three {3}

In the midst of all the summer produce madness, we had a little celebrating to do. The Little Miss turned 3 this week. Must have party!

I was so looking forward to girlie party ideas. I've used up all my fun boy ideas and then some, so I thought girl parties would open up a whole new line of ideas. Too bad I'm not into princess-y everything. This was a little tougher than I thought but we finally decided on a watermelon party. And as usual, I might have had more fun pulling it together than she had at the party but we're both happy that way!

The Menu

tortilla roll ups

chips & fresh salsa
(I thought my green [guacamole] chips were pretty cool.)

jello

cake 

ice cream

licorice

(& drum roll please)

WATERMELON

and watermelon lemonade

Since she is into all thing 'pinkalicious' (as she calls it) I picked up a 

strawberry cake mix on a whim at the grocery store.

What could be better than pink cake?

Um, lots of things, unless you're turning 3.

 I was a little concerned for the flavor so

I added real pureed strawberries to the batter and topped it with 

cream cheese icing.

Not bad but I'll be having chocolate for my birthday.

The decorating was easy enough, that's for sure!

We had to borrow a few girls for the party.

All those boy cousins just don't get how cool pink really is.

The boys, however, were much more enthusiastic about the seed spitting contest.

I bought a couple of cute little mini watermelons that I intended to use as bowling balls

but since I was unwilling to allow my family to drink 20 liters of Mt. Dew 

in 2 days time

and the craigslist guy never got back to me about the real bowling pins he wanted to sell,

that game was canceled.

The favors.

 Watermelon gum & candy, side walk chalk and 

a couple of other girlie do-dads.

A few super exciting gifts and some sparklers

to round out the night.

This pic isn't the best quality but it must be included because it just sums up

the fun and feelings of the whole evening!

Thanks J!

Happy Birthday Miss Kyra!

Farewell Summer

Such craziness around here the past couple of weeks. I thought my life would slow down a bit with the arrival of the big yellow bus, at least between the hours of 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. but suddenly out of nowhere came project after project.

So much handsomeness we had to split them up into 3 different school buildings this year.

 3 different Back to School Nights

3 different schedule systems

3 different sets of fundraisers

3 different lunch menus 

My organizational skills are already over taxed!

 First Day of First Grade

 Off to the Middle School

First Day of Fifth Grade

He thinks he's pretty big stuff!

 First Day of Seventh Grade

(this picture thing is not as cool as it used to be)

And with that, Summer officially ended. Sniff!

I'm never ready for return of homework and schedule and early mornings.

Thankfully they were (in varying degrees) so the transition has been fairly smooth.

********

So I sent them off with backpacks and folders lunch boxes and water bottles, new shoes and cool erasers. All the important stuff. :)

And I turned into house-wifey Hilda!

I don't have a garden here so I am ever so grateful for friends who share their abundance but it doesn't come with much warning.

When I arrived at church last week I found a box of tomatoes for me.

My sister bequeathed her green beans to me when she left the country.

And I already had 5 baskets of apples waiting patiently in the basement.

So there was some of 

this...

a lot of this...

a bunch of these...

and a bit of this...

 

plus 50 quarts of applesauce and 6 batches of homemade granola,
along with the usual grocery shopping and
three meals a day.
Sometimes I wonder what percentage of my life revolves around food.
I'm not complaining! I feel very blessed!
I enjoy cooking and serving my family this way and I am grateful to have plenty of healthy food to offer my growing men.
But I'm ready to think about something else for awhile now.

Maybe I should start with filling out those fundraiser papers.
Anybody wanna buy magazines or coupon books, or maybe support my 'Race for Ed' runners?

Church Picnic

It was our turn to plan our church's summer picnic this year. I use the word 'turn' loosely. My hubs and I calculated that we've helped to plan at least 7-8 of the 15 picnics since our church started. We've also carefully calculated what we will say next year if they ask us to do it again. "Nope, not happening."  I really don't mind planning it. It's a party after all, one of my specialties, and it's only for one day. I've gained lots of little tricks through the years but I'm also running out of new, creative ideas.

