Twofer

Twofers are great for all sorts of things; parties not included.

This weekend, we hosted two parties in one at our house. We had planned on having a yard games party (Yard Games Extraordinaire, to be exact) at our house, then with my niece's 4th birthday being so close, decided to combine the birthday party and have them at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, "both" parties were a ton of fun. And I would host birthday parties for my niece, nephews, (or anyone else for that matter) ANY time. I just would not try to combine the party with another party... you know, at the same time!

My sisters and their kiddos came to spend the night Friday night. It was nice to have a little help finishing things up. I thought my little sis was going to decorate the birthday cake that was all ready for her... she informed me she decorated it last year, it was my turn this year. So we were up past midnight decorating a Hannah Montana birthday cake. Thank God my friend Jen was here earlier in the day Friday to do the first frosting layers and to give me a break! :)

The birthday girl, of course, had to rock out in her Hannah Montana pajamas with her momma as she prepared for the big day.

Once the cake was ready (you know, past midnight) we had everything up and ready to go (details pictures to come in Friday's "Show Us" post).

The yard games party was super competitive. With a ton of games planned (did I mention I'm married to a PE teacher?). Things went okay, but I would not suggest organizing games, score keeping said games, getting food on the grill, participating in the games, oh and try to be a good "host" while doing all of this.

I would suggest getting all of the adults to participate in the games though. There are some great pictures of my mom in the gunny sack race! (I did post them on the world wide web, but only in a "private" album for the party guests to see on facebook... sorry!)
Like I said, very competitive (did I mention, I took first in my heat?) :)
Break in the "Yard Games Party" for Birthday party. The birthday girl loved her cake and the boys seemed to as well. Here is my niece with all of my nephews. Okay, two of the boys are not technically my nephews, but they might as well be!
Birthday girl opening presents. This is the Hannah Montana Karaoke she got from Uncle R & Aunt H. She later told me her favorite "present" was the pinata. I completely missed that part of the party (which is why I would strongly discourage anyone from twofer parties!).
After the points from all most of the games were tallied, prizes were awarded for the first place losers (they weren't impressed with the "so sorry for your loss" card and the horseshoes prize (you know, because they were so close but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades....):
And the champions (what.... just because I won doesn't mean it was rigged.... perhaps you'd like to be the official scorer next year?):

Of course the P families always bring the party and stick around to celebrate until it is way past bedtime. I am so glad they did because we didn't get to enjoy the yard party lights during the day! :)
Thanks everyone for the great weekend, and I promise, if you join us for yard games next year, we'll have the porch finished (finally) and your children will not slice themselves open on the porch "posts."