Murder Mystery Party

If you haven’t ever participated in, nor hosted a Murder Mystery party, I highly suggest it! We had such a great time! It was nothing like the murder mystery dinner theatre we went to some time ago. Now, I will warn you, it does take several hours to go through all of the clues, etc. , but do it with a group of fun friends, and add in some cocktails and it’s sure to be a blast.

Here is our crew and in the words of my sister we apparently look like the cast of a Scooby Doo movie!

Suspects left to right:
Brady Bunsch (Scott), Angina Palpatori (Stacey) – known for giving her ‘dance partners’ heart attacks, Knight Fever (Keith) – the bartender with better moves than Tom Cruise in Cocktail,
Manny Baritone (Mike) – a famous crooner, looking for the inspiration for his next big hit, Belle Badham (Christine) – the late Stan’s wife and business partner, Polly Esther Stuffincup (Julie), Chaka Moon (Katherine) and Vinny D. Davici (Matt). Yes, 70s inspired, read the names again if you are not giggling even just a little bit.

Now we are not a theatrical bunch by nature, sure we all have a little drama in our lives now and then, but none of us are professional actors, or stage performers by any means. However, as we got into this version of Saturday Night Cleaver, the Bronx accents were flying (or trying) and everyone stepped into character. The scene was set in Stan A. Live’s Funkytown Disco in ‘da Bronx in 1977. We had 70s music playing and a disco ball and strobe lights going.

We ladies went with bold chunky jewelry, movie star hats, feathered back hair, and that ‘natural looking’ china blue eye shadow, mini skirts and platform boots, while the guys took a more groovy approach.

Psychedelic and prismatic shirts, shades, corduroys and way out hair made it very entertaining.

A few struck a pose a la Saturday Night Fever. All 8 of us had a great time while playing this game. Mike & Christine brought yummy homemade appetizers. Scott & Julie literally ‘tossed’ a salad in the kitchen. Keith & I contributed lasagna & garlic bread to the meal. Matt & Katherine outdid themselves with an amazing spread of fruit & cake to dip in a delectable homemade chocolate sauce. We all did our best with NY accents while enjoying Long Island Iced Teas (my specialty!) The questions as well as the accusations were flying! We finally found out that Chaka did it!

And these boots are just begging to be worn again…

Project Life: Week 6

Welcome to my Week 6 (3/13-3/19). I hope you are keeping up with your Project Life as well, if you are indeed participating. It’s a fun challenge which I’ve found to keep me grounded in the everyday. Here is the two page spread for the week:

The left side:

 

Apparently this week I had a lot to say :-)

I’m finding ways to include more tidbits from our everyday life, ephemera, memorabilia, etc. I’ve always kept that type of stuff but never ended up using it, so I’m happy it’s now found a home.

My hubby enjoys drinking MONSTER energy drinks, so I thought it was appropriate to include a piece of the box in this week’s layout. Additionally, the wristband is from a kids’ consignment sale that I finally participated in.

There’s a MONSTER in your LUNCHBOX!
The kids find it hysterical that I blurt out these random things every once in a while. Keith likes the MONSTER brand beverages so I sometimes buy them to pack in his lunchbox. One morning I uttered the quote above: both kids immediately made odd requests for their lunchboxes. Summer asked for a pony and Bryce asked for an airsoft gun!

I am so psyched about our upcoming Murder Mystery party. The setting is in a 1970’s disco in the Bronx so it should be interesting. I’m bringing out my New York accent and my new platform go-go boots :-)

D is for de-cluttering
I’ve been working on removing some of the clutter from our house to make it easier to keep it clean. I’m so proud of us for the timely weeding out of old clothes from the kids’ rooms to donate as well as sell at a local consignment event. For years I said I would & now I did. Yay for us :-)

And on to the right side:

W is for Work
Bryce now understands what it means to have some responsibilities outside of home and school. Within the last few months he has been washing airplanes on weekends a the flight school where Keith works. He also recently started taking care of three dogs for our new neighbors. I’m so proud of how responsible he is being and he LOVES the $$ in his pocket.

