Samantha's 13th Birthday Party with Friends

As the kids are getting older, they are gravitating away from the usual types of birthday parties -- ones with crafts and games and a a whole slew of kids running around.  Instead, the guest lists are limited to closer friends (especially with the ongoing, never-going-away pandemic) and I find myself thinking a bit "outside of the box" to make each party unique.  

Earlier this Fall, I came up with the idea of doing an "escape room" at our house (!!!) for Samantha in honor of her 13th birthday -- something that she would truly remember forever.  Most of Samantha's friends were not familiar with what one was (Samantha wasn't either), but once I explained the concept: they have to work together as a team to solve the mystery/be able to escape within a certain window of time, they seemed excited to try.  They would find clues around the room, sometimes not knowing right away how to use them or fit them together, and hopefully be successful before the timer ran out.

Continuing with a red and black theme, I set up the guest tables in the back Family Room:

With 6 guests plus Sam and Sophia, we had the perfect setting for 8 people:

I asked Sophia to be my assistant -- oh, how much fun both of us had! -- and we worked tirelessly on the event for quite some time.  I bought a kit online and then added to it/further embellished it to make it work for our party.  We gathered props and made the room as realistic as possible, even filling "blood bags."

The theme was: "Mix Up at the Morgue" and we set up everything in the basement (in true-morgue style).  We used the pool table and the air hockey table as the autopsy tables and the girls were both horrified and entranced by the scene once I allowed them to enter the area.  (Side note: Samantha was not allowed in the basement for the entire week before the party and I asked some neighbors to come over and try it out ahead of time to determine if there were any issues.  There ended up being a few things that Sophia and I made adjustments to and things went very smoothly for the party).

I found the plastic feet online at a discounted price after Halloween and Sophia even painted the toe nails to make them more realistic.  The toe tag was one of the clues ...

Lots of extras were set up over on the side and appropriately labeled: urine sample, bile, stomach contents, formaldehyde ...

Some things, like this digestive system learning guide, were just props to add confusion to the event.  They worked!  And chocolate-wrapped eyeballs in a jar - yum!

Ultimately, the girls (there were 7 of them in total) had to figure out what information went with which case file for five different female bodies that were all brought into the morgue at the same time and had become mixed up.  They needed to determine the name of each deceased member, which two personal effects went with each one and where each body was supposed to go after the autopsy.

Jack helped set up the file folders on a table:

The side tables each contained some important information that the girls gathered but weren't sure what to do with right away.  For example, the zip code on one of the envelopes on the table ended up being the combination to a lock that opened up a bag with more clues in it.

The other autopsy table with some personal effects in the corner and a dry-erase board with clues hidden on it:

Steve's computer was set up in the corner with the County Morgue symbol on it.  The girls found a flash drive and figured out that they needed to plug it into the computer to access the files on it (again, more clues!).

Trying to figure out what to do with this bag of blood ...

Putting puzzle pieces together to get one of the clues:

Working as teams:

One of my favorite parts -- which I did not get a picture of -- was the jello-brain that was inside of a cooler and locked with a combination lock.  When the girls finally figured out the combination, they were not prepared for the realistic-looking brain that was inside.  Ooooh!  They were so grossed out!  And then they groaned when the figured out that they would need to dig into the brain to get the key that was inside of it.  Ha!

The girls were given 60 minutes ... with the timer counting down ... and managed to solve the mystery and "escape" with just 1.5 minutes to spare.  The adrenaline was running high and Sophia and I kept exchanging looks with one another wondering if they were going to make it.

Afterwards, I loved that they were all chattering away about it.  They were re-living some of their mistakes, talking about their favorite parts and just plain excited that they did it!

Earlier, the girls had mashed potatoes, homemade chicken tenders, veggies and applesauce for dinner; but now, they were starving and it was the perfect time to have cake and ice cream.  And some brain cupcakes!

