make-your-own LEGO maze

 I'm a sucker for kids' activity/preschool blogs. I love them for their BIG ideas....the science projects, the arts and crafts, the kinds of activities that look like playing but incorporate so much learning and discovering....which, is...well, playing. The kind of activities that I'll set aside a morning for....make a special trip to the store for...talk up BIG to increase the anticipation for....the kind of activities that make me feel like I'm back in the classroom.

But my absolute favorites are the ideas that I read about during naptime and can pull together super fast while the kids have a snack. My newest treasure trove of ideas is this--> Kids' Activities Blog. My friend Clare introduced me to it and at the perfect time. This week has featured one LEGO activity after another and we are in Lego Heaven around here lately. In addition to the Ninjagos, Evan has been amassing his Lego City collection, his prize being the Police Station he got from Mom Mom and Pop for his birthday. As much fun as we have playing with his sets, though, nothing makes my Nerdy Mommy Heart sing like Lego Brick free play. Evan is quite a vehicle builder and Max makes the most creative "machines" that do everything from designing princess gowns to laser-beaming bad gargoyles off castle towers. And Molly. Oh, sweet 15-month old baby girl has been so surrounded by these tiny choking hazards for so long that they're no longer choking hazards. I mean, she's never out of my sight while she plays with her brothers [all three, playing together? Swoon.], but I can confidently be out of immediate reach. Her favorite thing is to take all of the Lego guys and swap their hats and hair. I kid you not. This girl has some serious fine motor skills.

Today's activity: The LEGO Maze

The Kids' Activities Blog has lots of ideas about using Legos to make mazes, so I'll direct you straight to <the source> for more info on that...but if you're like me and just want to pull out the bricks and the board and help the kids go at it, it's just that easy.

Child's play, really.

Once we finished our maze, Max's guy was off on his way through the labyrinth. He was on a quest to find the Sphinx's missing treasure. (He's pretty big into Ancient Egypt right now...it was kind of awkward when he started to describe mummification to the sweet little girl on the playground the other day.) Evan was in charge of setting booby traps. This lever here would make a wall move out of the way, but this brick here would make a trap door open. And watch out for that ramp--it leads right to the dungeon!

Luckily Max's guy made it through. And then, it was like an amusement park ride because everyone else wanted a turn.

The Lego guys waited patiently while Max adjusted their outfits and Evan reset the traps.

Molly just wanted to smash the maze and knock down the line of guys by this point, so while the brothers played, we had some fun with the iPhone camera, instead. 

Lesson Learned:
Go get out those Legos, mama! This was over an hour of total brother cooperation.

[And don't you just love those two Classic Kid Poses in this photo? I'm so happy for camera phones to capture these little moments that you think you'll remember...you hope you'll remember....but best just to capture it and print it out so you'll never forget.]

Happy Mother's Day

The other day I hired a house cleaning service.

I'm a stay-at-home mom. Because of various school, meal, and nap schedules, it turns out that I'm even at-home a good portion of each and every day. At many, many points during the day I could grab a dust cloth and dust those baseboards. Or the Windex and clear some hand/Max's face prints off the windows. And I feel like I do. Well, maybe not a dust cloth, but I definitely run my socked foot along the baseboards once in a while. And though the Windex may stay shelved, I do pull my sleeve over the heel of my hand and rub Max's kisses off our back door. And I must, simply MUST, take a Clorox wipe to the toilet just about every day. I do have boys, you know.

But it's never enough. Because, unlike SOME crazy people I know (I'm looking at you, Mom), cleaning brings me absolutely no satisfaction. I can look at a sparkling shower and, instead of thinking about the accomplishment, I think about the fact that in less than 24 hours there will be spots on the glass again. And the toilet, my god, the toilet. Just once I'd like to walk into a bathroom in my house and find the seat down and no dribble (I'm looking at you, Evan and Max).

And so, I delegated. I decided that, even though I'm a Mom, I don't actually have to do it all.

And neither do you.

Because if you think about what you DO do (okay, I know I've lost the mothers of potty-humor-aged children who are all so conditioned and are therefore chuckling over the fact that I said doo doo), you do enough.

You feed, clean, clothe, and protect people other than yourself, before yourself.

