IT WAS A YEAR OF PARTIES!

I thought it would be fun to join in the party that Cindy over at Romantic Homes is hosting. She has asked us to go through our photos and posts and do a review of 2009.

In doing so, I noticed 2009 was filled with parties, parties and more parties.

So, my review is going to be of all the fun parties I've thrown this year.


The first party of 2009 was Trinity's birthday party. Every year it's a different theme.

For her 8th birthday it was all about horses!

We went to a local petting zoo and had a BBQ, played games, opened presents and rode on the train. The high light was when all the kids got to ride on a horse.

For some, it was the first time they had been on a horse before.

It was a fun time and, per Trinity, "a birthday she will never forget".

It's almost time for her birthday party this year. Wow! She is almost 9 years old. Growing up so fast. The theme this year is going to be MAGIC!


The next party was a baby shower for a friend. The theme was "Welcome to the Nest Little One".

Of course that meant birds and nests were the main theme of the decor.

Since she was having a little boy (her 4th boy) the color was blue and brown.

My favorite thing of the whole shower was the cupcakes! Little bird nests with baby birds popping up. You can see them here.


Then came the darling Alice in Wonderland birthday party for my sister, Patty.

This was a surprise party. She didn't have a clue what we were up to. It was just our family as she made me promise not to have a big party for her.

However, the decorations were so cute. Thanks to Donna at Party Wishes. This is one of her parties you can rent. If you have not been to her blog you must go see it. She has the best parties in town!


Summer time was a great reason to throw a FUN IN THE SUN party for Trinity and a few of her girlfriends.

They ate, played water games, jumped on the trampoline as they squirted the hose and had a fun time.

We decided to have more of these smaller parties with just three or so friends over so she can have some quality time with her friends.

Our next girlfriend party is going to be a Barbie theme.


The annual Halloween party, I throw for Trinity, was a big hit this year. It was all about Pirates!

We had food, games, crafts, tattoos and so much fun! All the kids said they loved going to Trinity's parties because they have such a good time.

I'm already in the planning mode for this years Halloween party.


After all the fun with the kids on Halloween, I wanted to have a little party for adults. So I had a Witches Lunch.

It was nice to sit down and enjoy some time with my sisters and friend and it was decided we all want to do this every year.

The year closed up with a Christmas Cookie party for Trinity and a few of her friends.

Each girl got to make and decorate their own cookies to take home.

We had dinner, baked cookies and the girls all won awards for their cookies.

Next Christmas we are going to make Gingerbread Houses.

So that's about how my life is, if I'm not throwing a party, I'm planning one.

I have several in the works right now. Of course there is Trinity's Birthday party coming up in Jan. Then I am having a small Valentine's Day lunch for my friends and sisters, maybe a St. Patrick's Day tea party, an Academy Award party, a New York theme birthday party for my sister, Maureen, a Barbie party, a flip flop summer party, the annual Halloween party, a Witches lunch and a Gingerbread House party.

Oh my! I'm tired already.

The year 2009 was a good year. I hope 2010 is even better.

Now be sure to go to Romantic Homes and see everyone's end of the year reviews.

Happy New Year!

FUN IN THE SUN PARTY

Today we had a Fun In The Sun Party for Trinity and three of her good frineds.

I found this darling brightly colored flower center piece and she was the inspiration for the whole party.

Doesn't she make you smile? Look at her little red shoes. Her cute purse and sweet smile.

I also found these little ants that are ready to chow down at any party. One has his own picnic basket and one has a hot dog in hand ready to eat.

At $3.00 these little guys were just to cute to pass up.

I loved the big sun plates. But the beach ball cups were just way to cute.

They were also a big hit with the girls. They all asked if they could take them home.

I love to find fun and different shape cups to match the theme of the party. When I do, the cups are always given to the kids to enjoy at home. They can relive the fun at the party that way.

These little beach ball pillows were at each girls place. They too were for them to take home.

They are so soft and the girls just kept saying how they love them and were going to put them on their bed to sleep with tonight.

