80's Party II

If you read my last post, you know that I threw myself a big 80's themed birthday party. What I didn't mention was how sad my kiddos were when they found out they weren't invited!

They have been watching me plan this party for months. Buying goodies and party favors and prizes that they thought looked like a lot of fun.

The look on their faces when I told them they weren't going to the party broke my heart! So I promised them that they could eat all of the leftover junk food and we would have our own 80's party.

So we strung some neon tulle around the house and Abbott pulled out toys that he thought seemed 80's (that boy is all about parties and decorating...I think he's going to take after his mama!)

Aaron and I pulled out our outfits and put them on the kids. Adeline is wearing my shirt as a floor length dress. She has on my belt and heels and she's wearing my green earrings as bracelets! Anna loved my lacy black skirt and leg warmers.




Abbott was really excited to wear the rocker hair and tattoo arm! That boy is crazy! He danced like a maniac and beat his dad in the air guitar showdown.


Aiden is a little more reserved than his brother, but he looked great in the leather jacket.


We played a game with all of the 80's pictures that I had printed off to hang on the walls. They tried to guess who or what the picture was of. They got a few...like Mr. T. Some of their guesses were hilarious. For Madonna they guessed Taylor Swift, for the New Kids on the Block they guessed The Jonas Brothers, and for an Atari they guessed "the original wii"...we had to give them that one!

We had so much fun playing and dancing to some great 80's music and I gave them leftover slap bracelets and sunglasses. They have asked to have another 80's party every single day since. I think I made up for not inviting them to the party.

Old Enough to be a Senator...Partying Like a Rockstar!

Did you know that you have to be 30 to be a United States senator? It's true, and as of August 28th...I qualify! (Don't worry, I'm not planning a senate run, although beating Blanche Lincoln would be better than winning the lottery.)

So far I think 30 is pretty good. On the eve of my birthday my friends vandalized my house with beautiful decorations.

The morning of my birthday Aaron set my alarm to wake me up to "My Next 30 Years" by Tim McGraw and Bethany called and played "Happy Birthday" by NKOTB into the receiver. Another friend watched my girls so I could go to lunch with Aaron. And when I went to wash "honk I'm 30" off of my van, the guy running the carwash gave me my very own sucker. How's that for feeling special!

I had a wonderful birthday, but there wasn't too much time for relaxing!

I decided that for the big 3-0, all I wanted was a big party. I threw myself a huge 80's bash! So Friday and Saturday were spent preparing, but it was so worth it!

I reused the decorations that my pranksters made for me...thanks!



Everything was done in neon pink and neon green. The tables had bright tule with bright roses, surrounded by a variety of items from the 80's. Luckily my sister is a collector, so she supplied a lot of old (well, not THAT old) toys.



On the walls I had a bunch of old movie posters and pictures of people, events, and things from the 80's. Food was done by chik fil a...not 80's, but yummy! We also had cheese balls and cool ranch Doritos, which felt 80's to me! And there were plenty of Reese's Pieces and Pop Rocks on hand to satisfy a sweet tooth!


We started out the night with a "name that 80's TV theme song" and I was pretty impressed. Many of them were guessed after only a few notes. I think Dane got the cartoons after one note. I had a lot of fun going through all of the shows from the 80's.

I was like 10 in 1989, so the closest I ever got to Madonna was the tape that I played in my brown Fisher Price cassette player. I crimped my hair and tight rolled my jeans and used way too much hairspray on my way too big bangs. But I never got to wear gobs of makeup and piles of jewelry and fishnets and lace and miniskirts and heels.

Until now...


I got to be an 80's rock star and my wonderful husband (yes, that's Aaron in those purple snakeskin pants) was right there with me! Doesn't he look like he stepped right our of a hair band?

Here he is without the jacket...gotta love the tatoo arm! I kept asking everybody "is my hair going flat?" And they would look at me and just laugh. Dana thought I was wearing a wig from a distance. It didn't even begin to go flat! I have the perfect 80's hair. It is super thick and naturally wavy frizzy. I keep hoping that the big hair will come back with all of the other 80's fashion. I do big hair well!


We had so much fun putting our costumes together! I insisted that everybody come dressed in full 80's style and my friends did not disapoint!

My mom and sisters


Bethany and Matt


Sharon and Matt...love the "Save Ferris" shirt!


Amy O., Amy B., Stefani, Me and Nicole


Pedro and Melissa


Cori and Shelly


Lindsey and Brett




We danced and danced and danced! Everybody had a great time breaking it down to some old favorites. 80's music is the best!

Of course we slowed it down for a little "You're the Inspiration".


Lindsey taught us the thriller dance


Aaron was a great MC...


