Drive-In Birthday Party

Mother Nature did not get an invite and apparently was mad at me. The forecast for today.... 84 with isolated thunderstorms. As we were setting up the party tent we heard sports games were being postponned due to weather conditions. Ahhhhhhh!

I can only plan so much! As I explained in  ............ I was all ready for today.

Our little birthday boy was picked up at 8am today to go fishing with his faorite Ms. Klare. This gave us a good solid 4hrs of no "extra" hands if you know what I mean (wink, wink).

OK fast forward its PaRty Time!!! As everyone (meaning approximately 70 people) run inside the house because it is raining as the arrive. NOT what I had planned. The kids were running up and down the stairs with toy swords, guns, balls, and anything else boy that is around the house with the girls screaming. Ah yes exactly how I planned it NOT!!!!!!

Less than 30-40min later we started to move people outside and this my friends is when the party got started....

Hot Dog steamer was a hit which had our Hot Diggity Dogs served with all the fixins on the side(ketchup, mustard, onions, fresh garden tomatoes, and cheese). I had an array of chip bags.

 The whole style was grab and go. Once people finished eating I had them move to make "cars" for the movie. Cute table all set up with supplies (glue, stickers, paper, sicorss, glitter and jewels). Instead I found the kids "sledding" with the boxes down the hill. Exactly how I planned it NOT!!! haha actually it was really funny to watch and they had a blast. You can't plan it all and the things they came up with made the party even better.

 

OK cars are made (kinda), movie is set up.


My cupcake tower (I made yey) was displayed, the "concession stand" was open and the popcorn machine was doing its thing. Let the fun begin!

 

We did something a little different. We sang happy birthday and then instead of blowing out a candle we released a lantern. He was soooooooooooooooo excited! Best of all exactly how I planned it NOT but even better than I hoped. Apparently there was another party nearby and they too released lanterns. Stinker thought his lantern went and got his "friends" he was soooo excited it was the best surprise for him (and me).

His lantern going away.

His lantern found "friends" at least 7 or 8 in this picture look like polka dots.

Birthday boy in his car with his tigers and glow sticks.

 

The movie played, the kids giggled and smiled and to me made it all worth it.

Look how big this screen was compared to the roof of my neighbors yard!

Of course no party would be complete without me forgetting something... if anyone would like to come join us this week we have prescooped ice cream in the freezer! Exactly how I planned it... not!!! ha-ha

Simple things in life

Today is Jason's 34th birthday.  I refer to him as my "oldest child" because he really is a kid at heart but that is also why I love him so much.  With that said, buying gifts for him is very easy and fun. This year took some thinking power, LOTS of research, and some sneakiness, but it all came along smoothly.  Me and the boys along with my parents (thank goodness the went in on it) bought him a Crossbow for his birthday.  We ended up buying him a Barnett Wild Cat. Icing on the cake I worked with his friend Drew and scheduled a "playdate" as we are calling it and they are going hunting together on Sunday to test it out. I wish there was a way to pay the buck to just show up!

The actual celebration...although his bday is today we ended up celebrating yesterday with my parents because Jason is going to the Tigers game (7th row).  I tell ya this birthday year wont be beat.  While at dinner I gave him a small gift bag that had a MSU house flag in it. He handled it really well "Wow thanks guys lets put this up later....".  After a great dinner we walked outside and my dad called him to the trunk. POOF 1000s of thoughts running through his head he was in denial. Of course he played with it right then and there. He then got home and played with it (while watching sports) for another couple of hours. 

Jason's first glance and trying to figure out what he was looking at.



In the middle of the parking lot he pulls it out to play.  Gotta love him!
Honestly, I wasn't planning on spending that much money for his birthday but watching his reaction and also listening to him talk with excitement makes it all so worth every penny. That's exactly why I coupon and cut corners wherever I can. Moments like this where I can spoil the ones I love... I'd do it everyday of the week if I could.

Hellooo.. Goodbye another weekend come and gone

 This past week flew by but with nothing but smiles.  Simple recap....
Friday -  I went out and used my Groupon to Dream Dinners with my mom. See a little alone time not only did we have a good time BUT I left there with 6 ready to eat meals to add to my freeze to have on hand. Friday due to a very great solid straight A progress report my Dad (Papa) took Jeffrey to the home opener Red Wings game. They had a great time... a little alone time for them (hasn't happened in a while). He also came back in a great mood.


