Welcome to the adventure!

we had my son's birthday party two weekends ago. he wanted an indiana jones birthday party. okay. i can do that. except you know that didn't start planning until the week of his party. slacker. i know.

i knew i wanted to do a scavenger hunt for him. i knew he didn't want any of the gross out things or skulls people usually have for indiana jones parties. so... what to do, what to do. i called my mom to see if she would write the clues (she's a great writer) for the scavenger hunt. of course, she was happy to help me and had all 25 written up and sent to me in the middle of the night.

i went to my mom's and scoured her house for decorations. she had some great decorations. she let me use anything i found. i found an old typewriter, an old looking fan, an old briefcase, old letters, a metal plane, and other decorations. i checked out some indiana jones and archeology book from the library. papa bill make a copy of indiana jones music for the party.

as for the cake, i had no idea. there are NO indiana jones cakes anywhere. i could purchase the topper, but i didn't like what they had. so i was stuck. i had an idea. my son had actually requested cupcakes. he wanted to have some cupcakes without any icing so his grandma could eat them too. i would see if someone could make cupcakes in put them into the shape of a snake.

i went by one our local grocery stores and the bakery lady said, "you want cupcakes and put them into the shape of a snake on a board? that's just a big waste because you have to use a 1/2 sheet cake board and you waste all those supplies." and she walked away from me. okay.... i can make the cupcakes by myself. i make chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, iced them with chocolate icing, gave it lemonhead eyes, used a piece of gum for the forked tongue, and put it on a cardboard box lid. i think it worked well.

i went to my mom's house earlier in the week and we put the scavenger clues in order. my mom was great. she let us have the party at her house, let me use her decorations, wrote the clues, and help me figure out where all the clues would go. she got a very big bucket and filled it with sand, money and glass stones so the kids could do a dig at the party. grandma kathryn and papa bill also dressed up in their indiana jones outfit.

when everyone arrived, we started out with wrapping the mummy! the toilet paper kept ripping so the kids needed a little bit of help.

after the mummy wrap, the kids did the scavenger hunt, which was a big hit. the kids were given paper sack so when they found chocolate coins, glass stones, or candy they had something to put it in. at the end of the scavenger hunt, i had a chest that was full of gold coins, candy, large and small "diamonds", chocolate coins, and glass stones the kids were able to take. for the actual boys my son invited, i had little cardboard treasure chest for the boys to put their stuff in.

we played two more games. the kids went into the garage for the "dig" my mom had prepared. actually papa bill prepared all of that - thanks papa bill! after the that, we played the poison dart game, q-tips blown through a straw into a basket. the kids had a lot of fun, but no one make it. if you ever do this i would suggest shooting them through a hula hoop or something along those lines.

we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. it was a great time, but i never would have pulled it off without the help of my mom, papa bill, and the officer who watched the kids friday night and saturday until the party started. thanks guys!

i can't believe it blog friends. he is 8 years old. it is much easier to imagine him as a grown man now. i see things that could likely be his strengths and his weaknesses. i do not see him as a baby boy anymore. uggg. yes, i know i need to let him grown up and i am. it's just that he's was my first child. my only boy. he's so much like his daddy in every way. in that alone i know he can be a man of character, honor, and respect. i pray for him. i pray he will have a close relationship with God. i pray that he will take that relationship on himself. i don't know when that day will be but you know i'll blog about it when it happens! :) i am also praying for his future spouse and for their marriage. never to early to start that. even though the officer is praying for Jesus to come back before our daughter begins to date, i'm going to go ahead and pray for their spouses in case Jesus waits longer for his return.

Psalms 127:3-5

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of the warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies at the gate."