How's Yours?

I learned a new game this Christmas that would be fun to play at your New Years Eve party this year. It's called "How's Yours?" It's one of those games that a big group can play and you don't need any equipment.

You send the "IT" person out and think of something you would all have: it could be concrete as your shirt or abstract like your attitude or your job. (Little kids would need something more concrete).

Then you call the person back in and they go around the circle asking people "How's Yours?" For shirt you could say purple, warm, old, stained, etc. They keep asking until they guess correctly. If they guess correctly on your turn, then that person is the next "IT". It was pretty fun. Enjoy your last two days of the year!

More Christmas Game Ideas

So I must be out of the loop, but I've never seen Minute it Win It. But last night at a Christmas party we played some of those games and they were super fun and easy and involved everyone. I'm definetly going to do some of these at our Christmas party. The web-site has tons of game ideas you can play complete with instructions. If you need more ideas for your Christmas party head here.

Christmas Whoonu

We are having the family Christmas Eve party at my house this year, and I found some cute ideas online, but was still looking for something else.
One of my favorite games is Cranium Whoonu, so I decided to make a Christmas version making cards out of my own Christmas words. This would be an easy and orginal Christmas game for you to play with friends and family. For instructions on how to play Whoonu click here:
Here is the list of words I came up to make cards out of:
1) Santa Claus
2) Dasher
3) Dancer
4) Prancer
5) Vixon
6) Comet
7) Cupid
8) Donner
9) Blitzen
10) Rudolph
11) Snowflakes
12) Peppermint Candy Canes
13) Fruit-flavored candy canes
14) Elves
15) Decorating the tree
16) Real Christmas Trees
17) Fake Christmas Trees
18) Wreaths
19) Cutting down your own tree
20) Ward Christmas Parties
21) Christmas Eve
22) Receiving neighbor gifts
23) Giving neighbor gifts
24) Peanut Brittle
25) Fruit Cake
26) Eggnog
27) Fudge
28) Sugar Cookies
29) Making gingerbread houses
30) Seeing Christmas Lights
31) Putting outside Christmas Lights Up
32) Angels
33) Nativities
34) Song “Jingle Bells”
35) Song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
36) Black Friday
37) Online Shopping
38) Shopping with Christmas Crowds
39) Picking out the perfect present for someone
40) Song “I'll be home for Christmas”
41) Song “Silent Night”
42) Song “Little Drummer Boy”
43) Song “Let it Snow”
44) Song “Must Be Santa”
45) Song “Deck the Halls”
46) Song “Santa Claus is coming to town”
47) Song “Away in a manger”
48) Song “Joy the World”
49) Song “Feliz Navidad”
51) Messiah/Hallelujah Chorus
54) Christmas Lights on Temple Square
55) Movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” New Version
56) Movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” Old version
57) Movie “The Polar Express”
58) Movie “Mr. Kruegers Christmas”
59) Movie “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation”
60) Movie “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
61) Story: A Christmas Carol
62) Movie: Frosty the Snowman
63) Movie “Home Alone”
64) Movie “Elf:
65) Movie “Christmas Story”
66) Book “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”
67) Getting up early on Christmas Morning
68) Sleeping in on Christmas Morning
69) Building a snowman
70) Sledding
71) Snowmobiling
72) Christmas Morning Breakfast
73) Christmas Dinner
74) Being with family on Christmas
75) Family Christmas Parties
76) Opening presents
77) No school over Christmas break
78) Nutcracker Soldiers
79) Stars
80) Candles
81) Fireplaces
82) Ornaments
83) Movie “The muppet Christmas Carol”
84) Movie “Miracle on 34th Street”
85) Movie “The Santa Clause”
86) Movie “It's a wonderful Life”
87) Wreaths
88) Bells
89) Mistletoe
90) Christmas Color Red
91) Christmas Color Green
92) Christmas Color White
93) Christmas Color Silver
94) Christmas Color Gold
95) Writing letters to Santa
96) Sitting on Santa's Lap
97) Leaving cookies for Santa
98) Baking Christmas Treats
99) Christmas Caroling
100) Shopping Early
101) Shopping last minute
102) Sleepover by the Christmas Tree
103) Wrapping presents
104) Hot Chocolate
105) Hot Apple Cider
106) Chocolates
107) Getting toys for Christmas
108) Getting Video Games for Christmas
109) Getting clothes for Christmas
110) Getting jewelry for Christmas
111) Getting movies for Christmas
112) Gingerbread Cookies
113) Shortbread Cookies
114) Candy Cane Hersheys Kisses
115) Mint Truffle Hersheys Kisses
116) Snickerdoodles
117) Chocolate Chip Cookies
118) Pomegranate 7-Up
119) Cranberries
120) Christmas Art Projects
121) Pumpkin Pie
122) Apple Pie
123) Listening to Christmas Music
124) Fuzzy pajamas
125) Warm socks

