Our Harry Potter Birthday Party

Over the summer we introduced our kids to Harry Potter and they were very pleased to make his acquaintance. 

We checked out the audio books from the library and the kids were entranced. As we finished a book we'd watch the movie, which we did four times over. On July 31st we even celebrated Harry's birthday. Ben listened to the fifth book but then was told he couldn't listen to any more until he'd read the ones he'd listened to. L, our oldest, lost patience with our pace in audio book 3 and picked up my old copies, finishing the whole series in no time. 

It wasn't a surprise then when Ben and JF, both with September birthdays, requested a Harry Potter themed birthday party. You guys, I have been waiting for this day for years! 

We started with Hogwarts acceptance letters, which were tied to a flock of white (balloons) owls, and hand delivered around town. Of course I didn't get a picture of them but they pretty much looked like what Kathryn did here.

I then enlisted the kids' help with decorations. I addressed envelops to Harry, had the kids seal them and draw red "sealing wax" circles on the back, and then we made H's for Hogwarts on the circles. These came flying out of the fireplace, just like what happened on 4 Privet Drive. 

When kids arrived for the party they entered through Platform 9 3/4.

Their first stop was Ollivander's Wand Shop. We printed off a sign and taped it to our tv in the living room. Then on a small table we put a plate of wands (pretzel rods - some plain, most covered in chocolate, and most of those with some sort of sprinke). The kids chose a wand (or the wand chose them) and they started snacking. 

We then ushered them into the Great Hall. I had rolled up paper, stapled slips of yellow construction paper to the top, and hung the "candles" from the ceiling. L colored the Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw house crests that I printed off the internet and we mounted them on construction paper. We also used Harry's glasses, a Gryffindor scarf, and a wand for the centerpiece. 

Next we started the Sorting Ceremony. This was a favorite part of the entire party.

Days before the event I texted every parent and asked them to give me three words to describe their kids. If the parent was familiar with Harry Potter I would confirm the House I planning on sorting them into, otherwise I just did my best. 

Before the guests arrived we sent our kids into the backyard to play and our friend Joel snuck into the house with his bluetooth speaker. He and Travis strapped it to the back of a patio chair we had brought into the Great Hall. Because of the design of the chair and the average height of elementary school aged kids the speaker was right behind their heads. Then Joel hid in a bedroom down the hall with a list of all the kids, the adjectives their parents had given me, and their House. 

When it was time for the Sorting Ceremony Travis, who was linked to the Bluetooth speaker, called Joel, who gave an Oscar-worthy performance as the Sorting Hat. Everyone cheered, laughed, and clapped and was so excited to see which House they would be in. Even the kids who had never heard of Harry Potter loved this part! 

Once all the kids were sorted we started classes. I kept JF and his friends in the kitchen for Potions class. They mixed mermaid water (Sprite) with unicorn tears (food coloring) and fairy rocks (Poprocks). This was another huge hit. 

Meanwhile Ben and his friends were outside finding dragons in Care of Magical Creatures. They also just ran around, played on the swingset, and jumped on the trampoline. Each class then switched. 

After classes were done, Travis pulled out the Marauder's Map and made each kid solemnly swear they were up to no good. He then led them through and around Hogwarts while I switched over the Potions classroom into Honeydukes sweet shop in Hogsmeade. They went out the backdoor, in the basement entrance, through a maze Trav had made in the basement, through several rooms, and out the egress window, around the house, and back to the kitchen.  You can see it on the HP Party Video on my Instagram account.

Some kids took a quick stop in the bathroom, where they saw Moaning Myrtle, to wash their hands...

and then they indulged in lots of good treats and sweets at Honeydukes.

We sang Happy Birthday to the boys and served the cake and the kids had refills on their mermaid water.

After all the sugar they were sent outside to run around until their parents came to pick them up, greeted, of course, by our front porch's scarecrow who had dressed himself up for the party.

It was such a fun day, and while it took a lot of time and planning to pull it all off it didn't feel like much work at all because of how fun it was for me. Also, we had those envelopes and candles up for at least a month!

My kids loved the party and their guests had a great time. I will confess, there were probably as many parents who were re-living their childhoods right along with me at this party, too. I know HP is not for everyone but it has been a blessing for our family and this party was just the best.

