here it is, November 27th–only 4 days left in the month. And I’m looking in my envelope to see what I have left….drumroll….$100 and some change! We have bread, we have milk. We have a decent pantry. I don’t need to spend again until December. We are soooo blessed!

I did a terrible job keeping track of my receipts this month and can only find $103.60 of what I spent to document for you. I went to Aldi twice, Dirty Don’s twice, the Bread Outlet once, McDonalds once (I know…just being real), Dollar Tree twice, Walmart 3 times. I meant to go to Costco, but never made it there (Hmm think we discovered why I still have $100 :)) Some big purchases included a $9 spiral cut ham from Aldi (Which fed us for 3 meals and made us feel like kings.) I also spent $10 of the money to buy food related Christmas gifts for DH’s stocking and $15 to buy treats for school and our family worship gathering.

I’m planning on a grocery receipt envelope in my purse for December so I can do a better job documenting what we spend. Which will be likely to guarantee that I do a terrible job with my food shopping that month–but hey, we’re all real people, right?

There were a few meals that we didn’t have to cook: There was a Thanksgiving potluck at church and my mom brought extra so we could come empty handed; my niece’s birthday dinner; a date night we used a gift card for and friends served babysat our kids and fed them pizza. One night my Mom brought over Enchiladas; and one Saturday we worked at her place all day and she fixed us breakfast and lunch. She is hosting Thanksgiving for us, and when I asked what I could bring, she said “A lettuce salad.” That has eased our spending quite a bit. Starting to see how awesome my mom is, again.

I’m putting the extra money in a secret stash. I will use it to stock up on good food deals when I spot one.

When I write about what we spend each month, it raises a few eyebrows. I think anyone could do what we do. It gets tricky for those determined to be vegans, or gluten free (and buy a lot of prepackaged gluten free stuff), or refuse to eat anything not labeled organic, and those who follow every new “healthy” trend out there. But I don’t recommend anyone slash their grocery budget in half the first month and expect things to go well. Here’s a better way to get started.

Turning a Corner

By Angela on November 26, 2013

I think I’ve had a midlife crisis of sorts. And then I think, wait—You’re not that old. And then I realize that if I double my life I’d be 74…..I’m that old?! But it’s not really about me. It’s about Heidi, who will be turning 14 in a few weeks. 14!

Copy of Heidi

Have you seen her? She’s adult sized. And Beautiful. (And hates it when I write about her on my blog.) In 4 years she’ll be ready for college. Sniff. Do you remember what you were doing 4 years ago? It feels like yesterday to me.

I want to arrest time and take it prisoner. But it evades me like a cat burglar in the night.

These precious moments with all my children in my home, are fleeting. More precious than gold and will become as rare one day soon. And so I’ve lain awake pondering what they will remember as adults. (What they will tell their therapists.) What will they remember about their mother. What habits they will take from me into their adult homes.

Reading a friend’s blog recently, my heart was convicted that I needed to change.

So I’m awake this morning, 2 hours earlier than my body tells me is decent and good. Hoping that a habit will form and I can push the clock a little further. So that these wee quiet hours will become work to me, and the day will become family. So my children will remember a mother who reads stories, and keeps a clean enough house, and tries some of what she pins on pinterest. Especially the things that involve them.

It’s day 2, so I can’t claim victory over slothfulness. Or tell you how my body will respond, or promise it’s a permanent change. This morning, I rebelled at the sound of the alarm and tried to go back to sleep. But all I could think about was my grown beautiful girl and the stair steps coming behind her. And how they need me more than ever right now–and I need them. And I got up and stumbled to the kitchen, made a giant cup of Hot Chocolate and found peace in the morning. There’s something about the morning that I had forgotten: God is there.

A few big holes

By Angela on November 19, 2013

Our pier work started yesterday. Ever had a jackhammer in your house? It was a new one for me. It’s kind of LOUD.

This is a corner of the basement on the side that holds Darren’s office. The other side holds our workout room. This side has always been gross.

Case in point. I have dreams about this space. But it’s at the bottom of our list. A working kitchen and bathroom on the main floor are at the top. The fireplace from the first picture is behind the tarp. The tarp is there because they are about to break up the concrete floor in our house and dig into the dirt below. The fireplace is 4 stories tall, and will take a small army of piers to support just it.

