Natural Mom, Healthy Child » Natural Birthday

Claire’s Spy Birthday Party

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:29:17 +0000

Last Saturday, we had 20 second grade girls to our house to help Claire celebrate her 8th birthday. First of all, I can not believe my girl is 8! and second they had a great time with the Spy theme that Claire picked out. I have to admit, this was the least “natural” party we have ever had, due to limited time and budget. Whoever tells you that it does not take more to live naturally in today’s world is either Superwoman or a little meshugana. Even if the party wasn’t as natural as I liked, there were a lot of fun activities and my little girl had a great birthday. In the end, that’s what it’s all about…

Spy Birthday Party

To set the stage, Mark and I cleared out all the furniture from the living room (not hard considering our lack of furniture) and created a cityscape back drop out of a black table cloth and butcher paper. We set up two tables in the living room (black clothes with white butcher paper down the middle) for activities and later food. The dining room table was set for refreshments and cake.

As the girls entered, they began working on their finger printing cards and ID badges. We asked each girl to bring a small picture of themselves (1″x 1″) in the invitation. They used glue dots to stick the pictures to their IDs and then filled out the information (Name, Code Name, Age, Special Skills). We had printed the IDs on card stock and cut them out in advance. Once they were done they slipped it in a Bright Badge Holders. Of course all secret agents must be finger printed for identification purposes. The finger printing cards were simply a grid of 10 squares on cardstock. I actually got a finger printing ink pad that they had to share because it washed off so much easier than even washable ink.

Once every one was fingerprinted and had their ID badges, they were ready for their First Mission. For this they went outside to the Yarn Maze. Mark spent almost 2 hours on Saturday morning creating this maze of 10 different strings, each 145 feet long, that wove in and out of each other through our garden area (good thing we don’t have a garden yet). Because there were only 10 strings the girls had to choose partners to work with. At the end of each string was a piece of a clue (riddle). Each riddle had 5 cards to complete it, so at the end there were two teams. One team with Riddle One and another with Riddle Two.

For the Second Mission, the two teams had to figure out their riddle and follow it to the next clue. For example, if they had the riddle, “In the summer, my blossoms you may pluck, but watch out or you’ll get stuck!” then they would go to the rose bush where the second riddle was attached. It read, “I have four legs, but I can’t run. It’s not my fault I’m aureus (Latin for yellow, which was a vocabulary word earlier in the year).” This led them to the yellow table in the back which had the last riddle, “I have a roof over my head, but I have no bed” which led them to the playhouse where the disguises were hidden.

Once both teams found their bag of disguises, they came inside to use them in a quick photo shoot. In addition to the fake mustaches, sunglasses, and red lip whistles, we gathered all the hats in the house to use in their disguises. I think these are my favorite pictures from the party. They had so much fun, just being silly!

As they were finishing up their photo shoot, there was a knock at the door. When Claire opened it, there was an envelope that said to “Watch The TV.” I then played the video (previously posted on YouTube) that Ross and Mark made earlier of them stealing all the goody bags.

The video told them they would have to break the code pages (created with Wingdings in Word) in the envelope to find the goody bags. Since all the pages were the same, the first girl done was to tell Claire the answer and she would lead them in finding the goody bags. Claire did not know the answer (Look In The Pink Present), but she saw her Noni bring in the pink present earlier that day, thinking it was her birthday gift. She went right to it and found it buried under all the other presents that had been deposited on the gift table as the girls came in. For the goody bags, I purchased the Tiny Treats Natural Candy Mix from The Natural Candy Store, and magic disappearing ink and 3-in-1 whistle/compass/light key chain.

Now it was time for cake and refreshments. I made the 1-2-3-4 Cake with Quick Chocolate Icing out of the Joy of Cooking. But I did change the icing a little by adding about 1 tablespoon of Toonie Moonie marshmallow cream to give it a lighter and creamier texture. In addition to cake, we served apple slices with assorted dipping sauces (caramel and chocolate out of the Joy of Cooking, and honey), and popcorn. We offered tea for the adults throughout the party, and milk and water to the kids. I found these funny cups at TJ Maxx that seemed to go great with our theme.