An Easy + Lovely Blessed Brunch

Recently I hosted a Blessed Brunch in my home and I received quite a few questions from women such as "Is it easy to do?" "What are the expectations?" and "Who came?" These questions came from local friends and strangers online but there were a lot of them so I wanted to share what my experience was like in case you, too, have been looking to build some friendships and were wondering if a Blessed Brunch was the way to do it.  

To begin, I went to the Midwest Region Blessed Is She Facebook group and asked if there was any interest in my area in having a BIS group to meet over the summer to do one of the Mystery Studies with me. When I learned that women were interested I signed up on the BIS website to host a Brunch, which I then publicized on my personal Facebook page and in the Midwest Regional Group. I thought a Brunch was a nice way to kick-off the Study but a Blessed Brunch can definitely be a stand alone thing.

And then Blessed Is She did a lot of the work for me. They put the link to sign up for the Brunch on their page and emailed me with info every time someone signed up. With each email I received I would then contact the woman who had registered, telling her how happy I was that she was coming; reminding her of the date, time, and that lap babies were welcome; and sharing my address with her.

The day before the brunch I did my shopping, some cleaning, and some prep work. I bought paper plates and plastic cups, orange juice (I bought two but only one was drunk), creamer, and some chocolates. I used paper napkins that were left over from my son's First Communion, our regular forks, and coffee cups. I borrowed white tablecloths and a long folding table from my mom. I cut some flowers from my yard, cleaned my bathroom and kitchen, dusted my living and dining rooms, and vacuumed.

The morning of my husband loaded up the kids and off they went for about three hours. I brewed some coffee, set out ice water, put on this Spotify playlist, and set out these Encourage Scripture cards. Now, Blessed Is She emails the host a sign in sheet for the guests, a suggested prayer to lead others in, an outline for the brunch so you know what to do when, and suggested discussion topics but I wanted to do something a little extra. Upon their arrival, I invited my guests to go through the Scripture verses and choose the one that spoke to them the most. Then, at brunch we went around and introduced ourselves and shared with Scripture card we picked and why. It allowed women to share parts of their stories that they wouldn't have otherwise and I'm so glad the Holy Spirit put that idea in my head. I then invited everyone to take home their card to frame, tape to their mirror, or stick in their Bible. 

I don't share that with you so you feel like you need to do something like it too but so you know that it's okay to vary a bit from the provided script! If the Holy Spirit nudges us to do something we should follow!

We did use the discussion questions that were provided by Blessed Is She but there was also lots of time to just chat and get to know one another. Just about every age and stage of woman was there - single, married, pregnant, postpartum, grandmother, working, stay-at-home, small family, adoptive mom, big family, and on and on. Some of the women I know very well, some I know casually, and some I met for the very first time. It was so nice to have such a great mix!

Because I knew I wanted to do one of the Mystery studies I set out my copies next to the sign-in sheet. I also put out some holy cards and the chocolates for women to take if they wanted. In the last twenty or so minutes I invited everyone interested in doing a Study to sign in and look at the Studies to get a feel for which one they'd like to do. Then we closed in prayer. Everyone packed up their items and it was done. It was a wonderful morning! Everything ran smoothly and next week we will begin our Summer Study of the Luminous Mysteries.

The Blessed Brunch almost ran itself and was such a wonderful event. If you are interested in starting something in your area I would really encourage you to pray about it and then take the leap if God is calling you to do it! You won't regret it!


PS - If you are interested you can join a Blessed Is She Regional Facebook group here and you can sign up to attend or host a Blessed Brunch here. If you want to buy the Mystery studies for yourself you can do that here.

Stranger Things Party

So after binge watching the first episodes of the new Netflix show Stranger Things I haven't been able to sleep. In my sleepless nights I have been planning a themed party based on the show. Part Halloween party, part '80's party. It will be awesome.

Costumes are called for, of course. Fortunately huge glasses were hip two years ago so it shouldn't be too hard to do that. Then just feather your bangs, wear stirrups on your leggings, and find a jean jacket. You'll look great.