Bryce’s scout troop made dinner for the congregation at the church. He was in charge of making his awesome garlic bread. The boys were great hosts. Nobody left hungry from the spaghetti & meatball feast complete with fried OREOS. YUM! Fried Oreos Rock. (Scouts purposely blurred)

3/18/11 {Written by Bryce}

Today was the most sleepy day of my life! I woke up at 5 in the morning after falling asleep by 11 only to have to walk my neibors (his spelling) dogs at six and catch the bus to school (at 7:00 am! Whhh soooo…tiiirrreeeed!   {Note from me: I love capturing the overwhelming feeling he had because he had to get up 30 minutes early, which was 6 not 5, I guess that’s what it felt like to him!}

She KNOWS what she WANTS
My decisive little girl is growing up so fast. Her birthday wish list was expensive this year so she had to choose between a kiddie party or horseback riding lessons. She’s had 3 lessons so far and they are the “best days ever!” according to her.

I wanted to save the vaccination tag for our dog when we got a new one. The old one shows a registration in NC which is where we adopted her from. She’s a rescue pup and so sweet, just thought the little reminder of how we saved her and she' has saved us was worthy of going into our book. I think she looks adorable in her green “Pet Me I’m Irish” shirt, don’t you?

Summer's first softball game

This free slideshow design generated with Smilebox

Project Life: Week 5

Welcome to my Week 5 (3/6-3/12) the week of airsoft and horses, and the week that boxes of Thin Mints snuck into my house!
Apparently my children thought it would be fun to look at the book through some 3D glasses, I never did get around to trying that though. Now that I’m more than a month into this project I am finding my groove. I find that I am more aware of the moments happening around me and a little more choosy with the pictures I take. One thing I know for sure is that the camera on my phone is most definitely getting a workout! Every single photo on this page and most of the subsequent ones as well are taken with my phone. They say the best camera is the one you have with you, and this little guy is always in my pocket. How much more convenient can you get?
I think that realization has also prompted me to make sure that I do take out the ‘real’ camera more often to get some higher quality shots. Considering that I might be lobbying for a DSLR in the very near future, I know it will be a good idea to use my existing point-n-shoot more. Honestly though, I have put the old point & pray through it’s paces and have thousands of photos to prove it, there will be no guilt there!
The two page spread:

On to the left side:

The daily walk with my pup always includes a pause and pose like the top photo. She stops, she listens and then pounces. Luckily she has come up empty so far, but birds and squirrels beware. I swear she must be thinking “So many squirrels, so little time”
My son is very much into playing airsoft. For those that aren’t familiar with it, it is similar to paintball without the mess. It’s essentially the equivalent of BB guns with plastic BBs however. We spent the day driving back and forth to the CQB store in Manassas to get his airsoft gun fixed (again). It was nice to have him all to myself to chat. we got caught in a massive rain storm & stuck in traffic due to a jack knifed tractor trailer.
Photo is of “The Bat Cave” I created for him to showcase his airsoft arsenal.
Meet Alfred, the little paper creation you see above. My teenager crafted this out of a piece of looseleaf paper and introduced me to him. I thought it was hysterical and it reminded me of his younger days, I often go back to this page to visit the innocent version of my now moody teen.
Sneaky Thin Mints came into my house. I spy a green box of cookies, can you?
Beautiful card and little book were a wonderful surprise I found on my doorstep one morning from my good friend Julie.

On to the right side of the page:
The photo of my kids playing may seem innocuous to most, but they rarely get along so it was nice to see them  playing the Wii with each other voluntarily. Although the picture quality is terrible, I couldn’t resist putting in this photo of these two playing together & getting along. Made My Day.
Totally surprised myself today by swimming 2/3 mile without stopping. then I met the instructor for the Master’s class and decided to give that a try too. I was pruny and exhausted at the end but learned a lot and will do it again soon.
Life is GOOD
1. Eating healthy (see veggie pic)
2. Good friends (see little book pic)
3. Home to take care of sick kids (see sleepy sick kid pic)
4. Doing nice things for them (see Bat Cave pic)
In this picture is me with a horse. His name is Rascal. It was so much fun! {Written by Summer}
We were told on Summer’s very first horseback riding lesson that apparently she is a natural. It’s so nice to hear that about your child and I am so incredibly thrilled for her!