The Football Party

Last Friday night, we had a handful of families over for a football themed birthday bash. I was thrilled when Peter settled on wanting a 'Football' party. I knew there would be Super Bowl party stuff everywhere in January. And my husband's childhood NFL pennants (that I have been meaning to hang in the boys' room) would be a perfect, easy way to decorate.

We like the Redskins and Steelers around here.

I made a simple invitation with some leftover craft colored card stock. Printed, cut, and added the white with a paint pen.


The kids played Wall Football and Hot Football/Potato.


Here's Will cheering Peter on. I love that some came in their team colors! We all should have.


The girls... and Hannah showing the blank side of her football.

We enjoyed football fare... nachos, little hot dogs, BBQ beef sandwiches. For the cake, I attempted a football field... two 9 x 13 cakes side by side, a lot of green icing, end zones with 'Happy Birthday' and 'Peter,' a not-so-level playing field, and candles for the uprights. Forgive me for the blurry photo, but really the cake looks better this way. Grin.

For favors, Peter and I made gingerbread footballs (he loves gingerbread cookies), and tied the bag with a football whistle. I tend to under-do favors... so much money can be spent/wasted on a bag full of candy and plastic stuff.

Too bad my husband will be preaching the evening of the Super Bowl... we have plenty of football paper goods, and the boys won't let me take the pennants down. : )

Aaahhh, the end of birthday party season... I'm off until October.

Four

Happy Birthday to my ever-amusing,
always-talking, book-loving,
just-plain-fun,
little boy...

who thinks he is so big.

January Blessings : 1000 Gifts

Truly grateful, my list continues...

0241
Peter's birthday party. Our home full of friends.


0242
Hannah planning a party all on her own.


0243
And after she made all the invitations, discovering that the time and date is open on the calendar.

0244
Time to create together.


0245
A table full of creative tools.


0246
A warmer day.


0247
A walk around the neighborhood.

0248
Late afternoon sun.

0249
Long shadows.


0250
Melting snow.

0251
A place to run.


0252
Trees to climb.

0253
Fellowship halls.

0254
Funeral remembrances.

0255
Aid organizations.

0256
A Hot Chocolate for Haiti stand.

0257
Father to the fatherless.

0258
His everlasting arms.


The Gratitude Community. The list goes on...

The Boys' Room

We found a little desk for the school room on Craigslist. This led to moving the craft cabinet up to the boys room, and declaring it the lego cabinet. This led to moving some things on the walls. This led to a blank wall with 2 nails. So, Will and I came up with this yesterday...



We just doodled with watercolor pencils (he loves them!) and then cut out the W and P from our paper, glued it to some cardstock, and put it in two old frames from the craft store.

On another wall in their room, I have this...


Inspired by Heidi (a couple of years ago), I grabbed a white canvas, cut some colored circles, wrote out all the letters/numbers with a sharpie and glued them to the canvas. All this because I was unable to find a poster with upper and lowercase letters. I think it took an hour or so. It's not perfect, but was super easy and inexpensive. I like that.

Grace Upon Grace : 1000 Gifts

Praying that my eyes would be open wide,
to see His gifts,
my list continues...

0220
When he picks up milk on his way home. And flowers.


0221
My nephew on his birthday.

0222
Family games.

0223
Sunday afternoons.


0224
Singing while they play.

0225
Brunch with friends.

0226
Seeing friends at the store. Grocery aisle catch-up time.

0227
Geography games.


0228
Her love of writing.

0229
New books.

0230
School routines.


0231
Friends who stay for dinner.

0232
Organized files.

0233
Clean sheets.

0234
Folded laundry. In drawers.

0235
My husband's parents.


0236
Sharing a book with Nana.


0237
That I am His.

0238
Unmerited favor.

0239
Mercy upon mercy.

0240
Grace upon grace.


The Gratitude Community. The list goes on...

Happy New Year!

My sweet mom called today asking what happened to the blog.

I have to apologize for being away so long. All that relaxing over Christmas break made for a sluggish first week. It was a wonderful break. We stayed in town, just us. It was quiet... as quiet as a house with Peter can be. Lazy mornings turned into lazy afternoons. Our days were filled with reading, baking, creating, hosting friends, playing new games. I made an effort to spend little time here at my desk.

We welcomed school and routine back on Monday, but regaining our rhythm is taking time.

And earlier today, I had my review with the Board of Education. Now I can begin to think about other things. But not tonight... I'm making some hot chocolate and curling up on the couch to watch a movie.

Enjoy the weekend. And Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Washington

From our family to yours...
Merry Christmas!

Perhaps we would've handed the camera to a passerby for a family photo, but we had all just witnessed a rather dramatic phone theft... snatched right out of this woman's hand! Last minute, must-have gift I suppose. So, I kept my camera close. Ah, the elusive family photo. Grin.

The Capitol Christmas Tree

Also today, we stopped at the U.S. Botanic Garden to see the Garden-Train Exhibit - a holiday/train display made entirely of plant-based, natural materials. A must-see. Amazing.