Party Planning 101-301

I have begun the planning (okay finished the planning) of the Homecoming party!  Of course, I'm a planner so it was a rough sketch plan for the last 3 or so months already and the concept was done before he left.  Either way the only thing left to do is wait for the ability to release the date to the family and friends!  *sigh*  It is wonderful having even a small clue of how close this is to being done.  We miss having our Papa in the house with us to rough house, cuddle, tease and read bedtime stories...I miss watching movies with him and the simple fact that he is the main cook in our family (well, of edible non-box food anyways).

I had grand plans all mapped out on Pinterest of ideas and then realized, it is more than enough to just have him home.  I definitely make more effort on the send off party but I also have extra hands during the prep.  His homecoming is spaced to give him a breather before the masses descend upon us so he will likely have seen many people before the party itself making all the cutesy things a little less important and thus can be saved for a backyard bash later this summer I suppose.

By-the-way, if you need any parties planned, I probably have it done already on some of my Pinterest boards so let me know and I'll sort through them for ya  (baby showers, weddings, bridal showers, kids' birthdays, holidays, etc.).

If you haven't had the reason for a RedWhiteBlue party yet (such as military deployments often are), consider stocking up on items after the 4th of July merch goes clearance.  It will save you a ton of money to get these things then and save them for future use.  Many of the picnic items are great because they can be used all summer and at these events whenever they may fall.  Serious people, parties are expensive so think of ways to theme and clearance well in advance!  Valentines Day clearance:  pinks and reds make great girl accessories to parties.  Halloween:  find the fall type instead of the spooky stuff and you've got a jump start on Thanksgiving cornucopias.  Christmas:  Red and Green--valentines day and st patty's day aren't too far off!  New Years:  Gold, Silver and Black--these are great neutrals that work with graduations or truly just about any party theme you want.

We are ready to party around here!  I hope y'all have many parties to throw or attend this year and that they all go off without a hitch.  Wish us luck that our timeline for this particular party doesn't change...curse of the planner attached to the military lifestyle!  Eeep!

Loving Spring

This time of year the FM area is usually running around in organized chaos fighting the river or prepping for it at the very least.  Sandbagging is usually covered on every media outlet from radio to TV to our various Facebook accounts.  We have made national news too often for our flood fights and as such we all brace ourselves for spring thaw.  This year, we are having the most bizarre weather I have personally ever witnessed for our area and I must say, I don't mind one bit.  Though some think it might be a hint at the whole 2012 world ending thing...

We have had unseasonably warm winter weather and now the same for spring.  This means we had a brown Christmas and usually our snow hits around Halloween and sticks.  Blizzards and spring rains usually put us into emergency preparedness and dividing into sandbagging teams at locations across the cities including the Fargodome. (That link will show you a timelapse of 20 minutes worth of sandbagging in 2009.  Keep in mind we were at it round the clock that year.)

So imagine all us families in the region with little to no sandbagging on the horizon.  We aren't entirely sure what to think of it other than YAY!  This week's forecast looks like there will be many chances at walks and a few trips to the parks (if we can find dry playgrounds! --it still rains in the spring silly people).

Enjoy your chances for some outdoor playtime and cross your fingers for it to last a while for us too!  I kind of like this whole, not sandbagging this time of year....We might even get to go biking along the river this spring and summer!!  Seriously, I never looked at that ruler graphic on that last link before and just look where 'flood stage' is and where we peaked in 2009...Damn but we did more amazing of a job than I ever comprehended.

Climb or Fall out of Bed

So there are days that you just don't want to leave your bed.  You think that the world could keep spinning if you slept through just one 24 hour period.  Well, you'd be right...but then there are those things that wouldn't get done if you didn't drag your butt from under your covers and brave the world that you have no interest in facing.  I mean, there are the pets to feed, meals to cook, diapers to change, hugs to give and books and toys to use-abuse-and clean up after.  There are owies to kiss, noses to wipe, hair to brush and baths to prepare.  We can't forget of course the myriad of basic housekeeping chores such as dishes, floors, laundry, tables, beds, etc.  While some of those things can easily be put on the back burner (and I encourage this be done when you need to), it can't be that way every day.  It's a good thing that my daughter gets me to drag my butt out of bed every single day.  She makes me smile even mere seconds after she has me ripping at my hair in not-as-silent-as-I-wish frustration.  She brings me a book to read to her and then runs off for another one only 3 pages in.  She takes every.single.toy out to play with before going back to the first couple options for the remainder of the messy day.  Then she throws a fit that resembles a 'you stole my favorite snack and I'll never have another one!' epicness whenever a commercial interrupts a beloved cartoon (Max and Ruby, Kai Lan, Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).  She offers me a seat on the couch to watch a movie with her and even cleans her toys away to make room.  She snuggles in and throws herself across my lap fondly smiling and declaring 'Momma!' because I might have forgotten who I am in the last couple minutes.

She is a great reason to leave the warm covers of my bed behind on cold winter days when you just don't want to face the dishes (clean or dirty!) or the mountain of laundry needing to be washed, dried and *grrr* folded....  She is a great reason to smile through the day even if you are screaming in your head that you can't give one more lecture on not pulling the cats' hair off their stomachs or that a commercial just means that the show will come back in 2 minutes!  (Remind me often of that last one please...every 10 minutes or so...)

Just because we have those days, and most everyone does, doesn't mean we can't enjoy the day outside of our bed.  I might have to work a little harder to do so, but Morning Hugs and a beautiful 'you're my hero' smile make it a lot easier.

So those days you just don't want to face the world, climb out of bed--or fall if you need to.  Paste a fake smile on and find that reason to exchange the fake smile for a real one.  You don't need a great day, just don't let it be horrible either.  And when you get to that breaking point (I have, I admit) where even falling out of bed doesn't do it, pick a day, get some help with your responsibilities and stay in bed.  Take that day off that you need.  Close your eyes when you pass the sink full of dishes or the basket of laundry.  Good luck to us all on those days that start so tough.  I hope you have a great reason to get out of bed.