#PirateParty

My goal for Gideon's birthday party was to have a fun pirate party that had a fun theme, but wasn't super overboard with the theme. You can look all over Pinterest for a ton of ideas, and while cute, they tend to take a lot of time. I wanted to do pirate crafts at his part as well and was worried my house wasn't big enough so ended up doing it at a local pizza place. It wasn't my ideal location but as everywhere else was super expensive to just book a room, at least the price I was paying at the pizza place covered food as well. I would have loved to have done some themed foods but oh well. I did what I could. The room I booked was supposed to be for 35 people but I wish I would have done the bigger room for 50. It was a little too cramped for my comfort as I wanted some more wiggle room for the kiddos, but it did work. Also without hubby there, I had to do it all with a little help from my sister so I didn't get as many pics of the actual projects as I would have liked. So I apologize for the lack of detailed photos.

For the invitation, I took some pirate maps that I ordered from Oriental Trading and created a word document that I printed onto the map. That I crumpled it up, burned the edges, and taped it onto a piece of black cardstock paper. I originally planned on rolling them up but ended up leaving them flat as the cardstock was too thick to roll. They turned out really cute though. I was actually pretty impressed with myself.

Don't burn holes in the middle of the paper. They rip when you crumple. lol.

I asked everyone to dress up in pirate gear if they had it, if not brown/black pants and a white shirt. I had a few people who did that and one little girl who came in an actual pirate outfit. Super cute. But otherwise nobody did. Oh! I made a costume with some stuff from goodwill and some halloween fabric at Joanne's that was 60% off since it isn't halloween. The skirt was not perfect by any means but worked for the costume anyways. My sister also dressed up in her pirate costume from Halloween and some of the kids were a little scared of her. Ha ha. My mom attempted as well.

My attempt at a grumpy pirate face

My sister

I took some of the halloween fabric that I had and cut them into long strips so the kiddos would have pirate sashes. I only think a few actually wore them but they were easy, cheap and cute.

We bought face paint and drew black mustaches on any of the kids that wanted it and also had a pink paint crayon as well so any of the girls could have pink mustaches if they wanted :) My friend Sheila also drew in a pink beard on her face. 

My snooty little pirate :)

To complete the outfit, I ordered pirate hats from Oriental Trading that were really cute. The reviews said they fit the adults as well as the kids but the ones I ordered were a little too tight for an adult. Even though I do think a couple of my friends made it work. I ordered enough for everyone and not everyone wore them so I have an entire package left over, but eh well.

Now for crafts, I went easy. Which was good since I didn't have a ton of room. Also, the majority of the parent's didn't really participate so i'm glad there wasn't anything too difficult. My sister and some of my friends, and a couple parents helped out the kiddos that needed it though. So my advice is to try and have people there to help if possible.

The most popular craft was the treasure chests. I bought some cheap chests at Joanne's (Michael's didn't have cheap ones) and spray painted them gold. I did a mixture of these wooden ones that were the most durable and some thick cardboard ones. The cardboard ones looked the most like an actual treasure chest though so those were the most popular. I then bought some foam  pirate stickers and some sticky rhinestone jewels. HUGE HIT! I mean HUGE. Even the adults wanted to make one. So have lots! Also, make sure you have lots of jewels for them. The kids pretty much covered every square inch that they could with them. I had I believe 300 jewels if not more and between 10 boxes, they used them all! LOL.

I also had a cute parrot craft. I had found two when I was originally looking and the one I really wanted to make was with a toilet paper roll but when it came down to it, I couldn't find the tutorial :/ So instead I went with the easy printable that I found. I got some pretty cardstock to print them out on and bought some feathers at Joanne's. Then used some googly eyes that I had and some tacky glue and let the kids decorate. Then the children needed adult help to cut the parrots out (cut ahead of time, I should have) and then taped them to their shoulders. Make sure to have lots of tape! They turned out pretty cute when the kids wore them. Some of them just took them home as is.

Gideon's parrot lasted while opening all his gifts

I also found some easy pirate sticker sheets that I ordered from Oriental Trading. Nothing fancy but it helped the kids stay occupied until everyone showed up.

For the goody bags, I found a simple drawstring bag tutorial and found some cute pirate fabric and made treasure bags! I've never made a bag before and the fact that i'm still a sewing newbie, I think they turned out cute and were relatively easy. I then filled with some gold coins, colored necklaces, and some other random pirate goodies that I ordered from Oriental Trading.

Pirate Booty!

