Star Wars Jedi Training Birthday Party

We usually do not have big birthday parties.

I think it is because I can't do anything simple. (I hear Mrs. Troop in the background saying, "ya think?")

Anyways, not pregnant this year and not moving this year, so I told all the kids they could have a birthday party. They get to invite 3 friends and then we will have their families over for the party.

My son decided he would really like a Star Wars party and do some sort of Jedi training camp. I searched the Internet several times over and found the ideas I really liked and then put my own spin on them.

Now, if you have no intention of ever having a Jedi Birthday party or have no knowledge of the Force, you might just want to skip this post because it will be long and be completely inapplicable to you. Just sayin.

The Invitation
We bought black fold over cards at the store and printed off a picture with Yoda and the words "Jedi Training Academy". The inside said this which is similar to many other ideas I found on the Internet....

Greetings Padawan _(Child's name)____,
Recently, The Jedi Knights have felt a strong disturbance in the Force. Many Jedi Knights have been lost. The very future of the Jedi Order is now in jeopardy.

The Jedi Council has bestowed upon young Padawan (birthday boy's name) the quest to seek out future Jedi. Your presence is requested to complete Jedi Training on (date of party) in the year 2010. You will need to bring your own light saber to the training camp.

The training will being promptly at (time) at the (last name of birthday boy) System of the (street) Galaxy, Docking Bay (street number). After the training, pizza will be served and a celebration will be held in honor of young (birthday boy)'s ninth year.

Please advise the Jedi Council as soon as possible if you will accept the challenge of this training camp.

May the force be with you!

The Menu

There all are sorts of fun ideas on the internet for Star Wars food. I was going to make labels for everything but ran out of time. These are the ones we went with:

1. Pizza from the Hut
2. Yoda Soda (lime icecream and Ginger ale)
3. Death Star Cheese Ball
4. Wookie Cookies (chocolate no bake cookies)
5. Star Wars Cake
6. Light saber Pretzel sticks (dipped in red and green candy melts and milk chocolate)

The Outfits
I then made Jedi tunics for all the kids. With 3 friends and their siblings we ended up with 12 children total. I made the tunics out of cream colored felt and made the belts out of left over material from the cowboy vests. They were honestly fairly simple with no sewing involved whatsoever. Not too bad looking if I do say so myself.
When the kids arrived we had a table set up with a black cover and a sign in sheet for the Jedi Training Academy. We had also downloaded the theme to Star Wars and had that playing in the background.

The Training Manual
Each child was given a Jedi Training Manual with their objectives to achieve for the day. There were 6 objectives that they had to complete in order to become a Jedi. The Jedi Council brought in Jedi Master Ben Kenobi to train the young Padawans. He was on call and had already been called in that morning so he had his scrubs on under his Jedi Tunic.

The first objective was proper robing in Jedi tunic. They came into the office and I fitted each one in their tunics and belts. They loved it!

Objective number 2 was to learn the 4 Pillars of a Jedi.


The 4 Pillars of a Jedi are actually taken from the book "Raising a Modern Day Knight" by Robert Lewis. It's a great read if you are bringing up boys.



The Padawan Class of June, 2010.
Objective number 3 was Lightsaber Agility Training. We lined up 2 rows of kids and took 2 kids at a time and they worked on keeping a balloon off the floor using their lightsabers.

When then went to Objective number 5 which was Jedi History Training. Each kid took a turn in the seat with a blindfold and then the Jedi Master handed around a picture of a famous Star Wars character (Yoda, Luke, Leia, Darth Vader,... etc) and then the Padawan in the chair had to guess who it was using yes and no questions.

Objective number 4 was Lightsaber Defense Training. We watched the videos on youtube of the Disneyland Jedi training camp to get ideas. It's amusing to watch even if you aren't having a Star Wars party.

The young Padawans were then ready to face Vader. We gave them the guidance of Master Yoda and they took him in a backpack just as Jedi Luke Skywalker did when he was facing the darkside.

We didn't want to spring for the $60 Darth Vader suit so we just hung a cheap Darth Vader mask on a black cape behind a tree and Jedi Master Ben Kenobi went with them to make sure they didn't turn to the dark side of the force.

Then one of the dads at the party put on the mask and cape and everyone wanted to fight him. It was hilarious. As soon as he came out wearing the mask one of the youngest boys ran as fast and hard as he could across the yard so he could get his lightsaber and go fight Vader.

They didn't care that he had shorts and flip flops on... they just wanted to fight Darth Vader.

He chased them around the yard and then they went to finish their objectives and destroy the Death Star.

The Death Star was a soccer ball pinata that I bought at Hobby Lobby, stripped it down and painted it with cheap metallic silver and black paint.
Here is a helpful hint on pinatas.... don't put in candy that breaks up easy like little packages of m&ms and little packages of gobstoppers. They don't survive the beating very well.

The kids went from youngest to oldest and all got to take several hits with their lightsabers to destroy the Death Star.

They really had fun with this and we drug it out longer by letting them use their plastic lightsabers rather than a bat.

