My brother and 2 sisters and I had a blast planning my mother's 70th birthday party. We come from a very corny family that loves to sing together so keep that in mind when reading what we did. We all dressed the same--light green tops and white bottoms. Kids, spouses and grandkids. Why? Because we did a skit. It was fashioned after a Bill Cosby Show episode and was called, "When Mom Was my Age." It took quite a bit of research. We lined up oldest to youngest and stepped forward one by one to say, When Mom was my age the year was 1980. Ronald Regan had just been elected president for the first time, Charlie's Angels was the number one show on TV (here my sisters and I adopted the Charlie's Angels huddle with guns that's their 'trademark'), and a gallon of gas cost $1.10. Then the next youngest (my sister) stood forward. At one point we all hummed the theme from Star Wars, another point we all did the Hustle. We tried to get as much sound and movement into each person's fact recitation as possible. Each of us said 2 facts about the times and ended with the cost of a gallon of gas. It took a lot of prompting to get our 4 year old neice to say her lines at the end (a gallon of gas was around 24 cents) but the whole thing was a big hit. We also did a Powerpoint presentation to music. My mother's childhood photos to In My Life by the Beatles, her early married life to What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, pictures of us growing up, getting married, the grandchildren to Through the Years by Kenny Rogers. On the tables we had small Hershey candies with computer made wrappers with photographs. For favors, each guest got a larger sized Hersey Bar with a photo of them with my mother at some point in life with the words, Thanks for sharing Connie's birthday. The table numbers were made from an enlarged black and white photo of her from a beauty pagent in her early 20's. We glued them to foam board, secured them to bases and put them out like a large paper doll holding a number and stood one on each table. My parents taught us songs to sing in the car for long rides. My siblings and I did a corny rendition of Down By the Old Mill Stream with fake moustaches after a funny story about how my father dealt with us in the car. My SIL made a big scrapbook with contributions from all the party guests. It took her over 6 months to gather the photos, stories and rememberences from everyone. My husband, a radio DJ, was MC and kept the day flowing smoothly. All in all, we had a terrific time. Everyone was entertained, well fed and my mother still brings the party up when we're together. She says she watches the DVD of the party every once in awhile, too.

Just think Hayden is one and in 4 months we will be welcoming another CF baby. This last year has gone by in such a blur. Rhiannon turned 5 on June 21st, Peyton turned 3 july 14th and Hayden's birthday was The 20th. I will have Dh take a pic of my baby belly tonight. It isn't pretty and I look like I could pop even though I have a long way to go. Stacie girlsingarden PS Happy 80th birthday to your mom Ann

I wanna know how many of those kids went home and said they wanted a special Birthday Pillowcase like Madisons. Bahhahahaha bet you got ORDERS for more from some of the attendees...great idea as usual ....and you did a nice job on the pillowcase, very creative.

Happy belated birthday greetings Nicole. OMG Sophie is all grown up. I remember when you first announced you were having her. I had no idea you were expecting a fourth or I had forgotten. My new (and first) grand daughter is about the same age. She will be 4 months on the 29th. I always loved seeing and hearing about your family. Hope you keep in touch with us here at the KT.