Thomas's Skylanders Party

We had a blast planning Thomas's Birthday Party, and we have had alot of ideas that other people may like. 

Our party layout/ideas:

When kids came in, we gave them a "map" of the "skylands" along with a "passport".Try to make it fun for everyone, not just the kids. Around the house and yard, have a variety of non-challenge elemental stations around the house, for parents and kids to play and fidget with while waiting for their turn, or just to 'explore'. Great way to arrange snacks and food around the house!

Sneak Peek: For the Parents! We are making our own SKYSTONES Game for parents to play while the kids run around. Using 1.5" Square wood cutouts, Transparency Paper, and clear glue, we are making several sets of playable skystones!

Skystones Update!!!!

Okay, so the transparency papers was all well in good, but our glue idea was not the best. After awhile it would lift from the wood...probably because we live in Texas, and its humid. So...with little man's birthday only 1 month away. PLAN B! And we love it so much better. 

We still had 200 wooden blocks from: 

ttp://www.craftparts.com/112-316-wooden-square-cut-out-p-1910.html

But then we bought these clear injet pre-cut labels from: http://www.onlinelabels.com/Products/OL6300CK.htm

It worked PERFECT! We got a bit more crazy and got some metallic paint. The slight shimmer appears through the label and makes it looks very clean. For areas that went slightly over the wood piece, a quick straight razor was used for a clean finish!

HATS GALORE!

If you have ever played the game...you know that there are side quests for hats. Well we found a whole bunch of cheap hats, and the kids had a blast trying them all on :)

SKYLANDERS PASSPORT CHALLENGES

Passports will have a square for each element.  When they complete the challenge for that element, they get a sticker or stamp in their passport. Each skylands are had a "power-up" so they could munch and play. It is just so difficult to get kids to sit down and eat at these things. Goal was to make it par for the course.

*******************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Tech

POWER UP: Drill Srgnt's Golden Gear Pineapples

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES:

*SPROCKET'S SLINKY RACE  

-Get several cheap slinky's, and make an easy stair like structure. Jeff is quite handy and built ours from a pallet.

* TRIGGER HAPPY GOLDEN CAN SHOOT

- Gold painted nerf or ball guns. Gold Painted Cans would have been great...lacked time.

Line up on shelf for a shoot-out western style.

Other Ideas: Maybe a electric set like : http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-MX-902-Action-Kit-Lab/dp/B000IXPYRI or magnetic gears or something :)

 ********************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Water

POWER UP: Slam Bam's Ice Pops / Zap's Fish Sticks?

PLAY-AROUND: Water Tornado's

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES:

*GILL GRUNT BUBBLES

Get a few bubble blowers, rope of an arena, battle! We got all the kids cover shirts so we would get their clothes too messy.

*SLAM BAM'S PENGUIN RUN

We were originally going to get Water Globe kits for all the kids...but we were short shipped. So we grabbed Thomas's Penguin Run Game and made it an event :)

Other Ideas: Water Globe Kits or something using artificial snow?

 ********************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Undead

POWER UP: Hex's Brew?

Bone Pretzels/Marshmallows (http://spoonful.com/recipes/new-funny-bones)

EyeBall Lollipops

PLAY-AROUND: Spider Jump Ups from Oriental Trading

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES:

*CHOP CHOP'S MAZE 

-Make an indoor or outdoor maze! Maybe make it a spider hunt, by placing colorful fake spiders all around.

* EYEBRAWL'S BULL'S EYE

- Lots of Halloween Stores have sticky eyeballs. Place a target, Have fun slinging eyeballs.

 ********************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Magic

POWER UP: Wrecking Ball Watermelon

PLAY-AROUND: Double Troubles Magic Runes.

Setup white wrapping paper on the wall and had several Crayola Tri-Color Markers ready.

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES:

* SPYRO'S SNAPSHOTS

-Backdrop + Camera

* POP FIZZ POTION LAB

- Mentos and Diet Coke! Along with other flasks to change water colors, or fizzes

 ********************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Life

POWER UP: Stump Smash Branches? Veggies!

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES:

* SHROOM-BOOM SLINGSHOT

Cheap dollar store sling shot. Used bean bag targets. Marshmallows for Ammo!