And...
you keep your spare-battery reserve fully-stocked so the fun of a remote-controlled car never has to stop
or you throw Pinterest-worthy birthday parties
or you clip coupons
or your kids eat vegetables
or you continue to purchase, cook, and present vegetables even though you know they won't eat them....because, some day, they will
or you only have to ask your kids to put their shoes on once and they do it
or you spent months researching and interviewing daycares/preschools to find the Best one for your family
or you make Weelicious-worthy school lunches
or you remember to send your kid to school with lunch money each day
or you nervously but silently watch your child climb to the top of the playground by himself for the first time because you know he's building his muscles and confidence
or you play Candyland four times in a row and don't sigh (audibly) when you pull the Gumdrop card. Again.
Or you manage to balance work and mom responsibilities...most days
or you have memorized how to rebuild Lego sets so it doesn't matter that you can't find the instructions
or you always send in the Field Trip money on time
or your toddler has never thrown a fit in a grocery store check out lane
or your kids' closets are ready for the change in season before the first warm spring day
or you manage to wait until the kids are in bed before cracking open that bottle of wine after a tough day
or you don't answer your phone, even when it's your best friend, with whom you've been playing phone tag for a week, because you're wearing your tiara and your kid has just deemed you Belle of the Ball and it's time to dance
or you do answer the phone because you know it's healthy to let those kids play by themselves sometimes, too
or you never leave clothes sitting in the washer or dryer over night...or for several days
or you know exactly what it means when your kid says he wants his bagel "no butty, no toasty" and you make it the right way every time
or you are the Room Mom
or you let your kids get muddy
or you let your kids "help" you cook
or you remember to schedule the kids' well-check ups and dental appointments
or you have 26 bedtime stories memorized so you can "read" to your kids while "resting your eyes"
or you make your kids' halloween costumes by hand
or you remember to set the DVR for the Sophia the First premiere and the Curious George special, even if that means that there's no room for The Daily Show reruns
or you let the kids eat cake for lunch every once in a while
or you know the magic words or Look to stop a tantrum dead in it's tracks
or you let your kids sleep in your bed
or you have taught your kids how to happily sleep in their own beds
or you know all the names and team affiliations of the guys from Ninjago or Skylanders or Fairies of Pixie Hollow or the NFL
or you arrange your weekend to accommodate a play date that your child insist you accompany them to
or you somehow managed to get your third baby's first step on video
or you are up-to-date on photo albums and baby books
or you remember to get all of your groceries in just one trip to the store
or you aren't afraid of creative messes
or you have perfected your macaroni and cheese recipe...which may or may not include opening a blue box
or you're happy to eat sandwich crusts and leftover grapes for lunch, while standing over the sink
or you can clean vomit off the walls in the hallway without gagging
or you have created a beautiful garden in your yard, yet you smile as your kids dig it up to search for worms or to "plant" dandelions
or you have memorized the phone numbers for school and your pediatrician, though you have to look up your husband's work number on your contact list
or you can clean a runny nose with your bare fingers and the back of your jeans in an emergency
or, even when you're bone tired, you can't lay your head on your pillow until you've checked on each one of your kids, asleep in their beds...and no matter how tough the day was...no matter how many drinks were spilled or tantrums were thrown or sibling disagreements were negotiated or pairs of underwear a single kid went through that day....seeing them sleeping there, so peaceful, so perfect, makes you wish the night away to hurry-up tomorrow. Because you love those high-maintenance little beasts more than life itself.

And, if you're like me, you don't do any of these things all the time, but you do most of them most of the time, which is worth celebrating.

Because you're a great mom.

Lesson Learned:
Happy Mother's Day, mamas! Now go enjoy a hot cup of coffee all by yourself!

my deep breath

I need to unload. I need to empty my brain that has been swirling and stressing and worrying and taking my heart to dark and scary places.

This kid.

This child who is so like me it breaks my heart.

This boy for whom life is So Hard, even though it doesn't have to be. Even though it isn't. It is.

My Evan who, since the day he was born, has kept me up at night. As an infant, he didn't sleep for longer than 2-hour chunks of time, day or night. And those were the good nights. As a toddler, when I was up in the middle of the night nursing Baby Max, I'd see him on the video monitor, wide awake at 2am, twirling his hair. He'd still be awake and twirling at Max's next feeding. Once he realized he could get out of that big boy bed all by himself, he would include us in his insomnia, needing one more sip of water or one more potty try or one more tuck-in because the stripes on his comforter were no longer straight.

I would get so frustrated and vent about my not-sleeping boy. Experienced parents would listen to me and chuckle. "You'll forget these sleepless nights soon enough," they'd promise, but then they'd finish with the ominous warning: "Just you wait. Little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems."

