I sense a disturbance in the force

I know I've mentioned my 6 year old son's obsession with Star Wars in previous posts. It began in the early Fall when he and Mr. Crackers started playing the Wii game Lego Star Wars. After just a couple of hours, he was hooked (so was Mr. Crackers).



Since then, we've allowed him to watch (our own slightly edited versions of ) most of the Star Wars movies. He's even seen a couple episodes of The Clone Wars. Of course we knew we were feeding his addiction, but since Mr. Crackers & I are also Star Wars fans it seemed like a fun thing to do as a family.



Of course, this has all come back to bite me in my ever expanding behind because now almost every conversation I have with C comes back to his favorite subject.



"Hey Mom, remember when Jabba the Hutt ate that frog in front of Luke Skywalker? That was so gross."

"Hey Mom, remember when Luke was fighting Darth Vader and that the Emperor shot blue lightning out of his fingers. That was so cool."

"Hey Mom, remember how R2D2 fell into the water when he and Luke were visiting Yoda? That was so funny."



I could go on and on. But I will spare you.



He's even infected his younger sister (or Princess Leia as she now likes to refer to herself) with his Star Wars mania. The two of them chase each other around the house reenacting scenes from the movies. I'm trying not to let it worry me that 9 times out of 10 C wants to be the bad guy and use the dark side of the force. Hopefully this is not foreshadowing something evil lurking beneath the surface of his psyche.



I've explained to both of my hooligans that the stories from Star Wars are make-believe and that they all came from the imagination of the enormously creative George Lucas. I'm not sure that C believes me though.



I've caught him trying to use "the force" on quite a few occasions. Just this afternoon he was standing alone in the yard with his right arm stretched out in front of him - the fingers of his hand were stretched forward like he was reaching for something. He seemed to be staring back into the woods behind our house. I had no idea what was going on. I was about to head out & ask him if something was wrong when I realized what he was doing. He was trying to use "the force" to retrieve his soccer ball from the back garden.



It was a riot. He just stood there, still as can be for about a minute, totally focused on his goal. Then he put the fingers of his left hand up to his forehead (I'm sure this was to help him better focus). After a few more minutes he moved a bit to the right then tried it again. He even tried one more time from a sitting position.



Finally, he gave up and ran over the ball. He then, in typical fashion, ran around the yard wildly kicking the ball until he saw me standing at the door.



"Hey buddy", I said "What are you up to?"



"Just playing soccer Ma."



"Anything else?"



"Nope", he replied.



We headed inside & I asked him. "Tried to use the force lately?"



He just grinned at me, rolled his eyes and said "M-o-m. Geez!" and then ran off to get a Capri Sun.



Mr. Crackers & C finally finished playing Lego Star Wars on Wii last weekend. I guess after about 5 months, they had explored everything the game had to offer. So this past Sunday, they broke out the new game that Mr. Crackers had gotten for Christmas - Lego Batman.



We have already told C he won't be watching those movies, but I know he'll pick up a lot from just playing the game. I'm a little nervous about what waits for me on the horizon. If he starts trying to sleep hanging upside down I'm pulling the plug (and calling a therapist.)

Nine Jedi + Princess Leia = Lots of Shenanigans

I know I am a bit overdue with my recap of the big Star Wars party, but I needed a day to recover. So without further ado, here is "Star Wars 2009 - The Birthday" done House of Crackers style.

As Sunday drew closer, I had really come to regret that I agreed to host 8 other 6 year old boys in my home for C's birthday party. I had what you might call an overwhelming sense of dread & impending doom. Not only were all of these boys coming to my home, but they would be staying for THREE HOURS! Seriously, what was I thinking?

Once the boys arrived, they were suited up in their Jedi ponchos robes (or in other words, we threw a piece of brown felt over their heads & tied a rope around their waists). They were then directed to the table to make a picture about outer space. I figured I needed to fill some time, so this seemed like a good thing to do before they got all hopped up on cheese balls & sugar.

I am amazed they all stuck with it. I thought for sure there would be some protests. It must be the fact that they all go to school together that worked to my advantage. Doing an art project side by side must have seemed familiar.

After art & a few rounds of Star Wars bingo, it was time to head down to the playroom for what turned out to be the calmest scavenger hunt I have ever witnessed.