We had a little time left over, so Claire opened presents until the rest of the parents came and said good-bye to her guests. Now the Ambrose Second Grade Girls are ready for anything!

Mission Accomplished!

My Birthday Boy!

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 05:26:51 +0000

I can not believe that it was just four years ago that my baby boy was born! It seems like only yesterday he was tugging at my hair while falling asleep. Oh… wait… that was yesterday! He is still my baby boy.

We decided to celebrate his birthday a week early this year as our friends generously offered to host a party for us. (Thank you Shula, Sarah, Jardel, Heather, and Dana) for the wonderful BBQ and swim party. It was the best ever!!! All I had to do was bring the pinata and goody bags because my children do not believe it’s a party without a pinata.

Ross decided he wanted a race car pinata this year. So we went to the local party supply store and found one. I looked online for a more eco-friendly solution, but did not feel confident in making my own. I think someone could make a killing if they came out with pinatas made out of recycled materials. So if you know of anyone, encourage them. I know I would by them!

This year I ordered the candy to fill it from The Natural Candy Store. I got two 3-pound bags of the Pure Fun Organic Candy Mix. The kids loved it all except for the cinnamon. I think it was a little too much for them. This is a great resource for natural as well as allergen free candies. They have the candies categorized by allergens or other ingredients.

For the goody bags I went to Michaels Arts and Crafts store and purchased small plain canvas bags ($0.59 each) and a set of fabric pens ($6-$7). I thought the kids could decorate their own goodie bags. One of the gifts I got Ross for his birthday is [amazon-product text="Melissa & Doug Jumbo Palm Stampers - Blue" type="text"]B002TIP31W[/amazon-product]. So I brought them for the kids to use in their decorating. Since the ink for the stamps is washable, they just used the stamps and then colored over the ink with the fabric pens. I think they turned out really nice! Finally each child received a Race Car Wood Model Kit ($1 each) from Michaels. I was amazed at how easy and nice they turned out. Claire made hers all by herself without any help from me at all!

This was by far the easiest and funnest (not a word I know) birthday party we have ever had. I would like to thank our friends again for all their generosity. And I would like to take this time to remember my little boy over the last four years…

Happy Birthday Ross, AKA Bolt!!

Into Narnia … Claire’s Birthday

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:30:34 +0000

All I have to say is THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Claire had a wonderful birthday because of everyones help. I would like to thank everyone who came to celebrate with Claire and make it a brilliant party. I would also like to give a special thanks to the artBeast staff. They were amazing and I could have never done it without their help. The room was perfect and everything went according to plan. The children had a marvelous time in and out of the birthday room. I can not say enough about them. Thank you Laura, thank you David, thank you Jessica, thank you Blithe, and thank you to everyone else you helped behind the scenes!

ArtBeast is the perfect place to have a natural and creative birthday party. They supplied the gorgeous party room with tables, chairs, plates, silverware, glasses, cloth napkins, and bud vases. They also set up the food and beverage and the craft table, guide the craft, and generally take the lead in the helping the kids through out the party. I chose to bring my own food, flowers, and party favors, but for a reasonable fee they can supplies those too. I am very grateful to them for painting the mural on the mirror. This was a special request and something I really wanted. I just told them the theme of the party and they did the rest. I was really impressed with everything and I had very high expectations. Thanks again!

We had a Narnia themed birthday party with Claire’s classmates. Mark (my husband) made a wonderful wardrobe from an old freezer box: spray painted it, put handles on it, cut out the back and velcroed fabric onto the back (about $20, the box was free). We placed the wardrobe at the entrance to the party room and closed the curtains, so it was the only way in and out of the room. It was so much fun! As the children came through the wardrobe, I put on their capes. I found the fabric on sale at JoAnn’s and used ribbon from Costco. It cost a little less than $2.00 per cape. Once equipped with their capes, they began making their crowns (supplied by artBeast). As the children finished their crowns, they moved onto the story circle and read the storybook version of The Lion, the Witch , and the Wardrobe. I was worried the story would be a little long, but they were really engaged and practically siting in Laura’s (artBeast coach) lap by the end of it!

