How to Host A Party for 13 Year Old Boys

Air-soft Gun Wars in the Back Yard

Hosting a birthday party for a 13 year old boy is not an easy task.  Figuring out what will be fun but not childish was a real challenge.  We discussed different options and none of them seemed to be a good option.  My son first thought about inviting 12 of his friends to go to the movie and out for pizza.  This isn't exactly an exciting option and it can end up costing an arm and a leg.  He then decided going to a local indoor trampoline fun house sounded fun.  Again, the cost can really end up being steep and it doesn't always turn out to be that fun anyway.  You are lumped in with lots of other folks.

What to do, what to do?  My son Grant had been saving his money for quite some time to buy a new air-soft gun.  Finally it hit me.  Most of Grant's friends also had air-soft guns.  We could host a birthday/air-soft gun party.  We have a large fenced in back yard so they could play the games there.  The only problem is, there wouldn't be anywhere for safety or places to hide.  This is when my creativity started coming out.  Grant and I decided to build bases and forts out of free pallets.  We also found an old dump pile with some thrown out siding.  We had some paint we were not using in the garage, so we put all our free products together to create a fabulous birthday extravaganza.  

Grant painting some old siding we found in a dump pile.
We nailed the siding to some pallets

Siding and Cardboard Were Both Used
Staple or Nail to the Pallets
Drive Stakes in the Ground with Half of the Stake Extending Above Ground
Place the Pallets Over the Stakes to Hold Them Upright

Make Sure Everyone Playing Air-Soft Has Goggles or Glasses
Pick Up Extra Pairs of Sunglasses at The Dollar Store To Have On Hand
Place Two Different Colors of Bandannas in a Bag
Each Person Draws A Bandanna Out of the Bag to Determine Teams

Do Not Leave the Boys to Their Own Devices
Organized Games Work the Best
We Had Two 18 Year Old Boys Wearing Whistles Who
Worked as Referees and Game Coordinators

I Made Homemade Pizza and Camouflage Cupcakes
I Also Provided Plenty of Drinks and Popcorn

I Have Never Seen 13 Year Old Boys Have So Much Fun
I Over Heard a Couple of The Boys Talking
They Said It Was The Funnest Birthday Party They Had Ever Been To

Provide Target Shooting Games, Capture the Flag, Ender's Game, Etc.

How to Host An Air-Soft War-Birthday Party
For 12 Teenage Boys
For Under $100.00

Free Invitation Template

Save To Your Computer and Print

Rules To Think About When Taking a Selfie

Rules for Taking a Selfie

Waffle Iron Cinnamon Rolls

I love Cinnamon Rolls!

Add Melted Butter

Sprinkle Cinnamon Over Dough Add Sugar

Roll Dough/Cut in Pieces

Cook Cinnamon Rolls In Waffle Iron

Copy and Save Image To Computer to Print

Basic Dough

I use this dough recipe to make just about everything.  Bread, pizza, rolls, bread sticks, etc.  Just add a little more flour if you are making bread, less flour for rolls.  Remember, the stickier the dough the lighter the roll.

3 cupts of very hot water as hot as you can from your tap

Add on Tablespoon of Yeast
I buy my yeast in bulk from Sam's Club

Add 1/3 cup of Sugar.  Sugar makes the yeast happy.

Add 1/3 Cup of Oil.  The yeast doesn't mind company.

No Reason to wait, go ahead and add 1 teaspoon of salt

I don't take time for the yeast to think about things.  I move right along to the next step. Start adding flour.  I never measure the flour, I just add and start mixing until the dough is the consistency I want.

Remember the stickier the dough the lighter the roll.  If you are making bread, add more flour.  Let the Kitchen aid mix for at least 10 minutes.  Continue adding flour every once in a while until the dough clings to the sides of the bowl.

Spray the counter so the dough doesn't stick.

No reason to add more flour so spray grease is a much better option for working with the dough.

Save Image to Your Computer to Print

Waffle Pizza

Spray Waffle Iron

Spray Counter Before Putting Basic Roll Dough On It

Roll Out Dough

Cook Dough In Waffle Iron

Add Spaghetti Sauce and Meat

Add Cheese and Microwave Long Enough To Melt Cheese

Pizza Ready to Eat In Under 10 Minutes

Save Image to Computer to Print

5 Foods To Cook In Your Waffle Iron

The Delicious Waffle

Waffle Pizza

Waffle Cinnamon Roll

Waffle Rolls

Waffle Grilled Cheese

Check Engine-Joke of the Day

Check Engine Soon

Singing In the Abbey

I had to post this because I find it so funny.  I laugh, but only because it is one of my favorite movies of all time.  There is nothing better than the Sound of Music.

Great White Shark

A Harmless Prank

Maybe I have watched too many spy movies, but for some reason I find this to be very funny.  I don't think I would really do it, but just the thought of it makes me giggle.

Jingle in Your Head

Don't you hate it when someone puts an annoying jingle in your head? 

Ha Ha Ha.

I Want to Make Everything on Pinterest

5 Steps or Less

Gardening To Do List

Ok, so if I'm being honest, I have a lot of work to do in my yard in order for it to be as dreamy as I would like.  In an ideal world, all the wonderful pins that I see on pinterest would be fast, easy, cheap, and really work.

This is Wonderful.  Not really what I am going for, because I still need to have room for my boys to throw a football, but there are pieces of this I would like to incorporate into my yard, and it's a great photo to dream on.

When spring finally arrives here in Nebraska, I am going to document all of the gardening ideas I find on Pinterest and will let you know which ones are hits and which ones are total misses.

This is what my yard looks like today.

Papillion, Nebraska, March 2014

I know that some of the gardening tips might even be a miss in Nebraska, but ultimately work for you elsewhere.  For instance, my back yard is right next to a dry wooded river bed.  It is beautiful in the summer, but it gets very overgrown and all kinds of animal life call it home.  It makes it hard to plant and grow things when every time I turn my back something is digging or eating my harvest.

An example is one that I blogged about earlier.

Adding an egg to my holes before I planted Grapevines Was a Miss
The Varmints Dug up the vines, tore them apart and ate the Egg 

The Varmints Also Ate The Banana Peel I Put in the Hole

It's Going to Be Miracle Grow For me From Now On

So in a nutshell, this is the plan....

Wish Me luck:)

Turned Myself Around

How to Clean a Pan With No Scrubbing

There is Nothing Better Than Roast, Potatoes and Carrots

I cooked a roast in the crock pot yesterday and it was wonderful.  The part I really hate though is the clean up.  Have you ever noticed that when you slow cook a roast the pan seems to end up so hard to clean?  With a pan this dirty my Monday morning workout might have to start on Sunday.  I'm guessing scrubbing it clean would not be keeping the "Law of Moses" because so much work would be required.  It's a good thing I have a wonderful trick that creates a spit spot clean pan with no scrubbing.  I learned this years ago from my Aunt Lucille and I guarantee you will still be able to both wash your pans and keep the Sabbath Day Holy.  

Just Add a Little "Dishwasher" Soap and Water
Let it sit for 1/2 hour - Wipe Clean

Any Brand Will Do
Dry or Powder - It Doesn't Matter