The Ticket

This is a little different of a topic than I usually post but I feel like anyone that has a voice needs to speak out for children if they have a chance. My amazing friend Nicole has just published a book that every teacher, pediatrician, counselor, and caregiver should have access to. Anyone that is a constant person in children's lives. "Because every child deserves a ticket out!"

Gracie is a typical young girl. She goes to school, plays with her friends, and is often in the trusted care of The Man while her mother works. But when The Man crosses the line from adoring adult to sexual abuser, suddenly Gracie’s carefree life is full of uncertainty and entrusting another adult with her secret is a frightening thought. Unsure of what to do, Gracie goes about daily life keeping the secret deep inside. Then, while at her school's library Gracie, finds a book with a ticket in the back. The Ticket allows her a safe way to share with an adult, exposing the abuse without enduring the horror of having to speak the words aloud, or describe explicit details.   With amazing simplicity, Nicole Martin provides children with the words needed to find a way out of the shame, guilt and fear that can often keep horrific secrets buried and allow abusive situations to continue. 

The book is just now available to purchse and I think will be a huge tool for anyone in a caregiver situation for children of abuse. Visit Gracie's Ticket for more info about the book and my gorgeous friend the author. You can also like her on Facebook or follow on Twitter. Be sure to tell her that I sent you her way!

Tea Party

Yes I said tea party. Since my mom took us to the Ritz Carlton for our first Teddy Bear tea my boys have loved them. Yummy drinks, little food - really, what's not to love?! 4 Men and 1 Lady held the perfect Gentleman's tea party!

All the details and a lot more photos on 4 Men 1 Lady. Be sure to browse her blog, it's one of my favorites!

Have you ever had a tea party with your kids?

Opening Ceremony Bingo!

If you're watching opening ceremonies here's a fun bingo printable from Tiny Me. Big thanks to Big D and Me for sending me the link!

Fort Friday

It's once again Fort Friday on All for the Boys where we celebrate Friday with some fort inspiration!

The Ballast boys made a perfect living room fort during a recent rainy day. I can't think of a better rainy day activity!

A tall blanket fort by joshua twentythree on Flickr

Love this decorated cardboard playhouse from Life as a Thrifter

A great idea to use tension rods for a hallway fort from ikatbag

Love this playhouse from Legehytten

How cool is this from Richard Keal Woodwork?

Have a great weekend!

MAGAZINES

Magazines are an often forgotten but AWESOME gift for kids. My kids love magazines and it's the gift that keeps on giving all year! I was watching my oldest (9) read his magazine yesterday and it reminded me that I wanted to post about some of our favorites!

I think National Geographic and National Geographic Kids tops the list in our house

When thinking of some upcoming gifts I decided to look into magazine subscriptions. It's actually a pretty great gift and a great price. I like to wrap up the current issue of the magazine with a little note about the subscription. I found out that they have National Geographic Little Kids too and Zootles which is the younger version of Zoobooks

My brother and I used to LOVE getting Highlights in the mail and they now also have a younger version High Five.

They also have different Disney magazines for the Disney lovers. And did you know LEGO has a free LEGO club magazine? (There is a Jr edition as well)

   

Adding in the Cricket magazines! Seems like these have great reviews from all of you! Spider, Cricket

And Muse 

Do your kids like magazines? Have you ever thought about them as a gift? What are your favorites so we can add more to our wish lists!

Olympics!

My boys are so excited for the Olympics this year! They love seeing all the ads out and can't wait to watch some of the events. To wear out their energy a bit before they watch tv how about hosting your own olympics?

Love this party from A Small Snippet SO much! Lots more great photos here

DIY medals from Collage Collage

DIY torch from Domsetic Goddesque

This awesome party even has some great printables! from Bird's Party Blog

Are you/your kids getting excited for the Summer Olympics?

LEGO Party by Idea! Event + Style

Today we have a special guest post from Idea! Event + Style. I saw this party on Catch my Party and stalked Idea! Event + Style Facebook page so she could tell us more about this party.

Sure, it's fun to plan girls' parties. Ruffles, lace, pink, girly, tea parties... what's not to love? But I love a good challenge when it comes to styling an event. And it's ALWAYS challenging to take a classic theme and give it a colorful, creative, modern twist. This is exactly what I set out to do with my son's LEGO MANIA 6th birthday party this year! I wanted it to be as creative and fun as a princess party could be. Tell me what you think?

The invitations were packaged in a clear, plastic favor box. The idea behind this was to introduce a 'block' of some kind right from the start. And then of course we had to add 6 LEGO blocks inside since Neil was turning 6! These are available to order in my Etsy shop if you're looking for some cool LEGO-inspired invitations!

The kids' tables were set with a simple, modern vision. My favorite items were the hand-made LEGO plates that were made to resemble LEGO heads. These will be available to purchase in my shop soon too! Just email me at jasmine@ideaeventstyle.com if you need them RIGHT NOW!

The LEGO snack/dessert table included LEGO block shaped sandwiches (so easy and a big hit!), vanilla cake pops, LEGO ninjago cookies, veggie/ranch cups, fruit skewers and 'building fuel' aka lemonade. And cake of course!

The fabulous LEGO cake stand came from my 16 month old daughter's room ;) The modern LEGO candles are available here... and they come in a 6 pack, can you believe that? The entire printable DIY package will be available in my Etsy shop soon as well. Again, email me at jasmine@ideaeventstyle.com if you need it sooner!

Vanilla Push Up Pops

These are all the rage in the party world right now. And rightly so. They are super fun to make and eat! All I did was mix up cake batter, divide into separate bowls with the right food coloring. Bake mini cupcakes, use white frosting as glue and assemble in the push up pop container. The kids LOVED these!

I hope you enjoy planning your own LEGO party as much as I did. My little guy was very excited and all his little friends had a fab time... what more could a Mom/Party Planner ask for? Enjoy some of their pictures below...

Thanks so much to Idea! Event + Style for posting this amazing party for us. Check out their website and Facebook page for more party inspiration!

DIY River Raft by Mer Mag

Mer Mag is a huge source of inspiration for me. I LOVE this River Raft they just did for Handmade Charlotte. A fun craft for winter OR summer!

Find tutorial HERE and Mer Mag HERE