Saturday, November 8

Saturday morning, Bev (Paula Dean) Westhoff made biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then we broke out the Wii.  First on the agenda - making Miis for everybody!  We bought the KU vs. Nebraska game on Pay-per-View. I fixed Hearty Taco Soup which was perfect for sitting around in pajamas, playing Wii and watching football. Roady helped me finish my decorations for the party (which he called "making crafts") and then I had to start getting ready around 3:00 to head to Lawrence.  Here's the morning in pictures:

A birthday shot of gravy:
Ryan, trying to decide on his "head-shape":
Picking out his eyes:
We got his nose exactly right:
The facial hair is coming along (but the angry eye-brows have to go):
Here we go...that's starting to look like Ryan:
Stu boxed the computer for about 30 minutes, which made us all tired just watching him:
Wayne played golf, which made everybody sleepy and bored (sorry, golf - you're just not my favorite):

Here are the decorations I'd been making for the last two weeks. (and the project Roady was kind enough to help me finish.)  Jeff was sweet enough to hang them for me:
We arranged "cafe style" tables and chairs, and Sarah created art by weaving colorful streamers on every other table. I made the "30" flags for each table, and my mom loaned us her jelly jars (filled with candy!) to hold them up. We used the ping-pong table in the back for food (which was AMAZING! - it's not there yet...but that entire table was full of food): 

The manager of Jo Shmo's rented the whole upper level to us for the night, but I needed some directional signs (I'm all about the signs) to help get the people up the stairs:
The room started to fill up around 7:15 and you can sort of see our DJs in the back, right corner (they even brought the party lights!):
Ryan and Lindsay - both turning 30 - both VERY smiley. So many people were there to wish them Happy Birthday. 
My crew of helpers. Chris and Holly on the left (who wrangled 30 balloons and brought them to the party!) and Sarah (who brought Ryan's special bahklava dessert request and made the room party-ready):
Bev, Miles and Raegann (I'm sure there's some conversation going on about Bev wanting a kiss...)
Papa and Mimi (Ryan's grandparents) and Bev and Wayne (Ryan's parents):
Ryan, my mom and the back of Bobby's head. Clearly a funny moment. I just love Ryan's laugh:
My sister and my mom - taking a moment to stop and breathe with me - and pose for a party pic! 
Ryan felt like it was a good moment to jump in for a group hug. Or he's dancing, I'm not entirely sure:
He just wanted to be in the picture:
The other cool thing about this room was the bocce ball pit. It entertained all of the kids for a good 3 hours. It stirred up a lot of sand and dust (because they were mostly building castles in it) but I decided, from now on, I'm providing a sand pit at all of my parties:
Ryan's cousin Tom and Tom's girlfriend Kara:
Steve (Ryan's uncle), Urban and Tom:
My super-awesome-craft-making-assistant, Roady (and my giant, freak hand):
Pam (Ryan and Chad's Aunt), and Chad:
Roady and Ryan:
Bev and her sister (Pam), clearly dancing up a storm:
The only line-dance of the evening:
Reagann, teaching Pam how to do the electric slide (or yelling at her, I can't really tell):
Fun Bobby (Shannon's husband), Whitney, Sarah and Troy:
My parents (they're so cute):
Ryan and my dad, sharing a hug and a laugh:
Chris and Holly (they're also very cute):
Pam, giving Lindsay (what I can only assume is a normal) kiss good-bye: 
Steve and Bev (brother and sister-in-law) dancing totally appropriately:
Bev and Wayne (who also celebrated birthdays not long ago. Wayne turned 60 and Bev did not...because she is younger than Wayne...and she will always be young(er).):
Hard to tell, but we're actually making a Roady sandwich. Later, Stu joined us and it was just a big mob-o-friends: 
The end of the evening. Exhaustion is actually setting in and we've got an early morning to look forward to! "Viscosity!" 

Ryan Turns 30!