* TREE-REX GARDEN 

- Plant a small tree or flower. Gather seeds, soil, and container. We plan on using clear 12oz cups with lids. Turning them upside down after gluing the lid on. Cutting a hole in the bottom of the cup, as a place to drop in the soil, etc...making a mini-terrarium. Maybe adding a dash of Crayola sand for color! (PS - this is another great take home gift!)

Check the sign. Easy was Flowers, Normal was cucumbers and strawberries that hadn't sprouted yet, Expert was seeds 

 ********************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Earth

POWER UP: Prism Break Pretzels? Terrafin's Dirt Cups? (using gummy sharks instead of worms!) Rock Candy?

PLAY-AROUND: Kaleidoscopes!!!

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES:

*PRISM BREAK'S GEM DIG

- Little bit of regular sand, little Crayola sand, and alot of gems, gold coins, and good messy fun.

*BASH'S ROCK DROP

- Jeff built a toddler sized plinko board!!

Other Ideas : 

DINO-RANG FRISBEE - Done with $1 Store Frisbees or boomerangs.Maybe make a range, or just have a good time throwing them around!

CRUSHER'S HAMMER BELL  -This will be tough for us to do, but may be a good idea for someone else. Think Stong-Man! The hammer and bell game! http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/2280604

FLASHWING DIAMOND DISCOVERY -Break open geodes?

 ********************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Fire

POWER UP: Hot Head's Pizza Bagels? Hot Dog's Mini Corn-Dogs?

PLAY-AROUND: Litte FireCracker Poppers

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES: 

* ERUPTOR'S FIRE LOBS?

-Red Painted Confetti Eggs...Yes...I let 15 kids egg my house. 

* IGNITOR'S LAVA-LAMPS?

-Home-made Lava Lamps using Oil, Water, Food Coloring, and Alka Seltzer

Other Ideas: 
FLAMESLINGERS BOW SHOOT -Cheap Bow and arrow sets with fake fire arrows

SPARKLERS -Fun, but potentially dangerous depending on the kids.

 ********************************************************************************

ELEMENT: Air

POWER UP: Whirl Wind's Cotton Candy

PLAY-AROUND: Lightning Rod's Hideout

Thomas has a “castle-fort” in the backyard. We will take an extension cord and plug in several Plasma Balls (Tesla Balls), and Lumen Discs. The Bottom half of the castle is perfect for this! They will have to go into the hide-out to reach Warnados’ Airplane Launcher. 

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGES:

* WHIRLWIND'S FLIGHT PLAN

-Paper Airplane Making Station. We also have an electric launcher!

*JET VAC'S CHOMPIE LAUNCH

-Jeff got creative with plastic pipes, air compressor, and nerf balls painted green. Safety may be an issue for some!

 Other Ideas:

SONIC BOOMS ???? -Something Noisy. Megaphone maybe? Some ideas snagged from other great minds. 

FLYNN'S HOT AIR BALLOONS -Helium Filled Balloon, yarn, mini paper baskets

Best of Thomas Quotes 2012

January 16th
At the grocery store, Jeff grabs a 1gallon tub of ice cream. Thomas gets excited and touches it in the cart. 

Then he looks at us innocently to say, "what about you guys? Are you going to get some for y'all too?"

January 21st
We were eating lunch...corn dogs, oranges, and small bag of chips. My phone rang so I went to go get it. I come back and Thomas is happily sitting crisscrossed on the floor with my bag of chips. I ask him what he is doing, he said
"I was just going to eat one, but they were delicious. I ate more. YUMMY!
I'm making YOUR plate happy..."


February 1st
Jeff turned on the car radio, and a song started playing. Jeff said "Oh, Sugar Cult"
Thomas shouts from the backseat: "CHANGE IT!" 
I don't think Thomas is a fan....

March 11th
Out of nowhere Thomas asked: "If I don't bother dinosaurs, then they won't bother me, right?"
Me:"Uh..sure"
Thomas: "So, if I promise not to bother them, you know they won't hurt me....can we go visit them so I can just look at them? I won't touch the dinosaurs. Just want to see them..."

