But first some Monday Maintenance...
- Newcomers: I mailed 48 picture postcards to friends all over the country, making a desperate plea for their help in reaching my goal by Thursday, May 1. There is way too much at stake not to pull out every single stop along the way. So, if my postcards worked... we should have a number of new visitors to our site today. Welcome all you first time readers. Visit us each day for the next couple of weeks and you will see we are a fun group of people, committed to celebrating creativity!
- Busted! Yes, that's right... my 15 year old, tech savvy son spent three minutes on the computer and informed me there was an entire Colorstrology Website. As painful as it is for me - because now you can have access whenever you want - I feel the need to be honest and spread the wealth of knowledge. The best part... now you can see your colors for real - as opposed to rely on my shady (no pun intended) descriptions. Use this website to help inspire birthday gifts, the color of the next room your going to paint, or a new item of clothing. All you student affairs folks... this web site can be used to do fun staff development or team building.
- Free For All Friday (or as Heather affectionately refers FFAF): Cheryl posed one of two Free For All Friday Challenges for this Friday. For the new comers, Free For All Friday is our chance to share our collective creativity in an effort to help a fellow reader. Cheryl is seeking creative ideas for refinishing an outdated mirror she recently acquired. I zipped to her house this weekend, so I could take a picture making it easier for all of us to visualize. Mill it over and be ready to make suggestion this Friday. The other challenge we'll be tackling. Fun and creative ways to "break the news" to your husband that you are pregnant.
- Blog Master for a Day: We will have a guest blogger on Thursday. Matt Struble, the husband to Cristine, a frequent visitor, was selected from our drawing to be Blog Master for a Day. Hold onto your hats.
Hats... Did someone say hats?...
Yes, that's right.... the brown box was turned into a HAT! Cheryl's son's were responsible for this Whack on the Side of the Head (see Saturday's blog 4/25). Some quick background...
Grace and Zach K. gave Matthew the book, Go, Dog. Go! (P.D. Eastman) for his birthday. He LOVES this book and so when we awoke this morning to a cold a dreary day, I knew we would be reading that book and numerous others again and again and again. Well, Matthew's favorite part is the very end when the dogs attend a dog party that is being held on top of a tree. One female dog in particular tries throughout the book to get the attention of a male dog (and we wonder how the socialization starts). Finally at the end she captures his attention because of the BEAUTIFUL "party hat" she is wearing.
By 10:00 we had read the book three times and then it hit me... Yes, the brown box! Immediately, I asked Matthew if he would like to make his very own dog party hat. He replied with an enthusiastic, "yes" and there went our next hour. We rummaged through my "craft closet" and a basket filled with odds and end toys (kids meal toys, single pieces to lost games, etc...) and there... sitting in a heap in the middle of our kitchen table was everything we needed to get creative!
The entire time we were doing it, I was thinking to myself... A dog party... this could be FUN! I envisioned dog bones for invitations, eating ice cream out of dog bowls, every kid with his or her very own dog party hat, hot dogs for lunch, doggie bags to go.... I mean this could be FUN!!! If I don't do it for an upcoming birthday party, I'll do it for a kids book club meeting... or maybe just a simple break from the Dog Days of Summer!
Since I'm on the subject of kids books and parties, let me just say two more things. One... Mo Willems wrote a book called, I Am Invited to a Party! It also has the potential for a GREAT party theme (even adult party). In a nutshell Piggie is invited to her first party, while Elephant is a veteran. First he anticipates that the party might be a fancy party (so off they go to get dressed in fancy attire); then a pool party (and back they come with inner tubes and snorkeling equipment... on top of their fancy clothes); and finally a costume party (fully adorned in capes, masks, and hats... on top of their swim wear and fancy clothes). The point... wouldn't it be fun?!?!?! Host a mystery fancostuswim party. Guests have to guess.. is it a fancy party, a costume party, or a swim party? Come dressed for one... or dressed for all!
Second, and then I am done... Yesterday I visited the gym (in anticipation that I don't hit the 5000 mark by Thursday - as if my last minute attempt is going to do squat) and the gym staff was preparing for a kids birthday party. They were all wearing shirts that said, "Party Animal." While I'm sure the underlying implication is something other than my what I was envisioning, I did think you could develop a fun theme around the whole Party Animal concept. Every child could come dressed as his or her favorite animal and all the games, food, etc... could be built around the notion (Animal crackers, barrel of monkeys, chicken nuggets, etc...).
Ok... this party animal is over and done for the day.
Signing off until tomorrow and with 138 still to go...