I was starting to think all of my fears about the wildness of 6 year old boys had been blown grossly out of proportion.

It is amazing how excited kids can get about jolly ranchers & starburst wrapped up in foil. You've got to love the enthusiasm of youth. Where does that go?

Upstairs for more cheese balls! I think those things must be addictive. I don't like them, but they are like catnip for kids. I've never seen them consumed so quickly.

Then back downstairs for a relay race & some fun with the parachute. Kids love parachutes! We break this out for every party & it's always a hit. It's also a sure way to get kids who had been relatively calm all juiced up & wild. That's just what happened too. Thankfully we still had one more thing to do. It was time for ice cream (I know C is my child because I gave birth to him but I still don't understand his dislike for cake....seriously?! How can you not like cake?)

That smile made it all worth it!

After ice cream & presents we let the boys (now armed with inflatable light sabers) back down to the playroom. We still had an hour left until parents got there, so I figured we'd let them have some fun without anything planned in the playroom. Had I learned nothing from reading Lord of the Flies? Now I got to see the shenanigans I was expecting earlier in the party. I know, I should've seen this coming - arming 6 year olds after filling them with ice cream & cheese balls was probably not my best idea. But, it was fun - for them. Mr. Crackers & I were getting increasingly nervous about the feral children attacking each other in the playroom, so we decided to break for an episode of Star Wars The Clone Wars.

They were still armed, but now I no longer felt like tears or a fight were imminent. After the episode was over, we disarmed our guests & allowed them to have the run of the place until their parents came to pick them up. Playtime always goes smoother when the children aren't armed. Isn't life funny that way?

All in all I think Mr. Crackers & I had as much fun as the kids (I think once it was over we were as tired as they were too). That being said, next year's party will not be at home. Thankfully I have a year to convince C how much fun parties outside the house can be!

Help me Obi-wan Kenobi...

My oldest hooligan C had his 6th birthday a few days after Christmas. To celebrate the day, we went to see a movie & then had some family over for presents & ice cream (I know he is my child, but inexplicably, C does not like cake). We pushed his birthday party out a couple of weeks so that we could distance it a bit from Christmas & so I would have time to mentally prepare myself for the sheer wildness that results when you put a group of 6 year old boys together in an enclosed space.

Mr. Crackers & I tried, but we could not entice C to have his birthday at any place other than here at home (C has become quite the homebody lately. With the exception of school, we have to blast him out of the house kicking and screaming most days). So, now I find myself getting ready to host a Star Wars party for 9 six year old boys in my house this weekend (What's with that anyway? I invited 8 boys thinking that I'd probably be lucky to have 5 or 6 come. I even sent the invitations out really late, so people didn't even have a whole week's notice. But, so far everyone is coming. Darn it, I guess I should've sent them out even later).

Without thinking, I said that the party would last from 2-5. Holy Heck, that's 3 hours I now need to fill! I looked online for some help and found some good ideas on Birthdaypartyideas.com. I also discovered that some people have way too much time on their hands. One woman went into tremendous detail about how she painted her whole garage & used a black light to make a cool Star Wars set. Seriously, who has that kind of time? And just what do you do with the black light & all the paint once the party's over?

So now, I am hip deep in planning this shindig that is now less than 4 days away. Thankfully, Mr. Crackers is an idea man & he embraced the whole Star Wars theme with gusto. With his help we have some game ideas including, Star Wars bingo, a scavenger hunt, a puzzle relay race and a balloon popping extravaganza. There are also a few arts and crafts projects planned: alien shrinky dinks (remember shrinky dinks? I loved them as a kid), and some coloring pages.

In an attempt to add a little bit of zest to the party, I got some brown felt from the store & have made very simple Jedi ponchos for all the boys (Don't you remember how all the Jedi's wore ponchos? No? Hmmm... maybe that was episode 11 or something. Anyway, I can't sew so I had to make something that didn't require anything more that a few cuts with my trusty scissors. So, Jedi ponchos for everyone! Maybe this will start a new trend .) K will be joining the boys dressed in her very own white Princess Leah poncho. In addition to all the ponchos, I will be giving each of the children their very own inflatable light saber. I mean if you're going to have a bunch of sugared up 6 year old boys at your house, why not just go ahead and arm them to make the party extra fun!

