We're TubaDad (laid-back taco-eating tuba-player from Texas) and M3 (excitable, artsy chocoholic from California). We adopted our beautiful twin girls from Hubei, China in Oct 2006 and this blog is about our lives with the twinados, Ro and Ree. Cheers!
I’ve found a whole bunch of neat 4th of July party ideas on Pinterest and on the web lately and have assembled a big ol’ party wishlist. We won’t do it all, of course, but oooo, this stuff makes me grin. If you’re planning a 4th of July celebration, here are some fun ideas (all pics link to their directions if you click through twice).
Luminaries: Paint and punch designs in old cans for festive (and fire-safe) luminaries. By the way, I love the addition on light blue to the traditional red, white, and blue scheme:
Well I can hardly believe that Ro and Ree aren’t kindergarteners any longer! On Thursday our tiny babes graduated in a flurry of pomp and circumstance and we are so proud (and a little weepy!):
Our school doesn’t do a kindergarten graduation, (and you know we like any excuse to have a party around here), so we invited the whole class and their families over to our house for a graduation ceremony and party. Two wonderful class moms volunteered to help (thank you!!!) and boy did we all have fun with it. If anyone is thinking of having a graduation party next year – do it! Here are some easy details you can replicate:
Decorations: I went with primary colors and a school theme (got the idea here) and picked up a variety of tableware in red, yellow, green, and blue from the local dollar store. Then played up the school look with bulletin board borders taped to the edges of tables (also from the dollar store), mini chalkboards that said things like “J is for jello” “D is for drink,” brightly colored metal pails tied with helium balloons, spiral hanging school cutouts, and pencil cutouts sprinkled on the tables:
Caps and Pins: Each graduate was given a white grad cap and a “Kindergarten Graduate” star pin (a class mom made the pins) to wear as they entered the party:
Food: We had bagel bites (B is for bites), mini PJB sandwiches (P is for PBJ), grad-cap cupcakes that a class mom made (C is for cupcake), crayon pretzel treats that I made, and finger foods galore (each parent brought something to share – that’s what went on all of the tables):
Ceremony: I wrote a brief ceremony that included all of the kids, their beloved teacher, and some of the parents. We didn’t have any practice time before the real ceremony, but I just made sure to give lots of cues: “Now it’s time to do the poem you practiced at home...” “When you hear your parents cheer you get to throw your hats in the air” and that sort of thing. It turned out better than I could have imagined and was SO FUN! Here’s our program, if anyone wants to host your own graduation:
1. Kids march around yard to Pomp and Circumstance music (oh the cuteness!!): (yes, Ro and Ree kicked their shoes off the second they got home and did the whole ceremony in bare feet)
2. Welcome students and families
3. A few words from our teacher
4. Kids perform graduation song (I rewrote a kindergarten graduation song from the internet – made it wayyyy more simple - it was sung to Love and Marriage. The kindergarten teacher was such a sweetheart and agreed to teach it to the class.)
Here are the words we used:
Kin-der-gar-ten Kin-der-gar-ten Time to say goodbye to Kin-der-gar-ten Look at the progress we've made So now it's time to go to (PAUSE) first grade! Kin-der-gar-ten Kin-der-gar-ten Time to say goodbye to Kin-der-gar-ten Look at the progress we've made So now it's time to go to (PAUSE) first grade!
Reading, Writing, Math and Science Oh (PAUSE, PAUSE) how we love it Field trips and lots of messy projects too (PAUSE FOR LITTLE RUN) We're flying through it!
Kin-der-gar-ten Kin-der-gar-ten Time to say good-bye to Kin-der-gar-ten Look at the progress we've made So now it’s time-- So now it’s time-- So now it’s time to go to (PAUSE) first grade!
5. Kids say graduation poem together (I sent this poem home with the kids to practice and had the words on a big poster that they could read during the program). The words were:
Do you remember last fall? I was only this tall * Now look at me I am way up here ** and my I've learned a lot this year. In fact they think I'm really great, that's why I get to graduate! ***
* hold hand at chest height ** put a hand on top of your head *** throw both hands in the air
6. A parent reads the ABC End of Year poem, and each student holds up his/her letter when it’s called out. (A class mom made the cool alphabet signs.)
ABC END OF YEAR
A is for the alphabet which you know how to say. B is for busy bodies - at work and at play. C is for colors - red, yellow, blue, and green. D is for drawing pictures, the best we’ve ever seen. E is for exercise to keep your bodies strong. F is for the fun you’ve had as you have gone along. G is for the good friends you made throughout the year. H is for happy faces, filled with love and cheer. I is for imagination used at every turn. J is for good jobs and the praises you have earned. K is for kindergartners - hip, hip, hooray! L is for learning - more and more each day. M is for minding and showing our respect. N is for numbers. One, two, three, correct? O is for the obstacles you learned to overcome. P is for puppets and for playing rhythms on a drum. Q is for all the questions you’ve asked throughout the year. R is for reading stories, even those that bring a tear. S is for different snacks, several you have tried. T is for talking. It's not to be denied. U is for unusual; it fits some things you’ve done. V is for volunteers - parents and everyone! W is for the world of words you’ve barely dipped into. X is for extra special kids - it's him, it's her, it's you. Y is for yes, it has been a great year! Z is for first-grade zest. You’re ready, have no fear!