The Air Guitar Showdown was the most hilarious thing I have ever witnessed. Dane and Jeff were the awesome winners! With air guitar skills like that it was impossible to pick one winner.

Dane's skills are highlighted in this video


I had a trivia game and a Rubick's cube game that we didn't get to. I planned a bunch of games in case my friends were wallflowers, but I need not to have worried! Everyone (well maybe not EVERYone, but most) really knew how to bust a move!

The winners of the costume competition were Jessica B. and Ard H. who were dressed at completely opposite ends of the 80's spectrum!


The whole crew



The gals

They picked me up...they actually picked me up!


The dudes


I will add a picture of the cake when I get one from my sister...it was the best cake I've ever had!!!

Thank you everyone who attended! It was so much fun and the perfect way to celebrate my new decade! Even better...the hotel took care of the clean up!

I would love any additional pictures if you have any.

Anna's Turn!

We sent the boys off last week, and now it is Anna's turn to go to preschool. She is going to the same preschool that she went to last year and she LOVES it! She only goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but she would go everyday if she could. I'm glad I have one more year with this beautiful, headstrong, sassy, loving little girl.

 

Of course, Adeline wanted to go as well. She insisted on wearing a backpack, which she didn't take off all day. We had to pry it off of her at bed time.

 

I love this picture because Adeline is looking adoringly at her big sister. She was so sad when she figured out she couldn't stay at preschool. It broke my heart!

 

In other news...

BOTH of my girls got their first haircut today! Anna is 4, and since she had the most gorgeous ringlets, I never cut her hair. We have been talking about getting it cut for a while, and everytime she reminds me that it's not a cut, it's a TRIM. This princess likes her long hair!

 

She got 3 inches off, but you can't really tell!


Adeline enjoyed the airplane chair.


The lady made three snips, and said that she couldn't do a bob because she is too young to sit still. That was quite a waste of $11.00 (plus tip). She made three snips and Adeline's hair looks exactly the same! I was pretty disappointed, but she's so stinkin' cute, it's ok!

Etch-a-Sketch Brain

As we have been gearing up for school to start, I made my boys do a few math sheets. (At the beginning of summer I swore they would practice math every day...somehow that didn't happen?) Aiden did pretty well, but I discovered that Abbott has forgotten quite a bit!

On Saturday we went to Silver Dollar City in Branson to have a little fun before going back to school. Here is the whole crew (plus cousin Lexi) with the rocks they just panned for.


I am NOT a roller coaster gal. Usually, I stay with the girls while Aaron rides crazy things that spin and go way too fast with the boys. This time they talked mom into riding. It was fun, but I felt like my brain was shaking around in my head. I was a little concerned about my kids' brains, so I asked them if they felt like their brains shake on the rides.

Abbott said "Yeah! Maybe that's what happened to all of my math facts! They all got shaken out of my brain!"

Apparently Abbott's brain works like an etch-a-sketch...when you shake it up, everything disappears! I'm thinking no more roller coasters.

So it's a really good thing that they went back to school yesterday. They were both really excited. We switched elementary schools this year so they were a little nervous too, but mostly excited.

 

I thought the girls would be sad to see them go...but I actually think they're happy to have the house to themselves again! We watched Dora the Explorer for the first time in months!

 

We walked in the school and decided to go to Abbott's class first...and Aiden tried to dart up the stairs! Can you believe it?!?! Go to class on the first day of school without mom? No way. So we drug him to Abbott's class.

Abbott knows a couple of kids in his class and he was excited to break open that brand new box of crayons.

 

Then we walked upstairs to Aiden's class. There were no parents in the room and the kids were already busily working (at 7:50...sheesh...overachievers). I decided not to go in the room and embarrass him. I promised him that if he let me take his picture outside the class, I would leave the camera at home next year when he starts middle school. The picture is blurry because I was trying to snap it fast!

 

When they got home they both had lots of fun stories to tell. We had such a great summer, but I think everybody is happy to be back to school.

I wish I may, I wish I might

August 12 was the peak of the Perseides meteor shower. I put Adeiline to bed, Aaron left to play basketball, and I surprised my three older kids with a late night trip to the trampoline!

We hauled out pillows and blankets and stared at the sky for an hour and 20 minutes. The shower peaks between midnight and 4:00am...but I'm not that crazy. We were out there from 10:00 pm to 11:20 pm (we were supposed to go in at 11:00...but we were having so much fun!)

In that amount of time we saw 32 shooting stars!!!! Some were pretty faint, but some were really huge and bright.

Here's my crew of stargazers


We had the trampoline net obstructing some of our view, but we didn't really care.


We had so much fun giggling and making wishes! And the boys loved making fun of me for getting so excited every time I saw one. I can't help it!

I think we have a new end of summer tradition.