They were wrong. Little kids can have big problems, too. And forget those sleepless nights? You can't forget them when you're still having them. Even when he sleeps, I don't. Now, I'm the one up in the middle of the night, worrying about my sensitive, worrying boy. Trying not to cry and promising myself that it only seems so bad at night. The dawn of the new day will bring clarity and I will find the answer I'm looking for and fix him.

Only, I still haven't found it. I'm not sure I ever will. I'm a Mom. I'll always worry about each of these three little people I gave birth to....but Evan? He's the one I'll Worry about. Forever.

We are, once again, in a bad, bad place...like we circle back to once every six months or so. This time is hard because his anxiety is starting to affect him physically. He's not eating and he's losing weight. My 5th percentile string-bean has lost three pounds in the last week.

Usually his anxiety manifests as atrocious behavior at home. Arguing, demanding, screaming, etc. He is stubborn and he explodes easily. He is never violent and he rarely loses control outside of our house, but to Sam and me, he can be Mean. We also see his anxiety in separation. He longs for the weekends, even though he loves school, so that we can all be together. We have struggled with getting onto the bus in the mornings at various times during this school year. We've explored everything and we don't think there's an issue with the bus or the driver or the other kids...we think it's the saying goodbye. As much as he would protest riding the bus, he was always equally adamant that he didn't want us to drive him to school either (which I gladly would have done to alleviate that one worry...). He "didn't like" the car drop-off lane, even though he'd never experienced it.

And then there was the worry about Art Class, because he's not an artist and is still developing his fine motor skills and doesn't work quickly enough to complete his projects in the 45-minute class period.

And then they started practicing for the Kindergarten Musical. Which will include, obviously, singing. And a stage. And, probably, thousands of people staring right at him the entire time. Never mind that the only people who will be looking at him will be Sam, Max, Molly, and me...never mind that no one cares if he actually sings or not. Never mind that it's just a Kindergarten Musical. To a kid with anxiety, nothing is ever....just.

He's a little kid, but these are Big Problems. School anxiety is a Big Problem.

I tried to talk to his pediatrician about some of these issues at his 6-year well check-up on Monday. He brushed off my concerns about his not-eating and losing weight: "Kids go in spurts with their appetites," he said, "Just keep offering healthy meals and he'll eat when he's hungry." The kid comes home with a full lunch box and eats four carrot sticks with hummus for dinner. This is not a control issue. This is not a picky toddler phase. This is real.

I wish our former pediatrician had moved here with us.

I wish I knew the magic words to soothe his worried mind, or my own for that matter.

If we're using the oxygen-mask analogy....how will I ever help him put his on if I don't even know how to put on my own?

Lesson Learned:
You know when your kid wakes up with a drippy nose and you think, "Hmm? I wonder if I should take him in to the doctor..." But you decide to wait and see...and then the next day, you take one look at his sick eyes and you just know it's time....there's not even a moment's hesitation before you pick up that phone and schedule the appointment.....I'm there....sitting, phone in hand, knowing it's time to call someone. Now I just need to figure out who to call.

And, in the meantime, I need to enjoy the many happy, carefree moments that are to be found between the worrisome ones...because they're there.

I love this boy.

tadpoles!

Last summer, right after we moved into our new house, I had visions of a huge, beautiful, full vegetable garden that we would create. We would prepare the bed in the fall, plant it in the spring, and enjoy the fruits of our labor all summer. 

It didn't happen. 

And it's not going to happen this year. 

Other things came up....like a patio that we wanted to expand to make it more usable and a yard with several drainage and erosion "challenges,"that required us to call in the experts to fix. And there's that baby running around all over the place....too big to keep contained in one spot, too little to allow to run around with the big kids (there are just so many things to be picked up and eaten!). And life, as it always does, has gotten in the way...with places to go, people to see, and chores to do, the weekends of spring are slipping by. So the vegetable garden will have to wait. 

But there's something about the beginning of spring--it's the neon green of the leaves...the earthy, fragrant scent of the ground waking up... that makes me (and the rest of the world, I'm sure) want to go outside and get my hands dirty, so I have been missing my garden the last few weeks. 

I could hardly contain my excitement when my friend Clare texted me last week with Very Big News: She and her kids had discovered a Tadpole Pond! Did we want to go collect tadpoles after school the next day? YES! We did! Mud and muck and dirt and earth and nature and SCIENCE! Hooray!

