Back in the fall of 2020, when our preschool opened back up, we met two of our dear family friends.
The preschool opened up with more limited hours, and so the three of us all suddenly picked up at the same time. After a distanced summer, we were hungry for even casual interactions with strangers – which is what this started out as, as our children ran and played outside the school for a few minutes before loading into cars.
Day after day, strangers grew into acquaintances who grew into friends. By piggybacking off our kiddos, we were able to “hack” one of the oldest tricks in the book: making new friends at school – except this time, it was our kids’ school, not our own. This allowed us to quickly up the time quotient of the friendship equation, which can be hard to do post-graduation. Casual interactions, swapped stories, and frequent check-ins piled on top of another until one day, I realized these new friends were as close as many old ones.
We swapped phone numbers. We met up at a park. And then, after many months, we took a big step forward: one of the families hosted a weekend dinner. There’s just something about being in someone’s home that’s a huge leap forward for relationships, don’t you think? We had a lovely evening, and then several months later, the other family hosted us all at their home.
As we pulled out of the driveway, John and I chatted about how it was our turn to host, but that we wished our home was more conducive to having multiple families with kids over. (Our house is wonderful for our own family with young kids – the open plan makes it easy to interact while I’m cooking and they’re playing, for example – but it can get loud and chaotic and hard for both the kids and grown-ups to enjoy themselves when it feels like we’re all on top of each other and the floor is somehow suddenly strewn with every toy we own.)
Then, June piped up from the back in a sad little voice: “I wish we could have the friends over to our house.” Not realizing she had been listening, we fell over each other to assure her that we could have friends over to our house and that our house was wonderful, because the last thing I want her to think is that there’s such a thing as a house that’s not good enough to host friends, or that I was anything but grateful for our perfectly wonderful home. She was reassured, and we talked about how it might be nice to have a spring party so that we could enjoy our backyard. And then I forgot about it.
But she did not :) And so, a few weeks ago – apropos nothing – June asked when we were going to have our spring party. And so, a spring party it was. We set a date, and the planning commenced.
Friends, my big girl is her mother’s daughter, and she launched into party planning with great zeal. Here’s a sheet with some of her notes:
Over several weeks, we brainstormed food, we made decorations, we planned activities, we baked and frosted sugar cookie party favors, and on the day of, we did all the final preparations together. She was in heaven. In celebration of imperfect hosting, I thought I’d share a few photos…
The flowers for the back fence were the biggest project – they probably took 3-4 or so hours over several days. Does that seem like a lot for something we tossed in the recycling post party? Maybe, but it was a delight. June and I listened to the Yoto radio while we cut the petals out of paper plates (I still have a gigantic stack from pandemic preschool-at-home) and then Shep joined in to paint 60 flowers. I hot glued them onto twine and John helped us hang them right before the party. It was SO fun, and they looked so sunny and cheerful!
We also hung some honeycomb poms from my party-planning stash from our trellis and the branches of the trees.
For food, we started with a charcuterie spread from Raleigh Cheesy that one of the other families brought (SO GOOD!) and lemonade/lemonade cocktails for the grown-ups. We kept things easy for dinner with hot dogs and brats on the grill, plus fruit salad, cut veggies, and a tray of Chick-fil-a mac and cheese. Dessert was warm box brownies (Betty Crocker always) with freshly-picked strawberries and whipped cream spooned over the top. June’s sugar cookies (from our favorite baking book) were the take-home favors.
Whether you’re nervous to host or it feels like your circumstances are less than ideal, I hope this post encourages you to go for it if it’s something that matters to you! This night is such a sweet memory – and we’re all eager for the next one :)
And never forget – string lights make everything 100x more magical.
In honor of Earth Day (today!), I wanted to share about something fun we tacked on to Articles Club this week: a stuff swap!
Our beautiful table at Stephanie’s! She is good at what she does! :)
What’s a stuff swap, you ask? In our case, it was a chance to trade our gently-loved items for someone else’s: similar to a yard sale or thrift store adventure, but with only the creme de la creme of items – the treasures you’d be thrilled to bring home after a long day of hunting. Ours was very casual, quick, and simple, but still fun – and it made me want to host a more full-scale swap in the future! Here’s a little bit about how it worked.
Unlike a book swap or a clothing swap, this was a stuff swap, and anything was fair game. Gals did actually bring clothing and books, but there were also beauty items, home decor finds, kids’ stuff, paper products, and more. We limited everyone to bringing just ten items so it didn’t become overwhelming, but I think if the swap was the focus of your event, you could raise the limit!
