Friday, April 1, 2011

Foto Friday--A Party and a Recipe

Lily will be eleven on Monday. Since our family is in the Easter Pageant, last weekend was deemed, "Lily's birthday party." And we had a wild ride.  I decided to do "The Amazing Race," since she wanted to invite 20 girls--fifteen actually came.
When the girls all got there, I divided them randomly into teams by drawing bandannas out of a bag. The brothers didn't want to be left out.
Then they were off to find the six ingredients necessary to make layered cookie bars.  When they got back to the house, they had to assemble the ingredients in order and get their next clue.
The girls were so cute with Evie.  She wanted to be included in everything. They would carry her and have her help them with challenges.  Not so inclusive with the brothers for some reason.
While they were racing, I had pizza in the the oven, ready when they got back.  They had to use their bandannas and tie the whole team together as they ate 1 piece and drank soda. First team done got a 30 second advantage when the real challenges started.
After picking a leader, the rest of the team was blindfolded and led to the elementary school just through our back yard, where they had to pick up a bag full of gum and return to the house.  Each girl had to blow a bubble before they got their next clue.
There was a mystery sign clue, a puzzle to put together with an extra message written on the back . . .
. . . skitter races across the cul-de-sac and Starburst eating contests.  The final challenge was to fill this bucket with shaving cream as quickly as possible.
Lily insisted there be a shaving cream challenge, but I did not want them covered in it.  Those bandannas came in handy yet again when I made them clean up with it and the hose.
Evie was fascinated with this bucket of fluffy stuff.  Not so much for eating, she discovered.
The final challenge was to unscramble a phrase from letters hidden on the top left corner of each clue.  This was harder for them than I thought, and I ended up giving a few hints: Two words. Second word starts with an F.
"Bieber Fever" was the appropriate phrase, since Lily got a dozen posters and a few CDs of the Biebs.
All in all, it was an easy way to single-handedly entertain 16 fifth-grade girls for three hours.  We never left the neighborhood, and they walked everywhere as a team.  Lily shouted, halfway through, "THIS IS THE FUNNEST PARTY EVER!"  Then it was worth the work.

A few asked for my to-die-for frosting recipe.  It's nothing new or unusual.  It's just butter cream.

1 cube butter
1/4 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar

The key to making it "to-die-for" is using hard butter, straight from the fridge, and beating the holy bejiminies out of it with a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes.  That makes it "SO FLUFFY" (name that movie) and airy and tasty.  You can also add 1/2 c. cocoa for chocolate.  My mom always adds 1/4 t. almond, but that's not my fave.

Have a fantastic weekend.  Welcome, April!
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18 comments:

  1. What a good Mom to put on such an energetic party!

    Thanks for the tip about the frosting. I've made that one for decades and never knew about the cold butter. I always get mine at room temp first. Next time will be your way!!

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  2. You get a shiny Mom star for the party. It sounds like a memorable blast.

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  3. That party will go down as a classic for sure.

    And I cannot believe how cute that little Evie is. Way out of the ordinary cuteness there...

    =)

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  4. Ummmm, that DOES sound like "The FUNNEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVERRRR!" You totally win for best Mom ever too.

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  5. i'm a fan of the month too...(my bday is monday after next) haha any reason to eat cake!

    as for the party! you rocked it! i'm sooooo gonna have to copy this one down!! loved little E in the one pic of her missing a shoe! too cute!

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  6. "Despicable Me" I love that movie!! Sounds like a great time! Don't you just love when it all turns out and your kid says something like that...and for a brief moment you are the mommiest!!

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  7. You must be the best kid party giver, ever. I know you never learned that from me. I can just see Lily having the best time.

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  8. This looked like it turned out great - I can tell everyone had a blast!!

    My youngest turns 11 soon and I was thinking of this theme for his birthday also, except a boy version - you've given me some great ideas!!

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  9. I love this idea for a party, brilliant! And I can just hear Lily shouting that -makes me smile. Looks like tons of fun. Happy Birthday Lily!

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  10. best birthday party EVER! and man does that frosting recipe ever sound delicious - bookmarking for sure ;-)

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  11. that sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate the day. i wish i could come up with stuff like this.

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  12. SO FUN! I have wanted to do an amazing race party for a while, so I love the ideas!

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  13. What a fun idea for a birthday party. Way to take on 16 fifth grade girls!

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  14. Despicable Me!!!

    Also, you must be Queen of Amazing Race or something...a year and a week ago...most epic Amazing Race ever! ;)

    And tell Lily Happy Birthday from me!

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  15. What a super great party idea!
    My girls love all things scavenger huntish so this would be so up their ally.:)
    Have a happy night
    ...noticed your hair still curly...looks great!

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  16. Oh my goodness! I want to be invited to all your birthday parties :) That sounds incredibly fun and it's just so great seeing all the kids have so much fun. Evie is just as sweet as ever. I totally love that photo with all the girls running off and Evie is up front running with a shoe missing. This is just too precious! Thanks for the smile :)

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  17. When my kids are old enough to have real bday parties I know who I'm calling for ideas!!!

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  18. what a great party idea!
    sounds like it was a ton of fun. :)

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