Little Mermaid Party

Ya'll know how much I look forward to helping with sweet Jackie's birthday party each year. Jackie turned three a couple of weeks ago and her birthday party was this past Saturday. She is all about The Little Mermaid so, of course, she wanted a Little Mermaid birthday party! Rhonda and I had soooooo much fun planning and decorating!

The under the sea theme was carried throughout:

We covered the floor of one room with blue balloons and covered the doorway to the room with blue and purple streamers and some fish. Rhonda hid gold coins and jewelry under the balloons and the kids went on a treasure hunt with their toes! (Rhonda's dad, bless his heart, blew up all those balloons!)

We played "freeze" in the balloon room. The kids danced in the balloons to the music from The Little Mermaid. When the music stopped, they had to freeze. Oh... notice that the adults joined the fun!


Rhonda made fish beanbags so the kids could toss them into a large bucket.

There was also "Stick the flowers in Ariels Hair" (like pin the tail on the donkey but without pins!).

And, they went "fishing" with a magnetic pole and some fish in a bucket.

We also set up a craft area. Rhonda made a cute sign and we decorated the area to match the theme. We had an Ariel poster in the background, fishing net, and some cardboard cutout fish "swimming" through the net. Rhonda painted adorable treasure chests for the little girls' treat boxes, and filled them with stickers, crayons, jewelry, bubbles, etc. (Of course, everything had an Ariel theme!)

The bucket you see on the left is a bucket of jumbo pasta shells. The little girls decorated their own shells. Is that a cute idea or what?


Of course the food matched the theme...

I made a Little Mermaid birthday cake as requested by the birthday girl:



Here she is eating her cake:


We also had octopus hotdogs, crab dip, tuna croissants, goldfish crakers in a little bucket, blue punch with gummy fish frozen in an ice ring, and little jello aquariums:


The party was a hit and we all had a great time (little kids and big kids). I can't wait to start working on next year!

Sweet Blessings,
LeAnn
"Aunt LeLe"

Resurrection Rolls

OK - I guess I have to eat my words!

Just when I wrote about Nick and I NOT having any special food-type traditions, it was time to shop for Easter dinner. We make Resurrection Rolls every year so I guess we do have a tradition or two that involves food! These are so yummy that we make them a few times a year... not just at Easter.

If you have never made these, I encourage you to give them a try. It's a great way to share the Easter story with you family, neighbor kids, or Sunday School class. Here's the recipe:

Resurrection Rolls

Large Crescent Roll Dough (the regular size rolls won't work)
Melted Butter
Large Marshmallows
Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture (purchase or mix 1 teaspoon cinnamon with every 3 tablespoons sugar)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.

Have them dip the marshmallow into the melted butter and roll to coat evenly. This represents the oils of embalming.

Dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and coat evenly. This represents the spices used to anoint His body.

Wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll. (not like a typical crescent roll up... but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

Place on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven for the length of time indicated on the crescent roll package. The oven represents the tomb (pretend like it was three days.)

When the rolls have cooked and cooled slightly, bite into the rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty!)

Sweet Blessings,
LeAnn