I did not give Samantha any ideas as to what her cake was going to look like and she laughed so hard when she first saw it.  Yup, the autopsy table -- complete with fondant feet and a toe tag -- with locks, keys and her real birthday with fondant numbers dyed to look like body organs.

It tasted great and I surprised her with SPARKLER candles!  After all, you only turn 13 once!

The "thank you gifts" were dark red body lotion and shower gel from Bath & Body Works, along with some hand sanitizer (you can never have too much during the pandemic!) and chapstick.

Samantha is the best at opening gifts.  She takes her time, is thoughtful and thanks everyone accordingly.  Her friends know her SO well too.

Yup, a great group of girls!

Afterwards, some of the girls went home and some of them stayed for a sleep-over.  Luckily, we were able to clean up the basement pretty quickly and the girls just stayed on a mattress down there.  With a TV and a few snacks, they kept to themselves and then came upstairs the next morning for my homemade french toast sticks once they smelled the bacon cooking.  Many of them, including Samantha are on the basketball team and needed to leave by 10 am for the game later that day too so it worked out perfectly!

Mid-Week Randoms

This Fall, Samantha learned to crochet.  She has become quite skilled at knitting, but was interested in learning the difference between the two techniques.  She joined a class at school and one of the first patterns that she used was one to make a cow.  It turned out great (!) and she now has plans to make some more creations.

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Each Fall, there is a PACK RUN fundraiser to raise money for the Laingsburg schools.  I donate enough for the kids to each receive a t-shirt (Sophia is a big fan of them and tends to wear them year-round) and this year, I even sponsored my businesses and had those names listed on the back.  While the PACK RUN was more subdued than usual with less obstacles and events due to covid restrictions -- and was rescheduled once due to inclement weather -- the kids were still able to participate and looked great wearing their pumpkin-themed shirts.

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A Fall craft: painting tile magnets for the refrigerator.  We have one of our neighbors to thank for this kit.  We had so much fun with it that I even purchased a second one that we can make more to give as gifts. 

Some of my refrigerator magnets were getting old and I was happy to replace of them with these beauties.

Jimmy was feeling a little under the weather and did not help at first, but once he got up from his nap, he was anxious to make a few too.  Samantha was at dance class but she also made a couple the next day to add to our collection.

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It has been quite some time since we did temporary tattoos in this house -- the girls used to do them ALL OF THE TIME -- but Jimmy discovered some in a drawer and was excited to choose two shark tattoos ... one for each arm.

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Spirit Days at school calls for Wolfpack paws on your face and school colors (red and white).  I just hand-drew the paw and colored it in with make-up and it turned out pretty great.  Bonus: it stayed on all day and Samantha managed to not smear it at all.

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One of the things that I admire about Samantha is her enthusiasm to participate in spirit-activities that many of her friends might not due.  She isn't afraid to dress-up and were her hair in a wacky style.  I hope that that never changes ...

One of the Spirit Days was to dress up like a movie character.  She borrowed my costume and the shoes (how she managed to not twist her ankle that day is simply a miracle) and she absolutely nailed the look of Dorothy!

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First real snowfall of the season!

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Halloween 2021

 With Halloween on a Sunday this year, I feel like we were able to spread out all of the festivities and not feel quite as rushed as we often do when it Falls on a weekday.  We were still basking in the glow of the big MSU win over UofM the day before and a fun Halloween Party at a friend's house so I opted to keep the meal simple with soup and salad and a few desserts so little prep was involved there.  

The kids found their trick-or-treat bags that they use each year and had them sitting out by mid-morning and had already helped themselves to the "good candy" in the bowl before lunch.  The weather was looking decent -- still a bit chilly, maybe some light drizzle, but no snow or strong winds like we have become accustomed to here lately.

Still sporting his crazy moustache, Steve dressed up as a ref and joined Snow White, Cruella de Vil, Darth Vader and an alien for the photo:

Then it was my turn as the Queen of Hearts:

James did a quick wardrobe change (as we can afford to do with the many costumes that we have acquired over the years) and trick-or-treated through the neighborhood as Iron Man:

We spent about 1.5 hours out and about; stopping back by home once for warmer gloves and a bathroom break.  We also checked on Grandpa, who was home passing out candy to all of the other goblins that came to our door.