Decorate with lots of Christmas lights and lamps. Maybe pin up the alphabet on your wall, too. Rotary phones, trucker hats, a "flying" Millennium Falcon, Dungeons and Dragons pieces, maybe a hatchet - those would all be great little touches, too.

Your 80's playlist should include The Clash, especially "Should I Stay or Should I Go." And that one needs to pop up multiple times, obviously.

Serve cans of Cola and beer, Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apples, bananas, and trail mix - that way everyone has plenty of energy for their travels. ;)


Boom. Party plans: done. You're welcome.

Seven Quick Takes for Your Friday Afternoon

1 - Ahhhh... The Head and the Heart have a new album and this is the new single and I just love it all. (Remember the time Blythe interviewed her brother Kenny - the pianist in THATH - for my blog? It was a good one.)


2 - So who watched Kathryn's Blessed Is She workshop, Raising a Holy Family: Toddlers Through Teens last night? I was so excited to see it - Kathryn has spoken at my parish's mom group before and she was amazing. Her wisdom, her humility, her Texas twang - all of it! Unfortunately I had to miss it...


3 - ... because of freakin' Hand, Foot, and Mouth. Two of my boys have it now and I'm sure Jofis will come down with it, too. I'm holding out how that Baby Tee, the girls, and Travis and I will be safe. For some reason this strand is taking down adults, too, and with school and back to school events beginning next week for half of this household I really hope it's all said and done asap.


4 - But back to happier things and Kathryn... I'm throwing a Star Wars themed birthday party for the boys later this month. Basically I am just gonna do what Kathryn did for her Star Wars themed party. Why re-create the wheel, right? I did just buy this Darth Vadar costume (affiliate link!), one in small and one in medium. It will serve as birthday presents and Halloween costumes, and it will end hours of fighting to our days! My boys love Darth Vadar, not Han Solo, not Finn, not Chewie. Darth Vadar. Oh well.


5 - Here's a quick tip: Got beer you don't like? Use it to cook your stew meat or roast in. It has worked for us every time. In fact, the more we hate the beer the more we love the gravy!


6 - One perk of being a blogger is being able to send flowers for free to a friend as part of a company's incentive. It's true - and you can think what you want of me. I was so grateful
to FTD for sending me this gorgeous bouquet of flowers and letting me send some love to Nell with the same arrangement. She has been a great blogging buddy - she cheers me on and gently corrects and directs when needed. She has opened her heart and home to me and has done so much in service to Blessed Is She and Catholic bloggers everywhere.

So thanks, FTD, for allowing us to #connectbetter. ;)


7 - Last but not least, Kelly's 7QTs today is so good: What To Do When Your Child Won't Stop Staring at a Person in a Wheelchair. I thought it was super helpful.

How We Threw A Sacred Heart Party

The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is one of my favorite feast days all year. I love celebrating Jesus' passionate love for us, His heart ablaze with His love and the signs of His Passion on display. The image of Christ holding or pointing to His Heart, showing us the mini Gospel - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." - it is so perfectly quirky Catholic and I love it. 

This year our celebration lasted all day. The Solemnity is a Meat Friday so we ate bacon and then headed to noon Mass at the local, gorgeous, Sacred Heart Church, as is our custom. More bacon for lunch and then it was time for party prep - a group of friends were coming over for dinner!

We don't have an image of the Sacred Heart so I drew one on the chalkboard that hangs in a prominent spot in our home.

It's not bad.

Then I followed in Mary's footsteps and made fruit trays like the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, seen at her blog, Better Than Eden. I made mine a bit more simply because I didn't peel an orange, just opened a can of mandarin oranges, and I sprinkled chocolate chips on the strawberries instead of melting chocolate.

To keep things easy on everyone we made the night a potluck. Everyone brought their own meat, a dish to pass, and their own drink of choice. Travis manned the grill and the kids jumped on the trampoline, played on our swingset, and climbed our Maple tree.

As the sun was setting but before a single meltdown I called all the kids to the patio. Each parent got a prayer card and each person was given a glow stick. I stood in front of the kids and talked to them about the reason for our party, about God's great love for us, about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I invited them to snap their glow sticks and to wave them and wear them as a reminder of Jesus' Heart that burns for love of us.

