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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Let's Get The Party Started!..(My son's graduation open house)

 I'd never planned a graduation open house.
Who do you invite, how many will show up?
Being an open house, you never know!
How do you plan food-wise, seating-wise?
Should we do it outdoors?  Indoors?
The thought of planning it outdoors and then it possibly raining, scared me.
So we had it indoors (and the weather was beautiful)...which was great anyway because we just had new carpet installed so we didn't have to worry about wet muddy feet!
Hubby told me, "Plan for WAY more than you think will attend. Nothing looks worse than running out of food."  So I did.  I made cookies, cake pops, and cupcakes galore!
I made a round cake as more of "centerpiece"...but also as "back-up" in case we ran out of cupcakes.
 We had grilled sliders (mini burgers), quarter pound burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, chips, and lemonade.  I got this new lemonade dispenser and I thought it looked really pretty with the oranges and lemons in the base for display.
I did all brown and gold decor (school colors).
 We decorated everywhere...
 The entryway to the porch looked nice with the banner being gently tossled in the breeze.
 We had the most difficult time finding brown balloons.
Mom finally found them for us and they "appeared" to be a nice dark chocolate brown in the package.
However...
 Upon blowing them up, they looked more orange...or burnt sienna...
I didn't like the way they looked at all inside the house with our yellow/gold...not school colors at all.  So we just tied them outside.
 I made this round cake, as I mentioned above, more as a "centerpiece"...but also as "back-up" in case we ran out of cupcakes.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I put the school mascot on top, and added cookies in "Evan" on the front and cookie pops in "2014" on top.
 LOVED the look of my new lemonade dispenser with the lemons and oranges below in the base!
 We cleared out the entire living room and made it an entire "party room".
I had three display tables...the center one had desserts on it and his "tri-fold" photo memory board.  The one on the left had his diploma, card box, cake, and graduation photos.  The one on the right had "school memories"...certificates, ribbons, trophies, sports photos, band memorabilia, Royal Ranger awards, and more. 

 We had cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, Sixlets in shot glasses, mints, and a memory board.
 I made the graduation cap card box...I got the idea on Pinterest.  It turned out really great!
 Memories...
 I love the streamer/balloon wall!
 We did chocolate, french vanilla, and funfetti cupcakes!
 Sixlets in shot glasses in our school colors.
 Love the way these tissue paper flowers/poms turned out.
Another Pinterest project I did.
 Friends arriving and visiting...
 School friends...
 Geeg and Papa...
 Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Mike came up to visit this weekend...what a nice surprise!
 Ben and Raegan...
 Logan, Jess, and mom...
 Logan and Jess...
 Family...
 Let's eat!
Uncle Mike and Aunt Cheryl
 Evan and Jordan
 Uncle Mike, Aunt Cheryl, mom
 Raegan and Nate
 Ben
 Richard, Uncle Mike, dad, Aunt Cheryl, Ben, and family...
 Evan and Jordan...
 Becky, Walter, and Ellie...
 Ben and Logan...
 Nate and Evan
 Christen, me, Jenna, Dave
 Jamie, Caleb, Evan...and Ellie dashing by...
Christen, me, and Jenna
 Lori and Gary
Ellie
Me, Becky, Jonie, Walter
Nate, Richard
Evan, Jamie

It was a wonderful day filled with family and friends.
Evan was blessed with love, support, well wishes, and lovely gifts.
He is excited about college and is enjoying his summer job so far.
I know he will do well in life.
I am so super proud of my babe!
Love you Ev!

Monday, June 2, 2014

Class of 2014...My Baby Graduates...

 I think a friend of mine said it best...
"The days may seem long, but the years will fly by."
How true it is.
 My "baby" graduated last week!
Words can't begin to describe how proud I am of him.
We had our ups and downs and some challenges along the way...
But he came through with flying colors making honor roll each term and even taking some AP (college) classes.
 He is headed to college in the fall and I have to admit, this momma is glad he chose a local college.  I don't know if I'd be ready for him to leave me yet!
I know he's well prepared...and that day will come...but for now, I'm happy he's close by.

Graduation ceremony was wonderful.
People would ask me, "Did you cry?" or "Are you sad?"
My answer...NO.
I am not sad and I did not cry!
I have always told people that I do not look back or long for days past.
I cherish every moment of my boys' lives and look forward to each new milestone!
It was a wonderful ceremony.
The speeches were great.
The music was great.
The vibe was amazing!
I am looking forward to his party.
We'll be celebrating with an open house in a couple weeks.
He told me he just wanted something small and intimate...
But momma got a little excited with all the decorations and planning!
It won't be huge, but it may be a bit bigger than he's expecting, hehe!
After the ceremony, the kids attended iGrad 2014.
It's their Senior All Night Party.
It was top secret.
They took buses.
Their first stop was Outback Steakhouse.  They rented out the whole restaurant and had a fabulous meal.  Then they took over Davenport College's rec area.  They had laser tag, rode segways, climbed rock walls, had massages, temp tattoo artists, pool, poker, games, photo booths, and food galore.
He's been enjoying his time off while little bro' is still in school.
He is now job hunting.
Looking for a part-time job to earn some money for school expenses and possibly a car.
I told him next up, he needs to open a bank account.
He seems so grown up now!
I'm glad a lot of his friends are going to school local too.
I have to say, I'd miss seeing them too!
It's a whole new stage of life we're entering!
But as I said, this momma doesn't look back.
I only look forward, with fond memories, and knowing I've well prepared my son and that with God's help, he will make wise decisions and be ready for whatever comes his way!
Congratulations Evan!
Good luck...God bless...We are so proud of you!
Much love and hugs!
~Your family~