MY HAPPIEST NEW YEAR sandra, ttgp
this year, no complaints.. but, really, my happiest new year's eve was last year. my ex-husband went out of town for the rose bowl game, i think it was. and so, i did what any ex-wife would do under the circumstances,
i threw a party in his house.
for the kids.
and it was a really cool party too. a "shrinky dink dance party!" now, if you have never made shrinky dinks, you do not know what fun is...
first, you use paint pens in every color of the rainbow and create any picture you want on the shrinky dink plastic sheets (found at your local craft store)
that's fun all by itself, but gets way better..
next, you bake 'em. and they might not offer the same aroma as chocolate chip cookies, but what they lack in fragrance, they make up for in high stakes excitement.
i mean, the suspense! it is very important your oven have a light, so you can watch and pray.
not all shrinky dinks make it. some, during the shrinking process will fold and touch and ..."oh no! no! not mine! i worked so hard!" -and stick, and you have to start all over.others will look like they're going to stick and be ruined, but, pray, pray, and shout out loud
sing to the shrinky dink gods! and.. watch... write before your very eyes, just when you thought your creative life was over.. your masterpiece unfolds, and lies flat, 1/9th of it's original size. -now you've got a great zipper pull, necklace, or backpack decor; whatever you want it to be.
and after we made several shrinky dinks; we danced.
we cranked up the disney tunes, spread out the balloons, put on masks, decorated each child with a colorful lei from the party store, gave em' each a silver, sparkly shaker, and let the music move them. dance, dance, FREEZE!
dance, dance, (stop the music) FREEZE!
smiles everywhere you looked.
and the party didn't stop there either. after the shrinky dinks and along with the dancing.. the kids made up there very own game, spontaneous and right on the spotpictures on a paper in a circle, then the name of each picture in a hat. step from paper picture to paper picture (like a cake walk), and when the music stops...
name is pulled from the hat, and whoever is standing on that picture is "YOU'RE OUT!" 'til there's just one standing and "YOU WIN!"
we had a great time bringing in the new year.
and the next morning.. my kids must have played for more than four hours with the left over balloons. -and i'm not exaggerating.
they danced with them. drew on them. and made up several games.. how many balloons can you get to stay around your body without having them float up in the air? and after you surround yourself in balloons... who can walk the farthest without a balloon drifting off?
and don't tell.. but i let them take turns jumping from the couch to catch balloons from the ceiling
and don't tell.. but i let them take turns jumping from the couch to catch balloons from the ceiling
so far, that was my happiest new year, and it preceded the best year of my life.
the perfect way to spend a rainy day.
the perfect way to spend a rainy day.
posted by SHE @ 10:19 AM
6 Comments:
Oh I love it!!!!
How absolutely fantastic.
I wanna make a shrinky dinky shink drink or whatever they're called too... ;) ;)
And the dancin....oh man...
Wish i was there,
Lots of love to you Sandra,
Heres to you and the wonder that you are my friend,
May it be a year of love and more love,
M
my3: ..shrinky drinks... that's a whole different kind of party
but you've got my mind working on the invitations already
and a toast, yes
"a year of love, more love..
more happy, healthy, joyful children.. more smiles
and more miraculous friendships!"
You did the right thing. The kids deserve this, and it's good that you could.
It's sad when a person is such a spirit of oppression. My mom and dad divorced when I was four, and I know things can be tense. Sometimes, the relationships never feel right again.
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I remember Shrinky Dinks! How cool!
1313/mr poetry: my ex-husband is generous about sharing his home
which is a huge blessing, as my current residence doesn't offer much space for dancing
-and i understand, there is no such thing as a "good" divorce,
they all come with a certain amount of stress and ugliness,
but wow! do we get along much better now. each, putting the kids first.. always. (best we can).
AND -you have happy memories of creating shrinky dinks, yes?
they are so much fun. two sure fire ways i can always get my brain to come out and play in the creative sunshine:
shrinky dinks and coloring books.
"create in joy!" much love, ~s.
Sorry to catch up so late, but what a great post. You caught the spirit of the party through your words and photos. You're a great mom.
I did shrinky dinks once with my girls and we loved it.
ren: thank you! -and you rank up there too, as a very cool dad.
"to shrinky dinks on rainy days
-hot out of the oven!"
much love, ~s.
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