Prince and Princess Party

Good Monday morning!

The Showcase Pic is of Roxie's designer cake. Isn't it beautiful? One of Austin's friends decorates cakes and she made this one especially for Roxie. All we told her were the colors (black and white), flowers and funky. I think she did an unbelievable job.

The Gallery Pics are anything and everything... birthday celebration, family, etc. Oh, and a couple of Disney pics since that's going to be our topic for this week. Get ready for more of those!

As far as volleyball tournaments go, this one could not have started any better. We won both games Friday night, so we went into the tournament on Saturday in a very good spot. We won our first game on Saturday. We were riding high. And then we had to play North Jefferson TWICE back-to-back to see who would win first place and who would win second place. We won second place. The girls were amazing. Coach Murray was amazing. I, too, was amazing. However, back to Coach Murray. She teaches "being classy" as well as playing good ball. Mike and I have been involved in a lot of sports' teams over the years, but I can honestly say, I enjoyed every minute of this season... due to Coach Murray, all the girls on the team (they were just extra special young ladies... NO drama ever) and the other parents. It was one of the most pleasant groups of people I've ever had the opportunity to be around. I hated to see it end.

But basketball is just around the corner. Tryouts are October 5 as a matter of fact, so we'll see how that goes. But this week is rest and relaxation... and a little football. Roxie hasn't seen Josh play yet, so that is our first order of business tonight.

Because of two Band Expos being cancelled, Austin came home late Saturday afternoon... and went straight to his Grandmother's to meet up with Mike and Josh for an evening of Auburn football. (Roxie and I crawled into my bed and watched 20 back-to-back episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos. What can I say? It's exhausting watching your daughter play volleyball all day. Totally exhausting!)

Roxie's birthday party was very, very nice. She received the JSU hoody she was wanting for the first home game next week from her brothers, lots of money and the special 13th birthday surprise... She and I are going to spend Thanksgiving night at the Wynfrey with my sister and my niece and two cousins and their daughters. Four big girls and four little girls. We're going to get up in the early morning hours and shop, shop, shop before we enjoy a late breakfast/brunch before checking out and heading to the house around noon. We'll be parked in the Wynfrey deck, so finding a parking space will not be a problem, and I'm pretty sure leaving isn't going to be as hard as getting in... if you know what I mean. And since we'll be some of the first and only shoppers in the mall that early, it should be a lot of fun. She was very excited, and I hope if all goes well, it might become a tradition. We've been planning it for over a year, so the money won't be a problem, and I made reservations in January. I'll have to let you know how that one turns out!

Disney Week - Part One

Well, it was finally here. Our one week trip to Disney. Roxie had finally turned 4 (which is what we had been waiting for), Josh was 7 and Austin was 10. We had saved for years, and I had planned for nearly as long. At 40 years of age, I had never been to Disney. I was much more excited than the kids.

Our well-planned two-day traveling itinerary had a few bugs. On Friday afternoon, November 4, 2000, we left at 4:15 p.m. We had planned on staying in the little town of Thomasville. However, they had other ideas with a sporting event and a convention in town. (It turned out, Thomasville wasn't quite as small as we had originally thought.) We then headed to Valdosta, but on the way we encountered an over-heated engine. It was already midnight and on those lonely, dark Georgia roads we did a lot of praying before our car was finally cool enough for us to make it to Valdosta.

Again, a ball game had all the rooms booked and we traveled for another hour or so before we collapsed at 3:00 a.m. in a small, but semi-clean hotel.

We slept until around 10:00 a.m., and while Mikie checked the van, the kids and I got dressed and watched Max Steel. (Does anyone remember Max Steel? I promise, nine years ago he was all the rage.) We enjoyed a good breakfast/lunch at IHOP and off we went.

Our van did great until ten minutes out of Disney when it began overheating AGAIN. We were so close, yet so far away!!! After a 20-minute cooling down time, we drove straight to our destination and saw the most beautiful sight... WELCOME TO DISNEYWORLD. I get chills just thinking about it even now!

Finding our hotel, The Polynesian, was simple and in a matter of only a few minutes, we were settled in our room. We rested a few moments before heading to our dinner reservations at the O'Hana Restaurant in our hotel. I picked that particular restaurant because it was family-friendly (Code for LOUD) and served the food as soon as you sat down. They also had coconut races which the kids enjoyed. On the Faulkner Kid Restaurant Rating System, it rated a -2 for Josh and Roxie who found out they did NOT care for Polynesian fare, but Austin was a great surprise and filled up on several of the dishes.