I was surprised how thin the concrete in the basement floor is. 2 inches and then dirt. The concrete under the fireplace is thicker. The worker was surprised how little rebar was in our floor. I was afraid to ask how bad that was.

I took his picture without asking. Then said, “Now you will be on my blog.” Too bad it’s blurry, it was going to be a great shot. It was hard to get the workers to be still long enough to get a blog worthy picture :P.

This is serious hard work.

Next I stepped outside to check on the progress there. These holes are deep enough to hide a grown man. I thought the holes were empty. So gave a little scream when a man popped up out of one.

This photo gives a feeling for the size of this house and how much weight the piers are going to lift. It’s a half story taller on the back side.

It’s pretty fascinating for the kids.

There weren’t any workers on the back of the house, so the kids all wanted to get down in a hole. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea. But then I thought about how much this was costing us and thought, why not? Live it up, lol.

I love this picture of the brothers 🙂

Heather was next.

She was like, “Oh gross–It’s DIRT!” I’m not sure what she was expecting.

A little reassurance from her Daddy, then she got over it.

That’s my pretty girl!

Ever Been Overwhelmed?

By Angela on November 6, 2013

The feeling your eight year old self got when Mom said, “Go clean your room?” The feeling you get when you pick up the kids from school and realize it’s ballet night, soccer night, and your turn to provide snacks, and you still aren’t sure what’s for dinner?

The feeling you get when 2 foundation companies concur that 23 piers not 15 are necessary to repair your house and that the bad news you thought would cost you $20,000 is really going to cost you $30,000. You know, stuff like that.

Do you want to cook healthy, affordable food at home, that your family will love but have other things to think about too?

Do mixes and frozen prepared foods sometimes fill in the gap on the table? And while the family seems to love them, they come with a side serving of guilt?

I’ve got the perfect thing for you!

Focus on a small boy-dinner was in progress.

First of all, no more feeling guilty for providing food that allows your family to sit down and eat together. It doesn’t matter what the food is, family dinner is a win!

But there’s more. Two of the menus from my popular Grocery Shrink Plus program are dedicated to helping you fill your pantry and freezer with healthy homemade mixes and pre-made meals.

Everyone needs some simplicity once in a while. You can give that gift to future you!

Introducing: Mix Week and Freezer Week!

Each week includes recipes for homemade mixes or freezer recipes that you prepare to use right away and enough to use again in the future, saving time and giving you peace of mind.

What you’ll get:

• More than 27 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks
• Adjustments for gluten free, dairy free and weight loss
• A categorized shopping list
• A one page week at a glance menu
• A one page action plan at a glance—never forgot to turn on your slow cooker again!
• Recipes pre-adjusted for servings of 2, 4, 8, or 12
• Bonus sections with homemade recipes for commonly used items like pitas and spice mixes
• A taste of what GSP subscribers get EVERY week. We’d love to have you join us!

Each weekly plan will eventually run $5 each, but for a limited time:

Buy them both and save 50% With the coupon code: 23Piers

EXPIRES NOVEMBER 11, 2013

$10

$5

It’s a foundation repair fund raiser sale. Buy now! Our sanity thanks you 🙂

Feeling Blessed and Free Baby Crochet Patterns

By Angela on October 29, 2013

The readers here are amazing. One of you sent my son a pair of shoes so I wouldn’t spend the money left in my clothing budget, even though the money was there. She wanted me to get a head start on our 200 ways to save $100. Another reader emailed to ask me what sizes the kids are because her friends are always looking for places to pass down clothes. And our family worship group has taken turns bringing us dinner for the month of October after we found out our foundation needs help. It’s more than we deserve.

Heidi and I crocheted a few baby hats over the weekend for the Women’s Clinic. Thinking too much about myself and our drama is a pathway to depression. So we decided to break the cycle and do something for someone else. We used this free pattern:

Hat picture belongs to www.AestheticNest.com

The hat worked up super fast. We could make a hat in less than an hour all while visiting together and building our relationship. My niece got in on the action too. There’s nothing as much fun as making something for a baby! And doing it with friends is even better.

