Robot Birthday Party Ideas!

*UPDATE July 2012* Thanks for all your comments and emails about robot crafts and costumes :)! Because the original robot supplies for these items are no longer available, I have designed my own free robot costume printable for you to enjoy :)! I have also put some fun robot craft kits for kids into my Etsy shop, Lovely Party Things. Click on the images below to see more :)!

I had so much fun planning Gabe’s robot-themed birthday party!  We had the party at a local kids’ science museum called Sci-Quest. They offer a party package which includes having all the kids build their own robot, but it is meant for kids 8 years old and above. So I decided to just bring our own entertainment :).

When I first looked around for robot things I wasn’t too excited about anything I found, so I decided to do most of it on my own. The first thing I made was the invitation. I used a digital scrapbook paper for the background and I used some cool fonts for the design. The cute little robots I used are from a “dingbat” font called Tombots. The other main font I used was Destructo Beam BB. I kept the Photoshop version of the invite on file, and later used it as the basis for the bag toppers for the party favors and the robot crafts.

The party favor bags were placed inside kid-sized cups provided by Sci-Quest. I found the wind-up robots for the party favors at Target, but you can also get them at Oriental Trading. I found the robot crafts and stickers on sale at Michael’s. The robot craft came in a big box of 24, so I separated out the parts needed for each craft, put them in bags and put my little bag toppers on them. I had scanned the picture of the completed craft from the original craft box, and I included it on the bag toppers so the kids could see how to make the craft. They seemed to really like it!

I also had some robot mazes and robot coloring pages available for them to do. Gotta love free printable activity pages :)!

After they finished the crafts, they could have their picture taken in the robot photo stand – so cute :)! It was surprisingly easy to make – I just enlarged another robot coloring page I found to use as a template to cut the colored shapes out with. I also added some details to the front from a robot costume freebie I found online (the original robot printable is no longer available, so I designed my own  for you. Click here for a free robot costume printable and tutorial) – I don’t know what I would have done with out all of these wonderful free printouts! I used that same printout to make mini robot costumes for the kids to wear during our robot games :). We played a robot freeze dance game, robot Simon says and robot red light green light. I was so surprised that Gabe didn’t want to wear a robot costume, but he still had fun because he got to be the one to start and stop the CD player for robot freeze and he directed the robots (his friends) during the other games. They looked like they were having so much fun :)! I love that one little friend wore a super cute robot T-shirt to the party too :)!

Another great idea I saw online was for robot-themed snacks, I saw some ideas here and here (this one includes more free printables)! You can see more of those awesome Tombots in use on my snack signs :). To make the robot table cover I just put down a plain white plastic tablecloth, then rolled out robot wrapping paper I found at Target to cover the top of the table, then topped it with a clear plastic tablecloth.

Luckily, there are lots of great resources online with ideas for food, games, crafts and of course the cake! Speaking of the cake, this was the first one I ever made for Gabe – my mother-in-law made the first two and I bought last year’s *gasp*! I admit it – I don’t love to make cakes. I would have bought one this year too, if I could have found a robot cake. But I couldn’t find anything, so when I saw this idea for a robot cake on the Betty Crocker site I decided to just go for it!

After the cake and presents, the real fun began for the kids when they finally got to go play in the museum. If you are planning on having a robot birthday party, I highly recommend having it at a children’s science museum! This was a great fourth birthday party for Gabe, hmmm… I wonder how I’m going to top this for next year’s party??

That was a blast – now to plan Julia’s first birthday party, which is less than a month away!!

A Few More Gloucester Pics

I can’t believe VBS week is already finished and so is the weekend! I can tell this summer is going to fly by!! Here are a few more photos from our visit with Sarah. I think you can tell we had a great time :).

Gloucester, MA

Today I finally started going through the photos from our visit with my sister in Massachusetts. We had a wonderful time with Sarah and Jeff – we love them and miss them so much!

This was our first time seeing Sarah’s beautiful new apartment by the sea. I LOVED it! When we arrived, we looked around her place for a bit, then went for a walk in her neighborhood and picked up  food to bring to a nearby ocean-side park for a picnic.

Gabe had a fabulous time playing with his Auntie in the awesome playground there. Next, we put the kids in strollers and went for a walk along the coast.

When it was nap-time, we headed back to Sarah’s and the big kids played Rummikub while the little ones rested. Before supper, we took another walk down to the sea to stroll along the boardwalk then met up with my friend Cheryl at a local seafood place for dinner.

We packed a lot of fun into one short day :). Believe it or not, I still have more photos of this day left to look through!!

