Caleb's Monster Mash

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to plan, prepare, and throw a birthday for 10 five-year-olds in less than 24 hours.  

OK, yes, I did impose this "Party Impossible" on myself, but I wasn't procrastinating, just trying, and not succeeding, to manage my time.  You see, I had spent the last few weeks planning and preparing the stake youth Halloween activity, the Frighteningly Freaky Food & Flick on Saturday night.  It was A LOT of work!  Click here to see my post on our YW blog about this awesome yet gory party.  I think you'll get a kick out of the menu.

Anyway, as soon as the party was over late Saturday night, I turned my attention to my next big project - halloween costumes, as I had none, except mine, figured out yet, and our ward halloween party was Monday night.  So I spent the next few days coming up with 6 costumes from what we had on hand.  

So it was late Monday night, after the ward party, that I even started making plans for this monster party set for Tuesday afternoon!  Why do I do these things to myself?  So I planned it all Monday night, went shopping early Tuesday morning, then came home and prepared, and welcomed our guests at 4pm.  Here's how it all turned out.

The only thing done ahead of time, of course, were the invitations.  My friend Diana gave me the idea, and that is where I picked the theme Monster Mash.  The invitations were super easy using my SU Big Shot and some punches.  I thought they turned out very cute.

I kept decorations simple - green and purple crepe paper and balloons.  I made these darling monsters out of hanging paper lanterns.  They were very cute.

Eye like this guy.  He looks like Mike.

Instead of a cake, we had creepcakes.  Mom was good enough to bake them for me, then Shari helped me make monster faces using a variety of candies from WinCo's bulk candy.  I love the one on the bottom right with lust a big toothy grin, or the one next to it with his tongue sticking out.

More creepcakes.  Some with one eye, two, three, and even four eyes.  They were all so cute!

When the guests first arrived they got to decorate their green monster boxes with pompoms, foamies, glitter glue, etc, and googly eyes of course.  Having them make their own boxes was a great idea, because I didn't have time to come up with darling goody bags, and I already had the green gable boxes that I found at a yard sale.  Ta Da. Done.  And they had something to put their prizes, goodies, and pinata candy in.  Besides, Caleb's favorite thing to do in the whole world is craft.  In fact, the craft supplies are still on the table and he has made half a dozen monsters since the party.

After the craft, all the little monsters were out on the trampoline for the Monster Balloon Mash.  Every balloon had one of those little capsules with a monster-shaped sponge inside.  We turned on the song "Monster Mash" and the kids had to stomp on the balloons and pop them to get the little capsules.  It was a great time, but very very loud!

Then we played a different version of a mummy wrap game.  There were two teams, each with their own roll of TP that I had re-rolled putting a bunch of monster magnets in at intervals.  The kids had to unroll the TP on their own arm or leg until they found a monster, then rip it off and pass it to their team mate to unroll, until they found a monster, etc. until all the monsters were found.  It took a bit more coordination than these 5-year-olds had, but they worked together, and had fun doing it.

A totally cute kid with a totally cute monster magnet.  OK, let me just say right now, that Target saved me!  I ran into Super Target first thing Monday morning, and was greeted at the dollar spot with a TON of darling monster stuff: monster coloring books, monster sticker books, monster magnets, monster foamie stickers, monster pencils, monster capsules, monster magnets, monster puzzles, monster bouncy balls - all totally darling and PERFECT for this age and this party!  And perfect for prizes, goodies bags, and games like the ones above.  The Lord was really on my side with this one!!!  And guess  what?  When I went to check out, everything was HALF PRICE!  It all rang up as 50 cents each.  I was so happy!

Oh, and speaking of working out great, did you notice the mylar balloon on the first pic of this post?  I was for a fifth birthday, had monsters on it, and was green and purple.  How perfect is that?

The next game was pin the eyeball on the monster.  I just cut out a quick monster from poster board and punched out some big eyeballs.  The game was a hit!

And our many-eyed monster was so cute when the game was done!  The kids were cracking up about the monster eating a few of his own eyeballs.

Then we played another fun game that I got no pics of.  There were a bunch of cute monster foamie stickers in a bowl.  Some had "trick" written on the back and some said "treat."  Each child picked one out of the bowl.  If it said "treat" they got a candy, and if it said "trick" they had to do something like walk like Frankenstein, or do a sill Halloween dance.  It was funny.

