Friday's Weather Forecast~Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Cole's Birthday Party is Friday.

The boys are going out for pizza and to see

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

The favors will top off their night on the town...

Beware there might be books from the movie
and Hamburger/Hot Dog candy falling from the sky!

An "Hermes-ing" Birthday Gift

Whitney's 40th birthday is coming up and Suzanne ordered a set

of "Whitney is..." cards.

Friends and family from near and far are going to fill them out to honor her.

~

When I asked about what colors to choose she said...

the oranges and blues from an Hermes Scarf!

Whitney's four children should have fun with these...

College "Tribute" Tailgate

We live very close to Stanford and love tailgating with friends before the games. In planning our party yesterday I wanted to play homage to the home team...

Then I realized that no one coming had gone to Stanford. I also felt like I was betraying my Colorado Buffaloes so I decided to pay tribute to some of the schools the "tailgaters" attended.

The University of Colorado Buffaloes...

The University of Wisconsin...

Santa Clara University...

and for The University of Arizona I was was stumped...

we didn't have anything that started with an "A",

then it dawned on me...

Perfect!

And the home team won...it was one terrific tailgate!

A Sweet 10th Birthday Cookie Swap

Amanda loves sweets so a cookie swap is the perfect way

to celebrate her 10th Birthday.

~the hot pink and orange invitations are in a cookie jar,

packaged with "10" cookie cutters~

~we are bringing these cookies~
they are so good &

how easy to just put them in the jar the invitation came in...
no random tupperware or paper plates!

~you are what you eat...and wear~
In addition to bringing
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies and Rice Krispie Treats
to the swap, we got her 2 cute t-shirts to match (at Old Navy!)

I can't wait to see what we get to bring home.

Two Teachers, Two Birthdays, Two Weeks...

~The Jumbo cards all the children signed~

Each student brought in a flower...I couldn't believe how well it turned out!
I made a daisy sign to put in the middle letting her know the flowers were from
"the whole bunch"...


The colors matched perfectly with all the books!

One down, one to go.

The Build Up to a Lego Party

~A few sample invitations for Max's Lego Party~

~The Giant Lego Invitation~

~The Mounted Lego Invitation~

~Lego Fact Flags for the centerpieces~

~"Six Stud" Lego Brick Gift Tags~

(laminated and ready to be reused on lunch boxes,

backpacks or luggage)

Let the Building and Creating begin...

Leg Godt (Play Well!)

Roll the Dice with Caesar's Caesar Salad!

The Casino Party we helped to host was full of fun food that my husband, Matt prepared on the hottest day of the year.

One of the many things the gamblers feasted on was

Caesar's Caesar Salad with dice croutons.

Caesar's Caesar Salad
1 egg
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. capers
1 tsp. dry mustand
dash of Tobasco
2 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup Olive Oil

Combine all ingredients but the olive oil in blender, then slowly blend in oil.
Toss with Romaine lettuce and shaved or grated Parmesean.

Dice Croutons
Pugliese style Italian Country Bread or Baguette
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Q-tips!

Cut Pugliese bread into cubes
Coat bottom of non-stick frying pan with olive oil and heat on stove
Dip a Q-tip into Balsamic Vinegar and make "dice dots" on sides of bread
Gently place croutons in hot oil and brown until golden on all sides
Dry on paper towel

Happy 9~9~09! Nine Sweet Favors for Jacqueline's 9th Birthday

Jacqueline is turning 9 and she is having 9 of her best buddies over for a swim party sleepover.


The favors are ready...comfy, fuzzy slippers filled with

"light-up" pops

and

candy charm bracelets..

Their slipper favor is the match to her party invitations! How fun to have your friends over to help you "slip" and "slide" into your 9th year...

Back to School Granola

About 10 families on our street have children that go to the same elementary school and our mascot is Ollie the Otter. This year we decided to drop off some Back to School Granola in honor of Ollie. Packaged in a school lunch bag with a cold bottle of milk,

Ollie's Granola was a hit in our neighborhood.

A quote from a Jack Johnson song was a fun way to get back in the "school groove"!

(I can't wait to use this for our next school bake sale...)
~

Ollie's Back to School Granola

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup pecans

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

In a large bowl stir together oats, coconut, nuts and spices.

In a small saucepan melt butter with honey and brown sugar stirring occasionally.

Pour butter mixture over oat mixture and combine well.

Spread granola evenly in 2 baking pans.

Bake about 30 minutes, stirring frequently and

switch top and bottom baking pans half way through.