Another epic Hooley at the Tierneys' is in the books. I shared some photos and videos on Facebook and Instagram . . . and you guys had some questions. So even though it's St. Joseph's Day, I shall attempt to answer all your St. Patrick's Day party queries here. What...
A Pride and Prejudice 2nd Birthday Party to Ardently Admire and Love
Lulu's "Pie Pedjus" second birthday party was last weekend, but it's taken me all week to get this post written because I fell hard down the rabbit hole of picMonkey + Jane Austen. But more on that later. First, for the party . . . Lulu is a big, big fan of the...
Ten Quick Tips for Throwing a Great Party as Illustrated by the 2015 Hooley
This is a sponsored post. See my disclosure policy. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Did I mention we throw a St. Patrick's Day party? I DID? Once or twice? Well, this year's Hooley was last weekend, and it was our biggest. party. evah. A very fine time was had by all,...
Lulu Had a Birthday, and She’s Got Some Presents for You! (a giveaway from BabyLit, Shining Light Dolls, and Whole Parenting Goods)
Jack, my oldest, said of his baby sister the other day, "I think she's probably tied for the third best baby who ever lived. Jesus and Mary were probably better, but she's got to be at least tied with St. John the Baptist for third." Now, I don't have any way to...
Everything Is Awesome, but especially this Lego Movie birthday party (with free printables)
I'm not sure why, but back early in my mothering journey, when it began to look like I was going to end up with more kids than, well, than I had previously realized was even POSSIBLE . . . I latched on to birthday parties as The Thing I had to maintain to make it Not...
Cranky Frankie Turns 3: a little monster birthday party
On Sunday, Frankie turned three years old. You can imagine his excitement. We threw him a Little Monster-themed birthday party. Here's how it went down. THE DECOR Red tissue balls and green hanging fans, fabric circus bunting, a mini monsters banner, a homemade...
An Olaf in Summer Frozen Birthday Party, or THIS is what sacrificial love looks like
Frozen. It is like crack cocaine, only animated. And with singing. I saw it with the kids. I noted that the plot didn't, strictly speaking, make any sense and that the girl ended up with the wrong guy. I thought I'd just carry on with my life. Frozen-free....
The Virtue of Hospitality and the Hooley of 2014
Another Hooley at the Tierneys' is in the books. We are so grateful to our family and friends who spent the evening with us. It was the best. You rock. To those of you who were not here: You should have been. Come next year. It was really fun. Please look at these...
Murdered by Pirates is Good (a Princess Bride 10th birthday party)
Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles . . . The Princess Bride is my favorite childhood movie. And unlike all the other movies from my childhood, I never had to go diving for the remote in horror as I tried to...
A Zombie Apocalypse Birthday Party (at which I don’t dress up, but my unborn baby does)
Intrigued? You're going to have to wait for it . . . (Jenny, you may want to just skip this whole post, but especially the end.) Bobby and Gus have birthdays that are two weeks apart, and all the same friends and all the same interests, so for the last couple of...
I Moustache You a Question about Frankie's Birthday Party
Frankie is two. Look out world. (Oops, that wasn't a question. Sorry.) He's still not talking a whole lot, so his brothers and sisters got to pick the theme of his party and they picked: Moustaches. When I started looking around online for ideas, I found a lot of...
Every Kid is Special (three days per year)
As a parent, I want to figure out how to pay enough attention to each child so that he knows he is precious and valued, but not so much that he ends up an entitled brat. Fortunately, we have enough kids that I think it would be really, really hard for us to err...
How We Throw a Backyard Birthday Party
Yesterday, I told you why I like backyard birthday parties best. Today I'm telling you exactly how I do it. Step-by-step. And you get to see all the photos from Anita's fourth birthday party, held last Saturday in the Chicago backyard of my in-laws (who are awesome,...
The Beauty of Backyard Birthday Parties
I love backyard birthday parties. That's what we had when I was growing up, and that's what we throw for our own kids now. Anita jumping for joy at her 4th Birthday Party, held yesterday in the lovely Chicago backyard of my generous in-laws (we're visiting for the...
Let Freedom Ring
update: now includes photos from today's celebrations! A Very Happy Fourth of July to You and Yours! The kids all had new duds for the occasion, thanks Gramma! Please don't let the freedom FROM religion types convince you that the founding fathers were on their side....
I Changed My Mind, the Internet is Awesome: 7 Quick Takes XVIII
--- 1 --- Two weeks ago, I had a quick take about how the internet can bring out the worst in people. But this week, oh THIS week, the internet has brought out the best in us. The fundraiser that Cari is running for Dwija is hands-down the awesomest thing I have been...