(Retroactive Nerd Alert.)

Thursday, after school, we pulled on our muck boots and dusted off our bug bin. I strapped the baby into the Ergo pouch and we were off on an adventure. A tadpole adventure! We met up with our buddies and paired up: Two six-year olds in front, two mamas with babies in pouches in the middle, and two dawdling three-year olds bringing up the rear. 

We traipsed through the fields, alongside the creek, over a few bridges, until we reached the edge of the woods, tucked way deep down in the middle of our neighborhood. It was a long, pleasant walk...with occasional shouts of "Wait up!" or "It's my turn with the walking stick!" or "Stop swinging the walking stick so close to your brother!" And then, finally, we reached the pond. Mud puddle, really. And the tadpole collecting began!

I had wanted to get pictures, but with six kids between us; two of them sword-fighting with bamboo sticks, two of them up to their knees in mud, two of them strapped to our bellies and squirming to get down into the mud with the big kids, and two containers of slippery tadpoles, dripping slimy, muddy water down our arms, neither Clare nor I was able to properly capture the moment. 

That's what our return trip was for...for the pictures and to bring more friends back for tadpole collecting...and to collect more ourselves, these to bring in to Evan's classroom.

Saturday afternoon at the Tadpole Pond (also, with Daddy reinforcements, so Mommy could take the pictures):

This kid was the expert Spotter. He knew exactly where to place his jar to capture the squirmiest, liveliest 'poles of the pond. And he didn't stop trying until they were caught.

But this boy?

Oh, this boy was in it for the mud.

I think they could have stayed all day...

But we had to get home! We had a tadpole habitat to create! We had scooped up as much mud and pond water as would fit in our bug bin with the tadpoles. We wanted to put them in a larger bin at home, though, so we added some creek water from the creek across the street...and some rocks and sticks for the froglets to practice crawling up on once those legs develop. Our bin is deep, with high sides but only a few inches of water. We don't want those frogs hopping out too soon...

But for now, we watch them swim.

One of the kindergarten teachers at Evan's school gave him some Tadpole Food pellets to bring home. (A rather niche business, Tadpole Food pellet-production, don't you think?)

When that runs out, our neighbor, a veteran tadpole-raiser, suggested mashing up any leafy green...spinach, spring mix, whatever, as a quick and easy do-it-yourself tadpole food.

Our springtime pets. Perfect pets, really, as they live outside and will shortly be released back into their natural environment.

Lesson Learned:

Yay for spring! And, Yay for science! And, Yay for tadpoles! (And fingers crossed for a high success rate of tadpoles to frogs!) 

Fun at the Dentist!

Got a free day?

Feeling brave?

Energy to burn?

Pride to toss to the curb?

Then, have I got a day for you!

First, spend an hour and a half of your morning at the dentist. Bring your 3.5-year old for his appointment, too. And bring the wiggle-worm 14-month old. Strap her in the stroller while your teeth are being cleaned. Bring her snack to keep her occupied. She'll spill it all over the floor of the exam room, but that's okay. The hygienist will assure you, with a sigh, that there's a broom.....somewhere. It won't matter, because for the duration of your cleaning, the 3.5-year old will dance and twirl in the, approximately, 17-square inches of space not occupied by the dentist chair, hygienist, tool trays, X-ray equipment, stroller, etc., pulverizing the spilled snack into a hardly detectable dust.

When your baby grunts and pulls and lunges and yells in an attempt to escape from her stroller, direct the Big Brother to find her toy, any toy, or book, any book, or water bottle! Yeah, that'll occupy her--the water bottle! from the diaper bag. This will be tricky, as your mouth is full of a dentist's tooth polisher and the suction tube, which the hygienist repeatedly refers to as "Mr. Thirsty," even to the adult in the room. Your Big Boy Helper will have no idea what you're saying, but will appear to be helping as he digs through the bag. It will turn out that he just emptied to contents of your wallet into the bottom of the bag and that the water bottle is now leaking, but that's okay, too, because who carries cash anymore?

