Back in the spring our little guy decided that he wanted to go to basketball camp this summer. After I got over the shock of realizing that he was in fact old enough to go (COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE STOP THE TIME?), I filled out the registration form and signed him up. He was excited as could be, and I was tickled to see him show some interest in a sport that I’ve loved for years and years.
I don’t know if he realized how much work camp would be, but he was totally carried away with it from the very first day. What he lacks in basketball skill he makes up in enthusiasm, and he thought it was the most fun to see his friends and cheer them on and dribble the basketball and maybe even make a shot every once in a while.
As a mama, I just couldn’t have been more proud of him.
At some point during basketball camp week I decided that we needed to celebrate all the fun he’d had with a little celebratory family dinner. All the food was round (get it? like a basketball? because I am queen of the obvious?), and I served some of the little man’s favorites: slices of turkey and pepperoni, Provolone cheese, lima beans (granted, the “round” was a littttle bit of a stretch on the lima beans, but we needed a vegetable) – and a very special dessert.
He loved it. And let’s all just pretend it looks exactly like a basketball. MAMA TRIED.
I used a biscuit cutter to make circles out of two Ice Cream ShoppeTM Vanilla Milkshake Pop-Tarts®. I made a little ice cream sandwich, and then a few drizzles of chocolate syrup brought home the basketball theme.
It was such a fun way to celebrate a great week at basketball camp – and the best part was how easy it was to pull everything together.
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What’s one of your favorite ways to celebrate with family and friends?
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You can find the official rules right here, and you can find all sorts of great dessert ideas on the official Pop-Tarts Sprinklings site. If you’re wondering just how creative you can get with Pop-Tarts, you need only look at the Sprinkly Ice Cream Bites.
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We love going to a restaurant out here called Islands. Kids eat free on Tuesdays too!
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I know everyone has said this same thing but we love to eat, either a delicious home cooked meal or going out to eat! We also love to play games together like Hand and Foot or Rook!
i love the have big bbq’s
We have Fun Family Nights to celebrate something special. We usually make homemade french bread pizza, play games, and watch a movie snuggled up together on our couch. It’s fantastic!
On birthdays, I love to cook a favorite meal for the family member and let them eat on our birthday plate (a tradition passed down from my mom :)!
For us, there’s nothing better than sitting down together on the back porch and talking. :)
Cooking a meal and sharing it is the best! Then, outside playtime with the kids!
We have two special plates in our family- A beautiful red and white flowered one, and a dark blue one that says “It’s your day…celebrate!” We always use them for birthdays and whatever special times come up. We keep a running list of when and why we used each plate and it’s so fun to read back at all the special occasions! :)
With food. Love to eat together. It can be a night out, a potluck… doesn’t matter as long as we’re together.
I love to celebrate with my family. We all bring food (mom provides the protein) and then we play games and laugh alot!
We love to celebrate things by allowing the kids to pick out their own menu….doesn’t matter that absolutely nothing goes together….they just get to pick whatever foods they would like to have. Then we spread out a huge sheet in the living room and have a picnic together and enjoy each other’s company.
home made ice cream cake!
One word – CUPCAKES!! – with appropriate sprinkles/decorations, of course.
A good home cooked meal is a great way to celebrate any occassion!!
Make our favorite home cooked meals!
Hands down…without a doubt…the best way to celebrate is with FOOD! Love, love, love nothing better than to cook up a big ol feast and sit around and just enjoy the company…
Potluck dinner, an organized one, with lots of carbs and lots of sugar and vegetables must be cooked with ample amounts of butter :)
Barbecuing in the backyard! The kids entertaining each other and staying up past their bedtime because it’s a special occasion. And cupcakes. Always cupcakes.
pop tarts quick meal toast grab and go in this fast paced world
I love to make special birthday cakes for my children. 13 years ago, the requests were simple. Cartoon character. School bus. As they get older, it becomes a bit more challenging. A swim meet/ swimming pool cake comes to mind!
Definitely going out to eat! Or grilling on the deck, provided it’s not too blazing hot!