May 4th

Taking Thomas on a trip to a birthday party tonight, and we picked up a few of his friends on the way. One of his friends is a 4 year old girl, Anaise. These two were in the van babbling and arguing like an old married couple. As we passed Stacy Road there was a Target on our right. I have witnesses to the following conversation:

Anaise: "That's a store!"
Thomas: "No, its a workplace"
Anaise: "No! That's where you buy things!"
Thomas: "No, its a job where people work"

What can I say...some gender stereotypes are evident at early ages...

May 6th 
Thomas has informed us that he DOES NOT turn 4, until he blow out candles and eats cake. No amount of explaining will change his view. Love it!

July 18th
While I am in bed watching TV, my son (who is suppose to be asleep) peeps his head around my bedroom door. So, I catch him and ask him what he is up to...Thomas :" I was seeing if you were asleep..."

Me: "why were you checking? You are suppose to be asleep."

Thomas: "if you were asleep I could get animal crackers from the kitchen...and you wouldn't catch me"

September 10th 
Quick Recap: Thomas found a caterpillar yesterday, and we found a nice clear container for it. Put in some leaves and made a nice habitat for it. Sits on his bookcase by his bed so he can watch it. Eventually Thomas picked out a name for his caterpiller pet: "T-Rexor"

Fast forward to tonight, as he is telling me all the fascinating things about caterpillars, cocoons, and butterflies...he asks me a Thomas question...

Thomas: "So if I feed it leaves it becomes a butterfly, right?"
Me: "Mostly likely a moth, but yeah, a winged insect for sure"
Thomas: "So if I feed it Lexi, will it become a pteranadon?"

What?!?! Hahahahaha He wants to feed his dog to his caterpillar to get a dinosaur. I didn't know what to say, really. After a brief dead pause I finally told him "No, caterpillars don't eat dogs. Wouldn't you miss Lexi?"

Thomas: "Normally yeah.... but not if I had a pteranadon."

September 11th
Jeff: "Thomas no more jumping for a moment"
**Thomas then jumps again**
Jeff: "Buddy I said no more jumping"

Thomas: "I didn't jump, I just let go of the ground..."


September 29th
Thomas and Will are suppose to be watching a movie in bed (a treat before bed), and Jeff and I are playing video games in the game room. Out of nowhere the two boys come strolling into the game room in their PJ's, and they pass us as they talk to each other about animal crackers (Acting like we aren't there watching them get out of bed). They go into our office and we hear them struggle to get the lid off 

We are cracking up as we here him grunt and then finally get the lid off. How do we know he got the lid off? By the hilarious and loud "Ta-Da" and giggles

Then they walk out and Thomas as a huge fist of crackers and says "Nothing going on here"...and Will comes out with his hands behind his back trying to sideways walk around us. And they go back to there room saying "Stop laughing at us!"

October 1st
Finally decided to call it a night. Left computer room and headed downstairs, passing my sons room (whom I thought was asleep). He says: "Mommy, wait, can you come here?"

So I headed over to him and sit at the end of his bed. He sits up and scoots over to me and rests his head on me. Then says : "Mommy, I just wanted to say Thank you so much for the bike ride and the dancing. It made me so happy. I want to do it all over again tomorrow. Can we do that?"

After my heart stopped melting, and I said "sure,thing" he made it a pure Toddler Thomas moment by adding..

"We should get daddy to fart too...cause that makes me laugh."


October 16th
When we picked Thomas up the day he was playing on the playground. He and his friend were practicing "sneaking". Specifically...they were practicing "Sneaking" around the "house" (which was the playground). No kidding, Thomas was trying to describe his house layout so the other kid would help him practice being sneaky. 

When we asked him why he's trying to be sneaky, both boys look at us and said "To get the cookies..."

I was at first delighted when Thomas asked if I would play too...until he told me what he wanted me to do. He asked me to sit on this one spot of the playset, close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. Then he shouted to his friend, "Okay, she is asleep in the bedroom so we need to practice being quiet too! You got that? Help me get passed her while her eyes are still closed!"

October 28th

Thomas LOVES to talk and ramble, and we try to encourage it most of the time. But sometimes he runs out of things to say but wants to keep talking. Lately his conversational back up phrase is "Do you know...(long pause so he can think)...ummm....do you know yada yada?" 
This happens ALOT. The "pauses" after the 'do you know' start to get longer each time.

So it just happened again...
Thomas: " Do you know...ummm...."
Me (interrupting): "...the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
Thomas: "what?!? Sometimes you are weird, did you know that? Don't be weird at my school, okay?




