James is 26!

I robbed the cradle... I'm a whole 3 + months older than my husband! I don't know why he thought I'd feel bad for him for turning 26; I already went through that issue. Anyway, I'm sure his birthday would've been pretty ordinary otherwise, but since some of our friends from out of town were in town for a short time around his birthday, I decided to throw him a little shin dig. Minute to Win It seems to be becoming more and more popular for parties, ward activities, etc. We don't watch all the episodes, but James really enjoys it when he does. He's just one of those people who is good at doing random things like throwing cards, etc. (see previous post from last Fall - The Banana Slicers). His friends also love that sort of thing, so I decided to go with that theme for his party. Another friend, Pete, had a birthday a day before James, so we made it a joint party.
After looking through the Minute to Win It games here for the least budget breaking items and least messy games, I came up with about 10 for us to do. I also tried to find ones that we could do 5 people at a time. People with phones just kept track of how many seconds it took for the others to complete the task (but it didn't count if it was over a minute), and we did dollar prizes for each round. The person with the most points won the grand prize (see pic below)! We even had the blueprints play on the TV just like the show so I wouldn't have to explain each one. Plus, the British lady has a way cooler voice than I do.
Add a little Cafe Rio dinner (inspired by these recipes), cake, and ice cream, and you have a great party! We had a lot of fun, and I'd do it again. The only problem is I don't have the same amount of energy as my mom, pregnant or not, to have lots of parties and to entertain all the time. Maybe one day...

Here are some pictures from the events!

Penny Hose - get the pennies out of the bottom of the hose

Paper Scraper - build a 10 story paper building

Noodlin' Around - string 6 penne noodles on a spaghetti noodle

Candy Elevator - raise 3 M&M's to your mouth with string and 2 pencils

More elevators

Caddy Stack - stack 3 (we did 2) golf balls

Bite Me - only your mouth can pick up the paper bags that decrease in size

Ka-Broom - launch a marshmallow from a plate to a cup with a broom

More Ka-Broom (this seemed to be the favorite, but not many could do it at one time)

The score board

The GRAND PRIZE! Don't hate me, Mel... =) She was amazing!!

Birthday boys

Eli and I love our boys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!