Boxofrox your photos are so lovely ! I love all of them and think it's so sweet you generously share your blooms with everyone !! Your hydrangeas are spectacular . I have been keeping my eye out for a glowing embers since I saw your photos . Jim , if u catch this , I used to live in pa and the year of 9/11 I was a camp counselor at a camp in shanks ville ! The property was so close to the wreckage , we had to not use certain trails because there were government workers collecting various " artifacts " from the plane , and could be seen there. We didn't want to scare the children . It was quite surreal .

Okay, since my kids were home sick today I did a lot of poking around and found coasters on Shutterfly that you can get photos printed on. I did this ages ago, but at the time, you had to get a set of 4, all with the same photo. But now, you can get 4 different photos. So I ordered 24 coasters all with different pics of DH! From toddler age til now. It was fun to do! I can put one at each place at the table. I may still do the M&Ms because I think they're great -- just have to see how my budget looks later. hhireno, thanks for the idea -- I did put "Last call for 49" on the invitation -- which I also ordered from Shutterfly. I know I'm a little crazy ordering this stuff so early but I have to space out the purchases so he doesn't get suspicious...

One word: CRAFTS! For the over-3 kids: I'd comb the local crafts store. Get the usual drawing and coloring items, construction paper, scissors, and pipe cleaners, glue, foam balls, etc. Add stuff from home like toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and buttons. Beads and cording are a huge hit for girls, since they love to make jewelry. Craft stores will have all sorts of neat things like foam visors and tiaras with foam shapes to glue on... there'll be lots of Christmas stuff out by then, too. You can also buy a large roll of paper (like butcher paper) and roll it out on the floor and let them go at it with the crayons and markers. If things can get messy you can add paints and glitter. Don't forget bags for them to take their creations home. The 3-and-under crowd have to be constantly supervised anyway, but you can give them edible crafts. One idea is to put out pointy ice cream cones, green tinted frosting, and small candies... the kids can coat the cones with the frosting and stick candies on them and they look just like Christmas trees. (Have enough for older kids, too, because they will want to do this also.) You can give the little ones the crayons, paper, and coloring books, too, of course. If there aren't too many kids, they can decorate a gingerbread house that you've already put together. A craft area attracts kids like a magnet and I've never met a kid who didn't like to be creative. My daughter and her friends made beautiful flowers from a bag of assorted "petals" and pipe cleaners. When we added beads they used those as heads and made beautiful fairies with petal skirts! If the weather's good, all the kids can be led on a nature hunt and gather leaves, sticks, and pinecones to go in and use for crafts, too. Cheers, from SwampWitch p.s. Recruiting parents for organized games would be good to do after they've had sugar. There are many books with great kids' games ideas and most don't need any extra props.

Terri, I *could* tell you the cupcakes were made with magic, no wheat at all! And I *could* tell you that no sugar was involved--just the sweetness of more magic! Yeah, I could tell ya that. But, hey, good for you in your efforts to avoid wheat and refined sugar! I try to avoid white rice, white bread, and potatoes, just to name a few, and I also try to not eat things with sugar in them (okay, that doesn't always work! LOLAM). Cupcakes, cookies, cake--most of the time, I don't have them in the house. Another really GOOD thing about being a retired teacher is that I don't get "exposed" to all the goodies in the faculty room, the donuts every Friday (right next door to my room!!!!!), or the special yummy things from the students! Thanks for the compliments! They encourage me to keep on trying to improve! Smiles, Sooz