 I debated long and hard about the cake for the party. I had found some cute ideas on Pinterest but honestly, I was a little worried that I could actually make any of them. And to order a cake from a fancy bakery, is way more then I wanted to spend for a kids party. I ended up going to a local grocery store and found an easy template that they had and then they personalized it for me. I think it turned out really cute and was definitely happy with it. 

He was so cute. Kept his eyes on me the entire time while we sang.

Overall, it was a great party! One of my friend's told me it was the best party she'd been to which of course, really made my day. I hope this helps you in planning your Pirate party!

Trying to get a group photo, posed issues. This was the best I could do

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Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday was Gideon's 5th birthday. I actually have a great Pirate Booty giveaway going on to celebrate. Last night we had a little mini celebration, just the two of us. I sang Happy Birthday to him and he was so excited. He also had a gift to open which i'm also going to include the video as well. As a back story on the video, Gideon had this toy dinosaur from Dinosaur Train, "Ned", that he got for Christmas 2011. A couple of days before Christmas 2012, he snapped off Ned's neck. Normally when he breaks a toy, it goes in the trash if I can't fix it and it's usually not that big of a deal. For whatever reason, Ned was different. He cried uncontrollably  and ended up having to just lay with me on the couch while I tried to calm him down. For a good 20 min at least; he was really upset. Then he started talking about Santa getting him Ned for Christmas. I explained to him that Santa probably already has all of his gifts since it's so close to Christmas but we'll see. I honestly thought he'd end up moving on like normal and forgetting about it. But nope, that was not the case. He kept talking about Ned to everyone. Any time someone asked him about Christmas he'd respond "no new Ned". First day back to school after New Years, his bus driver asked how his Christmas was and the first thing out of his mouth was "no new Ned". My dad called on the way home from Cubbies last night and asked what Gideon wanted, his answer again was a "new Ned". When we got home we had our little "celebration" and I knew that I needed to video record him opening the present.

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Gideon's Birthday Pirate Booty Celebration!

I don't know if you know this, but today, January 15th, is Gideon's 5th Birthday! I can't believe how much my little baby has grown. He's no where near to being my little baby anymore, but I still feel like he was born just the other day! Now he's a very imaginative little boy that was running around holding a girls hand last night, while she pretends to be his wife.


To celebrate this momentous occasion with YOU, my readers, Kinda Crunchy Mama is having a Pirate Booty giveaway! The giveaway runs for only two weeks! January 15 - 29th. I also have some lovely ladies that are sharing this on their blogs as well to join in on the fun! If you're one of these generous blogs, thank you!

I have a couple of great prizes, that one lucky winner will win thanks to some generous businesses. The first item is a handmade crocheted pirate hat from W.H.A.M! W.H.A.M. is made of two mamas that want to be able to stay at home, do what they love, and share what they love doing with others! They crochet, sew, glue, and craft in many ways. They can make scarves, blankets, hats, mug cozies, just about anything you can think of! Custom orders are accepted for a majority of their crafts, so feel free to send them a message and they can work to best create what you're looking for. This hat will be custom made to fit your child so please give it a few weeks after receiving measurements from you, for you to receive your hat.

This is a similar hat made for another customer

The second item that one lucky reader will win, is a pirate peg set from Musings from Mommyland. Katie, a stay at home mom, who started painting wooden superheroes for her children. She discovered that she loved it so much, she decided to open up a shop, creating them for others! If you don't see what you're looking for, please email Katie and she will be able to come up with a custom order, that you're sure to love! If you have not seen these before, you HAVE to check them out. They are like the cutest thing ever. The winner will win their choice of a boy or girl pirate set, so even your little girl will be able to fall in love with these little wooden characters. 

Thank you for celebrating Gideon's Birthday with us, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
Disclaimer: Open to US Residents 18+ and older. The giveaway is open Jan 15 at 12:00 a.m. and closes Jan 29 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Comments on this post are appreciated but not mandatory. There will be one winner who will win both prizes. Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Kinda Crunchy Mama and all participating blogs will not be held responsible for fulfillment of prize. However, we will do everything we can to help you receive your item(s) from the sponsor. If there is a problem with said prize, please contact the blog you entered from within 30 days, after that we may be unable to assist you. The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation.  Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are in no way associated with this giveaway.  By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone.  I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.

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Gideon's birth story

With Gideon's birthday tomorrow, I thought i'd share my birth story with any one out there who may be interested. Gideon will be turning 5 tomorrow, so while some of the details might not be there, I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Waiting to be induced

My due date was Dec 31st, 2007. I had dreams of a water birth so I was hoping Gideon would be coming on his own and that I would get what I wanted. All of the women in my family on my moms side have had late babies and have needed to be induced. I was really hoping this would not be me. Because of this, I even took castor oil to try and help things along. By the way, that did nothing but give me the worst case of diarrhea in my life. I know some people have had success with this but it definitely did NOT work for me. LOL.

