Bright Partying!

I had a little party for my art students, for the big V-Day.

I'll tell you, I ached to do the swirly bright cakes, and the rice krispie marshmallow treats that look like paintbrushes (check pinterest), and all that creative sugary awesomeness ...

BUT my family has issues with that much sugar,

plus we had gluten-free attendees and also vegetarian attendees.

Sooo....

we stuck with turkey and cheese mini sandwiches on wheat,

some veggie-"meat" sandwiches, lots of fruit, nuts, olives, and so on.

The kids didn't miss the sugar a bit!
Love these two little ones, stuffing their faces with healthy goodness!

The thing is, my boys are super-hyper. I know most boys are movers, tumblers, wall-climbers....

but two of mine almost seem to {{vibrate}} when they get too much sugar!

*And then there's Fred. {sigh} That's a whole 'nother post!*

Everything in moderation, yes, but I know we still need to make some changes.

No more dyes, please! It's in everything from medicine to pickles to olives to jello.

I wonder how much dye we consume a year! I might have bright insides by now!

We also recently went with a dear friend and her kids, to Crazy Sock Jump Zone day (discounts!!)

I've known this sweet girl since she was born.
 

We managed to wrangle some of the kids into a photo.

Two of my boys are in red, my niece and nephew are the other blondies,

and the dark hair kiddos belong to October.

Love all these little munchkins!

Bright, Happy Party Central!

Pull up your party panties!

Okay, folks, I went to the funnest, and funniest, Panty Exchange Party this past weekend!!

 It was hard to take many photos, while laughing so hard!

I cropped my friends right out, to protect the identities of those panty-owners.

Of course, the laughable 4X panties and the edible versions also made appearances. ;)
So.Much.Laughing.

Attendees RSVPed and our hostess handed out sizes to shop for.

The only rule was to keep the purchase under $10.

These panty exchange parties really ought to sweep the nation!

Elementary VDay Par-tay!

One of my favorite things about being the elementary coordinator is party-planning!

We had our Valentine's Party at the  local bowling alley again this year.

We had roughly 65 bowlers + parents and babies. Nice fun crowd!

As always, it's open to everyone, but geared to elementary kids (what with the exchange boxes and stuff, although some adults *ahem* still enjoy this part, too!)

My lovely girl, although a middle-schooler now, still regularly participates in our parties.

Love this kid.

 We encourage everyone to get creative and make their own containers to bring.

This year I helped my Littlest Guy create his "face to eat candy," below.

 Turned out fairly well, I think. One box + one oatmeal container, an 8x10 print (and a 4x6 print for extra skin to lengthen the jaw) and some clothes. He added the fedora, which was a nice touch!

 Love this adorable light saber valentine! We're big Star Wars fans over here.

 Hope your V-Day was as fun as ours,

filled with love from family and friends,

and creative delights.

~One of my favorite holidays!~

Costume Party #3

That little weiner in the front is my Middlest Boy. Cracks.Me.Up.

Costume Party #3-- a Birthday Bash for my sweet niece, Caitlin!

We had princesses, zombies, hot dogs, a batman....even a cute little bunny...

Below, my precious sister-in-law, Olive Oil, and her Popeye boyfriend. Cuteness!!
(Incidentally, they borrowed these costumes from us, so expect to see my Man and I decked out in them before long! #Ilovedressup)

We also made skeleton crayons for Halloween!

Just peel crayons, break 'em up, stick them in a silicone mold (this is the Wilson skull mold). Next, put them in the oven on 275 degrees for about 15 minutes. When they were all hot and melty, I used a toothpick to swirl the colors a bit.

Then just let 'em cool and they'll pop right out.

Have fun and stay safe, my friends!

Costume Party #2

Update in photos:

Top Row: Chris, Carina, Kristin, me, Fred, Astine, Amy, Joshua, Jason
Second Row: Coli, Vu, Isabelle, Julie, Jenny, Bryan
Bottom: Athena and Traci

 Traci's costume totally cracked me up!!!

The right to bear arms-- yeah, baby!

Below, my lovely youngest sister, and my incredibly tall and beautiful teenage daughter.
They're 16 years apart, but about the same size. :)

 I went as Cleopatra to this party, and my Man went as Julius Caesar.
We're trying out the couple theme outfits this time around.
(We also own the Popeye and Olive Oil set!)

Here we have Jenny AKA Cat-Nurse from Dr.Who, and Amy AKA Harlequin mime.

And now, to get ready to go, once again! :)

Costume Cooking Club Par-taaaaay

My lovely little sister, Medusa
and me, Victorian Steampunk

Left to right: me, Tracy, Kari, Traci, Rochelle, Julie ( below, Medusa), Michele (sitting, pirate), Megan, and Kailee

I'll tell ya, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I looooove dressing up, love hanging out with friends, love making funky gross-looking food, and loooooove parties!

For Cooking Club, we had a great group of former and current members.

Oh my goodness, these women are FUN!

Mmmmm...BACON!

Forgive the food pictures. I neglected to take any with my camera, but my sister did manage to snag some with her phone.
I made a vomiting pumpkin (guacamole...mmmmm)

Used Q-tips (mini marshmallows with white icing and crushed cookies on the end)

Bloody band-aids (graham crackers with white icing and strawberry pie filling- YUM)

The bleeding brain
(gelatin, pureed peaches and syrup, whipped cream vodka, filled with blackberry and strawberry pie filling)

Fun times, y'all, fun times!!

We went to another fab-u-lous party last night. Pictures to come.

And today we are headed to yet another.

Seriously, this is a fun fun time of year!

A "Natural" Party

A few pictures from an incredible party we attended several weeks ago. Someday I will move out in the woods. And party with stumps, leaves and lanterns.

 

A little bug party

I had a little for-no-special-reason bug party for the kiddos and some family friends, about a week or two ago.

Ladybugs

(crackers, cream cheese, tomatoes, and olives)

Look at the polka dotted cutie, below, eating bug snacks! Aww

~caterpillars and logs~

(grapes on toothpicks, pretzel sticks)

 ~slugs on rocks~

(mozzarella sticks with clovers, cracker mix)

Flower cup desserts

(chocolate pudding, gummy worms, crumbled chocolate cookies)