Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Mental Pictures from a Circus Party (repost)

Before I share the 'official' re-post of Grace's 4th birthday party, you'll need a reminder of the 'mental pictures' I took of the party.

The circus party has come and gone. As I look at the pictures from our party, I am reminded of blogs you read, were you see posts filled with perfect pictures, clean homes, well behaved, perfectly posed children and you are left thinking 1. wow, she has it all together or 2. what aren't they telling me, what's behind those too good to be true pictures.

Looking at the pictures of my party, I am shocked at the story they tell. The story of the well executed party. The cute decorations. The people smiling and having a good time.

The mental pictures I have of the party tell another story. My mental pictures answer the 'what's behind those too good to be true pictures'.  They can be summed up like this:

{12} balloon animals untwisted and used as weapons to attack our guests.  I did NOT see that coming.  See {9}.


{11} presents being openned, all at once, cards thrown to the side, papers up in the air.  All while {4} and {9} were taking place.  Mom, nearing a meltdown minutes after this picture was taken, is left to determine who gave what later.

Photo taken before present opening chaos broke out.

{10} minutes to extract a splinter out of a little girl's foot.  I wonder how that could have happened...


{9} the 4 and 5 year old brothers {that adds up to 9}, who had the presence of 10 kids.  Neighbors {whom we don't know other than the courtesy wave across the fence}, who that morning we extended the 'hey, why don't you stop over later' invite, who were jumping off the arm of my sofa as if it were a rocket launch, while their father sat completely oblivious in our yard, trusting I was a competent babysitter and party hostess.

Yep...this sofa.

{8} pizzas ordered, none of which I had a chance to sit down and eat mainly because of {9}.


{7}, seventh, hottest day of the year.  I sweated through my $5 Goodwill dress I had scored in Febuary. 


{6} holes punched through the punch box before the party started.  Luckily my talented sister fixed all of them and no one was the wiser.


{5} hours before the party started, we found out the cotton candy machine we rented didn't work.  Yes we did have a cotton candy machine *which might explain {9} a bit better.


{4} kids having hurl yourself on the floor screaming tantrums as they were getting dragged out of the party {I happily would have left with any of those parents and let their kids stay in my place}.

I have mental pictures of the real deal, this is similar to how they looked {Grace age 2}.

{3} pairs of shoes left unclaimed at the end of the night.  That means, 3 kids left our party shoeless.


{2} people that asked what Up Right Step meant.  It's supposed to read:  Step Right Up.  I listened to the advice of my husband and arranged the words going up the stairs.  His logic was, you want them to step.right.up. 


{1} mom about to have a nervous breakdown, who will make a full recovery and  focus on the {1} birthday girl that smiled and laughed the entire day.


Actual pictures to come :)

11 comments:

  1. Just as funny the second time around!! (And no, I haven't fixed my no-reply dilemma yet, so I'll just pretend you responded to this ;)

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  2. Glad the story ended with a lovely photo of you & the birthday girl smiling. What a pretty dress (even though it was still too hot!). I sighed and smiled as I read this post because it's just an honest account of what happened. It's what happens at EVERY kids' party. I love that you shared it. The 3 lost pairs of shoes and the "up right step" are the funniest :).

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  3. luv it! the truth is always awesome to know so that you dont think urs is awkward or maybe our group is just awkward who knows! but i totally understand #9 been there done that and didnt extend invites for following years (i know i'm horrible huh?) i still have two pairs of shoes from cor's 7th bday party, and one kid wore another kids shoes home that were two sizes too big for him and we had to exchange them at church the next morning. BUT it was a blast of a party. i'm extending on it for this year. my parents house again with the pool and they have a community like park playground in their backyard now. and my aunt does bouncey house rentals and a snow cone& cotton candy stand - thinking of adding those but not sure. might wait for other years as the playground is new this year, lol!! i wish u could help me decorate for it. i do great cakes! always make cor's and my neice asks me for her daughter. i'll swap with you - i'll do her cake and you do his decorations??

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  4. Love the last photo...
    Finally, she's satisfied and smiling.

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  5. Hilarious, I love this post, every time I have read it I laugh! this is what kids parties are all about!

    I still want to smack the Dad of those boys for you.

    (Warning: Grace is getting to the age where you will have the kids who eats too much then vomits as they're leaving....always fun!)

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  6. Loved this the first time, and love it even more the second time!

    (And what's up with that dad? You didn't invite him this time, did you?)

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  7. Oh I so remember this!! I will say that you were the picture of loveliness in that dress and I think that party post was where I first came across your blog and I have to admit that I thought you had it sooooo together and did the picture perfect party! Now that I know better...it's possible that your eyes may be a little glazed over in one of those pics!!!! Of course I saw all of these pics this morning and all I can think of is.....I miss Gino's!!!!!

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  8. I love hearing your take one the party behind the perfect pictures! And what is most important...that Grace had a great birthday she will remember always!

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  9. Reading this again makes me laugh out loud. It's probably one of my favorite posts of yours ever! It's hilarious.

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  10. Hi Amy,
    Love the countdown! I must try to include the idea on one of my posts (though with a food blog it may be a tiny bit difficult).
    In the meantime:
    3 Number of WWH posts I read to get caught up.
    2 Sweet girls who are regulars on your site (you and Grace, of course).
    1 Great blogger I always gather inspiration from:) Thanks Amy!

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I am head over heels you took the time to leave me a comment.

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