They all became a Jedi and we then had the birthday party for the birthday boy.

And there you go!

May the force be with you!

If it is a Star Wars cake you seek, then found it you have

Guess what kind of party we are having?

That's right, the kind of party where mommy takes a Valium after she spent all day baking, cleaning, laundry, changing diapers, shopping, dealing with the insurance lady regarding the mailbox that is still knocked down, chasing down the mailman so my son gets his Birthday cards today and just general craziness on top of it all.

Oh, I jest. I have no idea where to get any Valium. But it's the thought that counts, right?

Okay so for their birthdays the kids get to tell me what kind of cake they want and I try to figure out a way to make it happen. Up until this morning my son who turned 9 today just wanted a 2 tier Star Wars cake. Anything on it would be just fine.

Then he got this brilliant idea to have a 3-D R2D2 on top.

Great.

So I researched all kinds of R2D2 cakes and was intimidated by all of them. The best I could come up with was to go buy some modeling chocolate and fashion an R2D2 out of that or use rice crispy treats carved out in the shape of R2D2 and then cover it with fondant. (image the baby crying in the background unless I'm holding her) (that's more like it)

So as I'm drinking my 53rd Diet Coke for the day I have an epiphany! I could use the diet coke can and cover IT with fondant! So I tried it and decided my crazy idea might just work.

Voila! The Diet Coke R2D2.

I'm sure this would fall under the 'desperate times/desperate measures' clause. But it is finished, and he is thrilled, and now it is on to the Jedi Training Birthday party tomorrow.

Summer Goals for the Kids

So, last summer my goals were pretty much focused on staying cool while pregnant in Texas. We spent a lot of time at the pool. This year we plan on going to the pool a lot but I wanted to set some goals of things the kids and I would like accomplish.

Here they are.


1. Enjoy our Summer

2. Each child will finish their respective Vacation Station Book from www.bjupress.com

3. Each child will learn how to wash, dry and fold/put away their own laundry.

4. Each child will plan, go with me to buy ingredients for, and prepare one supper.

5. Each child will finish one small sewing project with me.

6. Each child will write and illustrate a story. We will then copy the pictures and incorporate them into a book to be printed off at Kinkos.

I honestly think between traveling and trying to just enjoy our summer, that this list is sufficient. We have already started on some of these goals and have really been having a great time.

So what summer goals are you working on?

Wii gave in

That's right.

We have up to this point heeded Dr. James Dobson's wisdom of video games and boys. He believes that video games take away a boy's vision for the future. And we have done much research that has also pointed towards this same view.

We have had none in our home to this point. No DS. No Computer games (okay so maybe a couple but not more than once a month).

But we got Daddy a Wii for Father's Day.

And I discovered it might not be the boys I need to worry about.

On her second time to play in the sword fighting game, my sweet 5 year old got the controller and turned around to her brothers and dad and said,

"Watch and learn boys. Watch. And. Learn."

And then she proceeded to bash in the other virtual player with her sword until he fell off the platform. She racked up the most points of anyone who had played so far. And MY was she proud of herself.

I'm thinkin' the Wii is not going to be beneficial for character building.

On another note, what are some fun games for the Wii or your kids' favorites?

Tuesday Morning Fun

Nothing says Good Morning quite like having your brick mailbox taken out.


Because I've really got nothing better to do with my time than figure out who can come and rebuild our cracked mailbox and fix our turf. And go back and forth to the post office 15 minutes away to get our mail.

I know there are so many things to be thankful for... like the fact that none of the kids were outside playing safely in our front yard.

But it's just one more thing.

And we would SO have set this thing right back up if it hadn't cracked on the sidewalk.

Bummer.

And that's pretty much all I've got to say about that. Unless anyone knows of a good mason in the Dallas area they can recommend! :)

The little sister she prayed for

When she was three years old, our girl started praying for a baby sister.

When we told the children we were expecting, she knew it was going to be a girl because she had been praying for one.

When we saw on the ultrasound that it was going to be a girl, she just shook her head in agreement because she was just sure she was getting a baby sister.

And now she has her very own mini-me. Right down to the fair skin, button nose, blue eyes and attached ear lobes.

Thankful Thursday

1. Thankful school is out! We were actually finished last week but did

some wrap up stuff this week. We are enjoying our summer so far!

2. Thankful for our neighborhood pool. It's about a 5 minute walk from our house. Come on over and go swimming with us!

3. Thankful for our Sunday School class! We co-teach with some friends and we started the class a year ago. It has now grown to 40 members and they are a great group of friends. We feel so blessed!

4. Thankful that the yard is full of baby bunnies and not baby snakes. :)

(although I'm going to go buy some mothballs to scatter around because I've been told it will keep away both)

5. Thankful that my husband was off Monday. We really enjoyed having him home and going fishing with him.

6. Thankful that we can get our deposit back if the oil spill hits Gulf Shores and the location of the beach house we have reserved for August.

7. Thankful for air conditioning. I'm thinking it's going to get hot in Texas this summer.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!