Another game.  The kids had to stick their hands into these bags to feel monster parts, and guess what they really were.  I kept it pretty mild for 5-year-olds.  Eyes - globe grapes, hair - corn silk, nails - sliced almonds, fingers- carrots, ears - dried apricots.  The kids got a kick out of it, but a few girls refused to touch anything sight unseen.

Then, after washing our hands, it was Monster Pizza making time.  The kids each got their own little pizza round ($1.99 for 5 at WinCo) and they had to make their own monster face with the toppings.  Another great idea.  They did the work, got to get creative, and we even had prizes for the winners.
Caleb made a 3 eyed monster with mushroom ears and a cheese stick mouth.

Summer's pizza had broccoli hair and sprinkles of cheese fur.

Nate made some kind of mummy pizza with olive eyes, pepper lips, and olive teeth.

While the pizzas baked we had an eyeball spoon race.  

Lukie was having a tough time getting his eyeball into his spoon with a handful string cheese and pepperoni.  He wasn't letting go.

Caleb upped the ante by putting his spoon in his mouth.

Soon everyone was following suit, and eyeballs were dropping everywhere.

Then the call came, "Pizza is ready!"  Mummy dogs too.

See all the fun monster faces!  The one in the middle bottom was Walker's.  It was sauce with one cheese stick.  He had started eating it before we popped it in the oven.  What a funny kid.  I think he should have won for scariest pizza.

Morgan takes a bite out of her monster.

Lukie goes for the appetizer - gummy body parts on ritz crackers, of course.

The boys were amazed by the monster claw green slime punch.

And then, of course, came the pinata.  Again, Target came through with funny monster.

I love how the older boys hung out above the pinata as the little guys swung away.  This is the first time that the four older boys didn't participate as guests in a party.  They were so helpful to me and I really appreciate them.  Of course Dennis and my sister, Lisa, were huge helps too!  Thanks guys!

Candy, candy, everywhere candy!  That could be the theme of this whole week, I think.

Finally came the presents.  Caleb is very excited about arts and craft supplies!

So I think the party turned out great considering my limited time and resources.  I don't know if it lived up to my usual reputation as a party thrower, but kids this age are very forgiving, thankfully.  And it helps that I have thrown a lot of parties by now, and am becoming quite an expert I guess.

Happy Birthday Cabes!  From that first moment I held you in my arms I was smitten, and I've been smitten by your big brown eyes ever since!  You are a remarkable boy.  Very artistic, very persistent, and always thinking.  I love watching how your mind works and listening to you pontificate about the world.  You have been looking forward to turning 5 since before you were 4, and I hope it is everything you dreamed it would be.  You always said "When I'm five I can ..." do this and do that.  Well, now your 5, and there is nothing holding you back.  Your 5.  The world is your oyster!  Have to it.

Just remember, your monster momma loves you, Caleb!

Newsflash: Indy and his Crew Recover Stolen Treasure

Dateline: June 9, 1938
The renowned archaeologists, Dr. Henry Jones Jr., Professor of Archaeology, Barnett College, Fairfield, N.Y., recently asked Dr. Derek VanBuskirk, and Dr. Dylan VanBuskirk, co-directors of the National Museum of Antiquities, to assemble a team of some of the world's leading archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, Egyptologists, cartographers, and linguists. Their mission was to recover a priceless treasure, the fabled "Fountain of Youth" for whichPonce De Leon spent much of his life searching. Dr. Jones discovered and excavated the treasure on a Caribbean island, sources report, called Bermuda Dunes. Shortly afterward, the treasure disappeared! It was believed that the Nazis, knowing the power that eternal youth could have on their cause, took the treasure.

The team was assembled in an undisclosed location and were briefed on the situation before beginning an around-the-world quest to recover the treasure. They were provided with passports to be stamped at each stop, and hip-sacks for their treasures. Their first stop was the dig site in Bermuda where Dr. Jones first discovered and excavated the treasure. The experts were handed brushes and given an opportunity to sift through the dig site, where they found a large stash of pirates' gold and a few old bones as well as a clue that lead them to their next stop, Dr. Jones' father's library in Venice, Italy.

When they arrived, they found his library in disarray. Research books, notes, maps, and a vast collection of ancient artifacts were strewn everywhere, But Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. was nowhere to be found. Apparently the Nazis had gotten to him first. On closer inspection, the team discovered that before he was taken away, Dr. Jones Sr. was able to hastily write a message on an old scroll in an ancient American language. The linguists in the group used the magnifying glasses they were given to decipher the code - the treasure was to be taken to an ancient temple in Brazil. The team departed immediately.

