Simon Says COME PARTY!

We threw Simon a big first birthday party over the weekend.  Before I had kids I thought the big first birthday party thing was a bit silly, but we did it so... yeah, that's how it goes.  Honestly I didn't care about throwing Simon a big party so much as I thought it would be fun to throw a big party and Simon is a pretty good reason to get our families together to celebrate.


I've also been thinking about the party for longer than I care to admit... especially when Lindsey asked me to pick a date back in the spring so she could take off work for it.  So I picked September 24th because I like to do things after instead of before. 


I was originally thinking about doing a monster themed party until I came up with this idea to do a Simon Says one.  I could picture the invite saying Simon Says Come Party... but wasn't sure past that.  I thought about it and then decided if I could bring in Simon game colors - red, blue, yellow, green - that the theme could come out like that.  That's what I went with.  Dan weirdly got upset that I didn't include him on the theme planning.  Sometimes it's weird what he (men) decide to care about.


Our very good friend Kyle designed the invitations with some very loose direction from me

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I just pulled bright fun colors into the decorations and supplies.  Plate, napkins, cups, balloons.  I made cupcakes (boxed mix, I made one box of chocolate, one box of funfetti, and one box of marble).  And then iced them in the four different colors (well my mom iced them, thankfully!)  I made a special bigger one for Simon.

Cupcakes!

For food Dan made hot dogs and pulled pork.  We also had beans, slaw, party potatoes (which I totally forgot to cook until we were serving food), chips, Rotel Dip, veggie tray (courtesy of Janet), fruit salad and 7-layer dip (courtesy of my mom). 




For drink we got bottled water, beers, and I made 4 different types of punch - one in each of the four colors.  The yellow was simply lemonade.  The Green was what we called Tropical Green punch which was ginger ale, pineapple juice, lemonade concentrate, and lemon-lime kool-aid.  The Blue was Spiked Pineapple Lemonade which was lemonade container, frozen lemonade concentrate, 1/2-2/3s pineapple juice can, and a bottle of UV Blue Vodka (also may have added a drop or two of blue food coloring to get it to be more blue).  Finally, the Red was Strawberry Peach Sangria.  I followed a Tasty recipe I found on Facebook but it had peaches, strawberry syrup I made, a bottle of white wine, a cup or so of white rum, cut up fruit and a bottle of champagne.  The Red was the most popular for sure.

Punch!

Other projects for the party:  I made a balloon wreath with the idea that we can use it year to year.  My mom made a birthday banner for Simon with that same idea.  I got pictures printed out with his monthly photo shoots and put them on paper.  We also painted my mom's old highchair a bright blue.  This is the same highchair I used as a baby.  If/when there's another first birthday to celebrate we'll use it again and repaint it.

Wreath!

Didn't my mom do such a great job?

Laying down pics

Face shots... people liked the second picture in the top row and how it looked like Simon was looking a the naked lady bottle opener

Sitting up

"Outtakes"

The pretty blue highchair

His party was so awesome.  We had so many people come to celebrate and it was just the best.  It was hot outside, but people still spent time out there chatting and hanging out.  We just had the perfect time.  I really can't tell you how great it was to have so many people that love Simon and us all together celebrating our guy.  He got so many presents (too many really) and I'm just filled with love and gratitude for our family and friends. 

Such a cutie!

A roll of tape is a fun toy, no?

Playing with uncle Keith's beard - this kid loves to touch faces.  It was really great that my brother was able to come in for Simon's party and family time.

This is Simon's excited face

Playing with a card - in my head he read the funny message inside

Simon got a PB Anywhere Chair... clearly he's excited

Simon and my mom

Did I mention the face touching?

Tanner and Macy playing

Simon trying out his toy truck

Three cousin's playing

Again with the face touching

Love these kids so much

Paper is fun too

I thought Simon would really go for the cake smashing and he didn't as much as I expected.  I think he still had fun and a good time with so many people.  He has some separation anxiety but overcame that for the party pretty well and never seemed to feel overwhelmed.