We had absolutely p.e.r.f.e.c.t. weather this year. 85 degrees. no humidity. a nice breeze and sunshine. The bottom line is, the weather makes it or breaks it. We've had years when we planned all kinds of fun games and big feasts and it was simply to hot to move. And then there was the year of the tropical storm which kind of put a damper on the whole wiffle ball tournament. (corny pun intended :)

Our best idea for "new and different" this year was to rent a Dunk Tank. It was a HIT!

Dunked by the Mrs.

I'm not sure which was longer, the line to dunk or the line to be dunked. 

 

Such good sports we have!

 Beware of what you initiate, you may be forced to participate!

 

 

And sometimes the dunk-er's reaction is even better than the dunkee's! He was helping to pick up the balls for another round when he bumped the trigger accidentally. OOPS!

I used craft paper for the tablecloth and then set out jars of markers for decorating. The kids (big and little) thought it was grand. And I used quart jars of candy for paper weights that double as the age old 'Guess How Many' game (proof of my taxed creative state!)

It's not a church picnic without soft ice cream. Mmm!

Kid's Games. (you might be able to pick out which kids in this church are my favorite)

Wiffle Ball

And of course FOOD.

We called on the expert BBQ-er and he taunted us all afternoon with 'that smell.' It was even more delicious than it looks and it sure made my job easier! I told you I've learned some things along the way.

Throw in some iced coffee, lawn chairs under a shade tree, friends and a good conversation and you've got yourself a party with something for everyone.

Special thanks to everyone who showed up, volunteered to bring food, entertained children, endured the port-o-john without complaint, and helped clean up the mess!

 Feel free to use any or all of these ideas if they call you to plan your church picnic next year, I won't be needing them!

Made Me Smile Monday

{a  snapshot --or two-- from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

Sandwich Fresh Peaches & Cream Cheese

Add a crackling fire on a cool evening.

Toast to perfect golden crispiness

Enjoy with that steamy cup a java your Hubzy just delivered!

SMILE!

Front Porch

One of the things I love most about my old house is my big front porch. It's a lovely place. At least if you can ignore the motorcycles roaring by. I suppose getting up before they do would work too, but that's not a game I'm very good at. Every once in a while I manage to sneak out with my cup of coffee before any little people start running wild. It's a fantastic way to start the day.

The other thing I love about my porch is the picnic table right outside my kitchen door. It's quick and easy to serve the kids lunch out there and we often enjoy dinner out there in the evenings. There is just one problem. The sun likes to beat in right on that corner just about the time I like to serve dinner. We've had one too many squint-y eyed dinners with whining to boot. So I came up with a plan.

I purchased a couple packs of drop cloth from the home improvement store, put in a few simple hems, and wha-la, CURTAINS!

The patient hubs rigged up the wire for me. Not too thick. Not too rough. Not too redneck. Not too loose....fussy much? He did a great job in spite of my help. I dug out the package of little clips from IKEA that I really *needed* two years ago but hadn't open yet. They are perfect for the job. The metal holders, from a yard sale, to keep them tied back, were the icing on the cake.

I finished them just in time for my Mom's birthday celebration. Yup, that means I procrastinated all summer and then crammed the night before so they'd be ready. Sort of the same thing, right?

My other fun projects...

Frame -- yard sale $1
Chicken wire -- yard sale free pile
A couple of staples and 3 minutes later...

Thanks to Clarita's tutorial I was inspired to make pinwheels to add a little pizazz too. So simple. So fun. You should try it. No, not just one. One of every color, in a couple of different sizes!

Food is always a drawing factor, at least for my family.

It's not a birthday party without a cheesecake. I'm usually more of a chocolate, caramel, espresso kind of girl but this vanilla one with fresh peaches was worth every calorie too.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Party is over now, so  if you need me for anything, I'll be out on my porch, the coffee is ready!!