After our meal, we sat on benches outside our hotel and watched the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks. They were very visible from our viewpoint and not terribly loud. It was just the right way to end a long two-day trip. We were filled with anticipation for the next morning when our adventure would officially begin!

Prince and Princess Party

Since we're in Disney, we MUST have a Prince and Princess Party. This was one of the easiest parties I ever gave Roxie. You can use any Disney Princess invitations from Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby or you can make your own on the computer.

Schedule

15 minutes - Arrive and decorate crowns
15 minutes - Play Hidden Treasures
15 minutes - Play Drop the Crown
20 minutes - Royal feast
10 minutes - Devotion
10 minutes - Open gifts
10 minutes - Replay one of the games until Moms come to pick up the kids

Have the kids come dressed as their favorite Disney Princess.

Decorate Crowns - Go to your local Burger King and get the number of crowns you will need for each guest. If you are having boys AND girls (making this a Prince AND Princess Party), spray paint the boys' crowns gold and the girls' crowns silver. When they arrive, have large jewel stones to glue on the crowns as well as markers for decorations.

Hidden Treasures - This is a great game. Use a plastic baby pool and fill it with shredded newspaper. Tell the children they must find a special treasure hidden in the hay. Hide candy and other small prizes in the shredded paper. Tell they children they are each supposed to find two to three prizes. They can then put the prizes in their goodie bags.

Drop the Crown - This game is exactly the same as "Duck, Duck, Goose." Have the children sit in a circle on the floor and let one child start as the king. The king walks around the outside of the circle and drops a plastic crown behind someone's back. That person must stand up and put on the crown and chase the king back to the empty spot in the circle. The new king proceeds in the same manner.

Royal Feast - Invite the children into the banquet hall where they will enjoy a royal feast, or you may choose simply to serve cake and ice cream. If possible, try to have a small banquet table for the children. You could use coffee tables covered in plastic tablecloths or children's tables. If you do not have enough chairs, the kids can sit on the floor and still eat comfortably.

This was the easiest, cutest cake I ever made. I simply made two 8" rounds and iced them with pink icing. On the top of the cake I put a plastic tiara (washed, of course) and then sprinkled pink sugar on the top. I put it on a large glass cake pedestal. It was simple, but very elegant and the girls loved it.

Devotion - The Bible tells us that once there was a beautiful maiden named Esther who was one of God's chosen people, an Israelite. When the king in the land decided to choose a wife, he picked Esther above all the other women because of her beauty. It was a beauty that God had given her, beauty that came from the inside out.

One day a bad man named Haman decided that all of the Israelites must be killed. Esther was very upset because this meant that all of her people, including her, would be put to death.

God had a purpose and a plan for Queen Esther. Esther bravely went to the king. It was a brave thing to do because anyone who approached the king without an invitation could be killed if the king so desired. Even the queen! But God was with Esther, and the king welcomed her. Esther was very wise and invited both the king and Haman to dinner. After a second night at dinner, Esther told the king about Haman's plan to kill the Israelites. She asked the king for help. The king loved Esther and granted her request, and also had the bad man, Haman, killed.

This is a perfect opportunity to share a Bible story with the children, and we never want to miss an opportunity to share God's word... EVER!

Open Gifts - Have the Prince or Princess sit on a royal throne (or a chair decorated with balloons and crepe paper). Have all the royal subjects sit on the floor as he/she opens the gifts.

Ideas for Favors

Crowns (They have already decorated these.)
Hidden treasures collected from the game.
Royal scepters - Make these from a dowel stick covered in glitter with a ball or a star with ribbon at the end.

VARIATION - If you have a hot tub, you could have an Ariel Princess Party and let the children swim in the "warm" tub. We did this, and it worked out really, really well. The kids had a ball.

This party was taken from Parties With a Purpose by Karol Ladd.

Have a productive Monday. Take a minute (or an hour) to enjoy your loved ones today... whether as a group or one-on-one. Come back tomorrow for a a new bran muffin recipe from my friend, Julie. You remember Julie from Turnip Green Soup fame, don't you? Well, she's figured out a way to make a bran muffin NOT be totally healthy for you. It's wonderful. I mean the bran is still there... but so are three cups of sugar and some other good stuff. It's bran the way it was intended! Nuff said.

Also, we'll talk a little more about Disney... my favorite place ON EARTH! In fact, everything on the blog this week will be Disney-inspired. A Disney-inspired party, a Disney-inspired recipe (to go along with Julie's bran muffins), a Disney-inspired tradition, a Disney-inspired date and a great Disney-inspired book. (Can you find all the hidden "Disney-inpsireds" in the above paragraph... kind of like Hidden Mickeys in the park?) I hope you'll check back often this week.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Princess Belinda