-Ruthie Carlson: Party Night

I am so glad you stopped by! I have loved following so many of you on fb, pinterest, and instagram and seeing all your fabulous ideas for Valentines! The incredible dinners, decorations, and gifts have inspired me like crazy! I love our tradition at Valentines and I wanted to share a little of our night with you! The day was a blast! I'm pretty laid back about most everything, so where most people would have spent the day in the kitchen getting ready for a dinner party for nine, I was out playing with everyone anticipating the dinner. Towards the end of the day, we split up and conquered the grocery store and other little errands. When we got home, everybody pitched in to clean up and prepare dinner. Eddie always says "Many hands make light work." I say "Many hands are just way more fun!" Right around dinner time I thought it would be fun to take everyone to meet Baby Rain. So we turned dinner on low and headed out to the pasture. Crazy, I know, but I'm so glad we did! She was glad to see us. Well, I like to think she was. Her mama definitely was because we came bearing food. After we ooohed and aaahhed over Rain we headed back to finish fixing dinner. We eventually got dinner on the table and it was perfect!

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My Valentines from my family[/caption]

Probably my favorite part of the night is giving away Valentines. They are all handmade and truly reflect the personality of the maker. (Unless your my sweet husband, and this year his valentines reflected the personality of one of our children, who remains anonymous. Thank you for helping your daddy, KK!) Anyway, it is my most treasured part of the night! My heart truly just wells up as we pass around our valentines. Some have notes and some just a sweet sentiment. Some are incredibly elaborate and some are quite simple. Either way, it really is the thought and time spent on the piece of art. Eddie always gives a box of candy to everyone, and I always wrap up a little happy along with my valentine. It's so much fun!

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Fox and KK battling it out for the win[/caption]

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Luke waiting to begin[/caption]

The next part of the night is always a huge hit. I plan games. This year we had a hula hoop contest and charades. The hula hoop contest should have been on "Americas Funniest Home Videos!" My children can hula hoop for hours, so I decided to hoop with a twist. You had to hoop blind folded and drinking a glass of water. It was hilarious! Since there were nine of us, we decided to go in groups of three and have a run off for the winner of each group of three. KK took the first win in her group. It was a tie between MaryCam and Towns in my group, because they finished their water and could have hooped for days. Since our third group consisted of a few new comers, we let Eddie lead the group without water or blindfolds. Absolutely fabulous entertainment! The boys were great sports and we

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Fox ready to hoop[/caption]

decided they were all winners! For the gold, the winners of each group had to hoop and run from a starting point to a finish line! KK won the prize! She was the hooping queen of the night! So fun!

Last but not least, charades of songs about love, books about love, and movies about love. It was girls against the boys. Though we had MaryCam on our team (she is the best charades player ever) the girls were unable to pull out a win. The boys took home the gold in charades. However, Luke, I still don't think "Poor Richard's Almanac" counts as a love story! Way to go guys!

After the games, Eddie and I called it a night! Everyone else stayed up for a movie. It was a great night! Any night you spend laughing and playing is a great night! I think it was so much fun because it was easy. It's not about the stress of details. It's about being together. So dinner was a little late, I forgot the bread, and Eddie had a little help on his valentines. At the end of the day, no one remembers that stuff. It's the fun and the laughter that everybody treasures. Plan a family fun night for no reason! Let me know how it goes! Or message me for ideas! I love it! Thank you for stopping by! Love love love Ruthie (I hope you don't mind if I post pics from the party! Enjoy! Take a few ideas too!)

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