And then I crocheted up this little peacoat for my new niece or nephew. By adapting what I learned from making the girl hat above I made a matching hat inspired by th is one. I also made a little tie onesie to go inside the jacket. It is meant to help the mother feel the joy of the blessing that is coming in the midst of the overwhelm of daily life. Sometimes at the beginning of a pregnancy it all feels surreal and can be overwhelming when there’s already a house full of children. Holding something for the new baby helped me feel a connection to the new life. And hearing the heartbeat helped a bunch too. So even though the new baby isn’t due until May, we are giving the little package to the mother tonight.

Baby Boy Crochet Layette

I had so much fun with these projects (all from stash too–so no new money spent) that I started this sweater for Grant:

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I had gathered all the supplies one week at a time, using a 40% coupon for each skein of yarn and have had them for awhile. I plan to make the brown part on the arms a lot shorter to match the length of ribbing on the rest of the sweater and am using YouTube videos to learn all the little parts of knitting (like how to cast on and SSK.)

Now that I see this list of projects, I see why my house is a wreak. Forehead slap.

We have settled into a routine with dinner at a table all together and homework in the one room left with furniture in it. Sometimes there are more stories and laughter than progress on homework, but it’s happiness to be spending time together as a family again. We are resting from projects and just living. Next week we have 3 foundation companies coming out to give estimates. Until then, we are finding a new normal in our space.

I’m starting to look forward to cooking again. I gave myself a head start by putting a breakfast casserole in the slow cooker last night. Darren said I could assemble a few of our lower cabinets if I wanted to put some of my dishes away on the main floor. That sounds like a good plan to me :). I’m gathering a list of crock-pot breakfast recipes and autumny foods that can be made without an oven. I’ll post on what turns out well.

The Other Side of Savings

By Angela on October 25, 2013

Post interruption: It’s hard to say something like this, but a tragedy struck our little private school this week. The visitation for one of my Freshman students is tonight and he will be buried tomorrow. My heart breaks for his family and there is a hole in the heart of every person at the school. Something like this puts things into perspective. We feel entirely different about our foundation issues now. It seems superficial in the scheme of things. We are holding each other as a family, thinking about what’s really important, and praying for those who are closest to this trauma.

Back to the scheduled post:

I appreciate all the supportive emails after yesterday’s post. There are lots of awesome ideas in the comments there.

Some good friends also sent these ideas through private messages:

“Don’t forget the little stuff. I don’t know how your bills are but setting a timer for the shower, always making sure lights are out in rooms you aren’t in and things like that really help!”

“Do you have the HyVee Fuel saver card? I just signed up, and I was careful and bought store brands on sale or others at a good price that also had the fuel saver discount, and in two weeks, I have $1.01 off per gallon.

Also, I noticed they have gift cards that have fuel discounts, too. I know JCPenney is one of them. For $25 gift card you get 12c/gallon and for $50 you get back 25c/gallon. Then you find a coupon to go use your gift card.”

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But also many of you landed on the idea that savings alone can’t fix a big money problem. It’s true!

Heidi Violin

There are things that could go on my list of 200 ways to save $100 that I don’t want to add. Things like stopping ballet or violin lessons. Not only would our kids be sad, but we would be affecting the income needs of other families. We’ve had to make decisions like that in the past, like with a sudden job loss. But if I can find another way, I’d like to do that.

Then there are things like our internet connection. We’ve already let our house phone go (we use Magic Jack) and have never had cable television. But I earn my money through the internet. So our quitting internet service would be like DH quitting his job so we wouldn’t have to buy the gas to get him there. It just doesn’t make sense.

There are other things we pay for that end up saving us money in the long run. Things like a menu subscription :). Or a membership to a discount warehouse. Or insurance.

If I stopped paying anything–the house, electricity, food etc. and saved every dime we brought in over 4 months would we have $20,000? Nope.

So when simply slashing the budget and saving isn’t enough it’s time to consider earning more money.

Selling excess things around the house is a good place to start for fast cash. It’s not a permanent solution, because when the stuff is gone, the income stream is gone too. We have an upright freezer we could part with. An air hockey table (that the kids love); our piano, my guitar, a clarinet, some tiny violins, our furniture, and our wedding rings. The reality is these are items we use, every day. We would feel the loss. In the scheme of things they are just things and I could let them go. But if I can earn money another way…that would be best.

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I could expand my businesses already in place to earn more online. It’s scary for me, this earning money online thing. To do that, I have to put myself out there, make offers, experience rejection, read mean emails from hurting people who forget I’m a real person and it freaks me out. I’m terrible with handling criticism.

