Happy 3rd Birthday Jonas Andrew! 02/25/09 changed my life in the most wonderful way!  God gave me and Jon a bouncing, constantly in motion, hilarious, hard-headed, stubborn first-born {like his mama}, wonderful, perfect, crafty, super smart, but still not potty-trained all the way daddy's boy! :)

 Jonas isn't really much of a picture taker....it takes some prodding and bribing, but he did pretty good this day.  Maybe he really is growing up! :)  I always say it was God's sense of humor, giving a child who hates being photographed/refuses to give natural/normal looking smiles to a photographer mommy.  ;)

 Jonas is 42 inches tall and 47 lbs...as of his 3 year old checkup!  Right at the 100th percentile...maybe a little above. ;)  Very solid.  Strangers constantly say, "He's only three?", which is a little frustrating since he says he's four and sometimes we want him to eat free....ha ha! :)

 Holding tight to his balloons!  He loved them!

 It was very hot, so bless his little red faced heart....lol.  Jonathan and I were discussing how we always looked sweaty and red-faced in photos as a kid.  {add sweaty messed up bangs in my case}  I guess he got it honestly from both sides.  He is still a little stud though! :)  You can see his fingers still clinched around his balloons. 

I can't believe my first born son is already three years old!  Time sure does fly.  He wishes it would fly a little faster...he tells everyone he's four (almost to the point that I believe him!).  ;)

Life Cycle of a Pinata

For Jonas's third birthday, he requested a "Dinosaur Party".  He talked about it for weeks...maybe months.  Upon searching for birthday supplies, I found that I was not crazy about what I could find.  Not a big fan of the "scary looking" dinosaurs.  Most plates had big t-rex's with huge gnarling teeth flashing.  Not very 3 year old friendly. 

So, I decided one thing I could make myself is a pinata.

This is how I started...a "punching" balloon (you know, the kind with the rubber band hooked to it so you can make it go --bam bam bam bam bam!).  I covered the "Belly button" where the rubber band was with a styrofoam cup...the beginning of the tail skeleton.

Next, I cut our spikes out of cereal box cardboard and taped them on.  Next time, I will use duct tape.

Then I used a paper towel roll and more cardboard to make feet.  I wasn't thrilled with the feet in the end.  They needed to be "beefier" but this was my first try... :)

I added a smaller balloon for a head, and used more cardboard to attach it and make a "neck".  I then used newspaper and wrapped them around the cup and twisted them into the end of the tail and secured with tape.  I don't have a picture of all that though. :(

One thing I learned is that, if your skeleton is fragile, the end resulting pinata will be fragile.  I ended up stapling with a staple gun the tail back on pre-party because it fell off.  So I will use more duct tape.  I also popped on balloon and had to transfer the tail and spikes over to a new balloon.  I was trying to recycle a plastic container for the neck.  I was cutting it to make a better curve, and the sharp plastic edge popped him.  So no plastic...and more duct tape. :)

After I did the paper mache (One part flour to five parts water...the first time I "cooked" it like I read online, after talking to some friends, I just used flour and water, and it worked fine.)

My box of strips...

My paste:  The non-cooked kind.  The cooked kind was much thicker, and worked too. :)

Here's what the final skeleton looked like:

  Pretty cute, huh?

I was going to paint him, but decided to use a tissue paper technique instead...layer upon layer of fringed tissue.  Here's the final product...

 As you can see I added construction paper polka dots and some paper eyes.  All in all I was happy.  He was a little more "lizard-like" than I wanted, but he was a friendly dinosaur.  :)  Jonas loved him.  And he thought it was great breaking him open with a stick...I could have cried after the hours it took to make him, but as long as Jonas had fun, it was worth it.  Oh, and it cost me about $5 to make, so that is awesome!! :)  Store bought ones are way smaller and more expensive. 

More dino details to come!

Then on to planning my Jaxon's owl party!!