Then as a group we all prayed the Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (If you ever have a Sacred Heart party please feel free to use the image! You can save it, insert it into a Word or Publisher Doc. Set the paper to Landscape and you can easily fit two per page.)

The kids ran off into the dusk, catching fireflies and we parents stayed in our comfy chairs, sipping rum or beer and chatting with one another. That sounds super saccharine-y so please know that about ten minutes later I spilled my drink on my lap. ha!

It was a great day, and I'm so grateful for my group of friends and for my husband who doesn't bat an eye when I say, "Let's have ten adults and twenty kids over and you can grill them all dinner!"

L's First Holy Communion

 L made her First Holy Communion at the beginning of May. She had been preparing for it all year. Her religion classes all worked toward it and at home we discussed the Eucharist, Mass, the state of grace, the foretaste of Heaven. We attended family adoration and began a new nightly family prayer routine.

Earlier in the school year she made her first confession. The church was filled that Wednesday night with the sixty kids from our parish and all their parents. L sat with her list that she had carefully written down in private. She was nervous and excited and afraid, a bit like all of us before confession. When she was done she came back to the pew and said, "That was great! I want to do that again on Saturday!" We went out for ice cream to celebrate - as did several other families.

We didn't go back that Saturday but we did return several times throughout Lent and the weeks before her First Communion. The week before we went to confession one last time in preparation and then bought a treat to celebrate the sweetness of God's mercy.

We also gave her a sip of red wine so she would know what to expect when the time came. ;)

All the kids made a banner to hang on their family's reserved pew. L made hers all by herself. She cut out the felt chalices and hearts (okay, I did even and smooth those out a bit) and then she stitched them on to the white felt banner. She picked out a baby picture and attached it. She fixed on her letters, provided by her religion teacher, and I was so proud of her. It's a perfect glimpse of my little girl.

And then the day came. We baked cookies - shaped in crosses and hosts, per L's request. We cleaned the house in preparation of guests. We made pink lemonade and L's godmother wrote a fitting Fulton Sheen quote on our chalkboard. We arranged for the chalice from Sheen's traveling Mass kit to be used at the Mass, thanks to the thoughtfulness and kindness of some friends.

We did her hair, put on her dress, tied her sash, and placed her veil. The veil had been mine, the blusher from my wedding day. L's godmother adorned it with flowers to make it special. Her great-grandmother gave her a special bracelet, which she loved and immediately wore.

Our parish has the entire family - parents and siblings - go up with the first communicant. So when the time came L and Travis and B, J, T, J and I all headed up. Baby Tee stayed with Grandma B but Trav and I were able to receive Holy Communion right with our daughter.

Afterwards (and before, actually) there were lots of pictures. Family and godparents came and we celebrated. And L loved it.

Thank You, Jesus.

Fall in Love

This summer I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for my sister-in-law. Since she is having a fall themed wedding I wanted the shower to be autumnal, too. Plus, I was really hankering for summer to be over. 

I love looking at what other people have done for celebrations, decorations, and party-planning. I usually don't don exact copies, but I am always inspired by the creativity and beauty of others. So with that in mind, I'm sharing what I did to make my sil's shower really pretty and special, and for not too much money!

To begin with, I designed the invitation on PicMonkey. I had them printed at a local office store and loved how they turned out. 

In case you want to try something similar I used the fonts Geo Sans Light, Jellyka Delicious Cake, and Dead Hardy. I have the Royal subscription for PicMonkey and some of the fonts and pics are Royal - just a head's up.

I also used PicMonkey to make a sheet for one of my favorite games:

You can feel free to use that one if you'd like!

Then, for the shower itself I spent a lot of time checking out Pinterest. You can see my inspiration board here, but in the end this is what it looked like. (My apologies for the grainy cell phone pics - I forgot my camera!)

The menu was caramel dip with apple slices, cupcakes from the local bakery, homemade mints (a family tradition!), cheese, crakers, grapes, and fruit salad. My sister-in-law requested Moscoto punch but because girls would be there I wanted to keep it alcohol free. The punch bowl has the Sprite and pink lemonade concentrate and anyone who wanted was free to add the bubbly wine. 