But also, it means I get to help people. I only make money when I meet a need, give encouragement, make a better life possible for someone else. And while doing that I get to help my family at the same time. It amazes me how business works!

Of course I don’t have to work online to make extra money. I could teach classes; sell crafts; teach classes on how to do crafts :); do yard work; get a part time job; take on custom sewing. I’ve done them all, but in this precarious situation of ours, I have to be choosy. I have 6 children, I teach school part time and run 3 other businesses from our home. It’s my primary job to keep the family running smoothly, so I have to consider the time it takes me to earn money and choose the most income for the least amount of time. If I say yes to an opportunity to spend a lot of time for a little return, then I give up the chance to use my time to make the kind of money we need.

To do that well, I have to stay away from income streams that earn an hourly wage (like custom sewing or making crafts). And instead choose sources of open ended income where I do the work once and get paid for it multiple times (like video courses, drafting sewing patterns or writing ebooks). This type of income earning is less guaranteed. What if I spend all this time making a digital product and no one buys it? It’s still scary. But it’s my best shot.

There’s no perfect solution, just the best one for our current circumstances. And we don’t have to walk the path alone. And when I reflect on what has happened over the last few weeks, I’m thankful for God and his providence. He doesn’t make bad things happen, but allows us to walk through them to refine us and help us grow in faith.

Safe Within The Fold

By Angela on October 23, 2013

Dub didn’t waste any time making his covenant with Jesus. The day after he turned 8, he was baptised as a public declaration that his sinful nature is passed away and he is made alive in Christ. A covenant is a two way promise. Dub promised to make Jesus Lord of his life, and Jesus promised him eternal life.

I asked him to show me how he felt about this day. And I got two thumbs up.

No Doubt. Dub knows what he’s doing.

Dub’s father is an ordained Priest with authority to baptize. He said, “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptise you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.”

Then Dub was completely buried under the water. Buried with Christ.

And resurrected with Christ a new creature. Old things are passed away and all things become new.

Happy Born Again Birthday, Dub!

Dub was then baptised with fire and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. This requires more authority than Daddy has. But his grandfathers, one an elder, the other a High Priest gave him this gift.

This is his teacher from school. She never misses a baptism.

Today the class will sing to him: “Welcome to the Family, we’re glad that you have come to share your life with us as we grow in love. And may we always be to you what God would have us be, a family, always there to be strong and to lean on.”

My son is now my brother.

Super Hero Training Camp

By Angela on October 22, 2013

Turning 8 is a big deal. In my culture it’s the moment a child is old enough to understand his depravity and choose Christ for his savior. Before that time he cannot sin, since he is too young to fully understand the law. Around here, 8 is a BIG celebration. Dub wanted to invite everyone from Dub’s class at school, Sunday school, family worship, cousins, and Boy Scouts and that ended up being a list of 40 kids! I had to limit him to 8.

When I was thinking about this day earlier in the summer and making little plans my mind was giddy with happiness, because we would be hosting this party in our brand new kitchen space. Things didn’t work out as I planned, but it was wonderful anyway.

We started by clearing out the tools and materials for the construction project. Then rehanging the doors to hide the garage and closets. (Heidi and DH were finishing up the closet door in the picture below. You can barely see his fingers wrapping around the door as he ran the drill from inside.)

We used the wide open space to our full advantage and the carpet squares warmed things up in a ~~homely~~ homey way. One of the large round tables came with the house and the other we bought off Craigslist last Christmas when we hosted 35 guests. The tablecloths were leftover from DHs 40th birthday in August. Knowing this party was coming, we carefully washed down the Dollar Tree cloths and folded them up after everyone had gone home. (That saved $10) The banners were from previous celebrations too. I have a little bin of birthday decor that we save from year to year. Most things were gathered from Dollar Tree, and even though those items are only $1 each, it can add up when there’s a cart full.

I bought a blue twin sheet from Wal-mart ($5) and my Mom made the buildings out of cardboard boxes and a homemade stencil. She said it took her about 6 hours to make them. Thanks, Mom! The star-burst cut outs were in packs of 30 at Dollar Tree. Heidi had fun thinking of things to say on them. My brain was stuck at “pow” but she thought of fun stuff like: “Where’s my Sidekick?” and “You, wait here.” Which she assures me is what most super heroes say to their sidekick. We used it for a backdrop for the start of the party, then the boxes became a hurdle training relay for learning to jump over buildings in a single bound. At the end we spread it all on the floor to take flying pictures of the kids.