7. A parent reads the poem Great Expectations:
Great Expectations (Author Unknown)
It's time to say good-bye. Your school year has come to an end. You’ve made more cherished memories And many more new friends.
As parents, we’ve watched our children learn and grow And change from day to day We hope that all the things we've done Have helped in some small way.
So it's with happy memories We say goodbye to Kindergarten, With great hope and expectations. For what next year holds in store.
8. Diplomas. Each student’s name is called and he/she gets a diploma and shakes the teacher’s hand. (A class mom got our diplomas at a local teacher’s store, but you can also find inexpensive packs on the internet.)
9. Special thank you, flowers, and class gift presented to teacher. (A kindergarten student memorized an adorable little speech and presented this.)
10. Please give a cheer for the kindergarten class of 2011 (kids toss hats in air when parents cheer):
What a wonderful experience from start to finish – we’re still grinning! And we are so grateful to our awesome kindergarten teacher for taking part in this crazy idea, for all of the smiling parents and kiddos who came and happily participated and brought food (over 85 people, wow!), and to the wonderful class moms and Wela and BobBob who helped with the event.
We abruptly stopped sleeping at 7am when two eager, dancing girls ran into our bedroom yelling “It’s Easter!!!!!”:
Apparently the Easter bunny did good.
By 10am, the Bunny Bash decorations were in place, and the food was all cooking:
Two eager bunnies Could Not Wait for their friends to arrive:
At 11:30, we yelled “On your marks, get set, go!” and leaped out of the way as the adorable bunny-tail-clad kiddos sprinted hither and yon looking for the almost 300 eggs hidden around the yard:
Once the eggs were all found, we had some wildly energetic playtime (and I had a glass or two of wine). The line for BobBob’s monkey bars was constant, and the playstructure and pink car were never, ever empty:
Then the kids filled the craft tent, turning out cute peeps in nests and peeking bunnies while sneaking jelly beans and scribbling away at coloring sheets and bunny mazes:
On all counts, Bunny Bash 2011 was a huge, whoppin’, hoppin’ success.
(Ro left, Ree right)
Many, many thanks to the dream-team of cooks, decorators, fix-it and idea men, helpers, egg stuffers, photographers, and cleaner-uppers who helped make it happen:
In the end, every kid left with a bucket full of eggs, a huge smile, and a slightly bedraggled bunny tail. And Ro and Ree drove off into the sunset in their beloved pink car toting a ginormous pink bunny and a spare princess crown.
Then there was intense napping across the land. Now if that isn’t a happy Easter I don’t know what is.
I think a half-birthday party is almost better than a regular birthday party! No expectations, no stress, just fun.
I’d like to make these pics all pretty and do some beautiful collages, but it simply isn’t going to happen if I’m going to get a post up this evening and still be able to watch American Idol (priorities, heh). I’m already on internet lockdown so I don’t accidentally see the results somewhere.
Ro and Ree’s half-birthday princess party was beautiful, especially since we only started thinking about it one day in advance (see, I’m telling you, the laid-back half birthday is the way to go!). We were tickled at how the girls chose every single decoration themselves, decorated the table to their liking, made sticker placecards, and chose crowns for each attending queen and king:
Ree donned her fantabulous stick-on princess nails for the occasion (she bought them in the Target dollar bin, which might explain why they kept falling off all night):
It was a little funny to see the oh-so-proper and demure princesses eating shrimp over the trash can. I guess it is practical:
Perhaps this also explains why the dollar-bin nails didn’t stay on:
You’d think it would be hard to climb trees or houses in princess attire, but apparently not:
Originally we had purchased one big cake, but after reading the (genius!) blog comment about a half cake for a half birthday, we sliced that baby in two and each giggling girl got her own half of a Rapunzel cake. Perfection!:
The Rapunzel cake toppers are little dolls from Target, by the way. Ro and Ree asked for a Tangled cake but it just didn’t exist, so we surprised them by making our own with a Baskin Robbins icecream cake (did you know they make those chocolate swirls out of hot fudge—someone help me I can’t stop sneaking bites of it!), the dolls, and some fanciful castle and crown candles.
Want to make a big difference in the world? Give one small child the benefit of Foster Care. Ro and Ree were in foster care and it changed their lives. Read more about it or read about other charities that help children.
Food: We had bagel bites (B is for bites), mini PJB sandwiches (P is for PBJ), 
4. Kids perform graduation song (I rewrote a kindergarten graduation song from the internet – made it wayyyy more simple - it was sung to Love and Marriage. The kindergarten teacher was such a sweetheart and agreed to teach it to the class.) 
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