A Party & The Nest

As it turns out, hosting a low key birthday party for ten six-year-olds is both fun and easy! Especially with a little help from out of town guests!

Just prepare one garden party cake, complete with oreo dirt and a variety of gummy flowers, bugs, and butterflies.

Start out with a rousing game of Bumble Bee Tag...

Followed by Pin the Dot on the Lady Bug (incidentally, making this was a great way to spend one of our many rainy days).

Then it's time for a craft... Egg Carton Caterpillars full of paint and glitter were great fun (and not too messy in the backyard!)

After lunch, cake, and presents, wear those kids out with silly races. The crab walk was particularly tricky for this crowd, but the egg-on-- spoon relay, the knees-to-elbows relay, and the sponge race were all a hit. Of course, the kids would have been just as happy to play with the chickens all day.

All of this fun marks the end of any scheduled obligations before the baby is born! From here on out, we wait. We rest.

Who am I kidding? We nest. I'm working up a big batch of lasagna to freeze even as I type, and this afternoon, I sewed my very first baby blanket. It is far from perfect, and it was crafted from ribbon and cloth remnants I scavenged from my own basement... but I'm inordinately proud of having accomplished something so concrete in preparation for our little arrival.

 From here on out, I'm loading up my Nook and settling down to snuggle the girls and read.