Some of the goodies and the gals
Steph had set up a folding table in her living room, and as we arrived, we rather unceremoniously arranged our items wherever they fit. This was just fine, but again, if you were going all out, it could be fun to designate different areas for different categories or provide more surfaces/levels to “merchandise” the goods.
To decide who went home with what, we started with a snake draft. (A snake draft, if you’re not familiar, goes like this: person A picks, person B picks, then person C, C, B, A.) We did two snake draft rounds and then opened up the floor for everyone to choose any remaining items they’d like. No fist fights ensued, but there was plenty of QVC-esque marketing of items, ha!
Early picks included a countertop compost bin; a pair of Hunter boots; Anthro coffee mugs; pretty tea towels; the Floret, Elizabeth Holmes, and Annie F. Downs books; a cocktail shaker; heart-shaped cake pans; and a wooden charcuterie board. There were also cozy sweatshirts, a grab bag of greeting cards, candles, and even a few Drunk Elephant items.
For my part, I was pleased to snag a cozy cream sweater (above), jean shorts, a trio of glass candlesticks, and a leopard shift dress. Our youngest and most stylish member, Adelyn, brought the sweater, and even though it was an item she was getting rid of, I snagged it without a second thought, ha!
Any items that weren’t claimed went home with the original owner. It was a welcome opportunity to clear out a few things that felt too special to send to Goodwill but were no longer serving our closets or homes. And a lovely way to live out our article theme for the month: sustainability and green practices!
Have you ever been to a stuff swap? Or a swap of any kind? What kind of swap would you want to host? (I think a cookbook swap would be fun!)
Is it too late to talk about Easter baskets? (Nah – you’ve still got a weekend and a week to prep, if you need it! :))
I know they’re not for everyone, but I’ve really grown to love the opportunity they give me to highlight an important holiday in our faith, support small businesses, replenish basics at the turn of the season, and create some magic for my little ones. And personally, as a creative person, they’re just really fun for me to collect, curate, arrange, and fluff! I might enjoy them even more than the kids.
(If you’re curious, I’ve written extensively on my feelings about Easter baskets in the past – this post captures why I love them and feel they’re an important part of our faith tradition! This post covers some of my tips for keeping baskets budget-friendly.)
Onto the stuffing! Before I get into the 2022 specifics, here are a few things I consider including each year:
— A Bible or faith-based book to add to our library. I’ve rounded up some of our favorites here. (I try to buy these from a local source when possible, like Quail Ridge Books or McIntyre’s Books!) Of course, Write the Word Kids is also a perfect pick for 5-12-year-olds.
— Pajamas. These usually come from Hanna Andersson, Old Navy, or my favorite consignment sale.
Now, here’s what’s going in our little ones’ baskets this year!
Both June and Shep will have a pair of hand-me-down pajamas I set aside from the last load my sister brought over, a few bath bombs, and a matching bathing suit (reader, I could not resist – this for June, this for Shep, and this for Annie). They’ll also have a new box of chalk I couldn’t fit in either of their baskets. In addition, they’ll have a few individual items:
Annie, age 9 months, will have her bathing suit. And actually, her basket is back-ordered until May, so she will have… nothing :) But I’m sure she will be thrilled, regardless!
If you’re celebrating with baskets, what’s your favorite find for this year? Happy fluffing! :)
Contrary to appearances, I’m not the most creative mom – rather, I’m a thorough researcher, and eager to put my own twist on what I find. And Valentine’s Day, for whatever reason, brings out my peak “borrowed creativity.” With kids, I find it to be just the sweetest holiday, and working on projects together for our people has become a beloved tradition over the last few years. I know homemade classroom valentines are not for everyone, but I thought it would be fun to round up some of the designs we’ve given over the last few years, in case you’re looking to borrow a little creativity of your own! For a future year :)
Every year, I ask the kids what they’d like the theme of their valentines to be, and then I riff on that. When June was 2, it was rainbows, so I printed these little cards and she swooshed on the lines with watercolor.
Cats at age 3! I used hot pink washi tape to attach little cat toys to cards I made, then outlined the edges in pink with Super Tips.
Dogs got their day at age 4. Honestly, these ones were a beast… way too much cutting and glueing of individual pieces, ha!
We did bunnies last year, at age 5, but for some reason I don’t have a photo of them. This year, the theme was rocks! We finally found a use for her overflowing gem collection :) She chose a combination for each member of her class and then we pressed them into salt dough hearts. I wrote on the front of the tags; she wrote the to and from on the back. We tied each bag with this gorgeous yarn.
This year, at age 3, Shep got his first custom valentines! He asked for a Thomas the Tank Engine theme, so I ordered Thomas minis and designed simple cards, which he spruced up with watercolor.
Happy Valentine’s Day, friends! I hope you have a great day celebrating with the ones you love.
