My Man's 1st Birthday

My man's first birthday in America.  Lots of emotions surrounding the occasion; a big occasion - celebrating 30 years of life. 29 years in Cambodia. [Almost] 1 year in America. ONE YEAR! So much has happened. So much has changed.

Surprise!  I like to think he was, but I think he's good at acting - at acting surprised to please his wife; his wife who worked hours and hours and hours to surprise him, to make it happen in a big way, to make him feel special.

A Scrabble party for my Scrabbler

75 balloons hanging from string, draped wall to wall.

More than 100 pictures displayed his age- 30!

Lots of food and more than 50 guests!

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with Titus and to make the party a success. ♥♥♥

Love, Love, Love,

Jewel

Celebrating Emma: Slumber Party Style

I started planning this party in my head over a month ago, when I realized that my sweet friends would be in Uganda during their dear-to-me daughter's 11th birthday. A week passed before I asked my husband's permission to host a slumber party for a group of pre-teen girls. He quickly said: 'Yes,' affirming that it was a good idea, and really not knowing [the craziness] that he was agreeing to.

Emma turned 11 (cannot believe that!) on Friday and arrived at my house at 3:30 on Saturday with her BFFL, and found her sister and two more friends already waiting for her here. This is what she found when she arrived:





The girls jumped out of the hallway, [literally] screaming 'Surprise!!!' (it wasn't a surprise) and the FUN commenced. I tried to think like I was eleven- or twelve-years-old again; so I covered the table in crafts from my Barney bag.





We made picture frames...



...and t-shirts...


...and magnets...



...and painted nails...


...and the table was a crazy mess!



The girls practically ate me out of house and home, consuming four pizzas, two dozen chocolate chip cookies, a whole tub of ice cream, an entire bag of jelly beans, an entire bag of Reese cups, an entire bag of Doritos, a few bottles of Coke, almost two gallons of Hawaiian Punch, and a batch of cinnamon rolls. CRaZiNeSs soon ensued; and at 2:30am, I was still wondering when the sugar comas would arrive.







I think all the girls had fun! Emma's parents [in Uganda] have already seen the pictures and are happy. I am so glad that I could do this for Emma, and for David and Michele! Every girl deserves to feel special on her 11th birthday - especially Emma! Twenty minutes before the girls were due to arrive (and I had 30 more balloons to hang and tape to the ceiling,) I was thinking, "AM I CRAZY for opening my TEENY-TINY apartment to five pre-teen girls for a slumber party?!?!"
It was pretty cRaZy, but so many disastrous things could have happened that didn't!
* All the girls got at least 5 hours of sleep; myself included.
* There was no paint on the carpet nor table that wasn't easily cleaned off.
* The neighbors didn't complain about the very loud Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber music.
* Only one girl cried, and she only cried once.
* We totally made it ON TIME for Sunday School.
* AND only 1 thing broke ('shattered' really!) and it was totally MY FAULT! (Knocked over a vase while carrying the futon mattress.)

I promised my husband that I won't "do that again" for a "at least a little while..." but who knows what will happen after a little while! It was too much fun!!

Love, Love, Love,

Jewel