Nov. 10: In a galaxy not so far away...

Although Vic’s cold is about a day ahead of mine, we both had disgusting, sniffling, coughing weekends. You know the colds that make you want to lie in bed all day and groan for someone to please kill you? And then when the cold’s all gone you wonder why you were such a baby about it? I’m still right in the middle of the groaning stage, so don’t bug me.

Problem is, a seven-year-old’s birthday party does not allow for Mom and Dad to be sick. We spent much of Sunday preparing the house for the eight munchkins that would be helping Jack celebrate. I had some grand plans for carrying out the Star Wars theme; this is what half-assedness materialized:

• Snickerdoodles and plain ol’ chocolate chip cookies: Wookiee Cookies
  
• Lemon-lime Kool-Aid with Sprite and lime sherbet: Yoda Soda
  
• Potato chips: Darth Vader Tater Chips
  
• Popcorn: Snow Trooper Snowballs
  
• Half-sheet chocolate cake with white buttercream frosting: Awesome Star Wars movie scene diorama
  
  

We asked the party guests to dress up as a Star Wars character if they had costumes. Since Jack’s buddies are total nerds, most of them came dressed up; we had four Darth Vaders, a Jedi, a clone trooper, and two civilians. We took each boy’s photo in front of a black backdrop and then had them decorate a picture matte with which we later framed the photo. Almost none of the boys had trouble with this activity.

We also played a “Which Star Wars Character Am I?” game. Taylor (Lori’s daughter, who helped me out a lot) taped a picture of a character to each boy’s back and before they could start guessing who they were, Jack had blabbed the answers. We made the boys turn around and changed the pictures, and then they all started not guessing again. I think Theo might have been the only one that was playing the game as it was meant to be played. I love Theo.

The next activity was a matching game. Alec was crazy-obsessed with this one; Cassie, you should be proud or ashamed—I’m not sure which. He and Josh even restarted the game after Ethan declared “I don’t like math!” and shoved all his matches back into the rows of cards. In fact, while the rest of the boys went out and started eating/critiquing the food I had so lazily prepared, Alec and Josh played until they’d matched all the cards.

The Yoda Soda was a hit. The other food was questioned and analyzed and nibbled and mashed into the rug. Next time, when I poison the party food, maybe the boys’ll keep the disparaging remarks to themselves, hm?

The piñata Jack chose was a Darth Vader head. We opted for the pull-string kind, so we didn’t have to worry about blindfolds or baseball bats or excessive crotchal-region injuries. Vic stood upstairs and lowered the piñata down to where the boys excitedly waited. Even though I said repeatedly, “Don’t pull the strings until I tell you to!” several pulled as soon as they could reach a string. What I wanted to say when the string detached without opening the piñata was, MAYBE YOU SHOULDA LISTENED TO ME BECAUSE NOW YOU GET NO CANDY. What I actually said was, “OK, then grab another one.” They pulled open the bottom but I guess we’d stuffed the thing pretty tight and nothing fell out. What a letdown. Do piñata stories ever end the way they should?

Jack’s friends know him well; he got lots of Legos and Star Wars gifts, as well as a Hot Wheels set and a really cool make-your-own-superballs kit. And Jack doesn’t know this yet, but he’ll have another big pile o’ gifts to open at the family party (on his actual birthday) Thursday night. He is one happy boy, although he was kinda pissed when we told him he’s not actually seven years old yet and won’t be until Thursday.

(Heh heh heh… truth is sometimes kinda fun to tell.)



Anyway, the party is over and it was great fun for Jack and kids who don’t mind math. Huge thanks to The Lovely Lori and her family for driving up for the festivities and for all the help in making the party happen. Now Vic and I can get back to recovering from this creepin’ crud.