When the story was over, Laura lead them in the Wish Circle. Each child made a wish for Claire on her birthday, Laura wrote them down on a Wish Ticket (I used a gold stamp that said “make a Wish” and place cards from Michael’s), and placed them in the wisk box (I bought a plain wooden star shaped box from Michael’s and painted it white). Wished included: “”wish for good friends,” “wish for candy,” “wish she could go to the redwoods,” and “wished for a smile.” Once all the children has given Claire their wishes, Claire was given the Wish Box. (The whole wish circle cost about $11, $7 of which was was the gold stamp pad.)

After the Wish Circle, we took a group photo and the children took their places at the table. Each seat had on it their goodie bags which included a bubble necklace (like Lucy’s cordial in the LWW), a few chocolate gold coins, and a few peppermint puffs in a white organza bag (each gift bag cost about $2.50) Then we sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles.

For refreshments, we had chocolate, cake with peppermint icing, peppermint chocolates, hot chocolate, teas, water, popcorn, and mandarins. I made the cake wheat free and dairy free with spelt flour and earth balance. I really wanted to get this post out right away, so I will post the recipe later.

After the refreshments, the children just went to play though out artBeast and had a great time! Most of them ended up down stairs in the drama area and all played together until we left. It truly was a magical and wonderful birthday!

I just want to say again, Thank You for making Claire’s 6th birthday so memorable!

Natural Birthday for Ross

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:08:55 +0000

So last weekend we had Ross’ 3rd birthday party. I can’t believe my little boy is already 3! I am not ready for him to grow up. But he is anyway…

We had a wonderful time with our friends from church. We had a dinosaur theme this year, kind of by default. Ross is still too young to understand birthday themes, so I went looking for some party favors I could feel good about. I needed something for inspiration and found these great little wooden snakes, crocodiles, and lizards that came with paint and a paint brush all for $1 each. (I know this is not exactly dinosaurs, but that came later.) I also found these little canvas bags in bright colors to use as goody bags. I am really trying to be more diligent about minimizing our use of plastics and did not want to use plastic baggies. They were also $1 each.

Now I am armed with my goody bags and some reptiles, but that’s not enough. Claire was determined to get Ross a pinata for his birthday, so off to the party supply store I went looking for something that would go with reptiles. I got there and the choices were Diego or dinosaurs. The dinosaurs were on sale, hence the dinosaur party. I got a dinosaur pinata along with notepads, pencils, and tattoos to go in it. I also got a package of small dinosaur napkins, table cloth, and streamers for decorations (all compostable).

I would love to say I don’t use any disposable products at our parties, but when it gets over 20 people, I just can’t face the idea of that many dishes (even if I actually had that many dishes). But I found compostable plates, napkins, and flatware all made from bamboo or cornstalk at the party supply store which eased my guilt a little. These are not always easy to find, but there are a few good websites I order from or just use for inpiration on how to have a fun, but less wasteful party. Here they are:

Green Party Goods

Green Planet Parties

Green Party Supply

The only thing missing now was the food and cake. I originally thought I would make some kind of volcano, but all the recipes I found involved lots of frosting and it is very hard to make a dairy free frosting that will work. I ended up (out of desperation) at Target and miraculously found a dinosaur muffin tin. So if anyone wants a party with dinosaur muffins, let me know!

I REALLY wanted to do something with that giant zucchini. It seemed a shame to waste it, but I wasn’t sure how it would taste. So I looked up fried zucchini recipes. I figured anything fried would be good, and it was. We served it with Trader Joe’s Organic Ranch Dressing, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes (also from our garden), and baby carrots. A few people have asked for the recipe, so I thought I would post it below. I also got some great strawberries from the farmers market and my friend helped whip up some fresh organic whipped cream (thanks, Heather!). Fresh berries and cream may be one of my favorite things to eat, especially for breakfast, but that’s another story.

