Fourth Of July Block Party In Pictures

Warning: This post has turned into a rather long pictorial, so grab a snack or at least a beverage before viewing.

Two years ago my Dear Friend (and neighbor) and I observed that every one in our cul de sac was barbecuing with friends and family on their perspective driveways and decks. As the evening wore on, all the the separate get togethers ended up mixing and mingling  in the cul de sac; while we lit off our stock piles of fireworks and waited for the city fireworks display to begin (our neighborhood is a half mile from the county fairgrounds, where they light off the annual city fireworks display. Thus, we have a spectacular view, and why we always have a large number of family and friends converge on our neighborhood).  That night the light dawned for both of us, we decided that why not throw a block party! Since we all end up mingling anyway, why not start off that way with a big block party.  Last year was such a hit, we decided to make it an annual event.

Since my Dear Friend and I are all about keeping our soirees on a budget, we implemented a few savvy tricks to throw a great party, but not break the bank.  Our best tip is to plan well in advance, so that you can take advantage of sales and promotions at the local stores.

First, ALWAYS get yourself a partner in crime, if you are about to plan a large scale party. Of course, my Dear Friend is always up for a challenge. Everything is MUCH more fun with a friend (especially mine)!!!

We both whipped up a batch of strawberry lemonade from a powdered mix (that we bought on a great sale). To fancy it up, we added frozen strawberries and a few lemon slices. Earlier in the day, I frozen an ice cream bucket filled with lemonade to make a giant ice cube that would keep the punch cold, but not dilute the lemonade as it melted.
 

We, also filled coolers with ice a sodas (which we also bought on sale with coupons). A borrowed insulated drink dispenser was filled with ice water. In fact, we borrowed several table from neighbors so we had enough space for all the food and drinks.

Of course, we appointed a grill master to grill hot dogs (which we bought in June for $.50 a package on a loss leader sale with coupons).  We stocked up on hot dog buns at two grocery stores that were offering $.48 packages of buns.

We used a store promo to buy fried chicken. It was cheaper and easier than buying hamburgers to grill. The promo included 50 pieces of chicken and a half sheet cake for $49.99. We ended up ordering two promos.

We turned the sheet cakes into birthday cakes for two of our guest who have birthdays. One on the 4th and one on the 5th.

We provided the meat and drinks, and asked all the invitees to bring a potluck dish to share. Potlucks are the best way to keep food costs down. Plus you get to sample lots of great food (and maybe, glean a recipe or two).

 Be sure to invite some one who is talented and is willing to whip up a festive Jello mold!

Always watch the sky for the potential thunder/ rain/ hail storm that may be on the horizon. Then hurriedly form a Plan B in the back of you heads.

Gather all the guest up to hurry and grab some chow before the rain starts to fall!

 Then put Plan B into effect, and drag all the tables of food (and guests) into the garage for the duration of the storm.

Now you sit  the garage and visit and eat and watch the torrential downpour (and the hail bouncing off the grass).

And watch the kids that aren't deterred by a cloud burst.

When the storm blows over and the sun comes back out, again.  You breathe a sigh of relief, and then you take a moment to be thankful that the rain has cooled the temperature down 20 degrees.

Soon the party is back in full swing!! Floating tub toys in the water running down the gutter.

Every party needs some entertainment. My nephew, Stewart, dazzled us with some juggling.

The teenagers roamed in a herd observing their surrounding.

The younger set preferred a little street dancing to pass the time!

And some jump roping, too.

And the boy's resume setting fire to the spent fireworks. Apparently, you must take advantage of the one day a year that you can set fires (under adult supervision), and your mother will not smack you up the side of your head or ground you!

When it finally got dark it was time to light of  some fireworks (okay lots and lots of fireworks) in the middle of the cul de sac.

Sing Happy Birthday to the two birthday boys.

Serve birthday cake!

 Then settle down to watch the big fireworks show from the comfort of your lawn chair, and reflect on how lucky you are to live in our great country, have the freedoms that we are blessed with, give thanks for our service men (and women) past and present who have risked or given their lives so that I can have those freedoms.

All in all it was a fabulous party and a great day. Only 364 days until it's time to do it all over, again!!!!!
Hope all of you had a great 4th of July, too!!!

Happy Fourth Of July

I hope all of you, Dear Bloggy Friends, have a wonderful and safe 4th of July today!  I will back tomorrow with photos of our 4th of July Block Party that I am co hostessing with my one of my most favorite friends!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the great women in my life, and all my blog friends, too!
You are all lovely people! I wouldn't be who I am without you! Enjoy your day.

Happy Easter!

I wanted to wish all of my friends in blogdom a very HAPPY EASTER! I hope your holiday is a joyful one. Thank you for supporting my site. It has been a treat to get to know all of you better!

Happy Birthday!

It's my fourth child's birthday tomorrow. He's going to be eight years old this year ( Eight is great when your name is Nate!). Bless his little heart he has asked for homemade pizza for dinner and a puppy cake for dessert. We started the tradition with our kid's that on their birthdays they can pick whatever they want for dinner, and what kind of cake/ dessert they want. Since he's my baby (sniff! sniff!) I felt like I should make some sort of an effort to fill his request. Thank you to the ladies on Pinching Your Pennies for their help doing the research, and their good ideas that made this dessert possible! Well, here is my masterpiece!! Obviously, I had better not quit my day job (HA! HA!)! He is happy though, so I suppose that is all that matters! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE THE GREAT! WE LOVE YOU!

