Pumpkin painting party

So, wow. This was a wonderful idea, but boy am I glad it is over. The week before was filled with Unknowns, how many kids would come? would they have fun? would Moose be sick? will it be too cold? will there be enough food?

Right well. Once I stopped worrying and just shrugged my shoulders, everything fell right into place. You can only plan so much you know.

So two days before the party, Moose developed croup, which was a dark cloud over the pumpkin party. He was better on Friday, the day before the party, and technically I had no way of “canceling” the party. I couldn’t contact the invitees, because most of them I had stuck invites in their pockets at pre-school.

The weather was also problem. It was supposed to be 45-50 degrees and rainy. Right. I had wanted the kids to paint the pumpkins outside, where they could be messy.

The day of the party dawned cold and rainy, and Moose woke up stuffy and annoyed. Sigh.

As the day went on, I cleaned and organized, and meanwhile the weather cleared and warmed, and Moose seemed to also clear and warm up!

By five o’clock, we were ready to rock. We were all ready, and Stacy and Steve showed up for back-up. I immediately put Stacy to work, helping me cover the picnic table outside with a wonderful black plastic table cloth from the dollar store. *cough, it might still actually be outside at this very moment, cough* Then we went inside to start preparing the Mummy Hot Dogs.

By five thirty, Mark and Grandy showed up for secondary back-up. Mark had found “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” video for me on the web. I had a vision of it playing in the background when guests were arriving. Since we had to wait for everyone to arrive before starting, it seemed like a good idea to have it on for them to watch. At this point, I also called and ordered the pizzas for dinner, and sent Cory and Steve to go pick them up. (the cheapest place would not deliver)

Big Mistake #1 Cory was not there to greet guests so he knew no one’s name-and no one knew him.

I had no clue until people started arriving that both the moms and dads would come to the party with the children.

Big Mistake #2 Duh you idiot ask when they RSVP how many will be coming, don’t assume!

So right around 6 PM people started arriving, luckily my family vastly overestimates for food, we had enough pizza for everyone. The kids started playing with Moose’s toys, which are in the living room. Stacy and I had set out all of the food, because none of it would spoil, including the candy and sweets.

Big Mistake #3 Of course the kids are going to want to eat the candy and sweets right then, don’t set out the sweet stuff until you are ready for them to eat it you idiot.

At this point all but one child have arrived. The last child’s mom calls and tells me she is on the way, that she will be only another fifteen minutes. I agree to wait.

Big Mistake #4 Have a time to start the activity and stick with it.

So we sat around in my (all of a sudden) hot house and waited. Luckily the moms conversed, we all snacked, and most of the kids settled to watch Charlie Brown, when they weren’t playing with Moose’s toys. So at this point, Cory arrived home with the pizzas. So I changed my plan and we decided to eat before painting.

Big Mistake #5 You had a plan for a reason you idiot, the pumpkins need time to dry! But I forgot about that...

So we chowed down on the pizza, the last kid arrived, and all was well. Meanwhile Ariel is going around at my request, and snapping action shots of Moose and all his friends. When dinner was done, we quickly cleaned up-thank goodness for disposable plates and my idea to empty the trash.

We all headed downstairs to paint our pumpkins. The kids sat at the table and started painting. I had done a field test a few days prior, to see which paint did best, and needed it to be washable-which was an issue. I asked everyone to dress for painting, but I felt uncomfortable using paints that I knew would stain or ruin clothing. So all the adults crowded around and watched the kids. It was so cute.

At this point, several of the moms told me what a good idea this was. Which totally made the party awesome to me, and Moose seemed to enjoy it.

Thank goodness I had asked Ariel to photograph for me, because we would have no pictures if I had been in charge. At this point, because of the late start, it was pitch black outside. Ariel knew enough to fix her camera to work with it, making it look awesome. I am pretty sure my pics would have sucked.

So when the kids were all done, we headed back upstairs to finish up with our treats and give our pumpkins time to dry.

Surprise. Fifteen minutes isn’t enough time-they were soaking wet. So luckily one of the moms thought enough to ask for a plastic trash bag, so that is how we sent most of the pumpkins home. The party was the perfect time I think. It was six to eight. Right at eight the kids started to get restless and tired. We shipped them home with cute little grab bags that I filled with pumpkin sippy cups, stickers, little Halloween spiders and skeletons, all for less than a few dollars (from the dollar store). They were a big hit. Moose loved the pumpkin sippy cup.

In spite of my big mistakes, the party was a huge hit, and we are thinking of turning it into an annual event. Next year, Halloween is actually on a Saturday. I am thinking of having the kids come at five, then doing pumpkins and dinner, then have trick-or-treat be part of the activity. It could be fun-I am going to ask a few parents what they think and get some feedback. And of course, Cory wants to have a pumpkin patch for the kids to actually get their pumpkins from, but I am not sure how this will go or ‘grow’ to be more precise:)

See all of the pictures here from the party.

Special thanks to Stacy and Steve. I COULD NOT have done it without my ‘personal assistant’, Stacy. Pencil me in for next Halloween, girlfriend:)

Ariel from ...with a side of sunshine did a wonderful job taking pictures for me. Not only was she extremely professional, she took a huge load off my mind, taking care of this for me. I urge you to think of her at your next event, she is affordable, and has the knowledge to get it done. (like if you wait to long and it is suddenly dark outside!)