31 days of Blogging

I've been seeing quite a few of my friends joining in the 31 days of Blogging challenges, most of which ran for the whole month of October :)  Because this has been a busy busy month for me I am starting my "31 days of Blogging" challenge today!!  Technically I think it will be more like 32, but hey....what's one more day?!?

I've had the worst time trying to decide whether to do a whole month of the same category of topics, or whether to vary it up, touching on the topics most important to me for whatever reason. 

Soooo that being said.....I feel like I should start out with an

INTRODUCTION TO ME AND MY FAMILY!!  

Some of you know me personally, you know what drives my stories and what my world revolves around, but I feel like there are so many of you that I need to introduce myself to!! 

Day 1

Intro To My Life

My name is Carol, I'm 46 and have been married for over 25 years now!!  My husband and I have made it through so many trials and tribulations along with such absolutely fantastic times in our lives.   It's funny how quickly the time flies.  I was just speaking to my Son In Law earlier today and he and my daughter will be celebrating their one year anniversary on Monday, the 7th of November!  He is just amazed at how quickly the time has flown!!  I'm so proud of them to have reached this milestone! (Have you noticed I love to talk about my kiddos??  They are the loves of my life <3!!)

I have two daughters in their twenties who are both now mothers, one is as I mentioned above married to a fine young man, and they have a daughter, and my other daughter will be getting married in just a few weeks and she has a son.  I also have one brand new grandbaby on the way due in early June!! 

ABSOLUTELY

CANNOT

WAIT

to find out

IF IT'S A GIRL OR BOY!! 

 I am one happy Mimi!!  :) :)

For those of you who don't know, I have been my grandchildren's babysitter for the past five years while their moms work.  This way they don't have to add "daycare" to the list of expenses they have to pay for.  Not to mention I get to spend all sorts of extra wonderful time the GRANDS!! 

I feel very fortunate to have been able to do that for such a long time!!  I currently get to take my little grandson to Kindergarten every day now as well, and every morning the drive is filled with all sorts of interesting conversations which invariably find their ways into my blogs!!  :)

I am a woman of faith, I am a Christian.  I spent many of my early years in the deep South with my mother and grandparents.  My grandfather was a Deacon in a Southern Baptist Church, and those are some of my fondest memories, time spent in that church every Sunday morning, evening, and on Wednesday nights!!  :) 

My dad was in the Navy as I was growing up, (and retired as a Commander)  and much of the time I spent at my grandparents was when he was in Vietnam etc.  I sooo admire and respect our military families, I know first hand what it's like to have a family member  gone for lengths of time being deployed. 

I should add in how much I love to create things.  I think that side of me was influenced by my paternal grandparents, who were forever taking painting classes, or making things at home and letting me get right in there and help.  This is probably why I now have an addiction to the new website "Pinterest"....it's just chock full of creative ideas, some of which I am sure I will share during my 31 days of blogging!!  I am forever planning a party in my head....I think part of it is the fun and challenge of creating a fun party, and the other part is just good ole Southern Hospitality, and we love to have our friends over and feed them and show them a great time and have them just totally enjoy themselves!!

This pretty well hits all the high points of learning about me, can't wait to start writing this month and letting you get to know me better, and I can't wait to get to know you better as well!!  I truly enjoy learning all about those who read my blogs!!

Have a beautiful afternoon, and thanks for stopping by!!

Carol

*Girl Talk*

I am a busy woman!!

Sometimes, way too busy for my own good. 

Always keeping things hopping and "plates spinning" as they say! 

Sometimes it seems as we live life in a blur, seldom stopping to take time for ourselves, time to do what we enjoy.  And no ladies (and gentlemen) no matter how much you enjoy doing things for your kids or spouse or whomever, I mean actually taking time FOR YOURSELF.  :) 

Yesterday a dear friend invited me to meet her for lunch today.  She mentioned that I always seem to "busy" that she didn't think I would have time!!   We chatted back and forth online and decided where we were meeting!!  While some of you may not think that lunch with a friend counts as something for myself, believe me, IT DOES!!  I spend almost every day with a small child near me, in need of a story, a diaper change, lunch, a snack, etc.....so to get out for some ME TIME and ADULT CONVERSATION TIME....is AWESOME!!!! 