At 39, 40, and 41 weeks I had my membranes sweeped. If you have no idea what that is, I'd google it. It's not the most pleasant experience out there though. This of course did nothing. I also worked up until I hit my due date (I would have continued if my work would have scheduled me), which involved lots of walking but of course I did that all of my pregnancy. I basically tried everything I could think of that I knew of. At 42 weeks, and 0 dilation, I was supposed to come in to be induced.

I was originally scheduled to go in on that Sunday, but after calling the hospital I found out they were understaffed so we got pushed back to the Monday. Monday, I called and came in first thing in the morning. I was checked in but still at a 0. I was still trying to avoid pitocin as I wanted that water birth so they gave me a dose of cytotec to try and induce without the pitocin. After that I was free to roam the hospital and get some breakfast. I don't remember if I was given a second dose of cytotec or not but I do know that I felt nothing. When the nurses would monitor me, they said that I was having little contractions that were almost on top of each other but not strong enough to do anything.

After a long conversation about how this wasn't working and we were now in the evening of day 1, we decided to try pitocin as well as a baloon catheter. The catheter is put into the cervix to help dilation. It is supposed to fall out on it's own around 4 cm. We were also under an agreement that if my labor starts, we'll pull me off the pitocin to see if it continues without it. I was still hoping for that water birth or at least a natural birth of some kind.

I started having contractions after that. When you're on pitocin you have to be monitored and I kept having to pee which kept me having to go off the monitor. I felt dumb because I couldn't ever get it situated just right when I came back. I also felt like all I was doing was peeing. LOL.  At some point, while in the bathroom, the catheter ripped out of me. It was taped to my inner thigh to keep the pressure and I don't know if I really was dilated enough or not but I think it was taped a little too tight so when I went to sit it ripped out, and not that nicely.

After that, since I was having contractions and I was at least at 4 cm, they agreed to take me off the pitocin. At this point it was super early in the morning and I was UNCOMFORTABLE to say the least. I kept jumping in the bath trying to relieve some of the discomfort.

Somewhere in the morning, they sent me off to a laboring room. They wouldn't let me use the birthing tub yet though so I was in a different room that didn't have a tub. Because I was two weeks over due, they wanted to make sure there was no meconium in the water before they would allow a water birth. If there ended up being meconium that I wouldn't be allowed a water birth. At this point things were definitely moving along and they were guessing i'd have him around 1:00 or so.

I pretty much stayed on the birthing ball all morning and was trying to breath through all of my contractions. I took another pee break and while in the bathroom, my water broke. At this point, because they hadn't actually seen it, they made me wear a pad so they could make sure it was clear and wheeled me to the room with the birthing tub. I know everyone has had difference experiences with their water breaking but mine was literally gushes of water. I was sitting there and all of a sudden a flood of  water would come out of me. All over the floor in between the two rooms. It happened probably 3 times, and I remember being so embarrassed and continuing to apologize for it. Because you know, I had so much control over it. LOL.

At that time, it was obvious the water was free of meconium so I went into the tub. I stayed in the tub for the next 6 hours! I literally did not progress at all, if anything tightened back up a little. My midwife had been afraid that if she was to break my water earlier that it would take pressure off and I wouldn't dilate. That's the big reason it wasn't done artificially. She was exactly right too. Without that pressure of the water bag, I stopped progressing. Unfortunately for me though, I was still having contractions. And they were painful contractions, right on top of each other. Again. I was getting no breaks in between and it wasn't helping me progress.

After that 6 hours I just remember being done. I told them to go ahead and put me on pitocin and I wanted an epidural too. I felt like I was giving up but I was so tired by this point. And I never wanted to go into labor with the pitocin.

Literally 45 minutes after being put on the pitocin and given the epidural, I had my little boy. He was the most precious little thing ever. I remember trying not to cry really hard even though I really wanted to.

My family had been sitting at the hospital all day by this point but I was determined to breastfeed so I wouldn't let anyone in the room until after I nursed him. That went great as well, and he was just perfect. I do have some pics I'll share but they're not the greatest quality so bear with it. I also have a video if you want to watch. Beware, it is a birth video but you really can't see anything unless you're staying at my hooha and not the baby.

