Ten-ish Things: Bunko

How do you spell "bunko"?  Bunko...bunco...bunceaux?

I play in a bunko group once a month.  It's so fun and a much needed break from motherhood with my girlfriends.  Last September I hosted the group at our house and I kicked Honey and the kids out for a couple of hours while we ate, played, and visited.

When they came back home, there were still a few women hanging out and visiting and the girls thought it looked like so much fun to have a bunko party.  They begged and asked and nagged for 10 months until finally they wore me down.  While Bubba spent 2 weeks at camp, we invited TWELVE 8 year olds to the house for a night of pizza and bunko.

We had decorations and prizes, but we had a hard time coming up with players.


We started by inviting girls from church.  Admittedly, the week leading up to the 4th of July weekend was probably the worst time all summer to host a party, but only four of the original 10 people we invited could make it.

Another mom that was helping me with the party started brainstorming who else to invite.  We needed at least 2 more to make 2 tables.  Remember the parable in Matthew 22 about the man who was trying to throw a wedding banquet for his son but he couldn't find anyone to come?  So he just kept sending his servants out to keep inviting different people until the banquet hall was full?  That's how we felt...like that man.

In the eleventh hour, the other mom found 6 more girls to fill our banquet hall and the Bunko party was ON!  It was a little awkward at first because only a few girls knew any of the other girls.  We took a few "photo booth" pictures to loosen everyone up.

Then we ate pizza and cookies.

That was the easy part.

Then we taught 12 girls how to play Bunko.  It took 4 grown-ups, one at each table and one to provide non-stop refills of Crystal Lite lemonade.

By the time the game was over, the prizes were handed out, and the heavy drinkers were cut off, there was no awkwardness.  At all.  They were all comfortable enough to climb on my couch and grin big for a group picture.

It was really fun, and I would totally do it again...in 10 months.

Party On!

Well, my babies are 4. Technically not for a couple of more hours, Bubba is the clock nazi today, and he's been sure to remind us of that any time we bring up the subject. But anyway, today is the day, and I can't believe it.

Just like every other birthday around here, we will be partying all week. You know. The "real day" celebration . . . the school celebration . . . and the weekend of the party celebration when all the family is in town. It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of work, too! So the rest of the week will be dedicated to "getting ready for all the fun".

Last night, I decided to roll the girls' hair in sponge curlers for the first time. I thought it would be fun to do their hair special for the "real day" celebration. It turned out very cute and very curly! By the time school was out, it had settled down a bit, but when we left this morning it was . . . curly! My camera crashed this morning while we were taking the "before pics", and I didn't have time to mess with it until this afternoon, so the "after pics" are after a full day of school. Anyway, if you find that your week is a little slow, and you need a party to perk you up, come on over, I'm sure we'll be doing something!

Brooke's curls

Mary TuTu's curls

Mary TuTu and Brooke on the day they are 4

Our Day

Today is our anniversary. Nine years ago today I was sitting at the hairdresser's waiting for her to show up and fix my hair for my wedding. She showed up about the time the limo was scheduled to pick us up and take us to the church. I was not a happy bride!

Honey is on a business trip this week, and even though we have already talked on the phone twice today, I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself.

I read this post this morning and decided that I didn't really have it so bad after all. Because Honey is much the same way, even after 9 years. And I know that he is just as bummed as me that we won't see each other today. And I've been reminded of what I have to look forward to when he gets home. Every day. Whether it's our anniversary or not.

And I know that we plan to do it up big for our 10th anniversary!

Happy "burp"day!

Yeah, my mom bought the bag with that saying. It is definitely 1st grade sense of humor!

Bubba turned 7 this weekend. Seven is a weird age. Bubba is stuck between childhood and the teenage years. He doesn't play with "toys" really anymore, but he is too young to cruise around in his muscle car with the stereo too loud. Those of you with kids this age know what I'm talking about. They don't know what they want for Christmas or birthday, and even if they do, it is so childish, you know their interest in it will last , oh, say, 5 minutes. Or, it is so grown up or expensive, you just can't buy it for your 1st grader and call yourself a good parent. Well, anyway, that's how we've felt this year at Christmas and again this past weekend at his birthday.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked him what kind of birthday he wanted. He really didn't know. All of the "themes" seemed too, well, juvenile. Finally I suggested that he go with the all encompassing sports theme. He embraced the idea, and I began researching how to make a basketball cake. A couple of days later, he told me that he wanted "that fruit cake that you make" instead of a traditional b-day cake. (We call it Spoon Cake, it is also known as Punch Bowl Cake.) I made sure that he understood that it wouldn't look like any of the sports equipment we use, much less a basketball. He said that was OK. "It still goes with the theme, Mom. You have to be healthy to play basketball." It was then that I realized that he assumed that fruit meant healthy. Good concept, bad application. For the record: Spoon Cake, is not a healthy alternative to traditional birthday cake. But, I didn't have the heart to tell him that.


So, this weekend, we ate Spoon Cake, pretended to be healthier, and celebrated that awkward 7th birthday in grand fashion. A good time was had by all.

B-day pix

Here are a couple of pictures from the girls' b-day. Did I mention that the theme for the party was "Princess"?



This is Mary TuTu. She loves Cinderella.



This is Brooke. She loves "Ciscerella" too, but lately she pretends to be Jasmine. I can tell she is Jasmine because she takes all of her clothes off and runs around in her ta-du-da-dus. When I ask why she took off her clothes she replies "I'm Jasmine." I didn't see the version of Aliddin where Jasmine runs around in underware. But Honey does think that Jasmine could use a lesson in modesty.

It's Official!

The girls are 3 now! It is really hard to believe! They are the same age that Bubba was when we told the family that we were expecting again. Time sure does fly. Despite all the days that I doubted we would even make it to the 3rd b-day, I can't believe it has come and gone!

We have partied all week. Last Thursday was the party at school. Saturday was the party at home with the family. Monday was the real day, so we went out to eat supper. Tuesday was Grampy's b-day, so we partied then, too!

Now we are resting up for October. We kick off the month with Grandpa's b-day, Halloween at the end, and Honey's b-day right in the middle! I have some surprises up my sleeve for that one!

Blogger doesn't seem to be wanting me to post pictures, so I will try again later.