So... part of the reason that I took a break from posting was Thanksgiving. My family was descending on me for the weekend. My Mom and Dad came into town on Wednesday evening. They were staying with me at my house with their 4 month old Cocker Spaniel puppies. They were very good at my house. I have a doggy door and a fenced yard but it was a little doggy crowded here at first.
My oldest brother (of the four older brothers) arrived on Wednesday night as well. He was visiting with my boys. He stayed the night in a hotel but hung out with them as late as he could. I woke Thursday morning and did what I suspect most of us did... started the Turkey and set up as much as I could.
As usual at my house, the turkey came early this year. I guess that's better than coming a little late but the bird flew the coop about 2 hours early. My second oldest brother arrived with his family on Thursday morning (most of the family came in from Maryland, my home state) so it wasn't too far to drive, but our traffic is legendary so it takes awhile. After dinner and the cleanup my sister-in-law and I start scanning the ads for the Black Friday shopping event the next day. Mom, brother, sis IL, and I went out shopping on Thanksgiving night to a couple of stores where I managed to find a birthday present for the same brother... talk about stress.
At the end of the night I began baking a sheet cake for the next day's events.
Friday morning began early again. I managed to complete baking and decorating this cake for Little Brat's birthday party which we planned to have at an indoor soccer stadium on Friday night. I had most RSVP's complete and needed to purchase and make gift bags for all the kids that night. Here is the cake I made from scratch. I blurred out the important info but you get the jist. I made the soccer ball from scratch from a cake in a bowl. I think it turned out pretty good.
We went out shopping at about 10am when the real craziness died down a bit. I picked everything needed for the party that night and got out all the leftovers for the adults. Did I mention that my cleaning lady came while we were home on Friday. So in the middle of the entire crowd we had someone dusting and mopping the floor. While it sounds great you should think about it for a minute. Lifting your feet while your trying to eat your lunch and the stress of watching someone work around you while you just sit there. I don't know about you guys but it was stressful for me. And the poor cleaning lady who was cleaning around 11 people, 2 dogs and 2 puppies.
We headed off to the stadium at about 6pm and had 22 kids + parents for a birthday party from 7pm-9pm.
It was incredibly fun but you can imagine I was pretty tired on Saturday morning. The good news was most everyone was gone by Friday night late. The only house guests I had were my parents and the puppies of course. The next day (Sat.) was soccer game day. We made breakfast, cleaned up and headed back to the soccer stadium for Big Boys game. We took everyone to lunch at Capital Ale House downtown and then headed home. Mom and I managed to make it out to Quilt and Sew in Fred before they headed home at 4pm.
I put on my pajamas at 5pm and climbed into bed where I started a reading marathon (Twilight) and watched about 20 episodes of Sex and The City on HBO On Demand. What an adventure eh? I am exhausted just telling you about it. How crazy was your holiday? The good news was that Little Brat had never had a big birthday party. He had a great time and despite the fact that I planned it one Black Friday he actually had kids show up. How did I make that happen? I put a little note in the invitation that went a little like this:
Dear Parents, I realize that I have planned this party on Thanksgiving weekend and that many of you will be out of town visiting relatives. But if you are in town and would like to come by the Field House I would love to provide you with an opportunity to drop off your kids for a great time and get some shopping done on your own or just relax and have a little dinner by yourselves. Of course, you are always welcome to stay and play dodgeball and soccer with your kids and join us in the good time. --- And then I invited 36 kids.
We had lots of Dads that hung out and had a great time. And we had lots of couples that took me up on the favor. I was glad to have them either way. All the kids had fun and Little Brat was indeed the star.
My oldest brother (of the four older brothers) arrived on Wednesday night as well. He was visiting with my boys. He stayed the night in a hotel but hung out with them as late as he could. I woke Thursday morning and did what I suspect most of us did... started the Turkey and set up as much as I could.
As usual at my house, the turkey came early this year. I guess that's better than coming a little late but the bird flew the coop about 2 hours early. My second oldest brother arrived with his family on Thursday morning (most of the family came in from Maryland, my home state) so it wasn't too far to drive, but our traffic is legendary so it takes awhile. After dinner and the cleanup my sister-in-law and I start scanning the ads for the Black Friday shopping event the next day. Mom, brother, sis IL, and I went out shopping on Thanksgiving night to a couple of stores where I managed to find a birthday present for the same brother... talk about stress.
At the end of the night I began baking a sheet cake for the next day's events.
Friday morning began early again. I managed to complete baking and decorating this cake for Little Brat's birthday party which we planned to have at an indoor soccer stadium on Friday night. I had most RSVP's complete and needed to purchase and make gift bags for all the kids that night. Here is the cake I made from scratch. I blurred out the important info but you get the jist. I made the soccer ball from scratch from a cake in a bowl. I think it turned out pretty good.
We went out shopping at about 10am when the real craziness died down a bit. I picked everything needed for the party that night and got out all the leftovers for the adults. Did I mention that my cleaning lady came while we were home on Friday. So in the middle of the entire crowd we had someone dusting and mopping the floor. While it sounds great you should think about it for a minute. Lifting your feet while your trying to eat your lunch and the stress of watching someone work around you while you just sit there. I don't know about you guys but it was stressful for me. And the poor cleaning lady who was cleaning around 11 people, 2 dogs and 2 puppies.
We headed off to the stadium at about 6pm and had 22 kids + parents for a birthday party from 7pm-9pm.
It was incredibly fun but you can imagine I was pretty tired on Saturday morning. The good news was most everyone was gone by Friday night late. The only house guests I had were my parents and the puppies of course. The next day (Sat.) was soccer game day. We made breakfast, cleaned up and headed back to the soccer stadium for Big Boys game. We took everyone to lunch at Capital Ale House downtown and then headed home. Mom and I managed to make it out to Quilt and Sew in Fred before they headed home at 4pm.
I put on my pajamas at 5pm and climbed into bed where I started a reading marathon (Twilight) and watched about 20 episodes of Sex and The City on HBO On Demand. What an adventure eh? I am exhausted just telling you about it. How crazy was your holiday? The good news was that Little Brat had never had a big birthday party. He had a great time and despite the fact that I planned it one Black Friday he actually had kids show up. How did I make that happen? I put a little note in the invitation that went a little like this:
Dear Parents, I realize that I have planned this party on Thanksgiving weekend and that many of you will be out of town visiting relatives. But if you are in town and would like to come by the Field House I would love to provide you with an opportunity to drop off your kids for a great time and get some shopping done on your own or just relax and have a little dinner by yourselves. Of course, you are always welcome to stay and play dodgeball and soccer with your kids and join us in the good time. --- And then I invited 36 kids.
We had lots of Dads that hung out and had a great time. And we had lots of couples that took me up on the favor. I was glad to have them either way. All the kids had fun and Little Brat was indeed the star.
1 comment:
I'm worn out just reading about your Thanksgiving weekend--LOL! What a fantastic soccer cake though! Great job!
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