Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Pew Party

You know what I mean by that title right? It is a sound heard frequently if you are in Samuel's presence:

Takes a bite of pizza and it now looks like a firearm, "pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!"
Finds a stick shaped like a firearm, "pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!"
Doesn't like the response he gets, "pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!"
Fill in the blank reason, ""pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!"

Got the idea? The boy loves pretending to shoot any and every non-living object and pretending it is a gun. I'm not trying to get into a big controversy about little boys and how their fingers are guns, their cookie looks like a gun, that cool spoon looks like a gun - seriously. It is natural in this boy in our house.

Top all of that off with the fact that out of seven little boys we invited, six have Daddy's in the military. Pew-pew-pew.

Anyway, if there is one thing my children are gifted with it seems to party ideas. Samuel has rattled off no less than a dozen themes that were possibilities for his b'day party. Oh my, I needed to narrow it down and not have him change his mind a zillion times so I told him I was choosing the theme and would surprise him. I did tell him along the way what I was planning, but it was not really up for negotiation.

I came across these marshmallow shooters and that really sealed the deal for me {and Samuel too by the way} We planned a party that allowed for kid and mama-approved warfare items but was still manly and lots of fun for our artillery loving boy.

This entire party cost me about $30 and was a super big hit! It was raining the morning of, so most of the party was moved inside, but still everyone seemed to have a great time. That night at dinner Samuel said, "Next year for my party ..." to which I groaned and said, "WE HAVE AN ENTIRE YEAR!!!!!" Oh my.

Prepare for a camo photo explosion:
































Party Activities:
Calisthenics: jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups!
Grenade Training - throwing and navigating mines on the ground
Rifle Range Accuracy
Free Range Shooting :)
Lots of battle sound effects!
Food
Playing: it was like a battle re-enactment in our Living Room at one point with army guys, tanks and did I mention sound effects?!

Sources:
Camo Paper for Invites and Signs: set of invites from Wal-Mart
Burlap Runners: borrowed from a friend
Camo Blanket: $3 at Wal-Mart; cheaper than buying fabric by the yard
Dog Tags: cut out of a foil pan {in a 2 pack at Dollar Tree} and stamped with metal stamps that I got over Christmas. I got this idea from someone on Pinterest but can't find the link now. We hooked them on to the canteens so we knew which one belonged to whom.
PVC pipes and fittings: Lowe's; I bought one can of spray paint since our green ran out, the rest we had on hand.
Camo fabric: given to me by a friend, leftover from a party she had
Camo Ribbon: Wal-Mart
Targets: local shooting range
Camo clothes for Samuel: all he needed was a shirt, I bought one at Wal-Mart for $8 but then found one at a thrift store for $1 so happily returned the more expensive one!!!
Water Balloon Grenades: local party supply store