Posts
45 comments:
Claudia, Cheryl and Cassie,
You will all be happy and proud to know that I made a 1:15 appt. (yes an appointment) on Friday to have my hair cut, and colored by the infamous Jazz!
Now I just need to find the perfect suit (the question is pants or skirt bearing in mind my bruised and battered legs).
With teens in the house "party animal" takes on the original meaning. Cute idea! Where were you when my kids were small? (oops I forgot you were still in school) I don't know who is on the better end of this deal. I'm thinking diapers are easier than curfews.
Anyway speaking of parties .... Michael graduates HS on June 1st and will be 18 on June 3. Here on LI if you don't have alcohol at your parties they aren't well attended.(keep in mind that the legal age is 21 in NY) Any ideas to draw the kids in and let them know they will still have fun.... (minus the alcohol)
It may just have to be the usual "FAMILY BBQ" (not that there's anything USUAL about my family...
Have a great day!!
Yay HEATHER! That makes me excited. You'll need to take a picture and send it in so the Been-ster can post it.
Now for today's post.
Ideas like the dog party make me want to have kids REALLY bad. Then I snap back to reality and realize that no, I don't want kids any time soon. Then I realize that, wait, I've got 87 college-aged ones for 9 months out of the year :)
It's too late in the school year for me to plan any fabulous parties (only 1 week left thankfully), but you better believe that I will plan a party for my residents at the beginning of next year.
I'm going to be on the look out for the summer for more great party ideas so keep 'em coming.
Happy Monday!
Cheryl, where will this mirror be going? I just got a Family Fun magazine and they had great ideas to decorate mirrors, but mostly for kids rooms. Just curious if this would be an "adult" mirror or "kid" mirror.
I don't know if you're into wine, but if you are it would be cute to decorate it somehow with corks from wine bottles and those little wine glass charms.
Jessica
The first thing I thought of when reading about kids' parties was to have a Dr. Seuss party. There are so many great books & characters to choose from. Plus you could go crazy with decorations i.e. red fish, blue fish, green eggs and ham, striped hats, who pudding, etc.
Heather- can we get a before and after shot, please? Sounds like fun! I love getting my hair cut. It feels so light afterwards.
I love the Dog Party Theme! Too cute and a great idea! Claudia, you are good for the soul! And, I think you're the COOLEST MOM EVER! That hat is so darn fun! I can't wait to show it to the boys tonight.
Maureen- good luck with the Party Animals. Do parents actually throw under-aged drinking parties these days? I would think that would be a HUGE liability. Would it be too dorky to throw a Game Night Party. I'm thinking Twister, Sorry & Monopoly and whoever is the Real Estate Mogol wins something cool. Let us know what you come up with. I want to store it in my memory banks for the future.
Jessica- I'm not sure where the mirror is going to go. I have my choice of walls to put it on. Dining, Living, Guest Room, Boys rooms... though with the fight they had this weekend, that may be dangerous. Cassie showed me the book on Sunday so I know exactly what you're talking about. So- if I did the dining room, I could do wine corks or what about old spoons, forks, knives, etc... I guess the possibilities are endless and I need to decide where it's going to be. Hmmm...
Wow, Cheryl... that might be the nicest thing someone has said to me in a while! ..."Good for the soul"... I will take it!
That is a compliment coming from the, informally voted, Person-Highlowaha-Readers-Most-Want-To-Meet.
I'm blushing! That's sweet. But hey, you do all the work... I just comment on it.
You know that warning on car mirrors: Objects may be closer than they appear? Mine should go something like this: Blog commenter may not be as cool as they appear. But I amuse myself so, I have that going for me.
NEWS BRIEF: It's 12:15 p.m. and I am 67 people away from reaching my goal. Please help me reach it by day's end!!!
Today's blog entry might particularly appeal to moms, day care providers, teachers, babysitters, cool aunts, etc... Take a second to think of one new person you might tell about about the site. Then pass it along with a plea to visit it sometime before day's end.
Thanks!
Cheryl, unfortunately the answer to your question is yes. Some parents even rent a "party bus" and fill it with booze for the kids. I like the "game" theme idea. Heck if its no good for the kids maybe I will do it with friends and wine and cheese.
Years ago things were simpler! The other ideas I was given from friends was either a luau or "casino night". I have a yard with a pool and plenty of room to dance so maybe we will get a DJ.
I will keep you posted. Thanks for the input!!!!
Claudia, I have all day to check on this site. Its a rainy day in NY and I can use my daughters laptop. Its in the bag (brown paper of course) !!!!