I am thinking that the movie would've had a whole different vibe if everyone was dressed like this.

"We will use the force to defeat Darth Vader and his Imperial Armies so that we can preserve our right to wear ill fitting ponchos! "

Hopefully, we'll be able to get through the whole party relatively unscathed. I'll give you an update next week. We could really use a little bit of the force right now: dark side, light side - at this point I won't quibble! Help us Obi-wan Kenobi, you're our only hope!

Our Christmas Tree, Darth Vader and the Tooth Fairy

Since it was a cold, miserable rainy day today, it seemed like the perfect time to stay indoors and decorate our Christmas tree. While both kids napped this afternoon I went ahead and strung the lights.

I need to do this while they are napping to spare them the pain and agony of watching me spend 2 hours trying to hide the cords that attach the lights to one another from view. I rest all blame for this somewhat neurotic behavior squarely on the shoulders of my Dad. I remember watching and waiting (not very patiently) for him to finish this same task when I was as child. It was like torture. There we were, my sister and I, all ready to hang all the ornaments, but first we had to wait for my Dad to hang the lights in such a way that there were no visible cords. The entire time he was working, we would pepper him with the standard question "Are you almost done yet?" endlessly. It took a long, long time and by the time he was done, I think he was just as frustrated as we were (If memory serves, I think he actually walked off the job one year & handed the responsibility over to my Mom who being less of a perfectionist probably had all the lights up in about 20 minutes or so...). Sorry Dad!



So, you ask yourself, why do I do the same thing? Why not just throw them on the tree with abandon so I can get to the really fun stuff? Words fail me....I'll just say that I try to do my kids a kindness by doing the task while they sleep, so as not to inflict them with my crazed behavior. Mr. Crackers can't even watch me do it anymore - I think it gives him hives.


So, I poured myself an eggnog (with a little extra enhancement to make the task more fun) and proceeded to hang about 800 white lights on our tree. When I started I was listening to some Christmas favorites, but about 30 minutes into the task, Mr. Crackers broke out the Lego Star Wars game and I lit the tree to the sounds of battles in a galaxy far, far away.



I also got to listen to a steady narrative stream from Mr. Crackers that went like this...


"Why is he jumping? Aaaarrrrggg!!! Tell my why he keeps jumping!"


"I'm gonna kick your booty!" "Aaaaaaaahhhh"


"GOD BLESS AMERICA, WHY DOES HE KEEP DYING!!! Aaaaarrrggg!"


Not as soothing as Nat King Cole, but entertaining nonetheless.



When the kids got up, we had a great time hanging the ornaments on the tree. I always love looking at them and reliving memories. Ours is not a designer tree, but a tree made up mostly of homemade ornaments and gifts from friends and family members. Here are a few favorites:

My mom made this one

And these I think

Glass ornaments we got as gifts long before we had to worry about little hands


Once the decorating ended & we finished dinner, it was time to unwind. K and I played with the kids' Fisher Price nativity scene. We've had this set for years. It was bought for us by my Mom when C was a toddler & I love it. The kids get to play with it and there is no worry about them breaking anything.

Before we started playing, we reviewed all of the main players and I was corrected by K when she perceived I had made a mistake. The angel Gabriel, will now be known to K as the Tooth Fairy. Her job is to bring the Baby Jesus, his Mommy and Jofus (this is my fault. I pronounced Joseph's name the same way when I was little) pennies while they sleep. It was unclear whether or not the family had lost any teeth. She seemed to be giving them the pennies because it was Christmastime. The fairy also serves as a middleman between the 3 princesses and the holy family (I could not convince her that these 3 were really Kings - they wore dresses and crowns and to K that means only 1 thing - Princess!). It is the Fairy's job to take the gifts from the 3 princesses and fly them over to the family. I'm not sure why the 3 can't deliver the gifts themselves, maybe it's a union thing...

While we played with the nativity set, the Cracker boys helped out with the rebellion in a galaxy far, far away...

You'll be happy to know they were successful.

Tomorrow our long holiday break is over and everyone here at the Cracker house returns to the normal routines of work and school. But it was a good vacation and we all had fun with the tree, Darth Vader and the Tooth Fairy