Merry Christmas!

I am so tired tonight from trying to wrap up all of the last minute holiday to do's that I can't even think straight. Most of my plan A's are now down to Plan C or D. The rolls are store bought instead of homemade, the brownie cups (which I was going to wow everyone with on my blog tonight) stuck and look like misshapen UFO's (unidentifiable food objects), the fudge is grainy, the popcorn popper exploded (because SOMEONE was chit chatting and forgot to put the measuring cup back on top of the popper) and there is popcorn everywhere, the new toilet for the guest bathroom is sitting in the garage instead of in the bathroom (I have 17 people coming for a Christmas Eve party at noon tomorrow), the dog has had way to many holiday treats and will probably be sick tonight, the house is dirty, I couldn't even remember my 3rd child's name a little while ago ( he was called all of his siblings names, including his sister, and three of my brother's names before I got it right), and I think I'm coming down from my Diet Coke induced high. I am definitely NOT going to earn my Martha Stewart merit badge this year! But you know what, none of that matters because it's CHRISTMAS (yeah!)! Tonight I have nothing productive, clever, frugal, intelligent, amusing, or noteworthy to say other than MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone! Thank you for being wonderful people who support me, and love me despite myself. You are all truly a blessing! I love you all! Have a wonderful holiday!!!!!!

Gift Tag Idea

Today's tip is the product of desperation. I needed a last minute gift tag to tie to a gift bag (one that I am reusing from last year, of course). As I dug through my gift wrapping box I noticed a Christmas card that had been saved from last year. It had a cute picture on the front of the card so I used a tree shaped cookie cutter as a template and traced around the picture. I cut it out with a pair of scrapbook scissors. After punching a hole on the top of the "tree" tag; I attached it to the handle off the gift bag with a piece of Christmas ribbon. I hate to use sticky tags on gift bags because the person receiving the gift can't reuse the bag. Plus so many cards have such darling pictures on them I hate to throw them away when the holiday is over!

Decadent Cocoa

My mom gave me this idea a couple years ago, and I thought I would share! If you want to make a cup of hot chocolate extra yummy place two Hershey kisses in the bottom of the mug with the cocoa mix. Pour boiling water into your mug and stir until the kisses have dissolved (make sure to let it cool a little bit if serving it to kids, or add a dollop of leftover whipped cream to cool it down). It tastes like pure heaven! My favorite is two cherry cordial kisses in Stephen's milk chocolate cocoa. A container of cocoa and a bag of Hershey kisses is another great idea for neighbor or friend gifts this year (add a tag that says Wishing you a Merry "Kissmas" Love the ---). Kisses come in tons of great flavors during the holidays so watch the after Christmas sales, and stock up on discounted bags! Milk chocolate will last in your pantry for six months to a year. Save your candy canes too! My kids love to stir their hot chocolate with a candy cane, and I don't have to wash spoons when they are done. (Heads up! Stock up on mini candy canes on the after Christmas sales I have a darling Valentine's treat to make with them that I will post in February!)

Creamsicle Fudge

Here's a twist on traditional fudge. Give it a try this holiday season. A neighbor shared this recipe with me several years ago, and it was an instant hit with my family. It is now requested every year by my husband, son, nephews, and co workers. It is easy to make and it will keep well in the fridge for several weeks ( if it lasts that long!). Happy Holiday cooking everyone!

Creamsicle Fudge

3/4 cup butter
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 package (10 - 12 oz.) vanilla or white chips
1 (7 oz.) jar of marshmallow creme
3 tsp. orange extract
12 drops yellow food coloring
5 drops red food coloring

Grease a 13x9 in pan with 1 1/2 tsp. of butter and set aside. In a heavy saucepan combine the sugar, cream, and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 4 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in chips and marshmallow creme until smooth. Remove one cup of fudge and set aside. Add orange extract and food colorings to remaining mixture. Stir until well blended. Pour into prepared pan. Drop the reserved fudge mixture by teaspoons full over the top. Cut through the mixture with a knife to swirl. Cover and refrigerate until firm. Cut and serve. Yields 2 1/2 pounds.

Holiday Gift Idea

Here's a darling idea for an inexpensive gift to give to a teacher, neighbor, visiting or home teaching families, or friend this holiday season. You will need a large candy bar; they are on sale right now at Smith's or Fred Meyers for around a dollar. Copy and paste the image below into your Print Artist program, and print it off onto white printer paper. Wrap the the paper around the candy bar, and tape in place. Next take a knit glove (you can find them in a two pack at the Dollar Store)place it on the "snowman", and tie the fingers together with a piece of holiday ribbon (a great way to use up scraps)to create a "pompom". Take another piece of 3/4 to 1 inch wide ribbon, and tie it under the face to make a scarf. Place the other knit glove on a square of colored tissue paper; bring the corners together. Tie them together with a piece of curly ribbon; it should look like a little bundle or sack. Tape the bundle underneath the scarf.




When your done it should look like this:



My kid's gave these to their teachers and friends last year for Christmas. They were a huge hit! Who couldn't use a chocolate fix and an extra pair of gloves this holiday season!