Leopard Face

"The leopard cannot change it's spots."

--Vietnamese Proverb

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!  Whew!  We had a busy busy day.  W was sent off to camp last night.  This morning B had a soccer game.  We ran home, he changed into his scout uniform and off we went to a Cub Scout Fun Day.  After hanging out for a couple of hours, we raced home.  While in the car, I attempted to replicate this leopard face that I found by face painter Hazel Wood at Jolly Good Faces.  I had bought leopard ears and a tail at Target the previous month, so I was determined to make those into a costume.  I am not an artist by any means.

So after a bumpy, harrowed ride, this is what I ended up with.

I wore all black, had leopard print shoes and nails and voila!  Instant leopard!!!  (And no, I don't have orange streaked hair, although that would have gone with the costume.  It's a reflection from our pumpkin light.)

From my board "Happy Haunting."

Paintball Party

Happy 12th birthday to W!  I can't believe it!  One more year until he's a teenager.  Oh, how I miss those years where I could plan cute, fun parties for him.  We had a pirate treasure hunt party, a Lego party, and a Survivorman party, to name a few.  Now he's getting too old for these types of things, but when he told me that he wanted to take some friends to go play paintball, I knew that I could somehow incorporate a party into all of this.

First off, we had to find a place to play paintball.  Having moved to central Virginia, from northern Virginia, I feel that my options are quite limited.  When it comes right down to it, there's actually nothing to do here along those lines.  You either have to drive an hour to Richmond, an hour over the mountain, or an hour and a half to northern Virginia.  Definitely not something you can have parents drive their kids to.  So our numbers were limited to the number of kids we could fit in the car.

But we did find a place:  Warplay Paintball in Rhoadesville, VA.  They were very helpful in advising us in the best way to have a party for 12 year-old boys.  And they told us encouraged us to get the Groupon coupon, which saved us boatloads of money - like 80% off!!!

Like I mentioned earlier, this place was probably about 45 minutes away.  While in the car, I gave the kids some instructions and tips as to how to play paintball since it was the first time for all of them.  I found this list from http://www.warfighters.co.uk/ and they enjoyed learning the different tactics to try.

I was going to do sandwiches for lunch, but W insisted that sandwiches aren't special enough for a birthday and wanted hot dogs instead.  So we brought our portable camp stove and grilled up some brats right then and there.  But I had already designed and prepackaged these cute MRE containers from makebakecelbrate.com, and they WERE going to get used.

I got medium sized brown shopping bags, pulled the handles off, and attached these with spray-on adhesive.  Inside, I put Kool Aid Jammers, trail mix, Slim Jims, chips, and cookies.  The boys totally dug into these while waiting for the brats to finish cooking.

After playing all their rounds of paintball, we stopped and had cupcakes before heading home.  The cupcakes were a disaster after the cupcake holder falling over in the car and having them fall against each other.  But I worried needlessly - the boys gobbled them up anyhow.  

For the long car ride home, they all got a party favor to have.  I had seen a cute thing on Pinterest out of Etsy, but they were sold out, so I found another vender and went with EnchantedKidsParties mock paintball gumballs.  https://www.etsy.com/listing/215280464/paintball-splat-theme-gumball-tube-party?ref=market

I actually priced these out and it was going to cost just as much to make them myself as to buy these, so I went ahead and bought the favors.  They were a huge hit and boys being boys, they were trying to see how many they could fit in their mouths at one time.  

So all in all, I feel like it was a big success.  But I also have a feeling that this may be the last party W will want to have, that I will be able to help plan.  Luckily B is still only 9, so maybe I'll get a few more parties out of him!

From my board "Get the party started."

Mountain Day

Oh, Mountain Day!!!  One of the oldest and highly anticipated tradition at Mount Holyoke College.  Dating back to 1838, it continues the belief of Mary Lyon, the founder of the college, that students should include outdoor activities in order to balance out their intellectual pursuits.  The bells in Mary Lyon Hall ring at 8 am, but don't stop on the 8th ring.  All students know that classes are cancelled for they day.  You can sleep in, but not too late, then go grab a box lunch from the dining hall.  Then it is off to climb Mount Holyoke.

It is the anticipation of when it will be is what makes this day so special.  There are so many theories as to when it can or can't be.  It won't be on a Monday or Friday, because that would be a three day weekend.  It can't be on Thursdays, because those are faculty meetings.  It won't be during the week  before parents' weekend.  And it DEFINITELY must be before hunting season begins.  That usually narrows it down to a couple of days, yet we were still almost always surprised.  So imagine my shock when it was on a Friday this year!  

So in honor of this tradition, I thought I would post this yummy sounding drink I pinned a while back.

Of course, living far far away from Pioneer Valley down here in Virginia, I will have to make do with a Carter's Mountain cider doughnut, which I feel is a more than adequate substitution.

From my board "Oh Mount Holyoke."