It's so nice to do something out of the ordinary, to stop and take time to catch up with a dear friend.  Let go of the "busy"ness of life and just sit and laugh and find out what's going on in the world of the other people who matter to me as well. 

There's something nice about seeing the face of a friend, hugging them, and then sitting across from each other and talking and laughing non stop for a complete hour!!  Our waitress probably had to come back about five times before she could take our order because we were so busy catching up!! 

Today I realize that what "me time" I have shouldn't be spent catching up on laundry or dishes or the other "must do's" but it needs to be about making my heart happy as well and making sure that I include spending time with  those that I care about and who make me a better person all the way around!!

It kind of reminds me of that poem about how the laundry and dishes can wait because "babies don't keep".....well friend, make sure to also sometimes substitute the word "friendships don't keep" once in a while and go call a friend, make a point to get together, everything will wait while you go enjoy that precious time!!  <3

Friendship's Voice

Submitted by: JulieKQ

Author: Julie Quick

There are those certain voices,
that are music to the ear.
Such a verbal warm embrace,
the heart has longed to hear.

With every word that's spoken,
their face comes to my mind.
The voice my soul rejoices,
the face I look to find.

It's The Great Pumpikin Charlie Brown Party

Sooooo today we had our Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Party!! 

Everyone had such a great time!! 

Here's a few photos!!

THE CAKE

THE TABLE

I DID SNOOPY TREAT BAGS FOR THE KIDS AND REGULAR BAGS FOR THE ADULTS :)  THE KIDS GOT CANDY AND THE ADULTS GOT CANDY AND MOON PIES...THEY SURE SEEMED TO LOVE THE MOON PIES :)

THE YARD BOWLING GAME

THE KIDS PLAYED AND PLAYED THIS...

BEAN TOSS INTO PUMPKIN FACE

BY FAR THE FAVORITE GAME FOR EVERYONE YOUNG AND OLD

BOBBING FOR APPLES :)

I WENT TO WAL MART AND GOT EACH OF THE KIDS THEIR OWN PUMPKIN BUCKET...AND PUT THEIR NAMES ON IT...THEY LOVED THEM

THE KIDS DRINKS

HALLOWEEN GAME DIY

I saw this game on Pinterest and thought it would fit in perfectly to our Charlie Brown Party this weekend!!  It's so simple :)

I went to Wal Mart and searched for some fabric in their "discount bin"

I found some light brown ticking that had been marked down to $2.98 for 3/4's of a yard!!

While I have some thread and needles at home, I went ahead and bought some orange thread and some new needles. 

I cut out six equal squares ( as equal as I could....I still ended up trimming some off the sides once I had them stitched together)

I believe these are called "whip stitches".  Start the stitches on the top right....stitch down to the bottom and up the left side.  Make a knot. 

Turn it inside out.  Poke the corners out with your fingers to make the bags square up.  Fill with your choice of beans or rice or whatever.  I used pinto beans in mine. :)

Fold the top sides inward and stitch shut. 

What my finished bean bag looks like.  I still have two more left to do, and I will paint a pumpkin on one and a Snoopy on the other.  My 5 year old grandson has already found this and has been throwing it all around the house.  He thinks it's AWESOME!!

I haven't bought the bucket yet, it was $2 at Wal Mart, and I am pretty sure I can go to the Dollar Tree and find one for $1 to make this game even cheaper!!

Handprint Art ~ PUMPKIN

I have seen some of the

 CUTEST

 ideas on Pinterest for "Handprint Art"

I don't know what it is about painting a toddlers hands and then hoping they end up being put down somewhere near the paper we are aiming for that appeals to me.....BUT IT DOES....call me CRAZY!! 

I recently saw a pumpkin and the little toddlers hands made the leaves and vines on top of the pumpkin...so this is what I was aiming for today with Adleigh!!