Calling all programmers... Maureen's son is months away from being a college freshmen. With all the student affairs readership that I sense is out there, we ought to be able to generate some viable party ideas.
Casino nights are typically successful campus events. What else?!?!?!?
Wendy... June 18... Brandied Melon ( a pretty shade of orange). Interesting, Durable, Effective. If you were born on this day you have style and class. No matter what you do, you are recognized as being special or unique in some way. You have a rare combination of strength, depth, and compassion. You have a royal quality that can make you feel a little separate at times. Compatible birthdays: April 8, May 27, October 20.
Casino nights are HOT on campus right now, the luau idea sounds fun with a DJ and even a pig roast.
Another big thing on campus (believe it or not) is renting in the inflatables (fly wall, obstacle course, moon bounce).
Other fun, no alcohol party ideas:
-Rent a movie screen and show a fun flick in the back yard (SWANK is a good company to rent from)
-Do you guys play cornhole in the Northeast? If so that is big on campus right now.
-Rock climbing?
What is your son into Maureen? That might help us think of something that fits.
Hi Claudia and friends,
What a fun blog! I got the postcard and shared the site with many of my friends and colleagues.
Looks like you'll make your goal!
Thanks!
I'm not coming up with much on the College Aged Parties with NO Alcohol. There's always the Toga Party. One parent had a Survivor Party. Draw buffs at the door (bandanas) and then compete in eating contests, melt the ice contest, puzzle contests, if they're going to swim anyway- diving for letters to solve a puzzle... Then merge the teams. Do trivia questions elimating people along the way... just type survivor party into google and that will bring up tons of stuff. Good Luck. I know you'll figure something out.
Julie... Welcome to highlowaha! You and your creative mind will be a great addition to this blog. I'm sure you'll also get lots of fun ideas for your daughters (similar in age to some of our other readers). Thanks for passing the address along. Every person counts!
I think the casino party could get you a long way... you could even rent slot machines and card tables, etc. you could have some of your family there to help and be the "dealers". that way they are celebrating with your son, and also gettin in on the fun!
Give the kids a certain amount of paper money when they come, and then whoever has the most by the end of the night (or however long you want to give them to play) wins a prize. You could even make it a really awesome prize, like an ipod or something. that would get more of his friends to actually come, since there is no alcohol.
Casino nights have been a big hit lately on my college campus, and since they are campus events, there is no alcohol...
OH YEAH! along with the aforementioned games, we also had BINGO, and whoever won a game, won a $5 gift card to target or the campus bookstore. that would be fun too!
I loved the extension of a childrens book that you made with the creation of a hat. I also admire that you are instilling imagination and creativity into matthew. The creation of the hat helped Matthew see that the skys the limit when it comes to creativity.
Cheryl:
What a cool mirror (minus the 1990's dried flowers). When I saw the picture I instantly thought of a store we have here locally that sells old salvage materials. Whether it be old door knobs, keys, or the old metal stars that used to act as markers. I am pretty sure you could find something realy awesome to compliment the window mirror there.
Maureen:
Here are some ideas for parties:
How about an amazing race type party...where you provide lots clues and adventure. Send out cool invites, perhaps recorded invitation on a dvd, have some fun team shirts made up, and lots of cool clues.
Is there a cool establishment that Michael likes a lot that you all could go out to or rent out?
We actually do a Halloween skating party that goes over really well with housing students. They dress up for Halloween and then skate for a couple of hours it allows them to reminisce to times when they were younger.
We also do midnight bowling, casino nights, outdoor movies, etc.
A round of dirty games could be really funny. Usually campus ministires sponsors this on college campuses, but it is an opportunity to do obstacle courses, get really gross, and well..dirty to win prizes and just have a good time.
UPDATE ON BIG GIVE:
So...first off HEATHER...WOW! I am so impressed with what you have done to make $20.00 grow.
One of the other people I sent an invite to is my neighbor and she has had some success. I am going to try to get her to post on here what she has done, but if not I will step in, in her place. There are still two more people out there I am waiting to hear from.
If you are out there...please pull through!
WOW! I guess I know who to invite to MY PARTIES!! I am waiting for Michael to get home from school and see what he thinks. If I go with the casino idea I can get paper money with his face on it. Theres so much you can do with the casino theme. I also love the "roasting a pig idea" and being my husband is from Brazil I know he would be all for it!!!
Thanks you all soooo much for the input. I will let you know what he decides. If I do luau will they be thinking "tiki bar" LOL.
Maureen...
