Giggles’ Second Birthday Party

Giggles turned 2 yesterday! We had a great party, check it out.

Giggles likes Elmo and he seemed like a good theme to work with. We took her to the party store and she looked at all sorts of paper plates, naming all the characters she knew (SpongeBob, Nemo, Pinkerbell, Mickey Mouse Mouse, etc). We steered her towards Elmo and she was happy to choose him. For the past week we had been talking about her party and she always says its her Elmo Party.

We done alot of prep work earlier in the week, so the party went smoothly. Giggles and I had made a trip to Costco where we purchased the single largest piece of meat I have ever cooked, a 9lb beef brisket. We also got chips, veggies and drinks. I set Geetle to work all week making certain Elmo themed items that we needed for the party, you will see those as we go along here.

The night before the party, BAGD and I made deviled eggs, cole slaw, cupcakes, Jello, dip and marinated the beef. On party day, we took the kids out for donuts and then came home to finish the party prep. BAGD took Pookie and Giggles out on a few errands. We always make Pookie wait until the last minute to pick out his gifts, because we think it helps him make the connection between the gift and the person. We had told him Friday night that he needed to get a present for Giggles. I asked him if he knew what he was getting her and he said “A Little Mommy doll.” I asked him what that was and he started a script from the commercial that led me to believe this was a doll that pooped. I jokingly told him “no dolls that poop!” but knew that I would let him get whatever he wanted.

As it turns out, when BAGD took him to Target, he raced right for the doll aisle and looked up and down for it. He grabbed a doll that sneezes, also from the Little Mommy line and was pretty excited. Now, with Pookie, you have to understand. He buys what he wants to play with, but in the back of his mind he knows its not for him, that it will belong to another person. And sure enough, when he gave it to Giggles, he snatched it back to play with it himself. He made the doll sneeze, wiped its nose and gave it medicine. He played with it while Giggles was busy with other gifts. Later, when she wanted to push the doll in her new grocery cart, he gave it up quietly. If they both like this doll, that is fine. They will both learn how to share. And they can treat the doll’s H1Ni with the doctor kit Geetle got for Giggles.

While BAGD had those 2 out shopping, Geetle stayed home with me to get the rest of the party ready. Geetle loves stuff like that. I made her a list and she ran from job to job. She was really a big help. First she gathered hangers for the extra coats we would be hanging in the hall closet. Then she finished the eyes and noses for the “Pin the Nose on Elmo” game we had planned.

Then she set out the “Oscar’s Trash Toss” game. She and Pookie had made the crumpled newspaper trash bags earlier in the week. Even Giggles liked trying to crumple the newspaper (which is a good at home OT thing for kids who are developing hand strength, btw)

She hung up the “Hide & Seek Dorothy” game rules.

She decorated the Spaghetti Sauce cans we had repurposed as utensil holders.

Finally, we got to the good stuff and she got to help me decorate the Elmo cupcakes. We used a Strawberry cake mix, and added mini chocolate chips for fun. The frosting is just white, from a can. 2 cans actually. I added an entire bottle of Wilton gel food coloring to get the right Elmo red. I piped it on the cupcakes with a star-tip, which made the frosting look sort of like fur. For eyes, we used half a marshmallow and a dot of black frosting. The noses are upside down pumpkin candy. The mouth is half a coiled black licorice. These were my favorite thing, although Giggles did not eat one at all!

We had just started laying out the food when BAGD, Giggles and Pookie got back home. As soon as Giggles walked in the door, she grabbed an Elmo paper plate, climbed up on the bench and started serving herself some chips. She was in a party mood, but we wanted her to take a quick nap before the guests arrived. She laid down, but only because we talked about how it was “first nap, then party.”

Once the party really started…the party really started! We had lots of food, fun and family. Giggles ran with the big kids and played throughout the house. She waited by the front door and said Hello to people as they arrived. She looked at her presents and balloons. She chit chatted with everyone. After dinner, we had presents and cake (see pictures below!) and then the party started to wind down. After everyone went home, we played with her new presents for a while (toy food, stuffed dogs, a grocery cart, dress up clothes, playdoh, a doctor kit, books, a Hawkeye cheerleader costume and more!) and then did a little more clean up.

Speaking of clean up….Pookie and Geetle love one thing about when a party ends….they like making soup in the sink. That’s when we let them pout out all the drink cups, 2 liter bottles and punch bowls into the sink. They get to add all the left over chips, cake and odds and ends, stir it up and then watch me run it all down the garbage disposal. Big fun. They live to make end-of-party-soup. It might seem wasteful to dump out all that soda and cake, but we don’t like to keep that kind of stuff in the house. Its a waste, but with the waist in mind.

This year, as they got started on the soup, I noticed a little tiny girl pushing her grocery cart thru the kitchen. She stopped to watch and was fascinated with the process. She did not try to join in, but she was mesmerized. I had not considered that she would be old enough to make soup. But, I guess she is. So, we got a chair and I squeezed her in at the sink. She poured in the 2 liter of Diet 7-Up Cherry, some chips and a half dozen cupcakes. Very happy, she was.

Let me leave you with some pictures and a recipe for some pretty darn good beef brisket. I cut the giant hunk o’meat into 3 pieces and prepared each by the recipe. Then I put the whole thing in my crockpot on high setting. I put it on at 9:30 am, shredded the meat and returned it to the pot at 3:30pm and we ate it at 4:30 pm. Very tasty. 8-9 lbs seemed about right for our crowd of 7 kids and 17 adults. We had left overs, but better than running out.

Sweet & Spicy BBQ Brisket
5 lb trimmed beef brisket
salt & pepper
Cumin
1 TB garlic powder
2 cups Salsa
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
Sandwich or hamburger buns/rolls

Season meat with cumin, sprinkling on both sides. Cook in nonstick skillet until browned on both sides. Add 1 cup of the Salsa and heat to boiling. Sprinkle meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder and transfer (with juices) to a baking dish. In small bowl, mix remaining 1 cup of Salsa, brown sugar and worcestershire sauce. Pour over brisket. Cover and refrigerate overnight to marinate. The next day, bake at 300 degrees for 4 1/2 to 5 hours or until tender. Slice or shred brisket and serve on rolls.

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