(I know some of the numbers are messed up-but if you are like me you have a million things on your Christmas to-do list and I don't have time to fix it- You get the idea)

Taste Test Party

Last night we had a fun activity at our monthly girls night. We did a taste taste for our refreshments. Here is how it worked: A few weeks before I sent out a list of assignments. Everyone had a partner and here is what we had to test ourselves on. :

1) Coke vs Pepsi
2) Same item from two different restaurants (They brought fried rice from Panda Express and a local Chinese place)
3) Same cookie bar recipe-one used imitation vanilla and one used Mexican vanilla
4) Blackberry Cheesecakes-one using Philadelphia cream cheese, the other using store brand cream cheese
5) Low-fat fruit dip vs. full fat fruit dip
6) Organic granola and milk vs. regular granola and milk
7) Whoopie pies-(different recipes-we had to guess who made which one)
8) Bakery brownies vs. homemade brownies
9) Crush Soda vs. Store Brand Orange Soda

When ladies I arrived, I handed them their quiz and we went around and starting tasting.
The options are endless. It was a lot of fun. Even Coke enthusiasts had a hard time tasting the difference when it was disguised and tasted next to Pepsi.
The four people who got the most right got some hand soap from Bath and Body works, and then we watched Dear John in our garage (since it was windy).
The next time you are in charge of planning girls night, bookmark this idea and see how distinguised your taste buds are!

Friend Valentine Party

Ok, it might be too late to try this out this year before Valentines Day, but you definitely need to put it in your Valentine file for next year.

For our "ladies" night last night, the host had each of us make Valentines for everyone in the group and then we passed them out Elementary style. Then we each wrote what we admire about the person on their Valentine.

I really felt like I was in 1st grade grade opening them and reading all the nice things people wrote. I have the best friends!

As a mom sometimes you go through life serving and giving to other people and don't realize how much it means to have someone say something nice to you until they do. Then it really means a lot and you realize how blessed you are.

Thanks for the great idea Jess!

Simple Birthday Celebration

My family had a Christmas party yesterday and I was in charge of a little celebration for my mom's Birthday, which is today. I thought I would share what I did in case you need some simple ideas to honor someone in your life.

First, I made a three-minute DVD with pictures of her life put to music. Then we played a "Mom by the Numbers"-- Showcase Showdown Game. Basically I found about 12 questions that the answers were numbers about her life. Check out this website to look up facts about the year someone was born. IE, what was the cost of a home, cost of a car, average yearly wages, cost of a gallon of gas etc.

Then you can some personal questions like how many houses have they lived in, jobs have they had, doors at their house, pairs of shoes in their closet, etc. etc. Then you divide your group up into two teams and ask them these questions. The team that gets the closest without going over gets a point. And then at the end the team with the most points wins.

I also made a simple party favor out of moms favorite candy. I found a few boxes of these at the Dollar Store, and divided them into clear gift bags. (Kids are great at helping with this). Then I used the actual box of candy for the top. I cut them to fit over the bags, and then stapled a picture of my mom when she was 20 to it. Cute and easy. \