The experts arrived at an ancient temple, guarded for ages by booby traps and filled with spider webs and bugs. Inside, on a pedestal was a ancient Fertility God made of solid gold. In order to receive the clue, the experts had to fill a burlap sack with sand to the same weight of the gold treasure with which they could replace the sand bag on the pedestal when they took the idol, so as not to disturb the trap underneath. Each team member took a turn filling the sack to the exact weight of the heavy gold idol. Finally, the exact weight was found! But when they got into the inner chamber of the temple, they found that the Nazis had already escaped with the treasure deep into the Amazon rain forests.
Jones' team raced into the rain forest and heard behind them a loud rumble. They were being pursued by a giant bolder. It was rolling through the jungle and everyone had to be quick on their toes or they would be crushed. When the danger had passed, a clue told them that the treasure had been taken to Turkey. They were off again!

Down in a secret chamber under an age-old church in Turkey, the team encountered an old knight, a Knight Templar form the crusades who was miraculously still alive and waiting for their visit. He was the guardian and protector of the fabled "Holy Grail." There were numerous cups of all shapes and styles, many elaborately ornamented and encrusted with jewels. One by one the members of the team had to step forward and select and sip from the cup that was believed to be the holy grail. If they chose wisely they would taste everlasting life. But if they chose poorly they were poisoned and would die on the spot (well, actually, it just didn't taste very good.)
Dr. McKee Thatcher chose wisely. Here's a toast to long life! After his refreshment, the knight handed Dr. Thatcher the clue and the team booked passage to Shanghai, China.

In Shanghai the clue was easy to find in a small silk box, just steps away. Unfortunately it was in the middle of a swarming, churning, slimy snake pit! Each team member had to take their turn through the treacherous snake pit on giant jewel stepping stones, retrieve an artifact stone, and escape before being struck dead by a venomous snake or crushed alive by a giant python hanging overhead! When each was safely out of the snake pit, they had to smash open their rock to find a magic skull ring. The clue sent them to the Nile and the great pyramids of Egypt.

After locating the golden sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen, the team had to spilt into three teams and perform an ancient ritual - they had to mummify themselves in "families" by standing together and passing a roll of mummy gauze around themselves. The first team to use up all their gauze received the clue. They left the underworld and went to Fiji.





In Fiji, they found the natives quite restless. The looming volcano was erupting and spouting fire and hot lava. The team members were captured and required to walk across a long narrow plank just inches above the bubbling molten rock, remove a magic tiki talisman from the heart of the volcano, and return back across the lava while the natives chanted "hoo ha ha, hoo ha ha." Miraculously all the team members made it back alive, though some were a little singed. Satisfied, the natives let them go. They escaped to Peru.

In Peru, a local guide led them to the notorious Forbidden Temple of the Incans, famed to be watched over by the magic ruby eyes of the Mystic Skull. Many treasure hunters have entered the Forbidden Temple, never to be seen again. Indy's gang hoped their fate would be different. The group had to break into three teams and do a rely-style search within the dark corridors and levels of the glowing ancient temple, each looking, in turn, for a different specified artifact - a royal tiki cup, a sacred stone, a jewel heart, a gold idol, and a mummy bone. Fortunately, the Mystic Skull was undisturbed and the team members escaped, unharmed, with their artifacts.

The search for the treasure finally ended at a massive warehouse known as Area 57 where it was packed in a large wooden crate hidden among a sea of similar wooden crates. Using their skill and knowledge, Dr. Jones and his team located it and hoisted it above them where they worked together to break it open with a big stick. Out tumbled the treasure - the "Fountain of Youth" - candy! And lots of it! The team of renowned professors, archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists and the like dove for the candy and upon eating it suddenly reverted to children again. Truly this was the fountain of youth!!!

Famished from their travels, the children were taken to one last stop - India - where they feasted on an array of local delicacies - snake eggs, crunchy beetles, fried green snakes, worms in blood sauce, sugared rats, and of course, chilled monkey brains. Delicious! It was the meal they deserved after all their adventures and hair-raising experiences around the world.









In the end, the treasure, what was left of it, was returned to National Museum of Antiquities, thanks to Dr. Indian Jones, his colleagues, Drs. Derek and Dylan VanBuskirk, and the team they assembled. Good work, gentlemen, and Happy Birthday!!!