Lego Party

My house looks like a fabric shop exploded, got run over by a mack truck full of Christmas and then 3 kids and a baby ran through it.

And I'm happy.

November and December are tough months for us, because Mr. Chaos is in and out of town with the Nutcracker.
He's in Idaho this week.
I think.

I know he started the week driving up to Pullman, Washingtion.  

...
yup, I checked, the tour schedule says Idaho.

We also have 2 birthdays and Thanksgiving.

Hence the random silence on my part.

~ Today ~ 

I'm watching a friend's infant - 7 months old - part time while she goes to school.

So there's baby toys scattered around and bottles in my kitchen.

I was inspired by sophie to set up a bunch of tables and quilt last night, and didn't put anything away.

 and I began to decorate for Christmas.

I got my window lights up!

~ Rewind ~

I threw two totally awesome parties for Jack and Tess.

A Rapunzel party and a Lego party.

Lego Party first.

Saturday was Jack's Lego party, which was a huge success.

I made a Lego cake and everything.

Simplest Party ever.

I pushed all our furniture against the walls to make a big open space.

I bought two boxes of basic Legos and  20 mini-packs of individual figures, set them out on a table
- I didn't bother with a tablecloth - they're boys, they don't care.

I thought the runner was festive enough.

and wham -   added the boys.

They built stuff and ran around, like boys do.
(One of the dads stayed, with his two older kids - a high schooler and a middle schooler - all three of them were playing with the legos too.)

When arguments started to break out
(if you put 12 8-year-old boys in the same room, they WILL argue)
it was cake time.

I scheduled the party from 3-4:30, which meant I didn't need to feed everyone.
(tee-hee, super sneaky me!)

They had cake, ice cream and fruit punch or apple juice.

Paper plates and cups  - no dishes to clean!

When that was done, we did presents.

They all sat remarkable well while Jack read every card out loud and opened everything.

Then they ran around and played until the parents showed up
(which wasn't very long at all)

Perfect timing.

Score Mom.

The best part?
Once everyone left clean up was super simple.
No mess, no fuss.

The kids spent the rest of the day playing with the new toys.

Jack got lots of legos and graciously chose to share with his sisters.

~At our house there are no "mines" but when you get a new toy,
you don't have to share on your first day.
works like a charm.
The siblings learn to be patient, knowing that they'll get to try the new stuff tomorrow.~

They played for hours.

I didn't even make him wash his face until bedtime.

Feed him Hawaiian Punch and he gets a red mustache.

every time.

Now he's eight.  EIGHT!
when did that happen?

What happened to my 3-year-old?