Maiden Voyage

Today seems as good as any to venture into the world of blogging. For some time, I have enjoyed the blogs of family members and friends and toyed with beginning one for our family. While I know it will be a challenge to make time to be as creative as I would like, I think I shall "bite the bullet" and begin, and see where it takes me. Yesterday we celebrated our granddaughter's 10th birthday. Ky and four of her friends began the festivities at Jump Mania. After expending a lot of energy there, they brought additional exhuberance and hearty appetites to our home,where they enjoyed the menu Ky had picked for the occasion:

1. Stromboli (I made two: hamburger and pepperoni, and kept them simple for young appetites.)


2. Fresh Fruit Plate


3. Fresh Veggies w/ Ranch Dip


4. Heart-topped Brownie Bites (This one was actually my idea.)


5. Iced Chocolate Cookies (And this one, as well.)


6. Heart-shaped Birthday Cake and Ice Cream


7. Fruit Punch w/ Heart-Shaped Ice Cubes (Yes, the cubes were Ky's idea; the girls loved them!)

Ky also planned the one game they played. Instead of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, she wanted to Pin the Lips on the Guy. She asked me to find a picture of a great looking guy and make a poster. (What a challenge, for Nana to find a picture of a guy that 10-year-old girls thought was, as they say, "Hot!") Then, each girl took a turn, blindfolded, pinning a pair of lips onto the poster. The girl to get the lips closest to the model's own (Ryli), won the prize (a small, heart-shaped picture frame).

My first impression, when Ky suggested the heart/love theme was that 4th graders are much too young to even be thinking about boys! And then I remembered, and admitted, that when my friend MaryJane and I were in 4th grade, we spent the night at her house. Each of us took the school picture of a 4th grade boy we thought was cute and slipped in into our pillowcase for the night (mine happened to be a boy named Vernon). One thing about it: With Valentine's Day being earlier this month, finding heart-shaped items was a cinch!