About to sing happy birthday!

What's this?

ICING!

Ok, I'm over it now

Dan and I have just the best families and friends and we feel so loved.  Everything about the party was perfect.  Could I have done some things better - yes, but honestly even those things I didn't care about in the moment.  Was I late with the potatoes? Yes.  Did we have a ton of flies?  Yes.  But who cares!  People enjoyed themselves and I had a great time mingling and enjoying Simon and everything.  It was perfect and I honestly mean that.

Housewarming Party

This post will cover my weekend in review post for this week... mostly because my weekend (and the week proceeding it) was all I thought about and did things for.  I really wanted us to throw a party for our friends and family.  I wanted people to come, eat and have a good time... and I'd say that was pretty darn successful. 

As you do with lots of events that you plan months for (I'd known I wanted to have a big party for quite awhile since moving in, but finally set the date almost two months in advance).  I wanted as many people as could to come to planning ahead I felt was fairly important.

I did a fair amount of planning for the party including all the food.  Since Dan is an expert griller I let him handle the meat and I handled all the other food.  I debated in my head quite a bit about what to have - I could seriously make so many different dishes.  I was really worried we wouldn't have enough food, but we had SO MUCH food.  I guess it's better to have more than not enough.

Here are the things I decided to make including links to the recipes

• Macaroni and Cheese - I made double the recipe, but would have gotten by with just one batch
• Cheesy Party Potatoes - I made double this too... and this all did get eaten (and for the record I used the hash browns that are cut into little cubes, not the ones that are shredded... oh and since I decided last minute to make a double batch I only used sour cream meant for one batch, and used cream of celery soup instead of chicken for my vegetarians)... also this is not the exact recipe I used, but based on memory it's the closest
• Beans - I got two very large cans of beans,  and most of them did not get eaten.  I added BBQ sauce and brown sugar to them... only needed one can, maybe not at all
• Veggie Tray - I was going to actually all the veggies by hand, but went with a store bought one.  I'm glad I did because people didn't eat very healthy at the party if you know what I mean
• Fruit Salad - I tasked this one to my mom - she always does a good job!!
• Potato Salad - My step-mom wanted to bring something and I let her decide and she brought this, it was good and got eaten well
• Two bags of chips - it was the right amount
• Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting - Made out of a box.  I made two boxes which end up being approximately 40 cupcakes. I really should have only made one batch
• Sheet Cake and Donut Holes - my mom and grandma brought these too - the donut holes nearly all got eaten, and about half the cake.  It was very sweet of them to bring extras
• Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries - I found this recipe a long time ago and always wanted to make it but never did.  I decided since Strawberries are in season that now was the time.  I pretty much doubled the recipe.  They took a bit of time, but not as bad as I thought (especially now that I have a table I can sit at)  They were SO GOOD.  I will make them again, although I'd pipe the cheesecake in them a little differently b/c I didn't put it right into the bag.  These all got eaten fast and I had to save a few for some friends I knew were coming later in the day.
• Lemonade - I made a batch of lemonade to put in a dispenser (I also got about 4 2-liters of soda).  I don't think I put the right amount of powder in there though, but oh well
• Alcoholic Punch - I added more vodka than the recipe called for, it was good!
• Caramel Apple Dip - Susan made this, and this stuff is like crack good.  I'm so happy she made it for the party.

I think that's all the food except the meat which we had hot dogs, hamburgers, brats and pork steaks... see what I mean about all that food?

I prepared what I could (mac and cheese, potatoes, cupcakes) the day before so I wouldn't be running around too much the morning of... of course I still was but not nearly as bad.

Wow, that's a lot of information y'all probably don't need or want!

So the actual party... and I'm about to get gushy here folks... was amazing!!  I am overflowing with gratitude for the people who came and had a good time.  You never know who all will show up especially when a Facebook invite is involved, but we had such an amazing turn out.  I really REALLY wish I had taken pictures, but atlas I have like 3 - and one is a strawberry and the others are the fresh flowers I put around the house.  It was so fun to see our deck so full and people enjoying the beautiful weather.

