Total weight lost so far : 25.6 pounds

This week was a wash of last week.  I lost the exact 1.4 pounds I gained last week.  I don’t know if that was because I was good and tracked and even took a walk this weekend or because it was my body normalizing out after last week’s hormonal debacle.  Needless to say, I started this week off well with a mile walk this morning.  I’m hoping to continue a new exercise regime (at least on the 3 days I go to work) because I know this is the kick-start that my body needs to get out of its rut.

Melissa & Doug Rake

Despite the falling snow here in NJ,  I’m gearing up for Spring!  (it has to be coming soon, right?)  I’ve been perusing my seed and plant catalogs and have begun thinking about what I’d like to plant in my garden this year.   Our garden not only provides us with vegetables all summer long, it is a haven for fun, peace & relaxation.  The kids love to help in the garden and I’m always eager to find kids’ gardening tools that aren’t plastic (our recycle bin is tired of broken plastic shovels).  Yesterday, I popped over to Toys R Us and found the most adorable AND functional metal gardening tools for kids.  They are made by Melissa and Doug and are sturdy and safe.  There are no jagged corners and no sharp ends.  The set offers a rake, a hoe, a shovel, a trowel, a cultivator, watering cans, as well as some other odds and ends like sprinklers, lawn games, gardening gloves, sunglasses, a gardening tote, umbrellas, and a bug magnifying glass.  I know a few items that are going to make their way into my kids’ Easter baskets.  Check out the entire Sunny Patch line here and THINK SPRING!

Total weight lost so far : 24.2 pounds

Dear Body,

Have I told you how much you SUCK lately?  Let’s forget about the fact that I gained weight this week, which I believe is largely in part due to the fact that I have massive bloating, unbearable migraines and sweet/salty cravings from having my period for the SECOND time this month.  I’ve also put aside any bad feelings about the acne/allergy mess you’ve dumped on my face for the past 20 years.  Um Hello?  I’m 34, not 14!  I take good care of you.  I don’t smoke.  I don’t drink.  I more or less eat healthy and I try to get some exercise.  But, you continue to throw me curveballs.  I’ve seen every specialist under the sun and while they all tell me I look great on paper, my outwardly appearance would suggest otherwise (Was I some sort of vain bitch in a past life?).  Can’t we come to a better arrangement?  Pretty Please?

Sincerely Yours,

The Management

First, I made invitations using the Create Your Own Comic feature on Marvelkids.com.  I made a three panel comic strip.  The first panel read: Are You Ready to HERO UP! and save the day for CheezWaster’s 4th Birthday?  The second panel listed the time and location of the party.  The third panel listed the RSVP details.  In each panel, I inserted a background and 2 Super Hero Squad characters.  These turned out really great and were all but free.  I only needed to purchase a pack of Card Stock on which to print them.

Next, came the decorations.  It was near impossible to find Super Hero Squad stuff, so I used a mix of various super heroes.  I managed to find some Super Hero Squad tables cloths and paper goods on Ebay (Hallmark’s Party Express makes them, but you need to find a place that carries this stuff.  You can not order directly from Party Express unless you have a wholesalers number).  The rest of the decorations and paper goods came from Party City (Wolverine) and Oriental Trading (Spiderman, Silver Surfer).

Super Hero Party Decorations

I ordered some decorations online – these are available from various party sellers online – as well as some posters which I found at PosterRevolution.com.  I also used the mini posters that come in the packages of the Super Hero Squad toys.

Posters and Decorations

For the activites of the party, we had each table set up with super hero balloons and printed Marvel maze/puzzle dittos which I photocopied from a Marvel Activity Coloring Book.  I also found Iron Man, Spiderman and Hulk crayons at my local Dollar Tree store.  I included these on the table in case one of the kids did not want to or could not participate in the obstacle course – or if the parents got bored.

Table Set Up

Upon their arrival, the first activity we had the kids do was to make their own Super Hero Cape.  I found an inexpensive lot of 24 black capes on Amazon from a company called Making Believe.  I purchased sticky back felt from which I cut shapes like stars, hearts, flowers, lightning bolts, shields and circles.  I also found online sticky back felt letters and numbers.

Making a Super Hero Cape

 After each child was outfitted with their very own Super Hero Cape, we had them run through an obstacle course which included 1) crawling through the Camo Tunnel, 2) running through the rings of fire, 3) finding a fractal, and 4) stringing up a villain.

Obstacle Course - Camo Tunnel and Rings of Fire

I purchased the Camo Tunnel online at Overstock.com.  I made the rings of fire using hula hoops to which I binder clipped flame material purchased from Walmart.  I also bought hoop stands online, but the kids were so excited to run the course, the hoop stands were not as effective as I had hoped.  My mom wound up holding the rings up while the kids went through them (as shown above).  For the find a fractal portion (If you don’t know what a fractal is, it probably means you’ve never seen Super Hero Squad), I bought green glow sticks at Party City and each kid had to find one in a slightly darkened room.  The pack I bought came with chord to make the glow sticks into necklaces and the kids flipped over this!  We also hid 2 large Kryptonite glow sticks which I purchased on clearance after Halloween.  The kids that found them got a special prize – a Spiderman and Friends Super Hero puzzle I found at the Dollar Tree store.  The posters in the decoration picture above have 1 side of good guys and 1 side of villains.  For the last part of the obstacle course, we gave each kid a can of silly string and had them shoot it at the villains – another big hit (and surprisingly not as big of a mess as I thought it would be).  I also had a Super Hero Squad bop bag out for decoration, which the kids demolished – literally.  The thing was leaking water from the internal bladder that weights it down.  Needless to say after the party, that went into the garbage – but the kids had fun beating the hell out of it.

My husband and I each wore shirts that said Super Hero Academy.  I printed this logo found online onto iron-on transfer paper and ironed it onto plain blue t-shirts.

Super Hero Academy Staff Shirts

For the food, in the beginning of the party we had out snacks of a Pretzel Tray from a local pretzel shop, cheezdoodles, a veggie tray and a fruit tray.  For lunch, we served pizza, pb&j and turkey/ham/cheese sandwiches.  I had soda, juice and iced tea for drinks.  We ordered CheezWaster an Iron Man Cake from Wegmans.  The Iron Man on this lit up and spun.

Iron Man Cake

For goodie bags, I used Super Hero Squad treat bags purchased off of Ebay.   I filled them with a bunch of Marvel Super Hero Candy (taffy, lollipops and gum tape) that I found at the Dollar Tree store (also available at online candy shops).  I also included Super Hero Squad tattoos found online at Amazon, Marvel grow a washcloths found at the Dollar Tree Store, and little Marvel figures found at the Christmas Tree Shoppes.  With the goodie bags, we gave each child a certificate stating they had completed Super Hero Training Academy and were officially Heroes.  I used the FREE certificate maker (Fantastic option) here. 

All in all, I think the kids had a great time.  We received many compliments from the parents of CheezWaster’s classmates.  Despite a lot of time, effort and research, I really had a TON of fun putting this party together!

A side note – If you don’t want to buy a professional cake, my mom made this VERY SIMPLE X-men Cake for CheezWaster’s birthday night at my parents’ house.

X-Men Cake