Carnival Party for Doctor Cannon

The only way I could get Cameron to have/attend a party for himself

was if it had good food, beer, and games.

So, I did.

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at first I was saying the party was for me,

because he was adamant about not having a party,

but when he found out it was carnival themed,

he was all in!

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i planned, and pinned, and made for months beforehand.

i borrowed and emailed and called and enlisted help!

thank goodness for good friends!

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so here is the carnival themed party!

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the bunting is with random fabric i had or got in the remnent section

the table cloths were from Walls when i went to visit family

we had a prize tables for the kids, from winning tickets from the games we had around the yard

and a face painting station

and a balloon animal station

(i just had random people doing those activities)

i printed out a sheet of paper with different face paintings to follow

and had instructions on how to make balloon animals

i used this tutorial for most of the chalkboards

and did them on $1 store black foam boards

 my beautiful friend autumn posing in the photo booth.

we used cameron's mac in the photobooth app

and people could do it themselves

i made the fake large poloroid out of foam board

and wrote the Dr. Cannon using the same chalkboard technique mentioned above.

we hung the sign on the rope swing :)

 I realized we needed a drink sign...

so that was a last minute thing.

we used a cart for the water,

a large wheelbarrow & ice chest for the beer

and a mini wheelbarrow for the izzes

 there was a popcorn bar

i filled a bucket (borrowed) (cleaned) with popcorn

(i bought bags of popcorn from costco as opposed to popping it myself- $5/bag)

and had red and white plastic buckets with popcorn too

there was butter spray and powdered flavoring

and instructions.

we had small popcorn bags ordered on amazon to fill

 there was a hotdog and nacho bar too

we filled crockpots with the nacho cheese (huge can from costco)

wooden basket with chips (king sooper for $1 each - i got about 15 bags)

there were jalepenos to add

we also had plastic nacho trays!

i purchased some plastic hotdog holders at Walls for $1 for 4 and bought all they had...

total about 30, but I was worried we wouldnt have enough, 

so i ordered the paper hot dog holders on amazon.

kethup, mustard, and spicy mustard in squirt bottles

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we tried to borrow a hot dog roller and had it in the works, but it fell through last min.

so we just used the grill

 we had a sno cone bar

i purchased a sno cone machine on amazon

and randomly found the syrup on clearance at target.

i made cute labels and taped them on.

in the same clearance section, they had the sno cone cups and straws

for favors i filled cute red striped bags with peanuts

 (bags of peanuts from costco & bags from hobby lobby)

I made a cute little label that said

"if you're nuts, you know who to call"

thanks for coming!

(cameron has his phd in psychology)

 for a little token for us to keep

we printed out his dissertation

and had people sign it

 i made these dowel signs to show people the party was in the back

everything went without a hitch.

we had a blast.

we had tons of beer and peanuts and popcorn leftover.

and cameron was very happy with his party!

success.

graduation day FINALLY!

there was a small hooding ceremony thursday thursday night.

we got all gussied up and headed to the school.

 cyndy got to speak about cameron,

and it was such a great speech.

then it was cameron's turn to talk...

apparently they could choose to talk for a few minutes, and cam wasn't even planning on it, but when people started - they spoke at length about their family, friends, and their dissertation.

cameron was short and sweet and hilarious as usual.

 graduation was friday morning

and it was lovely weather

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hazel wasn't able to hold still, so we eventually moved to the side where she could run around

and we could see cameron better anyway.

 hazel was supppppperrrrr excited....

 we went to jelly for breakfast afterwards

it was great!

defense de la cannon

cameron headed to defend his dissertation

he looked nice :)

 hazel and i waited an hour or so before we headed up there

*it was a secret covert opp mission*

this was the room he was in.

we could hear talking, but didn't know what anyone was saying.

 we kept looking around the corner to see if he was coming out.

our plan was to sit with him while he waited for them to deliberate.

but when he walked out, he was too nervous and made us wait not with him.

then he changed his mind, and we sat with him.

 I think I got too excited after... and didn't take any pictures.

He walked in and it was quiet for a minute, and then there was lots of excitement!

we held up a sign for him and they let us in the room.

noone could quit smiling!

YEAH DOCTOR CANNON!!!!!!!

HE DID IT!!!!!!!!!

This is the song I made up Saturday morning:

"what day is today?

today is graduation day"

and kept repeating it :)

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We got up early, and I made sausage,

eggs, and biscuits.

Cameron got ready and left

to meet Tim, so they could ride together.

All the family and friends

that sent us cards :)

proudly displayed!

Cam getting ready

schnooze was graduating too

she didn't have to wear the hat,

but wanted to wear the tassle!!

the shirt cam picked out

isn't it cute?

He even had to get it taken in, b/c

he has lost so much weight :)

all snazzed up

the graduates
cam walking across the stage!

i almost cried ;)

walking some more

the Master and his Mrs.

"YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!"

Master Cannon and Master Byrne
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Then we headed to eat some awesome food at Spicy Basil
our fav. Thai place, and ate it at Tony,
Patrick, and Wes's new place.
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Then we got all our things gathered up for the party at tim's!

Team Cobra with King Cobras

(one of steve's bday presents for 5/18/08)
snake strike
fang strike???
bethany and cameron

steve's cheesecake
jason, autum, aspen, cameron

jason is one of cameron's

new mtb buddies :)

john and his gf schnooze

emily and matt

(em got burnt as she usually does

at all outdoor events... playing sball)

wes and patrick

(new nicknames: tricky & dubby G...

until last night and wes is now wiskas)

me and cambot
roasting mallows
cam's light-saber (present from jason and autum)
cameron stabbing kimel (firefighter... cool huh?)
schnooze by the firepit

(rascal this photo is for you,

if schnooze had a facebook account,

this would be on it:))

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for the BBQ party, i made the famous

PEPPERCINIS

yummmmmmmmm
cute huh?
mom's recipe:

peppercinis

1.5-2 jars of golden peppercini's (the larger the actual peppers are, the better)

1 lb cream cheese @ room temp

8oz crab claw meat (in the tuna section, in foil bags not jars)

1.5 Tbsp cajun seasoning

1 tsp hot sauce (like tabasco)

1 tsp dried thyme (did not have this,

used dried parley, but you don't REALLY need it)

small amt chopped parsley

1. cut stem end off, get seeds out (most grueling part of whole process)

2. beat/mix cream cheese; add crab meat, cajun seas, hot sauce, and thyme

3. put mixture in a pastry bag

4. pipe it in the peppercini

5. dip end of pepper into the chopped parsley (for looks)

* can be made in advance

* yields a lot of peppers

* you will have plenty of leftover cream cheese mixture,

but I find that it takes so long to cut/de-seed the peppers

you would never want to make more peppers, but you can :)

*ENJOY!!!!! everyone loves them and they go fast! They are slightly hot,

but worth every bite!

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-12 more days til MEXICO!!!!!

-less than a month until our 1 yr anniv & THE INDIGO GIRLS!!

-cameron's not even getting to relax right now

b/c he's at JURY DUTY... boo.