October 31st
At Thomas's school several kids were dressed up. In the morning cafe there were 4 kids all wearing the same black ninja costume. Fake muscles, red trim, throwing stars on the belt, all the same. Thomas is a white ninja. So Thomas looks up at me.
Thomas: "Mommy, those are bad guys!"
Me: "No honey, they are probably good ninja's, just wearing black. They are still your friends".
Thomas: "No they are bad guys. Look! There is only one ninja wearing this! There are lots more of them wearing the other teams uniform. The Good Guy is ALWAYS outnumbered! There is more of them than me, so they are bad guys....right?"


November 3rd
Thomas: "Mommy, I love you!
Me: " I love you too!"
Thomas: "Don't worry, I won't tell Jeffrey." (Not Daddy...he said "Jeffrey")
Me: "What? Daddy knows I love you. Daddy knows you love me, and he knows you love him."
Thomas: "Daddy knows....nothing. He knows nothing"

November 15th
No kidding, Thomas just came down stairs, snuck up to my side of the bed, and then LICKED my hand! What!?! I asked him why, and he said innocently, "Just trying it out. The dogs do it." 

Sleepy me still asked, " Why do you think dogs do it?"

Thomas: "I don't know. I thought it was their kiss or to be funny. But i was thinking...I lick food. Like ice cream. So I wanted to know if they thought we taste good. "

Me: "uhh...so what's the verdict?" (Thinking 'crap, I raised a cannibal')

Thomas: "To be funny and kisses. We taste okay, but I'd rather have ice cream. Okay, I got to go back to bed. Sorry you woke up! I was just curious."

He walked out of the room like that was a completely normal conversation. 

December 4th
Whilst Jeff and I were discussing who was going to drive, Thomas said daddy should 'because he is the boss'. When we asked why is daddy the boss, he replied "I don't know, cause he is a boy?"
We scoffed and simultaneously spoke how boys and girls can be bosses. He had no problem with the concept, and went on to say that his teacher Ms. Carla was a girl and she was his boss at school.

We figured we were all good, when he later added "Mommy, Daddy... Do you know In Daddy's family, there is Meemaw...She is the boss of everyone!

December 9th
Thomas : " I want a kitty cat"
Me : " Sorry buddy, Daddy is allergic. They make him a little sick, and I am not really a fan either."
Thomas: "Okay, I understand. I am allergic to some animals too!"
Me: " You are? Since when? To what?"
Thomas : " You know...Bats, spiders, gorillas. They are scary, so if I am allergic, you won't let them in the house. So yeah...No Gorillas in my room please"


December 9th
Thomas: "When is Will coming over again?"
Me: "Errr...I dunno, maybe in a couple weeks"
Thomas: "Aww man! Okay"
Me (curious): "Uhh...Thomas...why do you ask?"

Thomas: "Because it cold outside, and if its snows if would SO COOL if it snowed in my room. But I can't open the window by myself, and you probably wouldn't let me do it. Will would help me."

Dear goodness! I will be keeping my eyes on these two when Will comes over! Thomas would make an awful villain. Always telling me his entire evil plot when questioned.



December18th
About an hour after I put Mr. T to bed, I hear a mournful sob coming from his room. I go up to see he is kind of still asleep and between sobs he was calling for me. "Mommy.....Mommy". 

I wake him up gently letting him know I was there. As he wakes up a bit I ask him whats wrong. He was having a nightmare. So I told him if he told me his nightmare it would all be better.

He rubbed his eyes and told me "There was some elephants blocking my way and they wouldn't move. I tried telling them to move and they wouldn't. They couldn't understand me. I was told if I told a joke they could hear me and move. So I told a joke and one of them moved...but then......but then..."

Me: "Then what honey?"

Thomas is a sad sob: "There were 2 elephants, and I only knew 1 joke. I couldn't find a way to move the other elephant. "

These are the things that my son worries about? AWESOME! I can handle that. 

I whispered a joke in his ear and he chuckled. Then he said "Thanks mommy! I'll tell him that one. You're the best" and cuddled up under his blanket softly saying with a giggle "Oh yeah, that will make him laugh soo hard."

Coming Soon!

Check out quotes from other years...

