Jazz Game - Live With the Family

The day after we got home from Disneyland, the Jazz had their first home, pre-season game. It was not televised. So, we spontaneously decided to go as a family! And, we took Grandma and Grandpa B along with us for Grandma's birthday.

We had a marvelous time at the game. The girls were exceptional (especially after we bought a huge-normous tub of popcorn) and really enjoyed themselves. We all wore our Jazz gear. Sara yelled fantastically loudly things like "Defense" "Go Go Jazz", etc. Laura learned a lot about the game and loved sitting by Grandma and Grandpa. Eliza snuggled up in the Moby and loved watching everything. Jason and I loved meeting our new players - we think it's going to be a great season!
On Grandma's actual birthday the girls had to see her, so we made cupcakes (recipe testing for the witches brew) and sang. It was a lot of fun, and the cupcakes are now perfected! I used the Sour Cream Chocolate recipe from Wendy Paul with the chocolate mousse frosting - YUM!

Paint Party Preparations

Sara has been asking for a "paint party" for her birthday for nearly a year. So, I was able to prepare early - and she helped me every step of the way. She helped me design her invitation and hand them out to her friends. I thought it would be fun for the kids to be able to color their own invitations to really get them in the mood for the theme of the party.

She helped me go shopping for all of the supplies for the party - which we naturally did weeks in advance in case we had to order anything online. (We didn't have to order thanks to Hobby Lobby.) The day before her party she helped me find, select, and apply all the stickers for the paint (goodie) buckets.
That's mostly where her help ended. The night before the party Jason helped me personalize the aprons for the kids. Thanks to the cricut (which made me individualized stencils) and crayola fabric markers, the process was pretty easy. I loved how they turned out!
The food preparations weren't too bad either. I thought it would be fun if the kids could create their own pita pizzas; and I thought the adults would enjoy them too. With a lot of help from Costco and the grocery store those were easy. We cooked the pizzas at 450 degrees for 5 minutes, if you want to try this at home.
Cutting the fruit was probably the worst part of all the prep. Sara requested watermelon (and that is mostly what she ate) so we had to oblige and Jason was a good sport to cut it all for her. As for drinks, we had a large selection of sodas, chocolate milk and Capri Suns. I also made sour cream chocolate cupcakes at the request of the birthday girl.
To see more about the paint party and another version click HERE and HERE.

Christmas 2010 - Soup and $5 Gift Exchange

My family decided that since there was no way we could ever get everyone together on the same date again - divorces have put families on opposite Christmas schedules - that we would stick with the 23rd date. I hosted the event. And I loved having an excuse to wear my darling new apron, but not having to decide on a day!
It was fabulous food as always - I love soup and salad. I went a lot more low key this year on what I was doing. My tables were simpler. I used frozen bread dough for the rolls. I did cupcakes for dessert that I've done enough (chocolate sour cream with mint frosting) that they are easy. So, naturally I overcleaned. Jason says there is no need for spring cleaning this year because of my overzealousness. Have I mentioned how much better I feel since doing lupron?

But, really it was all about the kids. And seeing the big kids who have moved.

The $5 presents were fun and I love everyone's creativity. We were able to use technology again this year and Jason made it even better by hooking up skype to the big TV downstairs and using a more mobile webcam.

It was a wonderful party and great to see all my family!