A Valentine's Day Celebration

Since the girls had no school on Monday, I decided to take the day off work and put together a little party for some of Natalie's friends.  It worked out well because I got all the decorations on the sale after the holiday.

The kids decorated cookies, made a candle and played a game of Valentine's Bingo.  It was short and sweet and they all seemed to enjoy it.

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

A Murderous Night in Niles

Last night we hosted a group of friends at our house to play the Murder Mystery Game “The Grapes of Frath”.  My husband really enjoys these games and we have a fun time planning everything. It takes quite a bit of work, especially the putting the dinner together and decorating but they are a lot of fun.

For this specific one, the setting is June 1928 aboard Archibald Frath’s yacht “Le Voyeur” cruising the Mediterranean sea. At the beginning of the voyage it is discovered that Archibald Frath is dead and the game, of course, centers around “Who Did It?”

The Guest List

Mademoiselle Lucinde S. Gucie, otherwise known as “Lucie Gucie”, a rising star in the social lights of Paris.

Jules T. Hieffe. As his name suggests he is highly interested in precious gems and expensive jewelry pieces.

Captain Malcom D. Meirre. Everyone calls him Captain Mal.

Countess Natalia Irina Forilska. Nadya is a Russian countess living in Paris where she opened the famous Luminence Rouge nightclub.

Bella Donna Maria Cossa. A highly talented coloratura soprano.

Miles F. Latout. A race car driver.

Wellington C. Waterloo. Also known as W.C. is a successful businessman and entrepreneur.

Desiree Flambeau, a highly motivated businesswoman struggling to restore her fortune.

Here is the whole cast.

The ladies

The Gentlemen

The food

It was a fun night filled with accusations, laughing and good food. As for Who Did It? Well, I guess you will have to play the game sometime to find out.

Photo Credits:  Michael James aka Miles F. Latout

Friends & Sock Puppets

This last weekend we celebrated Kaitlin’s 12th birthday with a trip to an indoor water park. I will be posting some pictures from the party later. The day before, Kaitlin’s two best friends spent the night at our house.

The girls’ personalities are very similar and for the most part, they get along great. I always try to have some crafts on hand when they are home, just in case “boredom” hits. They do not sit still for too long.

Saturday afternoon after riding bikes, getting soaked playing with water and running through the sprinklers, the girls decided to make sock puppets.

I learned how to make these during a Children’s Ministries workshop I attended back in April. Maybe one of these days I will post the instructions in how to make them. They are simple to make, but turn out very cute and you can get very creative making them.

The girls had a good time making the puppets although I think they went a little overboard adding stuff to them :)

Here is Kaitlin’s “Princess Puff”

Kristen’s Ms. Trudy

Ivette’s Ms. Buttons

They also put on a hilarious puppet show for us. Here is a clip. Enjoy!

Build-A-Bear Party!

We celebrated Natalie’s birthday at the Build-A-Bear store yesterday. It was a huge success! Here are some pictures of the party. Enjoy!

Getting Ready for the fun!

Building up the excitement!

Stuff my Animal! Stuff my Animal!

Make a Wish!

Sebis & Natalie

Brand new Princess Puppy!

Friends

Happy Family!

Time for Cake and Ice Cream

Blowing the Candles

Gifts!

The Seven Cousins

Cute Friends

The big hit was this tiny carousel in the food court. I don't know how they didn't get kicked out. They would all cram in there and the weight was so much the carousel wouldn't start on it's own. You had to spin it to get it going. They were having so much fun all the parents just kind of turned their eye and let them play.