The perfect baby

Me with my brothers

My dad holding Gideon

Gideon at 1 month

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Smile!

My handsome little boy

Today, Gideon brought home his school pictures. I was excited to see them but slightly nervous as he tends to say cheese with a grimace and looking off to the side. Michael tells me its because I take his picture too often so he knows what to do but just goes through the motions while he's still preoccupied with whatever is going on. Maybe that's why? I don't know. Does it mean I'm going to stop taking his picture so often? No, of course not. I read this interesting article that someone posted on Facebook the other day asking about whether we take our children's pictures too often. "Why we should take fewer pictures." It was basically saying that we are making our children self absorbed by how often we take their pictures. They're becoming obsessed with themselves. I would have to say I disagree with this. I take pictures of my family and especially my child because I love him and want memories of everything. I get slightly frustrated with other people who don't do the same which leaves me without pictures of certain family members. I want to be able to look back and have everything documented, preferably in scrapbook style but that might not always happen... *cough, cough* I will admit sometimes I need to know when to edit or delete but I'm thankful for all of the pics I have. Maybe I'm the one obsessed? I can look at his pic over and over again and it makes me smile. Is that so bad? What do you think?

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Gideon's 1st Day of School

Gideon started school today! We had to wake up at 6:30, which Gideon is not a morning person, and start getting ready. The bus picks Gideon up at 7:50 so that gave us plenty of time to relax, eat breakfast, and get ready. We went outside to wait for the bus, which it picks him up from the house which is fantastic! I took pictures in front of the tree and then the bus pulled up! They have car seats on the bus, so we got him situated, I took more pictures, and waved goodbye as the bus drove away. He seemed excited but he was doing  his nervous giggle that he does, which is oh so cute. I went inside to upload the pics from my camera right away, and I deleted them by accident!!! I was so upset I almost started to cry...
The bus drops Gideon off at 11:50 so I went outside to wait for him and I decided to try and fake my pictures as much as I can. So I took more and i'll share them with you now :0)

Gideon's 1st Day!

Getting out the carseat

The bus pulled up and he was waving to me!

I'm so glad that he had a first day of school. Afterwards, went out on the back porch since it was beautiful outside, and played with chalk. Gideon drew all over the porch and we hung outside all day.

Driving on the race car track that he drew

Chalk drawings

Posing in the sun

Overall, a fun and relaxing day.

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Back to bloggin

I haven't been on here since this last summer... And even that was something I was just starting... I'm going to try and get on the blogging train again though.

So what's been going on since the last time I posted? I went to Washington for a visit and then I was able to get on Space A to get back to Korea! Yah for me! I enjoyed my last few months in Korea and in December 2011, we left Korea for good and moved back to Washington, to Ft Lewis. We stayed with my sister at her boyfriend's house (thank you Travis and Terri), where Gideon had a birthday

Monster Truck show

Gideon and Auntie Terri

 and we had Christmas.

Gideon opening Christmas presents

Next thing on the agenda was to find a house a little closer to post. I grew up in Enumclaw which is where Terri and Travis live. This is a good probably 2 hour drive to post, a bit far for daily travels... We learned the hard way that moving from overseas back stateside really sucks. You don't receive your full BAH (Basic Allowance Housing) until the SM (Sponsor Member) signs in. Not only that but if something goes wrong with your pay nobody will help you till the SM signs in... Michael took a month leave to go visit his daughters and ideally to give us time to get the house set-up. Unfortunately his pay got screwed up which made this difficult... We were able to find a house eventually in Puyallup, a little farther then I wanted to live but it's a really nice house. Older, but nice and big, with a huge yard! Fantastic when you have little ones around.

Our pretty house covered in snow

As you can see, it snowed right after moving in! SO much fun! It was a huge snow storm.

Making a snow man with daddy

Yaki-do

Coco

Gideon posing with his snowman

 However, the day after the snow storm, there was too much snow! And trees started falling! Including on our car! The day after that was an ice storm, which made the rest of the trees fall....

Trees down in the front yard after cutting tree off car

Tree laying on car

Front of house

Side of the house

My poor mirror

After the snow recovery, Michael was back at work. I've been trying to find a job but haven't been having much luck. I decided to try babysitting and then I could stay home with Gideon. I now have one little boy named Uriah who is almost 4 years old that I watch on the weekends and I am working on finding a child for the week to watch. Gideon also will be starting school soon too (another blog will be posted about that) and we also found out recently that Michael will be deploying in the next couple of months as well. So lots coming up and lots going on. I will try my best to keep up with everything and I hope you're interested in reading.

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