the party

My son’s five-year-old birthday party went well.

It was packed with family, friends and Star Wars madness.

We served Yoda Soda, Carbonite Jello,

Galactic Space planets and the Hoth themed birthday cake.

We played pin the lightsaber on Yoda, decorated prince and princess hats and enjoyed an action packed skit with Count Dooku fighting Darth Vader. The birthday boy told us later on that he thought it was really Darth Vader until he looked down and saw my oldest son’s brown crocs peeking out under the black cape! **I love it**

To my surprise, a thrown together idea was the hit of the party. We had the children fold their own paper airplanes with directions I printed out before hand. The mission was to fly the 'spacecrafts' through the galactic lasers (orange yarn crisscrossed between two poles in the basement) and safely land onto the landing dock of the Death Star (our pool table). Who knew?

His favorite gift was from his Aunt Alice, a Charlie Chaplin cane. When he unwrapped the cane, his eyes lit up and he started dancing with it around the room. My husband put on ‘Puttin' on the Ritz’ and all the children started dancing with him!

I found this Death Star cantaloupe idea on the internet but ran out of time to carve it! Maybe next year!

Through my five-year-olds’ eyes, I really was Princess Leia. He was very pleased as Daddy dressed up as Count Dooku and I did my best to whip up a Princess Leia outfit!

Also, a friend posted a link of this video on their website and my husband and the kids enjoyed it! The video has 11,482,905 hits so far! Pretty creative!

My mother and the birthday boy!

little people, big decisions

We made popsicle-stick mummies today. I think they turned out rather cute.



So now, I am off getting the house set up for my youngest son’s birthday! He is turning five and has decided to have a Star Wars themed party. He has been planning this party for the past twelve months. For two months the theme was going to be "The Three Musketeers," then for six months it was going to be "Knights." After many nights, lying in bed before drifting off to sleep and deliberating the ins and outs of multiple themes, he announced one morning that he changed his mind and wanted the theme to be “Spies!”

I thought to myself, “how lovely it would be if adults had only these things swirling in their minds at night.”

Then a month later, out of the blue, over a bowl of Cheerios, he switched again. That was four weeks ago. I made it very clear that this was it. All other wonderful themed ideas his little mind could conjure up, would have to wait for next year. He said he understood, and that Star Wars would be his final theme.



So, here I am making a “Pin the Light Saber on Yoda” game, sketching out a Hoth birthday cake and trying to figure out how I can look like Princess Leia!! May The Force be with me this weekend....and you too!!!

small pockets of time

I am still alive. Really, I am. September and October were packed with birthdays, weddings, hiking, fall festivals, my husband’s 20th high school reunion, reorganizing the house and an awesome visit with my aunt from Colorado! It has been fun but I have had to pace myself. When my schedule is packed, I have to pull back and manage the small pockets of time wisely. Honestly, I am not the most pleasant to be around when I am tired and maxed out! So, I really have to keep an eye on my calendar and energy so I can exhibit some portions of the verse we are memorizing.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Yes, I know, it is pretty convicting. After we review the verse, I ask my boys which fruit they want to be today. For some reason, I usually end up picking, patience. It is amazing how often we all reference this verse through out the day!

Here are some pictures from the past weeks! I hope your autumn is getting off to a great start!


Wringing out the last days of summer!


Weber's Farm


A hike


My Jedis


My Aunt Alice


The Fifty 7's