Once your teeth are clean and sparkling, hop that big boy up into the chair and grab some paper towels to clean up the snack dust. He'll do great during his cleaning, thank goodness, because by now, the baby is All Done at the dentist. You'll get her out of her stroller and she'll want to run. She can't, of course, so you'll hold her and bounce her and sway with her and distract her and she'll be thisclose to Losing It, so you're sweating and willing the hygienist to polish faster. The Big Boy's teeth will be finally be cleaned and the dentist will come in to do his final check. He'll start talking to you about...you know what? You won't know what he's talking to you about because you've got one foot out the door and a baby squirming out of one of your arms and a Big Boy asking you to "Hold me, please, Mommy?" while pulling on the other. And your once-organized bag is now bursting with the remnants of failed-distraction tactics and you're hoping you don't leave a trail of books and lovies and snack containers as you walk back through the waiting room. 

You'll make it out. Barely. Go home and make lunch very quickly because the animals are hungry and the clock is ticking to naptime (and that second cup of coffee).

After lunch, hustle the two upstairs because you need to squeeze their naps in before you get the Biggest Kid off the bus and whisk him to...yup. The Dentist.  

Spend an hour trying to get the kids to sleep. But they won't. Of all days, today they won't.

At 3:00, start preparing to leave for the dentist. The appointment isn't until 3:30, and it's just up the road, but you'll need to account for the I-don't-wanna's that are to come. I don't wanna go to the dentist. I don't wanna brush my teeth. I don't wanna stop playing. I don't wanna do a potty try. I don't wanna put my own shoes on.... These, coming from the oldest, are compounded by the whimpering coming from the 3.5-year old who is over-tired and super-cranky. Also adding to the fun, is the 14-month old, who ALSO is over-tired and WIRED: running around the house, happily screeching as she escapes your grasp, rolling all over the floor and laughing when you ask her to sit so you can put her shoes on. 

Drive back to the dentist.

Arrive a few minutes early, you know, to be polite. Wait for 20 minutes past your appointment time anyway. 

Once back in the tiny, cramped room, try to occupy the two who have already seen and touched everything in the room once today. Let the 3.5-year old spin on the floor on his back because, well, at least he's no longer whimpering. Pace the room with the baby, pointing at and naming Every. Single. Thing. in the room. Sink. Paper towels. Soap Dispenser. Mirror. Cabinet. Sonicare Flyer. Computer. Latex Gloves. Dentist Tool Tray. Mr. Thirsty.......The hygienist will, mercifully, clean the big boy's teeth in record time, sensing that, once again, the end of the relative calm is rapidly approaching.

The dentist will poke his head in, with a telephone in his hand, and say, "Just give me a minute, I'm getting a second opinion on that wayward tooth of his." 

***

Aside:

Remember that? The extra tooth that showed up on the X-ray Evan had a few months back? The adult canine tooth growing in between his two front adult teeth? And it's upside-down? Yeah. You can see it here:

Turns out our dentist has never before seen it and is seeking outside opinions. The tooth is still way up high. His front teeth aren't even a little wiggly. I know it's something we'll have to figure out at some point, probably relatively soon, but today? Let's just clean and be done for today. And another thing: I'm all for professional collaboration. I'm just a little concerned about the fact that our dentist has no idea who to collaborate with on this issue. He said he called a pediatric dentist and an orthodontist, neither of whom returned his call. (??) So now he's on the phone with an oral surgeon, who isn't picking up. Does that strike anyone else as odd?

***

So now, all tooth-cleaning is complete and you're awaiting the next step...more X-rays? Go home? The dentist is still on hold with the oral surgeon. The baby is arching her back and screeching in a no-longer-happy, adorable tone. She wants to get down and she wants to touch and try to eat everything in the room. You do your best to keep her relatively contained in a relatively clean and safe corner. The biggest boy, still in the chair, is begging to go home and flat-out refusing to have X-rays, which he may not even need.

And the dentist is still on hold.

The 3.5-year old is now, literally, spying on the patient in the room next door. You let him because, by definition, spies are quiet. This is the first time he hasn't been talking/whimpering/complaining/on the floor since you returned to the office.

The dentist comes back into the room.

The baby is crying and flailing.

The spy was caught and is embarrassed, head buried in your leg.

The dentist was not able to speak to the oral surgeon. The dentist starts talking, at length, about his opinions, or rather, lack of opinions on the Wayward Canine Issue.  The baby is pulling your hair and kicking her legs. The big boy is pulling your arm, trying to lead you out of the room. The biggest boy is sitting, smugly, in the chair, as it becomes apparent that he won't be having X-rays taken today.

The dentist is still talking.

