Old McMicah Had a Birthday....

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a Lego Duplo Read and Build House Party hostess and at the same time I was also in the process of planning Micah's 2nd birthday party, which happens to fall on the same day as the houseparty, when it hit me... I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer... No, Seriously, I decided to build my entire party around the Lego Duplo Read and Build Busy Farm theme. Starting with the food... I'll be making corn pups for the kids. (Hot dogs + Jiffy corn bread mix in mini muffin tins) with homemade Bbq sauce, Chicken feed (Chex mix with craisins and M&M's) served in cute little farm themed cups I found at Party City, A veggie tray with ranch dip and frozen yogurt popsicles in lieu of ice cream (Here's the link with pics and directions from my blog...http://midlifemommyadventures.blogspot.com/2012/07/yummy-frozen-yogurt-pops.html). For the grown ups, I'm making a few sub sandwiches and cutting them into party sized pieces (I'm expecting quite a few adults and figured this would go pretty far without spending a whole lot of money), the veggie tray that the kids probably won't touch and I'll be serving chips and dip. For drinks, I'm keeping it simple, Sweet tea and lemonade and some sort of diet drink (probably crystal light). I've ordered a cake from Publix and had them decorate it with grass, sky and a red barn and I'm using some little animal figures we already had to finish it off. I found some red and white gingham plates for the adults and farm themed plates plus the Lego napkins that were supplied with the kit, for the kids. Games: I've got a few simple games planned, since the ages will be ranging from 2 to 8 and everything in between, I felt simple was best. I found a pin the tail on the donkey game at party City on sale for 1.49 and snatched it up real quick. I also enlisted help from my mom since she's had over (mumbles as not to reveal my age) years of experience with throwing awesome kid's birthday parties. She reminded me of the clothes pin game, it's simple but fun. The object is easy, get as many clothespins into the jar as possible. Give each child X amount of clothespins and set a Mason jar or other wide mouth container at their feet, have them hold the clothespins waist level and drop them into the jar. Oldie but goodie, Hot potato, to the tune of Old McDonald Had a Farm. I also figured out a way to have fun with the read and build kits and ensure every kid gets a prize... I opened the kits and put 1 animal (unassembled) into a goodie bag. I put all the bags into a large box and I'm going to let each child have a turn picking a bag, then we'll sit down together and as I'm reading, each child will build their animal along with the story... Problem solved! Goodie Bags: I used a clear cellophane bag with a balloon print and filled them with all of Micah's favorite goodies... A mini butterfinger bar, the sticker sheet and frame from the Houseparty kit, some mini sized bubbles I grabbed right after Halloween on clearance for only .75 cents, a few mini Reese's peanut butter cups, a few temporary tattoos I got super cheap at the dollar store, a smiley face candy Micah picked out and I also found 24 count Crayola crayons on sale 4/$1 at Toys R Us and snagged them up 12 at a time, like a crazy woman. I decided to make the goodie bags boy/girl specific... I'm a rebel like that... for the girls, I found a pack of 14 heart shaped bracelets for $1.00 and I divvied them up, and for the boys, I found a pack of plastic lizards (I know of one little monster who will especially love these, since his real ones died.... kill proof lizards, what could be better?!). I can't wait to see how much fun all my little monsters have at our party! I almost think I'm more excited than the kids... Ok, I KNOW I am. For My out of town fam and friends, Don't worry, I will post an exorbitant amount of pictures to follow Saturday's blow-out... or blow-up, depending on whether all the kids get their appropriate naps before the party.