~Lots to Say!~

A few news items to share, but the best part of this post is at the end, so hang in there :)!

I was invited to join another digital scrapbook creative team – how could I resist working with super cute designs like these: Jeannie Papai Designs?

I will also be periodically writing for ANOTHER new blog, called The Meadow (for my scrapbooking friends) – and they have featured one of my pages in the very first post :)!

OK, I know I’m way behind on posting photos here, so here are some slideshows of my scrapbook pages, which is where all my photos end up anyway :)!

Now for the GOOD stuff :)! Get out your tissue box, because I want to share this touching poem with you that makes me cry (tears of JOY) every time I read it. It is written by Heaven, a new friend/neighbor of mine. We met by a series of coincidences (OK – I know there is no such thing) and have only known each other for a short time – but we get along so well, and she is a real blessing to me :). Heaven recently accepted Jesus into her life, and she wrote this beautiful poem that perfectly expresses what so many have experienced.

My Heart’s Been Lifted ~ My Soul’s In Delight

I once was lost ~ but now am found
I once did wander ~ all around
I craved a love ~ to fill my heart
while HE just waited ~ for me to start..

..to start a journey ~ I didn’t know..
..in which direction ~ I should go
He was waiting all the time
to love this little heart of mine

my past was there ~ I’d always look back
like a heavy, tattered, rock filled sack
I carried it with me ~ laden and sore
until ~ my Lord Savior ~ said “NO MORE”

cold inside ~ my tears had dried
it had been years ~ since my eyes cried
and cry they did ~ most every day
from a memory that came ~ my way

something would happened ~ nasty words said
I’d wander, believing ~ I’d rather be dead
but.. He was watching ~ I just didn’t know
wisdom has shown me ~ He’d never let go

He came to my door ~ I heard a knock
my heart was open ~ He’d taken the lock
He held out His hand and ~ I did it too
my time was now ~ and only He knew

my wandering was over ~ now I ~ did belong
I felt so light ~ the sack ~ it was gone
my heart’s been lifted ~ my soul’s in delight
my spirit is true and as high as a kite

I’ve been given the love ~ I craved for my heart
I’m not even sorry ~ it took so long to start
everything’s happened for a reason ~ I’m sure
preparation ~ for the day He came to my door

when he took my heart ~ to a place full of love
and he promised a home ~ in the heaven above
I cried.

I cried tears of joy and ~ I still am today
my burdens of past have all ~ gone away
I wake up each morning ~ I get ~ daily bread
and my Holy Bible’s pages ~ get read.

I’m just so grateful ~ you don’t understand
I found light on a journey ~ that I hadn’t planned
my feelings for Jesus are just ~ so strong
I pray and I ask that ~ this never be gone

it’s like being in love ~ with life ~ in abound
I’m honored ~ in my heart ~ a place you have found
to remove all the bitter ~ days gone by
and replace it with love ~ that makes me cry!

tears of happiness ~ content through and through
I need now do one thing ~ in honor of you
I ask – please baptize me ~ in a public domain
In my Father ~ The Holy Spirits name.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

~Gabriel’s Eleventh Month~

Gabriel is eleven months old today, I can’t believe we only have one month to go before his first birthday!!! He is communicating more and more with us and it seems like every day he adds new baby signs and vocabulary to his repertoire. We think his first word was “ball” and some of the other words he’s said recently are: “uh-oh, Elmo, bath, hi, bottle (baba) and Aihh (for airplane)”. Of course he hasn’t fully mastered his articulation skills yet… but we know what he means :). His favorite baby signs recently are: airplane, eat, drink, pacifier, hi, and bye. Oh, and he also claps his hands!

He has six teeth, two on bottom and four on top (one of which he nicked a little while we were at Bernadette’s wedding in DC). He’s still a big boy, but it seems that his growth has slowed down a lot. We were at the doctor’s office this morning (he has croup); his weight has barely changed in the past two months.

While we were at the doctor’s office, he was walking around very well while just holding on to one of my fingers – although he has yet to take his first real steps. He stands on his own very well and can lower himself to squatting or reach down to pick something up very well.

He’s SO smart, just like his dad :). He can follow simple requests, like “come over here”; “put your arms up”; “touch your head”, etc. I love to watch him play and figure things out on his own. But he DOES like to get into mischief – loves to try to climb up on things, knock things over and try to open everything. I’m so excited (and a little bit scared) to see what he has in store for us in the coming months!!

Below are some photos of Gabriel brushing his teeth with his daddy, some cute messy hair photos and his first time in a swimming pool. And finally a few pics from Bernadette’s wedding. Enjoy!