The baby is seriously about to propel herself onto the floor, so you help her down but barricade her from sucking on the wires that are coming out of the dentist chair. Now that you're down low, the big boy is in your face saying, "Excuse me, Mommy. I have to tell you something. Excuse me. Excuse me. Mommy? I said Excuse me. Did you hear me Mommy? I was so polite. I said Excuse me, Mommy. Mommy? Did you hear me?"

The dentist stops talking and looks at you. You have half of your body wrapped around your baby, trying to keep her from pulling Mr. Thirsty out of his stand. Half of your ponytail has been pulled out of the elastic and is frizzing up around your face. Your free hand is giving the universal sign for "WAIT A SECOND, PLEASE" to the 3.5-year old and your now-bored Biggest Boy is rifling through your bag, looking for your phone. 

"You know what?" the dentist begins, "Why don't we just give this some time to develop. We'll see if we want to take some films at the next appointment. Oh, and we'll also want to start doing fluoride treatments. And, of course, we'll want to take the bite-wing films, now that he's got his six-year molars in. Do you think it'll be comfortable for him then? At his next appointment? To do the bite-wings? I know some kids don't mind it but for some it's a real problem?"

All hell is breaking loose.

You shake your head. You say, "I don't know. I just...I don't know." You gather your things and your children. You leave your pride on the floor next to one last puff that missed both the twirling/pulverizing and the paper-toweling from this morning.

You walk out of the dentist office, get the kids in the car,  and look at the clock, thankful that it's just about time for Daddy to come home. And for a beer. 

Lesson Learned:

I think we'll be shopping for a new dentist. I want a dentist who knows what to do with a Wayward Canine. I'd also like one who knows when it's time to stop discussing bite-wings. Oh, and, obviously I  can't show my face in there again.

Ninjago! The Birthday Party

If your kid has a birthday coming up and is between the ages of 5 and 8, I suggest you gently coax him or her into Loving Ninjago with all of his or her heart. It won't be hard....you can find shows, books, clothes, and about a million toys in the Ninjago section of practically any store on the planet to woo him or her. And then, just go ahead and spend a few minutes on Pinterest and Instagram (I promise, it'll only take you a few to find what it is you're looking for...). When it comes time to decide upon a Birthday Party Theme, your child will beg you for a Ninjago Birthday Party, you'll be bursting with simple yet Awesome ideas for decorations and games, the Party will practically plan itself, and the day will be a huge success. Trust me on this one. This was the easiest and most fun party yet. And we've had some good ones. (Dinosaur Train, Cars 2, and Mickey Mouse, were the big thematic parties of birthdays past.)

So here we go: Evan's Ninjago Birthday Party!

We kept this party small. He invited only six friends; his "most Ninjago-ish friends," meaning: The kids from his class who also play with Ninjago and who know the characters, story line, etc. This was helpful, actually, as it would have been a bit much to have to, for example, explain to novices what a shuriken is, or the fact that Lord Garmadon becomes Lord Garmitron in The Final Battle, and Lloyd Garmadon is the son who is bad but becomes good, and Zane is the robot ninja, and Nya likes Jay, and the stone army warriors are, for a brief time, controlled by the brown ninja, who isn't really a ninja, but he helps the ninja, so.......see what I mean? It's a good thing I'm a fast learner. And that Evan is a walking Ninjago Encyclopedia.

But small parties work best for us, anyway, and this was a Just Right number.

When each guest arrived, he received a red Ninja Band (pictured below). These are just strips cut from a red t-shirt. About half chose to wear theirs as headbands, and half as belts. The Goodie Boxes are Ninjago-colored Chinese take-out boxes. I printed "Ninjago Eyes" onto self-sticking labels, cut them out, and stuck them on. (All images used on decorations and invitations were found on Google Images or the official Ninjago website.) Each box contained a Lego Minifigure, two homemade origami Ninja Stars, and some Ninjago stickers.

For the decorations, we made gold, red, and black Chinese lanterns and hung them all over the party area. I think I'll recycle them next Chinese New Year, actually, because I liked them so much...

We ordered helium balloons in the Ninja colors (black, white, blue, green, and red). I printed large "Ninjago Eyes" onto cardstock, which I then taped to the balloons.

I wrapped juice boxes in the same Ninjago-colored construction paper and added more Ninjago eyes. These, I printed on address labels to make adhering them to the juice boxes quick and easy.

Here's the table set-up. There are Chinese lanterns, in different sizes, hung from the windows on all sides of the table.