Our grandkids love to go out to eat one time during their summer visits and each has their own fav place to go. We celebrate their summer visit(s) by going to their favs (We have nine grandchildren of varying ages; so they generally visit in twos and some of their fav eating places are the same)
I like to celebrate with friends through food, i especially love making this (puppy chow for humans):
6 cups Crispix cereal
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
12 ounce chocolate chips
2 cups powdered sugar
Melt peanut butter, butter and chocolate chips together in the microwave or on the stove. Stir into cereal. Put powdered sugar in a paper sack. Put cereal mixture in and shake until well coated
My friends and I always go out to eat when we’re together, and there is usually lots of gossip, followed by a chick flick :)
My favorite way to celebrate with family and friends ALWAYS involves a tasty meal together. My entire family has a passion for cooking–and eating–marvelous food. We all pitch in, and the process is as fun and important as the meal itself.
Thanks for a great giveaway!
We love family get togethers! My extended family is about to go on a 7 day beach vacation – all 18 of us! Love it! But it does not matter what we do or where we go or the occasion there is LOTS and LOTS of laughter (the pee in your pants kind). Getting my depends ready for this next week :)
I love to celebrate around food . . . especially dessert. I love to bake so it all works out nicely :)
We like having a big family picnic.
Going out to eat is our favorite way to celebrate with family and friends!!! We love to eat!!!
I love going out to eat and playing board games to celebrate!
We celebrate special occasions with “Mexican” night. We use a blanket from Mexico as a table cloth, we have virgin Margaritas, and I make fajitas with all the trimmings!! Such fun!!
A back yard BBQ is a great way to celebrate (at least in the summer). For our circle of friends we do pot lucks in the winter. Thanks for the contest.
We love going to a local place called Gators for a boatload of wings!
so, my dad died suddenly last fall. to know him was to love him and he loved everyone. anyone felt comfortable with him. he had a heart more like jesus than anyone i knew, in spite of himself.
he would have celebrated his 60th birthday this past may. i decided, on this day, instead of being sad, we would celebrate just as we would if he were on this side of the grass. more than anything, he just loved being with people. and he was a musician and a songwriter. and if he were here, my sisters and i would have gone out to nashville to celebrate with him there.
instead, i invited a couple of his closest friends and family to meet my little sister and i in the graveyard that evening dressed in their wackiest/tackiest attire. i had a mad hatter cake made and we catered a barbecue and played his music and had a mariachi parade with sparklers. we wore mardi gras beads and masks, blew party horns, and created a little shrine to him on his footstone with pictures of him and candles. at the end of the night, we tied our own messages for him to balloons and released them into the sky.
it was the most beautiful, wonderful, FUN birthday celebration i’ve ever attended. my.dad.would.have.LOVED.it. he wouldn’t have wanted us to be sad that day AT ALL! it was exactly the type of party he would have wanted to have had for himself, or attended for someone else.
in the end, we all agreed that it was just a glimpse of what heaven probably was like; or, at least, how death and life are supposed to meet.
xo
We love to celebrate with pot luck dinners.
We love to grill veggies outside on the grill or over our fire pit. mmm I marinate them in olive oil and all sorts of fresh herbs. Making me hungry just thinking about it!!!
When its not too hot, its always fun to hang a sheet outside in the tree and play movies outside. We have a projector, so its like being at a drive-in but in your own yard!
My family will usually go to dinner and either open gifts at the restaurant or go back to someone’s house and open gifts and have cupcakes or a cake and ice cream. My favorite part is blowing out the candles. :)
Thank you!
Having a meal together, whether it’s a holiday meal, or a weekend BBQ. We all pitch in.
going out to eat or for dessert, or making a special dinner or dessert
My favorite way to celebrate with family and friends is by gathering together and playing games or sports.
We are quite competitive. At the risk of sounding like a geek, we are avid ping-pong players.
We LOVE to go to the lake. Good food, however, is pretty essential to any celebration, don’t you think?
We love to eat and then eat some more. Every get together involves a well thought out menu that always delivers goodness, happiness, and a few extra pounds.
When my family reunites, Mom asks us each to either plan a meal that we will make ourselves or request one of our favorites from her – this way she doesn’t have to plan them all, she gets a break from some cooking, and we all get to enjoy her good southern Italian meals!