I'm going to list the people that came, mostly so I can remember since the lack of pictures.  Dan's family came including his parents, sister Amanda, aunt Julie, aunt Michelle  (and her husband and one of her kids), his grandparents.  My family came including my dad and step mom, Grandpa, mom, Grandma, aunt Ruth, and aunt Pat.  My high school friends Amanda (and her husband) and Beth (including her adorable new son).  Friends - Kyle, Randy (Dan's friend), Andy (and Ashley a bit later), Dave (his girlfriend and her friends later in the night), Ben (and his girlfriend Sherelle), Michelle, Susan, Erin and Matt, John and Amanda (and da baby), Charlie, Caleb, and... I hope I'm not forgetting anyone because I would feel bad if I did. 

It was just such an absolutely perfect day.  It meant so much to me to have my friends and family surrounding me having a good time.  I couldn't ask for anything better.  I just love having so many people I care about and love around us together.  It was truly fantastic.

We stayed up pretty late and had a lot of cleaning up the next day - but all so worth it.  Can't say we'll have parties like this very often, but it left me with such a good feeling that I think we'll have to do it again... maybe with not as much food next time :)

Here are the totally lame pictures.  I shouldn't even post them, but I'm going to...

Added some flowers to a planter on our front porch

The strawberries - so amazing!  I really want to make them again like now

All the beer we had left - we're going to have to have another party to get this drank... plus look at the hot dogs we have left too

Fresh Flowers - I arranged them into a couple of little settings - tall shot glasses worked really well for this.  This one was next to the door bell

In the phone holder in the hallway

These flowers are still making me happy every time I go to the bathroom

Like I said, it was a wonderful day filled with family, friends and love.  Thank you everyone who reads this that made it and for those who didn't, you were missed!

Weekend in Review - Dan's Birthday - (new recipe too)

It was quite a full weekend!! 

On Thursday after work my mom took me to get my birthday present from her - a new pair of tennis shoes.  I really needed a new pair now that I'm trying to work out more (hopefully a post about that at some point)

I love them a lot... they feel good on my feet (so far) - and the picture doesn't do the color of the laces justice - they are much more vibrant in person... and they make my feet look smaller - score!

On Friday I woke up and worked out and then headed over to Dan's.  We then headed over to Gateway Race Track for his birthday present - getting to drive a Lamborghini around 3 laps of their road track.  I bought him a Living Social deal, otherwise I think it would have been way too much to be worth it.  He got to choose which car to drive (there was four options).

It was really cold out (luckily they had an indoor observation deck) and I was able to get some pictures (they have packages you can get with real professional pictures)  I think he had a lot of fun... although I think he was too small for the Lambo.

trust me, it's Dan

I have a video of him driving too... very exciting I'm sure

After he finished his driving experience we went grocery shopping for the party the next day.  The rest of that night we relaxed and I began to cook things for the party - the cupcakes and the jello shots.

I decided to make two kinds of jello shots - one of Dan's choosing (which was grape since he likes grape drinks).

That one I followed a recipe online
2 cups boiling water
2 3-oz grape jello packets
1.5 cups of grape vodka (I used 3 olives purple)
1/2 cup cold water

And I made strawberry lemonade since Liz requested strawberry or lemon... so combined (even if she didn't have any of them)... they were REALLY good... I invented my own recipe for this one...
2 cups boiling water
2 3-oz strawberry jello packets
1 1/4 cups lemon vodka (I used skky I believe)
1 cup lemonade

I also added a slice of strawberry to each shot for fun.

I didn't have any of the grape shots, but the strawberry lemonade were really great!!  I heard the grape ones were stronger, but that would make sense since there is more vodka in those already.

On Saturday, I prepped some more food and then we packed up and headed out for the day.  First, we stopped by my mom's house so Dan should look at a light in the kitchen that stopped working.  He was able to fix it (he's so handy!!)

