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!

• Setting out the Christmas decorations, including this nativity made by Claire, Noni, and me two years ago at ArtBeast.
• Thinking about this DIY Dinning Table from Soule Mama.
• Loving the smell of the Body Scrubs from 100% Pure.
• Shamelessly promoting and dancing to POORBOY from my new cousin-in-law!
• Making and canning applesauce and chicken soup continually.
• Earning and Redeeming points at Recyclebank’s Green Your Season.
• Dying to make thisLemony Olive Oil Bread from 101Cokbooks.
• Having fun with my new cookbook, The Wild Table, can you say rosehips-ginger syrup? Yum!
• Wait for my order from the Natural Candy Store.
• Sipping Coconut Milk Nog from So Delicious.
• Enjoyed reading Phantom Tollbooth with Ross, quote:

“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.”