Our Halloween Bash – Part 1 of 3

October 23, 2012 by Tracy

With the exception of last year, our family has hosted a Halloween Bash each year. I think this year marks our 4^th Halloween party.

Last year, our family was ill and another family that we invite annually was also battling sickness, so we cancelled. It was sad for us all, but we planned to celebrate this year.

In this short 3-part series, I breakdown our Halloween Bash by time:

Part 1: Preparing 2 weeks prior to our Halloween Bash

Part 2: Finalizing the week of the Halloween Bash

Part 3: Executing the evening of the Halloween Bash

Part 1: Preparing 2 weeks prior to Halloween Bash

In preparation for our Halloween party, I start with the food and the invitations.

Selecting the Menu

Knowing what I plan to serve helps me determine the number of people to invite. Since our party occurs in the evening, I plan a dinner menu. After contemplating the many choices, I settled on making two pans of lasagna, a large salad, homemade French bread, and a dessert.

Creating the Invitation

With the menu planned, Paul created our invitation. Using the chosen date and time, he updated the information on the invitation sent in prior years. Using the same template year after year saves time and energy. 😉

Choosing the Invitees

Repeating our Halloween Bash with our friends is part of the tradition. We try to invite the same families year after year. Since they are all good friends, I choose to e-mail the invitations.

Knowing that our celebration was planned, each of them was waiting for the e-mail and responded back promptly. I think we were all ready to get together. 🙂

By selecting the menu, creating the invitation, and choosing the invitees, we had our Halloween Bash prepared two weeks prior to our party. All three tasks took less than one hour to complete.

In using time wisely, our Halloween Bash is progressing along. Next week, I’ll share the details of party week. Happy planning!

Question: How soon do you begin planning a repeat party?

2012: My Upcoming Family Events

September 25, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

When I shared my upcoming 2012-2013 events last week, I failed to mention my upcoming family events. As I wrote the other post, I was in the midst of planning, searching, and nailing down vendors and acts for our Fall Festival. With school projects on my mind, I only shared the school-related events.

On Monday afternoon, my toddler kept asking for “her cookie.” Figuring she wanted a cookie, I offered her one. But she didn’t want that cookie, she wanted “her cookie.” Really confused, I asked if she could show me. To which she trotted off to get the weekly ad from the Sunday paper. Then, I realized the miscommunication.

Toddler’s Birthday Party

Over the weekend when I went through the newspaper, I found the advertisement with all the birthday decorations. With my toddler close by, I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted. She worked her way through the sales flyer naming the characters until she chose Mickey Mouse.

Though her birthday is not until the winter months, my toddler is ready for her Mickey Mouse birthday party and “her cookie.” The cookie part is because brother and sister each got a large chocolate chip cookie to share on their birthdays.

With a one-track mind, I think I need a distraction less my toddler remembers every day for the next few months. 😉

Halloween Bash

In skipping our annual Halloween Bash last year due to illness after the Fall Festival, I return to planning this year’s Halloween party. While shopping with my older children on Saturday, we found some cute Halloween crafts in the Target $1 Spot section as well as a Halloween game.

For accountability, I mentioned our party to a friend to put on her radar around Halloween. I still have a few details to work out, but I usually keep the same schedule to make planning simple and the party predictable. My kids love knowing the plan and repeating the games.

In using time wisely, my toddler’s birthday party and our Halloween bash comprise my upcoming family events. Thankfully, I have hosted both of these themes in the past, so recreating or tweaking these ideas will save me money, energy, and time. Happy planning ahead!

Question: What events are on your calendar or radar this fall and winter?

Celebrating Labor Day – Easter-style

September 11, 2012 by Tracy

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! I love this saying since life is constantly changing. Though I plan and schedule activities, sometimes life happens and those plans fall through. Such was the case during Easter this year, so we changed plans to celebrating Labor Day – Easter-style.

I had great plans for celebrating an unhurried Easter, and then our family caught a spring cold that brought our schedule to an abrupt halt. Our recovery lasted through Easter and into the next week, so our Easter celebration was simple without lots of extra activities.

My children still wanted to complete the Easter activities, so we kept out our decorations. With the busyness of the end-of-the-school year, summer, and family vacation, I finally pulled out the Easter activities on our rainy Labor Day weekend. Yep, 5 months later, we celebrated our Labor Day – Easter-style. 😉

Resurrection Eggs

My favorite Easter activity is reviewing the Easter story through the hands-on opening of the Resurrection eggs.

On Labor Day morning, we setup on the living floor. With their eggs before them, my children opened the eggs in numerical order as I read the Easter story.

I enjoyed hearing my children tell me portions of the Resurrection story using the items found within their eggs.

After finishing the Easter story, I listened as my children used their eggs to re-tell the Easter events. At the conclusion of play, we packed up our Resurrection Eggs for safe-keeping until March or April of 2013. Well, that’s the current plan because you just never know. 😉

Coloring Easter Eggs

After a Labor Day lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, my son chose to play a game with Paul while the toddler took a nap. My older daughter had begged for months to color Easter eggs, so we created them together.

Upon prepping our work space with newspaper, she chose the coloring kit and plastic colored cups that matched the colored tablets. We measured the water, added the tablets, and watched the water change colors.

We had a blast as my daughter colored 2 dozen eggs. While patiently waiting the 5 minutes between colorings, she drew with a wax crayon on the white eggs.

When she colored those eggs, her writing remained white as the wax prevented the dye from coloring the egg. The Easter egg coloring process took around an hour and was time spent wisely.

Though we did not have an Easter Egg Hunt due to the rain, we opened the Resurrections eggs while reading the Easter story and colored eggs. Our unconventional Easter-style Labor Day offered fun activities and ended with Easter decorations neatly packed and organized for spring activities.

In using time wisely to prepare for holidays and special events, plan well. When your plans fall short, reschedule – even if it’s 5 months later. Plans will change, but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Happy planning!

Question: What holiday have you celebrated unconventionally?

Independence Day Party: Celebrating July 4th

July 3, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Wow . . . is June over already? That means that our summer is a third of the way complete. Yikes! We still have much to explore, play, and do in the next 2 months.

One item on our bucket list is celebrating the freedoms we have because of the bravery and firm decisions made by the founders of the United States of America. As our country celebrates our Independence Day tomorrow on July 4, we will party with friends and family.

If you are seeking last-minute options for your celebration, let me point you to some helpful links:

1. 8 Simple Steps to Planning a 4^th of July Party by Sandy Coughlin

2. 4^th of July Party Plans by Holiday Party Ideas

3. July 4^th Recipe Round-Up by Erin Chase

4. 4^th of July Crafts and Recipes eBook by Favecrafts

5. Enjoy holiday sparklers without the fear of burns by the Krazy Coupon Lady

In addition to these ideas and suggestions, check your local newspaper for parades, demonstrations, and firework displays. Though many areas will bypass the fireworks due to the intense heat, dry woodlands, and high chance of fires, enjoy your celebration while letting freedom ring. Happy planning!

Question: How do you plan to celebrate July 4^th?

2012: Happy First Day of Spring!

March 20, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Rita's Italian Ice

In celebration of the first day of spring, Rita’s Italian Ice is offering each customer a free regular-sized Italian ice today, March 20, 2012.

To find a Rita’s Italian Ice, click on this store locator.

Just stop by between 12:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to enjoy your cool drink.

Happy first day of spring!

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