I let the kids decorate pretty much how they wanted. I was feeling stressed and decided to wave perfection for plenty of attention on the birthday boy. It was the right choice. This open space was perfect for our building leaping relay later.

These are our “Bad Guy” Targets. I trace the outlines from our Front-Sight range targets and drew a mask on with a marker. I didn’t get things lined up very well….but none of the kids noticed it was wonky. We used silly string on these targets for “web shooting” practice. I stuck them to the doors in case the silly string left greasy marks behind on my freshly painted walls. We got string EVERYWHERE! My heart jumped up in my throat a bit when I saw bits of it all over the newly laid carpet squares. But everything vacuumed up wonderfully…It really was a breeze to clean-up. (I’m super excited to paint these doors and trim white….Every time I see a picture this direction I think about it. And all our furniture is just shoved in that room beyond….)

The first activity of the night was choosing an alter ego, with name and super power. Then designing a mask and cape to match. I cut the masks out of craft foam and then tied an elastic cord (from my craft bin–I saved them from new pairs of shoes that were tied together) We cut the cords a little too small which made the masks delicate. If you try this at home, be careful with the length. I bought a bag foam pieces from Dollar Tree that the kids could cut any shape and then glue or self-stick on their mask.

The best part is when the guests arrive 🙂

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Right after Mask and Cape Creation, we had a Super Hero Buffet. Our guest here is wearing a post it so we can remember his Super name and Super power. A mom who planned ahead better would have had real name tags :). IMAG2383

With Hero Sandwiches.

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Homeopathic Kryptonite (Lime Jello with Crushed Pineapple.)

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Veggies and Dip
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Chips (Don’t mind the random Nerf gun. I have 4 boys–they are everywhere.) IMAG2389

And washed it all down with Power-ade. I cut the tiny capes out of the scraps leftover from the big capes and stuck a glitter foam sticker on the back. The bottles were the fruit flavored water from Aldi and a new “Pow!” label completed the look.

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We have tables–but no chairs. Baby steps.

Dub designed his own cake and my mom made it for him. The base cake is an 11×15 chocolate sheet cake and the mountain is a vanilla cake baked in a bowl. She made blue jello in a small round pan and cut a hole in the cake to drop in the “lake.” Dub gathered up the trees and lego men from his collection of toys.

I had plans for an on theme super hero cake, but this is what Dub wanted. And the day was not about planning my perfect party–but his.

After eating, we played a round of Dodge Bomb. I blew up 24 black balloons then one person who was it, threw them at the others. Once a person was hit, they could grab a bomb and start lobbing it at the rest. The last person to be hit, was it for the next round.

Then we saved the black balloons to take their part in the super hero relay.

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Heidi set up a laser trap with red yarn and painter’s tape in our small pass through. The relay began here. Two teams competed by going through the laser trap (if they touched a laser they had to pause for 3 seconds before continuing) Then running around to the building hurdles (hoping my sister in law got a picture of this), then detonating a bomb (popping a black halloon) while containing the blast so no one was hurt. Then webbing their target in the face with silly string and back to the beginning to high five their next team member so they could go. IMAG2393

After that we took flying photos to prove it was possible.

My nephew, Sean.

My 6 yo boy, Brandon.

The birthday boy, Dub. Super Lucas

This giant hero was in my choir last year and graduated. Sad for us, happy for him. My kids have all adopted him and made sure he knew he had to come out for the super hero training camp. He was a great sport.

To finish out the day, we turned out every light in the house and passed out glow sticks (They come in huge packs at Wal-mart for $3 which beats out the Dollar Tree prices.) They tested their night vision with a rousing game of glow hide and seek.

The guests took home their mask and cape and glow-sticks as party favors.

Sources: Cape Pattern (I cut mine from Polar Fleece and could fit 2 capes on 3/4 yard. There was no sewing involved at all since polar fleece doesn’t ravel. Then I hot glued velcro at the neck using fabric hot glue–though regular would probably work too.)

Flying Photos We used a twin flat bed sheet, cardboard box buildings, and polyfil for clouds

Mask Template I cut my masks from packs of foam sheets