Sunday, July 8, 2007

a bunch of star bellied sneetches

we threw a sneetches party to celebrate david's 5th birthday. we had a 'frankfurter roast' at a park nearby. i made sneetches tee shirts for all the kiddos. it was easy and a ton of fun!chrissie did some sidewalk chalk to welcome the guests :)

i stole a birthday snuggle with the guest of honor

david sported his star belly and played with a pinwheel from nana

steve read the story to all the kids with lots of enthusiasm!

we all chowed down on cupcakes-yum!!

my boys got some 'slide' time in.

All in all it was a great afternoon. The story of the Sneetches is meaningful to us.

THE SNEETCHES 
by Dr. Seuss
Now the Star-bellied Sneetches had bellies with stars. 
The Plain-bellied Sneetches had none upon thars. 
The stars weren't so big; they were really quite small. 
You would think such a thing wouldn't matter at all. 
But because they had stars, all the Star-bellied Sneetches 
would brag, "We're the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches."
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they'd snort, " 
We'll have nothing to do with the plain-bellied sort." 
And whenever they met some, when they were out walking, 
they'd hike right on past them without even talking.When the Star-bellied children went out to play ball, 
could the Plain-bellies join in their game? Not at all! 
You could only play ball if your bellies had stars, 
and the Plain-bellied children had none upon thars.
When the Star-bellied Sneetches had frankfurter roasts, 
or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts, 
they never invited the Plain-bellied Sneetches. 
Left them out cold in the dark of the beaches. 
Kept them away; never let them come near, 
and that's how they treated them year after year.
Then one day, it seems, while the Plain-bellied Sneetches 
were moping, just moping alone on the beaches, 
sitting there, wishing their bellies had stars, 
up zipped a stranger in the strangest of cars."My friends, " he announced in a voice clear and keen, 
"My name is Sylvester McMonkey McBean. 
I've heard of your troubles; I've heard you're unhappy. 
But I can fix that; I'm the fix-it-up chappie. 
I've come here to help you; I have what you need. 
My prices are low, and I work with great speed, 
and my work is one hundred per cent guaranteed."
Then quickly, Sylvester McMonkey McBean 
put together a very peculiar machine. 
Then he said, "You want stars like a Star-bellied Sneetch? 
My friends, you can have them . . . . for three dollars each. 
Just hand me your money and climb on aboard."They clambered inside and the big machine roared. 
It bonked. It clonked. It jerked. It berked. 
It bopped them around, but the thing really worked. 
When the Plain-bellied Sneetches popped out, they had stars! 
They actually did, they had stars upon thars!
Then they yelled at the ones who had stars from the start, 
"We're exactly like you; you can't tell us apart. 
We're all just the same now, you snooty old smarties. 
Now we can come to your frankfurter parties!""Good grief!" groaned the one who had stars from the first. 
"We're still the best Sneetches, and they are the worst. 
But how in the world will we know," they all frowned, 
"if which kind is what or the other way 'round?"
Then up stepped McBean with a very sly wink, and he said, 
"Things are not quite as bad as you think. 
You don't know who's who, that is perfectly true. 
But come with me, friends, do you know what I'll do? 
I'll make you again the best Sneetches on beaches, 
and all it will cost you is ten dollars eaches.Belly stars are no longer in style, " said McBean. 
"What you need is a trip through my stars-off machine. 
This wondrous contraption will take off your stars, 
so you won't look like Sneetches who have them on thars."
That handy machine, working very precisely, 
removed all the stars from their bellies quite nicely. 
Then, with snoots in the air, they paraded about. 
They opened their beaks and proceeded to shout, 
"We now know who's who, and there isn't a doubt, 
the best kind of Sneetches are Sneetches without."Then, of course those with stars all got frightfully mad. 
To be wearing a star now was frightfully bad. 
Then, of course old Sylvester McMonkey McBean 
invited them into his stars-off machine. 
Then, of course from then on, you can probably guess, 
things really got into a horrible mess.
All the rest of the day on those wild screaming beaches, 
the Fix-it-up-Chappie was fixing up Sneetches. 
Off again, on again, in again, out again, 
through the machine and back round about again, 
still paying money, still running through, 
changing their stars every minute or two, 
until neither the Plain- nor the Star-bellies knew 
whether this one was that one or that one was this one 
or which one was what one or what one was who!
Then, when every last cent of their money was spent, 
the Fix-It-Up-Chappie packed up and he went. 
And he laughed as he drove in his car up the beach, 
"They never will learn; no, you can't teach a Sneetch!"
But McBean was quite wrong, I'm quite happy to say, 
the Sneetches got quite a bit smarter that day. 
That day, they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches, 
and no kind of Sneetch is the BEST on the beaches. 
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars, 
and whether they had one or not upon thars.

12 comments:

Ellen said...

I have been anxiously awaiting news of David's birthday party. Looks like everyone had a great time.

I love the Sneetches story also. I read it to my class on the first day of school every year. Dr. Suess packs some powerful lessons in his stories.

Anonymous said...

I stumbled on your blog looking for your great jewelry,(i saw it on the Nitty Gritty blog a while ago), and was so excited about your sneetch party. What a fantastic idea! My three year old loves that book, and sleeps with "sneetchie" the plush toy every night.
We also have a "special needs child" (hate that term, don't know why!
anyway, just wanted to shoot you a comment, that you brightened my day. God Bless you and yours, amy

Anonymous said...

I read that story to my class every year. Dr. Seuss was a wise man. Lovely idea for a party!

Kelly said...

what a great story!!! have you read if i only had a green nose by max lucado? ...same great lesson.

lindsey said...

loved the party idea! it was really fun, minus the breeze. it was so fun seeing the kiddos all with their star bellies!

Karen said...

I'd never heard the Sneetch story before...how neat. Looks like you guys had a BIG party - so many kids to keep track of!!!!! What fun!

Kristen Borland said...

so glad you had fun at the sneetch party! we so wish we could have been there!! yes, what a good story indeed! i had never heard it (that i remember anyway) until we got the cute invitation.

Brianna Heldt said...

i also hadn't heard that story before but it was wonderful! thanks for a great day, we felt really special to be invited. what a blessing your family is to us!!!

(and i forgot to tell you, i am SO SORRY for the ghetto gift-wrap job---i didn't realize we were out of tissue paper, ugh!)

tonight anna said, "i like david. i love my friends at sunday school." you guys rock!

Robin said...

What a darling story... yes, I read it all. Sounds a lot like Max Lucado's "You Are Special"... a favourite book of mine! My class even performed it as a play for chapel. It's about knowing that God made us and loves us just the way we are. Others' opinions and judgments don't matter. Makes me cry everytime.

You SLO mums are so crafty (in the good way) and creative. Perhaps I'll ask Chrissie to bring some of that to the OC next time she visits you!

Joy said...

I would like to buy one of your blessed necklaces.. What a fun birthday party.. it looks like David and everyone had a great time. I love coming to your blog when I can .. you are an amazing family. you should be proud.

Joy said...

ooops.... my email is joygross@gmail.com

Wedgie said...

I found your blog while trying to find the correct spelling of "Sneetches". I was telling somebody that because they don't air the animated Seuss cartoons anymore, I was worried that kids today might not know this great story. Glad to see that you're keeping the heritage alive!