Treece Day in December 2012

My awesome husband comes from an amazing family. A BIG amazing family. Hard to shop for 'the perfect' gift for each person. However, sometimes the best gifts - are memories. Thus we started a tradition... every Holiday we treat the Treece Crew to a random gathering for their XMAS Present. Great laughs, awesome photo ops, and memories that last a lifetime. 

This years adventure: Cosmic Jump
In 2012 we gathered the crew for a round of trampoline madness. Lots of leaps, flips...and dodgeball? Yes...The Treece Clan quickly sold their loyalties to another and pelted one another with rubber balls in an epic trampoline dodgeball frenzy.

Treece Dodgeball Family Photo...all aiming at the camera taker...me :(

They were all delightfully vicious

Only had a few casuallties

Thomas was unstoppable!

Rachel, Tim, and Mr. T did an amazing Trip Flip! Took 3 tries to catch on camera :)

 So yeah. Happy Holidays!

Latest Model Toddler

Being the BestBuy gal, I am often asked advice on what the latest and greatest options are out there. Keeping within the spirit of customer service, I’ll go ahead and clue you in to my personal favorite this year…The Toddler

For my friends who are considering breeding, I highly recommend the "Thomas Model". True, it is a 4 year old model, but like Wine, it keeps getting better with age. 

Basic Specifications:

Facial Features - It comes pre-equipped with a charming smile, used to con goodies out of in-laws and grandparents (or in-law grandparents...yeah he's that good). 

Audio Capability – Enhance vocabulary skills, with empathize on boy humor. Some similar models are typically amusing, while the Thomas model is down-right hilarious. You want a joke? He'll come up with 5 in a minute, and all the punch lines will be "Banana Pants". That is a tough act to follow.

Advance Audio – This particular model is very ticklish, and when tickled it makes the best sound you will ever hear. Afraid of breaking your product? No Problem! Just pretend you are going to, and this model is so sensitive it will still react as if you did really tickle it. AMAZING!

Hands-Free Activation – After a initial setup period, this model was capable of walking, running, jumping, climbing at an early stage. While in Toddler Mode, it can do all of those simultaneously from the highest point on a playground while shouting “Don’t worry Mom, I got this”

Fearless (Disclaimer: Fearless Feature does not function in the event of ghosts, bedtime, or anything involving pickles)

And More!

Not available in your local store. You asked for advice, I can’t help if it’s out of stock.

Halloween a la Treece

Thomas has asked us to "pretty please" let him throw a Halloween Party. So, being the suckers we are, we naturally agreed!

Thomas had few of his friends to come over and have some Pre-Halloween fun at our house. 
Pizza, Treats, Goodies, Games and even a kid's maze. 

Check out the Maze of Doom!!!
Jeff made a great maze or Labrynth in the backyard. Using Trashbags, Rope, Tarp and cheap posts, we had candy stashed in buckets all around. We would have decorate more, but we were on a time crunch.

Todder-Friendly  Homemade Maze 

Then the classic party game - Sack Races

Monster Sack Races from Party City

Also, look out for Monster Makers!
I am actually proud of this one. Took several MainStays Mason Jars, some "Grow-in-Water" Monsters. The Kids added all the "magic" to their jars. A couple pinches of "Herbs" (Crayola Bath Fizz ground up), "Eyes of Newt" (googly eyes in green water), "Fairy Dust" (glitter), and Radiation (Glow sticks). Then they added their monsters. By tomorrow they will be full grown :)

The complete breakdown at
http://pirate-ninja-family-crafts.blogspot.com/2012/10/growing-monsters-halloween.html

Note: I pre-soaked the the Monsters for 15 hours BEFORE the party. That way they'd be half-way done. The Glow sticks only last for up to 12 hours, so by the time they die out the monster would be mostly full grown. 

Materials Used for Monster Grow Jars - I super glued a big eyeball on the top of the jar :)

Thomas and friends having a blast! 

Thomas added his "Herbs and Radiation" 

Me on camera, being an "Evilll Genius!"

Thomas getting ready to make several on his own... 

Adding crushed Crayola® Color Bath Dropz as his magical "herbs"

Adding "Fairy Dust" and "Eyes of Newt"

Adding "Radiation"

"It's Alive, Alive I Say!"

Growing a Monster