Some fun glasses that were a highlight for Jimmy:

All smiles as she began to sort out and trade whichever candy she was not allowed to have due to her braces this year.

My hot-blooded boy had already stripped down to shorts despite it being near-freezing temperatures outside.

The pile in the middle was everything that the kids did not want.  I wasn't too sad about it because it contained some of my favorites.  Grandpa scored all of the Almond Joy bars too!

Carving Pumpkins

Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, so we opted to carve pumpkins on Friday afternoon -- shortly after the kids got home from school.  While I was disappointed to learn that the school Halloween parties would end up being muted again this year due to COVID (no parents allowed to attend; no homemade treats could be supplied), I was really looking forward to the outdoor Halloween parade with all of the kids in costumes.  It would be Jimmy's first school parade and Sam was playing in the 8th grade band.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and that, too, was canceled due to rain.

To curb any other disappointment, I made sure that the carving table was set up and snacks were made for the kids to be able to jump right in after unpacking their school bags.  The weekend was made even sweeter by the fact that it would be a 3-day weekend with Monday off school due to a scheduled Professional Development Day for the teachers.

Jimmy managed to choose the tallest pumpkin in the lot and found himself having to scoop out a lot of the innards ...

Jack went with a perfectly-round pumpkin and there was no shortage of seeds inside.

My soon-to-be-a-teenager, still happy to carve pumpkins with her siblings.

Sophia had her mind made up very early with her design this season.  She needed a LARGE pumpkin and a few props and she was one happy pumpkin-carver. 

The finished products:

Braces!!!  - to commemorate her first Halloween with braces on:

 

Jimmy had a little help with his, but was very confident in his design as he directed me:

Steve (with the most annoying moustache ever) kept his pumpkin plain and simple:

Sophia painted her small pumpkin first, added some glow-in-the-dark eyeballs, and some bony hands and it turned out just as she had pictured it.

Pictures at the Lake

The last couple of years, I have been more 'on the ball' and have planned ahead to make sure to take pictures of the kids for our annual Christmas card a little earlier than usual.  If we wait until sometime in November, the weather is often questionable (cold, windy, dreary) and the kids are not as cooperative. 

As the kids get older though, not only are they easier to work with -- smiling at the camera and following directions -- they often suggest ideas for where they would like to pose and have their picture taken.  Some of our best pictures have come from their suggestions. 

This blond-haired, blue eyed boy is 5 1/2 years old now and the sweetest, most lovable kid ever.  James is always smiling and has never met a stranger.  He is equally polite to both adults and kids and is the perfect bookend to our family.

 

Sophia, our other blue-eyed child, who is 10 1/2 years old now, is also a very happy-go-lucky girl.  She aims to please, is fiercely loyal and  reminds me the most of myself when I was younger.  

A picture with the most perfect Michigan backdrop: the lake in the background and an evergreen tree over to the side.

 

Jack, almost 8 1/2 years old, chose his own personal location and it was well-suited for him: the edge of the lake with the waves lightly rippling along.  He's the hardest worker that you will ever meet, strives for perfection and takes the role of being Jimmy's big brother seriously.

Samantha, our soon-to-be teenager this Fall, wanted a more contemplative picture and I think that we nailed it!  She is getting used to her braces and loving the new-found independence that comes along with being an 8th grader.  

Even though this picture was taken in October, the day was unseasonably warm (lots of global climate changes taking place) and the trees were still holding their leaves, making a very picturesque backdrop for us.

Two sisters, just over two years apart in age.  Both with curly hair; one with blue eyes and one with brown eyes.  So different in personality but bonded together for life.

These two have their own special bond, as well.  Both blue-eyed.  Both the younger genders in the family.

And then, once we got back to our house, I asked the girls to come with me into the woods where the leaves were just starting to change color.

Sam was working on her serious pose, again :)