Part one of three birthday celebrations! Ryan turned 30 on November 7th so we kicked off the weekend by surprising him at work with a cake and his parents (who flew in from Houston). It was a lot of prep work and a lot of secrets that resulted in a very grateful and thoroughly celebrated Ryan. :) At 4:00, we went to happy hour. At 5:30, Ryan's buddy Stu arrived (another surprise). At 6:00, we went to dinner (excellent pizza at Minsky's). And at 10:00, we went bowling.

Halloween Night

I know it's already November, but I still had to post these Halloween pictures. Whitney (dressed as a ZooKeeper), Troy (dressed as a guy with walking pneumonia) and Delaney (dressed as a giraffe) came by our house on Halloween. Delaney was not in the mood to wear her costume (because it was too hot for a head-to-toe, wool outfit).

ZooKeeper Claycamp:


Delaney Giraffe (showing us that she remembers where we keep the remotes):


Delaney, Troy and "Frank":


Delaney, telling Whitney to "Bop It" (translation: "stop it!") after Whitney attempted (for the 6th time) to get Delaney to wear her hood for a picture. Delaney is almost 2 and she is asserting her terrible-two-ness early:


I just wanted to squeeze her. She's so huggable in that squishy little outfit. She will now say "cheeeeeeese" for pictures:


Delaney, dancing on the fireplace (and a better view of the work we did a few months ago! The fireplace used to be red brick over a gross, honey-blonde wood mantle...sorry, I know that's not the point of the picture).:


Delaney Giraffe (showing us that she remembers where she stashed some disposable cameras last time she was here):


SUNDAY - November 2: Chiefs vs. Buccaneers game at mom and dad's house (also, a late celebration of Troy's birthday). Whitney brought Delaney's costume again. This time, we bribed her with brownie bites and she put the hood up. She also discovered the camel from mom's manger and decided to take him for a walk:

bear + bears fan

We went to a Halloween party last weekend. I'm finally getting pictures up. It was a good time. Roady went with us, dressed as an over-paid Detroit Tigers player (for anyone who doesn't follow baseball, Detroit basically bought a baseball team - shelling out tons of money - then the Tigers lost almost every game they played. It amused the men at the party. Girls just thought he was a baseball-themed scarecrow.)


Another sports-themed costume. I'm a Chicago Bears Fan. Ryan is a bear:


Ryan said he was making this face even when he had the mask on. He couldn't help it:


Ryan and Roady with Sarah (or should I say, "Rainbow Bright"):


Rainbow Bright and G.I.Joe (my "little" brother):


A really cute view of the tail I made for Ryan's bear costume. (I also put felt "claws" on his brown shoes and gloves. It was one of those make-it-in-minutes costumes.


The super-funny alien dog in his pumpkin costume:


Tina Turner (who we all hated because she apparently JUST had a baby, like DAYS ago):


The Nascar fan (and his box of wine):

Halloween Decor

The scariest house on the block (not really). Halloween in our neighborhood is a pretty big deal. There are a million little kids and they all arrive in steady packs of 5-6 for about two hours straight. Then there's nobody until those older kids with the masks and pillow-cases show up - like somebody drove them around and dropped them off.

I've finally done away with carving real pumpkins. I never seem to make any time for it, and it seems more wasteful every year. In my attempt to make "greener" choices, I've begun using these re-usable ghost and jack-o-lantern candles. They work out great. They come out each year (on the night of Halloween) and immediately go back inside so they don't get smashed in the street. (And yes, I realize I sound like one of those "get off my lawn" people. I don't mean to. I just don't like seeing things broken in the street. I don't get it.)



These are my new urns. Up until last week, they contained sad, shriveled, little, hibiscus trees. Thanks to a sale at Hobby Lobby, they will now take me well in to Thanksgiving!


Candles, candles, and more candles. All around the tree, all along the planting area, all along the brick ledge, all along the pathway up the stairs...about 50 candles in total. (and yes, we are voting for Obama tomorrow!) Next year, I'm going to make a little graveyard with the super-awesome Halloween decorations I bought (50% off) yesterday! Woo hoo! Not so much green, just re-usable.