Just because you don't want to have alcoholic drinks at your party doesn't mean you can't have mock-tails. I know it's not the "real" thing, but if you did a luau you could have drinks in coconuts or other fun glasses with little umbrellas. With a casino night you could have drink girls serving the mock-tails. There are still great ways to serve non-alcoholic beverages in a fun setting.
Good luck! I can't wait to hear about(and hopfully see picures) of the party!
Maureen,
Claudia has a connection to some fun coconut cup!
I'm sure she would love to sent you some!
YO
Yes, Maureen... let me know if you are interested in coconut cups. My sister in-law made the fatal error of introducing me to a place that can only be described as the Sam's and Cosco of EVERYTHING party! You can imagine the restraint I must practice when I step foot in the place. But for you...
NEWS FLASH... It is 5:05 and I need 13 more people. Don't fail me now, people. We can do this. If everyone who posted something today (there were eleven of us) called just ONE person on the phone... I'll call two), we would make this thing happen.
Heather, how about Laura?
Maureen, how about Connie or Lanie?
Tera,... Temeka?
Jessica... if you are TX Jessica, how about your twin?
Treye... Confirm that Shari has checked in today.
Cheryl... post on our Bunco site.
Julie A. G.... How about Elke?
Cassie P... Has your mom ever checked it out?
Cassie... How about Christy?
artnme1556... Has Jessica R. been on today?
Anonymous... who based on the comment I think is Matt, how about your sister Tracy?
Me... I'll leave a message for both of my sisters.
yea, mom has visited before, i am not sure about today. ill call her... hehe, even though she is upstairs and i am in the basement! this is what final's week does to you... makes ya LAZY!
PS- mom said she visited earlier today! she is too shy to comment, i believe. ill have to work on that...
Hi, Im new here! Maureen is my boyfriends mom and told me if I didn't make a post she was making her son trade me in HA HA! Good luck you are at least one person closer. And my birthday is Jan 19th!
Hey Beenster!
So happy you're almost to 5,000! Great ideas today, I see myself using them in my future classroom!
-Kelly
Hi Claudia its Michael.... Mom has called everyone and wont let any of us alone until we post! Good luck! You will make it. I heard what the consequences are if you don't (ha ha) Pretty funny!!! Im sure you wont have to worry about it, God knows my moms on a mission
BYE!
Mom says ypu are lucky we all have screen names in our house. You have all of us now. Mom called Dawn. Layne, and Aunt Connie. They will post tonight. Good night!
Hey kiddo, I used every threat known to man. I have fulfilled my mission and hopefully you will hear from the rest of my "posse" tonight. Anyway I am sure you can put away the paper bag... Nobody will have to see you in that bathing suit!
DO YOU EVEN OWN ONE?????
you should definitely have reached your goal by now, whats the status?!
I'd say this is project success with all those Maureen posters...way to go!
I'm here...about 5 times today. I'll IM Melissa and make sure she gets on tonight. I'm sure you'll make it before then!!! Yay!!!
I had dinner with Jessica tonight and she checked the blog today so she is accounted for!
Good Luck I am sure you are past 5000. Many of us are anxiously awaiting to here what HighLowAha means! J/K...well I think some people are...I would assume half know from experiencing it first hand.
Hey--Don’t forget to invite the pooches to your dog party! While my children have four legs, they still like a good party—especially if it is a tribute to canines!
Cheryl, I really like the mirror frame, plain and weathered looking....but maybe it shouldn’t be a mirror anymore? Perhaps the mirror could be removed and use the old window to frame for something new. Like…stained glass...or it could become an interesting photo frame, around several of your favorite pics...it could frame a rather boring light fixture to make is something special...it could hang from a ceiling a few inches and you could dangle other little treasures from it like ornaments, an old bouquet, or an antique bottle…perhaps it could become a headboard…or given legs and a solid back to become a table coffee table. Maybe that window is tired of being a mirror, and it wishes to move on to its third identity.
Great ideas, Jessica. I'll have to think about all of that... maybe it doesn't want to be a mirror anymore.
HAVE YOU MADE IT YET!?!?!?!
The suspense is killing me!
Me too! You've had to have reached the goal by now!!
of course she has made it; there have been 15 POSTS since she said she needed 13 more hits!
Hmmm... time will tell. See you tomorrow...
Whatever... try the suspense thing, but I'm not buying it. You've obviously made it to your goal. I myself have visited at least four times today to read the new posts and check to see if you've reached 5,000. I've never seen such an active bunch of blog readers! I don't comment often, but I'm always visiting.
Loved the postcard, but still waiting for my Tuesday phone call! There is a hint for ya!
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