My mom owns white table clothes - which I borrowed, I gathered her and my fall decorations and Mason jars, my friend Katie made this lovely banner for me, and I bought six plastic table clothes in the party section of WalMart for the back drop. For $6 it made a huge impact. 

Another request from the bride was recipe cards. Guys. I looked everywhere for recipe cards and in the end they were nowhere to be purchased so I could slip them in the envelopes. I then tried making them myself but it was overwhelming for me so I printed these up...

 ...stuck them in the invite envelopes, and found my way to this great Etsy shop, where I purchased, downloaded, and printed up super cute recipe cards.

Winners of the shower games, the bride, and the mother of the bride all took home a little treat: a packet of s'more love with marshmallows, mini Hershey bars, and graham crackers.

The bride-to-be loved the shower and, as a lover of fall myself, I was delighted to throw the party for her. 

A Curious George Birthday Party for JP

In July JP turned two. 

So far the twos have been a bit on the terrible side, but he's also an incredibly sweet kiddo. He loves his blankie, the stuffed bunny L gave him, climbing and jumping off things, playing outside, going to his grandma's house, trains, and Curious George. 

To celebrate we had a Curious George themed birthday party for JP. Simple and fun.  

We always include a picture of the birthday boy or girl on the front of the invitation. Grandparents, godparents, and great-grandparents have all appreciated having a new picture each year for a frame or the fridge. 

The bunting has been used and re-used since JF's first birthday four years ago. And just like every birthday, my amazing sister-in-law made the cake.

The menu I framed and sat near the food. Along with the items on the menu I also put out a bowl of Curious George fruit snacks - a total treat for our kids. 

It was a fun, sweet day, and a really simple party theme to pull off. JP loved it - he loved having everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to him and he even sang right along with them - and he had a lot of fun. In the end, that's what makes a party a success. :)

Our party goods were purchased at WalMart.
The bunting was made by my friend, Katie, and she provides tutorials here and here.
The menu I made in PicMonkey - please feel free to use it if you'd like.

A Ballerina Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

Since my girls were both born in May we like to do their birthday party together. This year, L turned 7 and wanted a ballerina party while Resa turned 3 and wanted a Minnie Mouse theme. It was super simple to marry the two, while still keeping them distinct to make sure each girl got what she wanted.  

What I did:

Kept things pretty basic. Pink, polka dots, and black were really the unifying agents with little touches of ballerina or Minnie in other places.  You can see my inspiration board on Pinterest, and I'll give the rest of the details as we go!

The invite: 

I always work with my friend Katie to make the invitations and each year a picture of the kids is included on the front. This one used black cardstock + pink scrapbook paper with white polka dots + white cardstock for the details + a tutu-like ribbon that was sewn onto the bottom. The white polka dots and pink is reminiscent of Minnie Mouse's bow and the tutu ribbon, of course, was for the ballerina theme. 

The details:

Our guests were greeted with a little chalkboard sign that reads Come inside it's FUN inside - just like the Mickey Mouse clubhouse.

Pretty simple decorations. We reused the pink paper bunting from parties past and hung pink and black balloons.

I always use plastic tablecloths. I can cut them to any size, and they always help to make things more festive. Paper straws are another favorite - so cute and the kids love them.

L and Resa both dressed in tutus and their friends were encouraged to do the same. Each ballerina was then able to chose a tiara to wear.

The cakes:
My fabulous sister in law made the cakes again, as she has for the past few parties. L's ballerina cake was a pretty pink one, standing on a tutu-ed cake stand. 

Inside, the cake was ombre - a thrill for the girls. 

Resa's cake was a Pinterest-inspired Minnie Mouse sheet cake. The bow is made from fondant and my sil had to sneak little balls inside for it to keep its shape. We loved it.

The fun:

A family friend and frequent babysitter is actually a ballet teacher at a local dance studio. She came and taught the girls a dance she choreographed to Let It Go. They practiced in the basement and then moved upstairs for a performance. Some of the girls were pretty silly but L loved the whole thing and was really serious about doing a good, graceful job while still having fun. 

Cake was eaten, gifts were opened, and fun was had by all. Super simple, super fun, and just what the girls wanted. Win, win, win!