We played a game sort of like hot potato... except if you got stuck with the "potato" you had to pick something embarrassing (go go boots, skirt, funny hat) out of a bag to wear. The person with the most "on" at the end lost. I think Braden and Kort tied (Braden's Pink Platforms are my favorite). It was quite funny. And for the record, Garrett had played the game before.
Probably the game the boys loved the most was the one where we put 6 m&m's on a plate and then covered them with whipping cream. The boys then had to eat the m&m's without using their hands. silly, silly, silly... most of them didn't even care about eating the m&m's. I'm gonna call it the "foaming dog" game.
RJ, done first (ya, I'm number 1)
Brady next (look mom, my hands are clean... for once)
Closely followed by Estaban (How would you rate this game? I give it 2 enthusiastic thumbs up)
Next came Kort (wait, wait, wait... I know I got all the m&m's but I didn't get every last molecule of whipped cream.)
Garrett (look at me, I know how to stay clean while I'm doing it because I've played this game before.)
Braden (ta da)
Martin (oh ya, if you take your time, you can cover your whole face with cream)
Marcus (hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee)
Zack (could I have some more please?)
They were more than happy to smear more whipped cream around just for the photo op. (I love Bradley in the back peeping through)
We could have done this for the rest of the night and they would have been happy.
The Skittle game came next
Roll the dice, if you get a 7, 11, or doubles you start sucking skittles out of a bowl with a straw. You do this until the next person rolls a 7, 11 or doubles, then it's their turn. The person with the most Skittles at the end wins. Garrett knew what to do, because he had played the game before. (Thanks Kaycie, this game has come in handy MANY-A-TIME)
Martin was the "pro".
Estaban had the cutest little "sucky-cheeks" (yes, this is a made up word, but the computer won't tell you it's wrong if you hyphenate).
Presents (9-11 year olds aren't much different than 3 year olds, I had to tell them to back up and give Brady some space about 15 times. I just about put a tape line down for them to stay behind)
and Cake came next (poor Brady probably has never had a homemade cake. Having your birthday less than a week before Christmas will do that - they said the icing tasted fake...I told them, that's because it probably was.)
After a rousing game of Cosmic Keepaway (Thank you Braden) they each got involved in separate activities. I decided not to disturb them even though we had more games on tap. They were very good, and very well behaved, and very loud. Wow!
Several played with the new Tech Decks. (Has any one figured out the attraction to these things? Really, I mean, what's the point. I even found Afton playing with them the next day... weird I think.)
Some watched "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull"
And I found Bradley on the landing of the stairs playing "electronic baseball" (apparently Brad thought this was a good present he gave Brady. He didn't even flinch when I took his picture - probably due to the fact that his mom is as big of a picture-taker as me.)
And just so all you moms know (and are comforted) the whole evening was Brought to you by this product:
Purell, hand sanitizer.
About midway through the night I went around to each kid with this bottle. I didn't say a word, I just held it out and they each in turn, didn't say anything, didn't look at me funny or refuse use; they just dutifully held out their hands (we live in a different world than when I was a kid). As far as I know, no "epizudik", "creepin' crud" or "Hong Kong Hangnails" were spread around on this night.