Then we headed over to my aunt and uncle's where the party was.  My cousin secured the house for us (my aunt and uncle gamble a lot at the casino and have free credits for the hotel... it's super nice of them to let us use their house.)  I finished prepping some food and then started drinking and hanging out.  It was so much fun that night.  We were going to have a party for Dan and Liz (since they have the same birthday) but I guess it mostly ended up being a party for Dan.  A lot of people came and everyone seemed to be having a very good time.  I know I had a lot of fun.

I made some food - I made the jello shots, cupcakes (yellow cake with chocolate icing), sausage dip, taco dip (sour cream, two packets of taco seasoning and shredded cheese), and little smokeys.  Dan also made tri-tip and chicken wings and Andy made sausages.  All the food seemed to go over real well.

I really enjoyed the party - I love this time of year when you can sit outside on the porch and just hang out and have a beer... love!

On Sunday, my dad gave us some amazing free tickets to the Blue's game... check out how close we were to the ice

Too bad the Blues lost to the Blackhawks and they didn't even score... boo... but it was fun.  I would say the crowd was at least a third Blackhawks fans...

Sunday afternoon we were just worn out!  We lounged around and took a nap... but the weekend was pretty amazing - just one of those great weekends where you hang out with great people and have a great time.

Already looking forward to the next weekend!

Super Bowl Weekend

Wasn't that an exciting football game yesterday?? I love exciting games!!

This will be a random post (go figure, should I even be mentioning that anymore??) with bullets... I'm not sure if yall like the bullets or not, so you gotta let me know if you don't, b/c I do use them as it makes it easier to write... anywho... on to the bullets!!

• Nothing eventful happened on Friday... I always enjoy having a lazy Friday... and wind down from a work week... I made it through my first full 5 day work week in quite awhile. (I know... cry me a river, haha)
• Saturday Chad and I started to clean the house... I hadn't realized how dirty our sink got... but elbow grease, bar-keepers friend and magic eraser got that baby clean again.
• Saturday night I accompanied my mom to a trivia night for the Afton 2010 seniors. We were joined by my mom's friends. It was a lot of fun, I really enjoy trivia nights. It was also a lot of fun to hang out with my mom... I really enjoy spending time with her.
• Onto Super Bowl Sunday!! We had a a party again this year. Before everyone I knew I needed to clean the bathroom... I put in some more elbow grease and cleaned parts of that toilet that may have never been cleaned... (gross I know) I wanted to take before and after pics... but that would mean I'd have to admit to the fact of just how messy the toilet was... and yall just don't need to see that!!
  
• There was lot of yummy food and great friends. Carrie, her friend Jen, Sam, Meg, Rachel, Scott, Andy, Ashley and little Abby. Everyone brought food and it was so yummy... I ate SO. MUCH. FOOD. I was rooting on the Colts, but was thinking the Saints would win... and whadya know?? That's what happened.
• We all put in a dollar and picked a name for MVP... I didn't win, but I also bet on the coin flip and won that one... so that was my dollar I put in for the player.
• I'm not sure if I want to go into the details of this story or not yet, but all I want to say is it's a small, small world...
• Today was my AWS day (boo-yeah) and Chad was... umm... sick... so we spent the day together which was a lot of fun!

Party night

I know I just posted about the gift... but I wanted to post some pictures from the night as well... I'm going to limit myself to 5 (but considering I don't remember more than 3 of these pictures being taken I'm sure that will do...)

Keith, Me, Rachel, and Connor

Dad, Keith, and MeThe whole family - ignore my fattness... Chad, Rachel, Adriane, Janet, Keith, Connor, the other Chad, and my Dad
Chad and me
And shots... I'm sure this added to my stupidity this night... as well as the fact I don't remember most of the pictures taken... eek

Random October Party

Chad and I hadn't had a party in quite awhile... so we had everyone over last Saturday. It was a fun night, great turnout.

I love having parties... a few pictures to share... I didn't really take that many...
Liz, Susan, me, and Carrie

Susan, me, Michelle, and Carrie
Like I said we didn't take many pics, but here's proof that there were more people at the party than these 4 girls plus me...
Fun time had by all!!