First we painted the

PUMPKIN

Then we tried

LIGHT GREEN PAINT

nope

Tooooo Light

How about a little

DARK GREEN

She really liked the

 DARK GREEN

Yayy for MiMi

and her endless supply of

PAINT

Our finished PROJECT!!! 

I suppose the hands could have been closer together....but this

PERFECT

to me because it has my

TWO YEAR OLD

GRANDDAUGHTERS

ANGEL HANDPRINTS

on it

<3

Enjoy your Thursday Friends!!  :) :)

A Tisket....A Tasket.....and a PICNIC BASKET :)

Saturday my daughter Jessica needed to go to the local Junior College to take an exam in the "testing center" for her Government Class.  They have an absolutely beautiful campus there so I begged her to let us tag along and have a picnic below all the beautiful oak trees and in the green grass!!  :)  It was a wonderful afternoon!!

A BoY aNd HiS bIg YeLLoW BaLL

PuRe BLiSs

LoVe OuR LiTtLe MaN

MiMi PlAyInG HiDe AnD SeEk

Party Plan for "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" Halloween Party

We've had our party on
October 23, 2011

Here's the link
Great Pumpkin Party

As Halloween draws closer, I've been receiving a lot more "google hits" for my Great Pumpkin Party blog.  I will be throwing this party the weekend before Halloween to actually let those children who are able to go trick or treating have that weekend free.  Our party will be on Sunday, October 23rd, from about 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.   We have several parents who share custody and swap kids on Sunday evenings, and having it on a Sunday allows for all of our friends who are working on Saturdays to be able to attend as well.  I didn't want to do an "after dark" party on  Saturday night since the general age of my guests will be approx five years old or younger!! 

In any party plan, just like in English class, you have to address the following:

• WHO??  Who are you inviting??
•  (kids only, kids and parents)...once you know "who" you want to invite, tally up the number and decided on the number of invitations to buy/print/make. 
•  In general, it's best to send out invites at least two weeks in advance of the party.  Too far in advance, people will forget...too close and they will have already made other plans. 

WHAT??  What kind of party?

• What's the theme?  (lol of course you wouldn't be here if it wasn't Charlie Brown Halloween)
• What kind of refreshments will you have  1) Do you want to feed your guests?  We will be serving BBQ ribs to the parents and the "fixings" and grilled hot dogs for the kiddos  2)  Will you be serving just a dessert style party with cake and ice creams and treats or 3) is it a candy only party??  START NOW candy shopping and if you are going to order a cake NOW is the time to get it done.  You CANNOT wait to order a specialty cake until the last minute.  Most cake shops require at least a two week notice....the local grocery stores require about a 24 to 48 hr advance notice!! 
• What do you want your guests to wear?  Do you want them to dress up in costumes?  Don't forget to include that in the invitation
• What time of day? (this also answers the WHEN lol)  Definitely consider the ages of your guests when choosing a time.  For young children mid day to mid/late day is usually best.  Most little ones are done napping by this time and it's not so late that they are grouchy and hungry and ready for supper and bed time.  Also consider the weather in your area, here in Texas now the temps really drop as the sun starts to set.  A bunch of chilly children is not going to be fun!! 
• What are they going to do at your party?  My proven "recipe" is as follows, GAMES, FOOD, THEN CAKE /TREATS  .  There are many many fun games for this age child to be found all across the internet.  I've seen "pin the tail on the pumpkin".....yard or living room bowling (I'm going to spray paint some pins from Wal Mart orange and black)...maybe bobbing for apples ....a bean bag toss into a pumpkin painted on a cardboard box...little kids just have fun with the simplest of games.  We are also going to play "FREEZE DANCE"....a favorite amongst kindergartners.....I thought I would run an extension cord outside with a portable CD player and play some Halloween music......JUST FOR YUCKS I THOUGHT I MIGHT HAVE A FREEZE DANCE CONTEST FOR THE ADULTS WITH THE CHICKEN DANCE, THE MACARENA, ETC :) :)  The key  to any party is to get your guests to relax, join in the games, AND LAUGH.  Once you've got them laughing and participating, the hard part is out of the way and they will look back with fond memories always of your party.  This is why insist on games first at my parties.  It kind of "breaks the ice" .  You may have to put on a brave face and direct everyone including the adults to the games and be a little dramatic with some.....trust me...IT'S WORTH IT!!  :)
• What are you going to give them their treats in?  Do you want to buy little gift sacks?  Pails?  Start looking around now and checking prices.  There are quite a few reasonable deals to be found NOW....don't wait until the last second !! 