I also made a birthday banner, as I do for all birthdays. For this one, I used the Wonton font (I downloaded it, free, from dafont.com). I also found some black dragon images on Google Images to separate the words.)

On Pinterest, I saw SO MANY great ideas for food for this party. People made sushi cakes by slicing Swiss Cake Rolls, or sashimi candy with Rice Krispie treats and Swedish fish. I saw adorable Ninjago cupcakes made with fondant to look like each of the Ninja's faces...one mom served blue corn tortilla chips and salsa labeled as "Dragon Scales with Fire Sauce," which was particularly clever and easy....but I kept it even more simple than that. We had cupcakes (plain ol' vanilla and chocolate) with toppers (images printed, cut out, and glued onto toothpicks) and fruit "katanas."

Super simple, and just enough for a 3 pm birthday party.

Of course, no birthday party would be complete without games. We structured the games around a Ninja Training Schedule. Each child received a card with the Schedule of Games printed on it. After each game, he received a sticker. When his card was filled with stickers, he had completed his Ninja Training and had achieved the much-desired Green Ninja Status. If you know Ninjago, you know this is Very Special. All of the games we played were quick. I wanted to keep the kids moving. (That lesson was learned as a kindergarten teacher. Keep 'em busy, keep 'em happy.)

Party Game #1: Sensei Says

We played this like Simon Says, with each kid getting a turn to be Sensei. It went very well. Until Max said, " Sensei says, 'Kidnap!'" Which was, at once, surprising, alarming, and hilarious. The kids had no idea how to 'Kidnap!', which was refreshing. I suggested instead, "Sensei says, 'Touch your nose?'" 

Party Game #2: Pin the Veil on Nya

Nya, Kai's sister, doubles, undercover, as Samurai X. While undercover, she wears a veil to mask her true identity. The storyline begged for this game. Unfortunately, I forgot to take an after picture, but the "veils" were just red pieces of construction paper cut to shape, with a roll of painter's tape on the back. 

Party Game #3: Jay's Target Practice

I was kind of grasping at straws for the game to represent Jay ("Ninja of Lightning"). Ultimately, we just gathered soft golf balls (the dense foam ones that don't bounce much) and containers of various shapes and sizes. The kids tried to get the balls into the targets, simple as that. And yes, just about as chaotic as you would expect it to be when 6 six-year olds, 1 five-year old, and 1 three-year old all start tossing balls at the same time in the same vicinity. You may want to give this game some more thought.

Party Game #4: Kai's Obstacle Course

In our basement playroom, we made a "Ninja Hop" (hopscotch) game using painter's tape on the rug. From there, the kids had to crawl through the Underworld (play tunnel), perform three acts of Spinjitzu (three jump spins on the trampoline), and ride the dragon (horse ride-on toy) to the Shrine of the Shurikens (a large bin filled with ball-pit balls, with origami ninja stars hidden within). 

Party Game #5: Zane's Shuriken Toss

So each kid ended the Obstacle Course with a Shuriken (the directions to make origami ninja stars can be found online or, if you purchase cool metallic origami paper, ahem, in the enclosed instructions). The Shuriken Toss involves trying to knock balloons off pedestals, using the found shurikens...

The pedestals are covered paper towel rolls stuck into Lego brick bases. 

After watching the Target Practice, we played this game one-at-a-time...those ninja stars have SHARP points. It was a great group of kids, though, who were just as happy to cheer on their buddy as to play themselves. (Such a lucky boy, my Evan is, to be surrounded by such nice friends.)

Party Game #6: Cole's Brick Blast

This was the favorite. By far. And all you need is a doorway, an uncle who will repeatedly reset the "bricks" and, waiting behind the wall, pretend to be Lord Garmadon, taunting the young ninja to just try to find him. Oh, and someone  in the house with a penchant for online shopping. Amazon and Zulily boxes work best for this game. Kohl's boxes work well, too. Just sayin'.

And finally, it was time for cake.

A pre-candle blow-out ninja chop is optional. But a good choice.

Lesson Learned:

Oh, this was a fun one. And, for the first time, Evan's nerves didn't get the best of him. There was no pre- or post-party fever. There was no mid-party meltdown. There was just pure fun and happiness. Pure NINJA fun and happiness. 

And now, for the pre-party photo shoot pictures....

Evan took this one:

Practicing Ninja Moves

Ninja Baby

He had to move the hair from off his forehead in order to show his "Ninja Face."

Ninja Guys

My Love.

Six Year Old Love.