Here they are all showing the beach ball pillows to us.

After everything was sat out, the girls were left alone outside to enjoy their lunch and visit together. They all felt so grown up without being watched.

Of course we did peek out to see what they were doing. Oh look! They all took some of the fruit! Good girls!

See that little pink chair? It was holding the mustard and mayonnaise. It really is meant to hold candles. Hey, it's always good to use things for more then one thing.

Looks like they are all thirsty. Either that or they just like watching the lemon aid go up the crazy straw.

After they all finished lunch, it was time to get in their bathing suits for some water fun.

The slip and slide was a big hit! I remember playing on slip and slides when I was a little girl.

Only back then they were much wider and didn't have a little pillow at the end to soften the blow. We would often run and slide so fast we went right off the plastic.

Since these girls have never seen any type but these smaller versions they were happy with what they had.

Kids just love to play outside and get wet. It doesn't take much to make them happy.

They also played with a ball that has a water balloon inside. You set the timer on the ball and pass it around. If you are holding the ball when the timer runs out the water balloon pops and you get wet.

This time it went off as it was being passed to Trinity. The girls had fun doing this and wanted to do it over and over.

Then it was on to the trampoline. But not without first getting the hose in their with them. The water made the jumping even more fun.

After they got tired of running around playing, it was time for cake.

No I didn't make this cake. I picked it up at the grocery store. It went perfectly with our theme though.

The plates for the cake had little sand pails on them. Again, great for our theme of Fun In The Sun.

The girls had a sugar high going on! In fact they all took the pixie sticks and poured the sugar/candy right on the cake and ate it up. As if that cake didn't have enough sugar in it.

Oh well, you are only a kid once. Plus they did eat their fruit at lunch first.

After eating the cake, the girls went inside and changed back into their clothes to play.

Soon it was time for them to go home. They were all tired and ready to crash.

Each girl got a little goodie bag. It was a beach pail filled with water balloons, a hand held fan, sidewalk chalk, glow in the dark necklaces, a kazoo and a box of sour candy. All topped off with a cute little pink paper sun umbrella.

They all had fun and said it was a great way to spend a day together.

Trinity said when she gets older and has her own kids she is going to tell them about all the fun parties she got to have a kid and she will do her best to make sure her kids have the same fun parties.

Now that alone made it worth the effort.

WE'RE PLANNING A PARTY

Today my sister, Maureen, and I got together. We started talking about doing some fun things for Trinity this summer.

We thought it would be nice if we had several small parties for her and she could invite different friends over. Just keep it small but still fun.

Our 1st party is going to be a "Backyard beach party"!


We thought it could be fun to send invitations something like this. Put the info on a fan so they know we are going to do some fun things to cool off in the heat of the summer days.

Fun things like Slip and Slide. I used to love this when I was a kid.

Or, perhaps run through the sprinklers. Kids seem to love play in the sprinklers. Plus you get your grass watered at the same time.

All the kids will get a fun pair of flip flops. We need to find some fun summer time flip flops that the kids will love.

Since the kids will be in their bathing suits and playing in water, some squirt guns may be fun to play with.

Beach balls are always fun and what says beach more then beach balls?

Oh, it could be fun to write the invitation on these and they have to blow them up to read the information... maybe?

Everyone will get a bright fun color pair of sun glasses! After all, we don't want any one's eyes getting damaged in the sun.

This little beach ball/pool cooler could be a fun thing to use to keep all the drinks cold.

Maybe we could make beach tote bags as a fun little craft and then everyone can take all the fun give aways in here to take them home.

Lots of shells will be used. Fun little pails with candy would be cute at each place setting. Maybe I could put each child's name on them and they could double as place card settings too.

I love planning parties. So getting to work on this one is going to be fun. So many cute summer items are out there.

What kind of food should be served? When you think of eating at the beach what kind of food do you think of?

We thought of several different ideas for these small little parties and I'll share them with you as I plan them and then show you how they turned out.

If you have any great ideas let me know. I'm open to all ideas.