WHERE?  Where will you have your party??

• Do you want to have the party inside at your home?  If so, do you need to rent any tables or chairs?
•  Do you plan to have the party outside at your  home?  This is what we are doing.  Now would be the time to call your local party store and ask about renting tables and chairs.  Our party store has kid sized tables and chairs at a super reasonable price for rentals.  We rented two tables and about fifteen little chairs, and then two tables for adults and enough chairs for their parents etc. It would probablystill be a good idea to have one more table for food/treats.    ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CALCULATE IN THE OLDER/YOUNGER brothers and sisters when having kids come to parties!! 
• You could also throw this party at another location scaled down a little, such as Chuck E. Cheese or other venue.  Just coordinate some of the tableware to be Charlie Brown Halloween, give them Halloween toys/treats in Halloween candy bags/buckets.....the kids will still love it!!

Here is what my timeline looks like for our party:

ALREADY DONE:

Cake Ordered

Tables and Chairs rented

TO DO THIS WEEKEND, OCTOBER 8th

Send out invitations

Order Charlie Brown Plates, Cups, and Tablecloths (I am only doing the kids tables in those, the adult tables will be plain orange or green etc....those are really cheap to buy at the party store locally)

Order the "treat stuffers" (halloween play dough, halloween bubbles, halloween coloring books and crayons etc...).  You can find these things sold in packs of 12 and 24 usually, and at great prices. 

Buy the food we will be serving at the party.  (Our local grocery store has the CUTEST little cans of soda with monster faces on them...have NO IDEA what brand they are....but they are great for the "littles"....cute but not too scary!!  (I will buy some and take a pic and share who they are made by)

I will also order any "unique" candy items that I want the kids to have that cannot be found locally.  These are also sold in large packs and is more than enough for a small party. 

TO DO THE WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 15th

Make all the DIY projects.  I will share these in a future blog.  I have seen lots and lots of super cute little ideas, from the "mummy Hershey bars" and the "pipe cleaner sucker spiders"....that the little ones would love.  This will be also be the time to work on games that need to be "made". 

THE SATURDAY BEFORE THE PARTY OCTOBER 22nd

Buy the candy!!

Pick up the rentals

Pick up the caken

Put the candy in the containers you want them in on the table the next day....it makes it SOOO much easier to set up the next day

THE SUNDAY OF THE PARTY OCTOBER 23rd

We will start the ribs cooking at about 9 in the morning,( the other foods such as hot dogs for the kids we will start after they have been there for a while...approx 30 minutes after arrival...so say 1:30...that way everyone is ready to eat at about 2:00)

At about 11:30 we will start setting up tables and chairs

Set up Games

At about 12:15 we would put tablecovers on and plates (depending on the wind)

Put out coolers for drinks or containers you want your drinks in with ice in at about 12:40

Our party starts at 1:00, that leaves me 20 minutes to run in the house and get "freshened up".......now of course if you are dressing up and your costume is complicated, start a little earlier!!  :)

It's going to be a FANTASTIC PARTY and I KNOW YOURS WILL BE TOO!! 

I've been having problems with comments not posting on my blog for some reason, sometimes it takes several tries, or signing out of google friend connect and then unchecking the box that says "keep me signed in".  If you have any questions/comments please ask!!  I will be happy to help you!! 

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Here's a link to a party game DIY that I put together
http://thebesttexasmimi.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-game-diy.html