Fun Dr. Suess Party!

Last Saturday, we celebrated Donovan's 1st birthday with a party at our house. (Yes, I know I'm very late in posting this!) It was loads of fun because Sarah-Kate did a fantastic party-planning job and was a fantastic hostess.

I've always said that Donovan reminded me of a Dr. Seuss character, so I thought the theme was great!

See what I mean?

Shirts say, "Thing 1" and "Thing 2".

Upon arriving, guests were given name tags.

Can you read this? It says, "Happy Birthday, Donovan!"

Well, of course, it does.

To decorate for the party,

I replaced a bunch of my "regular" pictures around the house

with pictures of the guest of honor.

Sarah-Kate gathered up every Dr. Seuss book she could find

and placed them about in appropriate places.

(Sources: children's book shelves, friends, Nana, and the library!)

She also hung Dr. Seuss decor all over the house.

Including my umbrella!

The food was delicious, fun, and pretty --

and most of all, every bit fit perfectly with the theme.

(Always remember that food makes for a great decorating medium!)

Colorful Goldfish served in a (clean, new) fishbowl.

Swedish fish.

Green eggs and ham -- of course!

I made the Cat in the Hat Jell-O.

The bottom four layers are in a trifle bowl.

That top layer of Jell-O is just sitting up there.

I even amazed myself!

(The white layer is a mixture of Dream Whip and

lemon gelatin made partially with pineapple juice.)

These "beach" cups are from Oriental Trading.
Aren't they perfect for this party?




After lunch (that included hot dogs and buns that don't seem to have shown up in any of the pictures),
colorful, cute-as-can-be cupcakes were served.



This was Donovan's first cake.
Or sugar.

Well, at least we think so.
Papa just smiles.

Horton Hears a Who! was playing silently on the television.

The musical score CD of the movie was playing in the background.

The Cat in the Hat even showed up!

What better "activity" than to read Horton Hears a Who! to everyone

AND give each one their own little clover with speck!

After Sarah-Kate read Oh, The Places You'll Go,

we each wrote on a piece of paper (with a background picture of the book)

where we thought Donovan would go,

what he would be, or what he would accomplish.

Whatever happens, he will be a wonderful and godly man!

A door prize of a "Donovan Calendar" (a sheet from Sears Portraits)

was drawn from those papers collected.

Of course, opening gifts was pretty fun, too!

Economic Answer By Experts

I saw this over at Kingdom Come! and just had to share!

"Unfortunately,"

Jenny over at Allsorts posted a fun meme today.

Here's how to play. Just do a Google search of the phrase, "Unfortunately, ________ ", putting your first name in place of the blank. Be sure to enclose it all in quotation marks. The resulting phrases can be quite hilarious if, as Jenny says, you have a slightly twisted sense of humor and an appreciation for random absurdity.

Using "Dorothy" brought results like:

"Unfortunately Dorothy hasn't written very many novels, so I am left to reread the ones she has."

Not too funny. Some were even a little sad, like this one:

"Unfortunately, Dorothy’s early onset of Alzheimer’s disease took away the chance for her grandchildren to know what a special grandmother they had."

But, I did like the *one* result of "Lady Dorothy".

"Quite unfortunately Lady Dorothy was talking to the Blacksmith and overheard the whole conversation and sentenced them both to Table Clearing duty for three years."


Go ahead, try it! If you decide to play along, leave your favorite result in a comment and a link back to your blog, if you like.

Another Trip to the Theatre

We started out REALLY early last Thursday. We were on our way to see "Annie" at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse. Yes, it is a very long way to go. But, "Annie" is Sarah-Kate's most favorite play of all time, I think. And we are known for picking up and traveling for lesser reasons!




But first, we had to stop and pick up some very important people.








Couldn't take any pictures of the play itself, of course. But, we took a host of pictures beforehand.





It is such a gorgeous theatre. Inside and out.

I gave my little camera to the kids to do their thing. They ALWAYS take the most interesting pictures!

The Note

Last night in church my mother passed me a note. It said:

It took so long to find a piece of paper that I forgot what I wanted to tell you.

Love Languages

After reading Karin's poem, Loving Touch, and listening to my husband's sermon on Sunday (you should soon be able to watch it here), I've been thinking of love languages.

Most likely you have heard of the book first published in 1992 by Dr. Gary Chapman called The Five Love Languages. The idea is that people express and receive love in different ways. There are five languages of love: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. One is not better than another. We usually express love towards others in the language that we speak. However, if we express love toward others in a way they don't understand, they will not realize we have expressed our love at all. We will be speaking a foreign language!

My love languages are acts of service and gifts. Oh, yes, I love gifts. And in my mind, acts of service are gifts. Ones that I appreciate in and from the depths of my heart.

This doesn't mean that I don't want to spend quality time with my loved ones or that I don't like to be affirmed, or that I don't like to be touched. It just means that I don't understand those languages as well. They don't translate love as clearly.

My husband's languages are words of affirmation and physical touch. Both my husband and I seem to have two. Two opposite ones! But some have only one that stands out the most. A most darling woman I know feels that she speaks all five languages, both in receiving and expressing love. Knowing her, I think she probably does! She's amazing.

It is fascinating how knowing your language just helps you out. Helps you understand your spouse a little better. Helps you understand why your child responds the way they do. Helps you "get" your friend.

What language do you speak? If you're not sure, you can take a tiny quiz here to find out.

An Evolving Tradition

A year ago, I think we started a tradition. Well, we've done it two years in a row. That's the starting of a tradition, right?

We went on a three-generation girl outing to see The Nutcracker in December. You can read about last year's trip to the theatre here.

Well, as in any good tradition, things change and we must be flexible.

At the last minute, we had an extra ticket, so we brought A BOY with us!

Israel was quite surprised how much he liked it. He went home, of course, telling his brothers and father all about the fight scenes and the Russian dancers. We, of course, took him back to his brothers before we went to tea.

A little more flexibility was needed. The tea room we picked out online looked so lovely, so perfect. When we found our way there via Mapquest, we found that it had been turned into a yogurt shop! Well, that wasn't quite what we had in mind. Since it really was Meg's day, we gave her the choices of what we should do. We ended up at Mimi's Cafe (in honor of you, I think, Jael).

We still had a very lovely time eating a fantastic lunch ending with a delightful assortment of mousses. How perfect is that? Lemon, chocolate, and .....raspberry. Uh, I think. I took way too long to journal this. I do remember that Meg and I agreed which was the best. Amazingly enough, it wasn't the chocolate. And it wasn't the lemon. It was the other one. The one I can't remember.

A very good day. A very nice tradition. One that that I hope will grow to include many more little (and big girls) as our family grows.

Why We Must Love Blogging

"Whatever is read with interest and delight and imagination, be it current events, poetry, biography, or soul's journey, brings kinship. There is as much varied subject matter as there are many ways of reading; all can be good. A common bond and a mutual participation set in a framework of sacred idleness are bound to result in joyful fellowship."

-- The Pace of a Hen by Josephine Moffett Benton, 1961

Molasses Cookies

The Soft Ginger Molasses Chews on The Farm Chicks' blog looked so appealing, I had to try them. Not only did they really come out pretty, but they are delicious! Just like they said, they are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Fantastic and definitely a keeper recipe.

And, no, Sarah, you cannot taste the banana!