Par Tay

So all those weeks of planning and thinking have come to fruition. Abby wanted a Pet Shop party. Wouldn't you know, but NONE of the stores carry any Pet Shop party stuff. So, I went online and googled "birthday" and got a list of sites. Birthday Direct had everything we needed. Plates, cups, napkins, tablecloths, banners, invites. Hooray for the internet.

Once I had the party stuff in hand, we focused on spiffing up the house. We put up the Christmas stuff to make it more festive, we cleaned and cleaned, and put things away. Nana helped stage some of the pictures and knick knacks in the hutch to make it look better. We moved the kitchen table into the living room to make room for the small table and chairs for the party. Getting the house ready was really quite a deal. Took longer than the actual party.

As the kids arrived, we had them go over to the table and pick dog ears or cat ears. Everyone picked cat ears. Then they went to play in Abby's room while we waited for everyone to arrive. The first order of business was the CRAFT.

So first, I was going to have them make dog collars out of fun foam and decorate them with foam stickies shaped like dogs and cats and whatnot. In the practice run, the collars had to be so wide to fit the shapes, they looked like whiplash collars. So, that idea was scrapped. But I already had all this fun foam, so what to do? Again, went online and googled "fun foam crafts" and got all sorts of ideas, but most of them needed a lot of preparation. I thought, what do pets need besides collars--dishes to eat out of. So I looked for how to make a dish out of fun foam. Didn't have anything, but there was some sites about how to fold paper into a bowl. Awesome. So we made origami pet dishes and fun foam placemats. The parents had to help the kids fold, but when they opened the bowl and discovered it really did make a dish, you could hear the "wows" around the table. Yay, score one for a neat, cheap, craft. Can't get much more economical than paper. And placemats were super easy. Just stick the stickies. No cutting required.

Then, we had them go to the living room where Nana lead a game of "Doggy Doggy where's your bone". I think they had fun with that. One person is the dog and hides their eyes while another steals a bone from under their chair. Then, the doggie has three chances to pick the stealer. It was cute. While they were doing that, I cleaned up the craft stuff and prepared for the cake and ice cream.

After "Doggy", we sent the kids to "Obedience School" with a game of "Trainer says". Simon says, but Sean was the "trainer". It was really funny to watch. One girl was really good at listening for the "trainer says" part. Most of them did whatever Sean commanded, whether he said "trainer says" or not. They all "graduated" and got a Certificate of Achievement with their name on it for completing "Obedience Training".

Then we did cake and ice cream. I made cupcakes and put a hershey's kissable and three mini m&ms in the shape of a pawprint on top. I also made Puppy Chow, which the parents really liked.

Then it was presents and go home time. What a day! I think they all had fun. Abby got so many presents, it was a little ridiculous. We even had a big surprise present in the basement that I think we'll keep for Christmas.

After the party, we had Nathan's party. Poor boy. His birthday and his sister has the big party. He doesn't like to get his hands goopy, so he wanted me to feed him his cupcake. He liked all his new toys. One big hit was a book that Manuela sent with Thomas the Train, and you push buttons to hear music. He likes one of the little songs so much he started this little dance that is hysterical. I think we got it on video, so I'll try to download it soon. I found a thing for him on clearance at Wal mart that has toy story cars and a flexible track and the cars run around the track on batteries. He sat and watched that thing for hours. He loves it. He figured out that if he puts his finger on the track, the cars will eventually run into his finger and derail so that he can catch them.

Now Sean and I are thinking that Christmas is just around the corner and we are on toy overload. I think we'll just have to sort through all the little baby toys that they've outgrown and donate them somewhere. Ahh, now I can relax a bit. No more big events to plan, as Christmas will be a small event compared with the Thanksgiving scavenger hunt and the Pet Shop Birthday.