My Mom and I getting ready to knock out some meals together.



Look at her concentrating so hard and then there is me... was that suppose to be Tsp or Tbl?


Nothing beats a great feeling of having on-hand ready to make meals completely ready in the freezer outside.



Look at this amazing 4th grade progress report from all of his teachers.


Yup it earned him a special night out with Papa just the 2 of them for the Home Opener Red Wings Game!!! Stinker is trying to go so we had to sneak them out.


Saturday - Jason and my dad went and used their golf Groupon and had a beautiful day of 18holes. Me and the boys played outside, did some yard work and just enjoyed some quiet time. We then had a fantastic night reuniting with the All Star baseball families at one of their houses. Of course the boys were gone and played for hours. The Dads also gone and watched sports together. The Moms sipped some drinks and we too even found some time to relax. Our goal was to leave by 9:30...NOPE we didn't leave until 1am. No worries Stinker fell asleep long before that, which is why we were able to enjoy a couple more hours.

Sunday - Its a beautiful day that couldn't be passed up. We utilized our Greenfield Village pass and brought along Nonna and Papa. We all had an absolute fantastic time. We took a train ride, rode in the Model T cars, we learned a lot about Thomas Edison. It was a great day we had a nice picnic. Sunday evening the boys had the typical neighborhood play date in our backyard but I don't mind all the giggles and smiles it was great to see all the kids enjoying the weather together.


Mom, Dad, & Sport riding in the Model T behind us.


Stinker taking a deep breath of the beautiful mother nature surrounding us.


This is one of my favorite buildings the garden house. Where's Waldo/Papa I love that I was able to capture him with these beautiful colors AND he has a smile!


My Mom and Dad are waiting outside in the front of the Thomas Edison building. Sport wouldn't leave, he had so many questions and wanted to learn. The workers were very patient with him it was cute.


We took a nice family train ride around the whole Village. What a BEAUTIFUL day and place to escape to.

Another wonderful weekend with the family enjoying time together & making memories.

Do something nice day..

Driving into work today I heard on the radio its "Do something nice day".  I thought what I wanted to do and didn't come up with anything too far off the wall. I can help out one of the Teammates, but that's not being nice or any different than any other day and it's my job to help them out. I can give Jason a back rub... nahhh that's just silly, but he should give me one. I can go to the park with the boys.. nope Sport has religion class.

Well I'm now in the office and started to move along with my day and out of midconversation my opportunity came up.... donate blood. Today Red Cross is at the Arsenal.  This is it! Whether I planned on it or not, although I completely freaked out when I got there and filled out the papers, this is what I was suppose to do today. 

An hour later after the physical and precheck (passed), they tapped my vein got what they needed (passed), I do feel like I'm ready to PASS OUT, but I think that part is pretty normally. It's a great feeling knowing I somehow helped someone today. That's even better I did something nice for someone I may or may not even know!

What's Cookin

About 3 years ago I was brainstorming about creating my own cookbook. I know, I know stop laughing. Me in the kitchen?!?! It doesn't happen often and when it does I normally complain about it.  However, my plan for the cookbook wasn't to create all new recipes but to adapt ones to my family's needs, taste buds... however I realized that's what everyone does and let's be real its probably best I leave the REAL recipe mixing and changing up to someone else.  My real favorite part about the kitchen is the planning and the creativity!!! Its teamwork in our house about 60% of the cooking is done by my hubby "The Chef".  I like the behind the scenes but still help out with about 40% cooking when we are in a pinch or he is on travel. in addition to pulling the menus together, find sales (couponing is another addiction of mine),  my ultimate favorite part is adding a twist to the kitchen/menu each and every possible way.  We have huge holiday menus with artsy looking food, playing with our food, games with our food. After doing this for a while I realized that we really do have something to share and hope that you and others enjoy it too! Together me and hubby are like the perfect ice cream sundae. He is the ice cream (gets the food prepared and cooked) and I add the syrup, sprinkles, whip cream, and cherry (all the fun, creativity, and finishing touches)!  We are't chefs (well he does have experience in the kitchen), you won't find many "original" recipes on here but the creativity is endless and so is the fun! Enjoy!!!!