Backwards Birthday Party

28 07 2013

We survived! And we even had fun, hosting our first at-home birthday party for Kajsa. Kajsa was thrilled to have 9 friends able to come celebrate her birthday… especially since it was a  “Backwards, Upside Down, Wacky Party”. We sent out mirror invitations (you held the invitation up to a mirror to read it); kids were invited to wear items of clothing backwards if they wished; and we played some backwards games in addition to some “normal” games. Normal: Hide and Seek;

Backwards games: Kickball, Red Light/Green Light and Goose Goose Duck.  As kids arrived they could color in a piece of paper with their names spelled backwards in block letters…. and for party favor bags we gave out silly putty, Tangle Toys, and some Scratch ‘n Sniff Stickers.

Sticking with the “Backwards, Upside Down, Wacky” theme, we had an upside down birthday cake. It was truly a team effort: Jim and Kajsa went shopping for ingredients, Kajsa helped stir, frost, and did lots of watching… and Thelma loaned me the cake pans, helped with the cake strategy, and stopped by several times to help out when I needed help. Thanks, team!! Clearly I’m not a cake decorator, but it was fun making this one. 

I had hoped to do a lot more with the theme… eating cake under the table, for instance. And blowing up lots of balloons to hang from the ceiling.  But time either got away from us (as in the balloon instance) or we thought better of the idea (eating under the table…. Abby would have loved all that people food at her level!).

Thankfully, our six year old is sometimes very understanding: after everyone left yesterday I sighed and said,

“Kajsa, I’m so sorry. We never even had time to blow up and hang all those balloons!”

“That’s ok, mom,” she said. “I can live a life without balloons.”

🙂





Happy 6th Birthday, Kajsa!

25 07 2013

Happy 6th Birthday to Kajsa Ling!!

ImageImageThis morning she had a birthday breakfast of a doughnut with candle… (ok, she didn’t eat the candle. Just the doughnut.) And she loved all the balloons we had blown up for her. She’ll have more balloons come Saturday, when we have her friends birthday party… but this is enough balloons in the house for today!





Happy Birthday, Kajsa!

25 07 2012

still 4, last night.

The almost-14 year old

Kajsa’s “5” on the mirror

Annie (my sister) and I had fun working on the cake today.

Last night she was 4… today she’s 5. It’s so simple, and yet so hard to believe at the same time. She had a fun day, as did we.

Last night after Kajsa fell asleep, I did a little decorating, including this polka-dot number 5 on the hall mirror. It was so fun to watch her today. Tonight she asked me “Are we going to leave my number 5 on the mirror forever?”

Probably not, I answered.. but I’m glad you like it.

Last week I bought the game “Trouble” at a thrift store. Awesome deal, unopened game… gotta love that.

Kajsa loves the game.

And we’ve played it almost every day, sometimes several times a day. So when I was stumped on what to make for Kajsa’s cake, I settled on the board game “Trouble”.

It was loads of fun,  and sometimes challenging. ..  And yes, I realize that the pop-bubble has a distinct letter “M” on it. (It was the best thing we had, and we only had that because Jim sacrificed for the cause, and bought a sundae today. Thank you, Jim.) …..

“Trouble” game cake.

And thanks, Fred, for taking the last picture here.. of Kajsa with her cake.

Happy Birthday, Kajsa!  (photo by Fred)





Happy Birthday, Abby!

7 11 2011

It’s her birthday. Abby’s 13 years old today. Hard to believe. Tonight after supper, Jim and Kajsa gave her a couple pieces of bologna, some bacon, and a special chicken-jerky treat we bought for her.

The photos are all from today–not necessarily birthday-related, just all from her birthday.

Licking out a cereal cup. Don't worry--dishes go in the dishwashing machine, after they go through the dog dishwasher!

Kajsa and I were playing "Blues Clues" game today, and Abby thought she should play too.

Though it appears that Abby is eating Kajsa's hand, she's not. Rather, she's eating the piece of bologna Kajsa's holding out for her.