For the cake, I used an old recipe my mom would make for our birthdays. It is a banana cake with orange frosting and always a hit. I modified it to be dairy free and used white spelt flour. I also made some dairy-free dark chocolate frosting to decorate with. I was very pleased with how it turned out, but I do have to say dairy free frosting is very hard to work with: it separates as it melts and melts very easily. The cake had to be refrigerated immediately after frosting it and stay there until we sang “happy birthday.” For those of you who would like to try it, I will also post it below.

I was setting everything out to get ready for the party and realized, what is a goody bag without candy? But as a mother, I am always sensitive to giving out too much candy. I decided to use only lollipops in the pinata because Trader Joe’s make these all natural ones with no artificial dyes or flavors. But Ross and Claire’s favorite candies are M&Ms and Jelly Bellies and these are expensive to buy individually packages and have artificial flavorings and dyes. To my surprise, I found that Jelly Belly has started to make an all natural line. So I picked up a few packages of those and relented on the dark chocolate M&Ms. I rationed them out in small organza bags and placed them in the goody bags. Now it was time to party!

My camera ran out of battery, so I do not have too many pictures of the actual event, but we have video and plenty of memories. Thank you very much to all those far and near that sent Ross birthday wishes with year. He had a very good birthday week!

Recipes

I really didn’t use one recipe for the zucchini, but adapted from a few different ones:

Fried Zucchini

1/2 cup fine corn meal
1/2 cup flour of choice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 eggs
about 3 regular zucchini (or 1/2 of a gigantic one), cut into pieces
vegetable or olive oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a pan or bowl. Mix the eggs and dip the pieces of zucchini in the egg. Then thoroughly coat the zucchini pieces in the cornmeal mixture and set aside. (At this point I covered and refrigerated mine, so I could have it prepped for the party.) Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add just enough zucchini to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook about 3-4 minutes a side (depends on the size of your pieces). Remove from the pan and place on a plate with a paper towel (or something to absorb the excess oil. Serve immediately.

Banana Cake

Dry Ingredients:

2 cup white spelt flour (or flour of choice)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients:

½ cup Spectrum Organic shortening or Earth Balance margarine (I use half and half)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas

Optional:

2 Tbsp. Agave syrup

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees and grease pan.
In a medium bowl, add all dry ingredients and whisk together and set aside.
In a small bowl, mash with bananas with the agave syrup (optional) and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the shortening/margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed for 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl with spatula as necessary.
Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.
Add vanilla and yogurt. Beat on low speed until smooth. Scrape down bowl with spatula as necessary.
Add dry ingredients to the wet until well blended.
Add the bananas and mix until well blended.
Add mixture evenly in the pan or cupcake tins.
Bake for 18-20 minutes for cupcakes, 30-35 minutes for a cake, or until toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center of a cupcake.
Let cool until can be handled. Then place on cooling rack. Do not frost until completely cool.

Orange Icing

Beat the following ingredients together until fluffy. If using coconut butter do not heat it and I would recommend chilling the bowl for about 15 minutes in the fridge before using it.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine
1/4 coconut butter (optional can just use margarine if like)
3 and ½ cup sifted powdered sugar
4-5 Tbsp orange juice (as needed for desired consistency)
1 and ½ tsp. grated orange rind

Chocolate Frosting

This is not really a recipe. I melt dark chocolate with just enough coconut butter to help it along. You can also use your milk of choice instead of coconut butter. Once the chocolate completely melts, I add enough powdered sugar to absorb the excess oils and get the right consistency. If the flavor is too strong, I alternate between adding hemp milk (can use soy) and powdered sugar until desired taste and consistency. I would never recommend frosting an entire cake with this as it would be overpowering, but it works great as an accent.