The pool party, etc.

For those of you living in the Midwest or anywhere else that is generally cold for obnoxiously long periods of time, I highly recommend a mid-winter pool party for kids. Well, wait, let me qualify that a bit: I highly recommend a pool party for kids ages 6 and up (I'll tell you why in a minute). We hosted a pool party for our son's 7th birthday this Sunday, and after 1 hour of swimming, those boys were cashed. Not even a 3 layer marble cake with fudge filling and a blue "wave" of buttercream frosting could rev these kids up after the swimming (oh, and no, I did not make the cake--baking is not really my thing, and let's leave waves of buttercream to the experts). All those tired, water logged faces were a spectacular sight, and an unexpected benefit of the mid-winter pool party. Had the party occurred during the summer, 1 hour of swimming would have no effect on them, I'm sure, but for their cooped up all winter bodies, 1 hour was a lot.

Now, here's why I say that this is a great idea for ages 6 and up: not every kid takes swimming lessons, so even at 6, you can't be sure that a kid can swim. There were a couple of kids at our party who were teetering on the edge of not being able to swim, so even with 3 adults in the pool and a lifeguard it was a little nerve wracking. I guess I could add "Don't send your kid to a pool party unchaperoned if he/she can't swim" to my list of birthday party rules...tempting.

Anyway, once the cake was eaten and the water footballs were given out as goodies, everyone left tired and happy, which was a great way to wind up a Sunday afternoon.

This week in our house we are busy thinking about, among other things, leprechaun traps. My older two have to make them for school, because there is a rumor around school that the leprechauns come in and trash the classrooms around St. Patrick's Day. The challenge is to build a trap to catch the sneaky devils. Here, according to my 7 and 8 year olds, are the things that might entice a leprechaun, just in case you all are having problems with them:

-shiny stuff
-money (natch--think pot of gold)
-robins (as in the bird. This one confuses me a bit, but don't shoot the messenger!)

The plans so far involve tin foil, glitter, and a shiny, possibly GOLD robin (double whammy) to entice them, and lots of double sided tape to ensnare the leprechauns. I'll let you know if we catch any.

This week has also been filled with my bold attempts at meal planning. Although I love to cook, and make dinner almost every night, I am a terrible meal planner. So, armed with my menu for the next several days, I hit the grocery store yesterday and then Costco today. Yesterday's meal was Chinese Chicken Salad (yum & easy...napa cabbage & chicken tossed in a hoisin vinaigrette), and was successfully made. Score one for me. Today was supposed to be Oven Fried Chicken with steamed broccoli...and then I forgot to defrost the chicken from Costco, on top of remembering at 5:50 p.m. that the 8 year old was supposed to be at a birthday party...at 5 p.m. After much rushing around, the end product was quesadillas. So, I have decided that my meal plan must include last minute contingency options, some pinch hitters of the dinner world, for those evenings when all of the best intentions fall flat. As for tomorrow, well, I can't even remember what I have planned for tomorrow and don't really feel like leaving this comfy chair to look at my list and tell you. Sorry.

The word from my hostess with the mostest friend is that the scavenger hunt was a wild success, and I promise to give you all the scoop in a future post. Something else to look forward to: some cards from our new Completely Custom line are going to be featured on Cool Mom Picks (link at right) in a few weeks. We're excited!