Thursday, March 19, 2009

And the Cheese Hens Run Away With It!

Welcome back to HLA and another round of March Madness! This is our final round of a creative version of March Madness which pits teams from across the country against one another to determine the best creative idea/website/item from the past year.

Today's team the Wisconsin Cheese Hens run away with the win because the team they were pitted against heard that they had such a grand idea that they forfeited the competition.So it is on to Round 2 which starts next week for the Cheese Hens but not without sharing their great idea with all of you:

The Cheese Hens are a group of lifelong friends that have all been friends for over 3/4 of their lives and then some! They started out as 8 women and today when their group gathers, they are 14 adults and 16 kids!
They chose their number one idea because they all turned 40 last year, and this was by far the MOST FUN and their hands down favorite of 2008:

Deb's Running Over the Hill Party
Deb has loved running since she was in middle school, so she and her husband Ronn decided the theme of her 40th would revolve around running- a natural choice. We were all invited to participate in a 40 hectometer (about 2 1/2miles) prediction run/walk and there was also a 40 meter dash for the kids. When we arrived we are all given race numbers as our name tags and it also described how we knew Deb. The winner of the race had the time closest to his prediction and he won a running jacket. Prizes were given to the top five predictors as well as door prizes. Over 100 people came to help Deb celebrate in this totally fun way. In lieu of gifts we were asked to make a donation to Special Olympics which tied into Deb's love of running and children (she's a teacher and an incredible MOM!). Over $400 was raised. This was held in June at a nearby park and a picnic followed. This was truly a blast!

You see...not only is this idea a fantastically creative way to celebrate your birthday but clearly the Cheese Hens embrace the Spirit of 218! Way to go Cheese Hens and we look forward to seeing you in the Semi-final round of competition.

Announcements:

Take the Cake: Thanks for all your nominations...we'll post the finalists tomorrow for your voting as we attempt to determine what woman truly takes the cake.

Getting to Know You: One of the things that makes highlowaha so special is the community we have created across the country. Part of community is getting to know one another. So...if you have the chance to get together with another HLA community member snap a picture and send it our way highlowaha218@gmail.com ...we'd love to post pictures of you (or your children) as you meet in person (even if you already know one another). I'll start by sharing these fun picture of Claudia's Jack and Matthew and my Lily from the park last night...it was so beautiful here in Dallas that we spent the evening after work letting the kids eat at the park and then play.


20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did Ray have a hangover over?

Heather @ HouseofShine.com said...

Robin the beauty of being a lightbulb is that Ray can hold his own when it comes to partying...I heard he was off to work on time yesterday morning, no worse for the wear.

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOODNESS those kids are getting so BIG!!! Last time I saw Jack, he was a little baby laying on the floor! WOW how time flies. Lily is still too cute, Heather!

Well, this topic is close to my heart lately as yesterday marked the ONE MONTH until my mother's own 40th birthday party!!! Invites are out...and well, thats about it! LOL I have a lot of work to do until then. I just have no time! AHHHH! In case anyone hasnt heard by now, the theme is 80s, and if you have any fun ideas, I would love to hear them!
OH! Heather, I am headed to Horner Novelty today ;-) for some party ideas/supplies!!! HEHEHE (we love Horner!).

Heather @ HouseofShine.com said...

Cassie P...glad to have you back around. I do LOVE me some Horner Novelty!!!!

Cassie, have faith that things will get better...I mean you are just a few weeks from graduating.

Chaotic Kristi said...

I really wish some of you ppl were closer!
altho, I see in my magazine that there is a rubberstamp & paper arts festival in Grapevine this coming July.......

Katie said...

Good morning, HLA!

I love the pictures of the kids at the park...looks like they had a blast. I agree, Cassie, they are growing so fast!

Cassie, what did you end up doing for the invites?

Anonymous said...

Since I was born and bread in Wisconsin... Cheese Hens? Come on Cheese Heads!!!

Chaotic... I see you more and more write about your cards.... I'm a card maker too!!! prdesigns Creative Greetings!!! Contact me, maybe we can do a swap or something, and talk the talk only cardmakers and scrappers understand!!

prdesigns1@sbcglobal.net

Cassie, we can always give ideas, but you need to be more specific in your request.... games to play? music? food? party gifts?

Peggy at work @@

Anonymous said...

Good Morning HLA. It's a busy week here - Claudia & Heather, WIL is this Saturday, so I'll be thinking of you!

Anybody know what's happening with the rainbows? It was such a fun, quick art project! :-)

Cheryl Houston said...

Wow, that sounds like a fun party!

Thank you Katie, I wanted to know the same thing from Cassie... what was the invitation?

Chaotic- Austin isn't TOO far away and definetly let us know if you're coming to Grapevine.

Cheryl Houston said...

hi. don't mind me.

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Chaotic... come on up to Grapevine! We will host your for the weekend. It'll be fun.

Cassie... I'm thinking you could do some sort of 80s trivia game. Peggy's right. Give us a general idea of what areas you need help with and we will brainstorm away.

Melanie... good luck with WIL. I am certain it will be a success.

lindsaymarie said...

Sounds like a great party, and I love the pictures of the kids!
Katie, we'll have to take some pictures together this summer. =)

lindsaymarie said...

PS I just had a chance to read over the rest of the comments from yesterday, and thanks so much for the congratulations, everyone! I'll be getting my master's in social work. =)

Heather @ HouseofShine.com said...

Fun ideas for an 80s party:

Certainly it is a costume party with full 80s regalia...you know stone washed jeans, tight rolled with bunched up socks. Side pony tails and teased up hair. hypercolor t-shirts and stilettos.

You could center the party around a themed movie (The Breakfast Club is the first that comes to mind) or you could do 80s music or you could do an 80s block party with 80s music blaring, everyone rocking their 80s gear and hanging out in the great outdoors.

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Cassie... here are my two cents worth...

Photographs. I am definately seeing old photographs of your mom turned into decorations - maybe coasters or centerpieces.

Trivia... Does Bellarmine still have the fun Family Feud sign from Family Weekend? Maybe they would let you borrow it and you could come up with a series of questions about the 80s (most popular movies, songs, etc...).

Or, could you do trivia specific to your mom (i.e. In 1984, my mom was dating..., or.. in 1989, my mom's favorite item of clothing was her...) You get the idea.

Yes to 80s music and 80s dress. Maybe you could even award a prize to the person who comes dressed the "best".

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Cassie... out of curiousity I wanted to see if there was a site that would tell fad foods of the 80s. I stumbled on this site. You should check it out for slang sayings (you could put one per name tag) and all sorts of other stuff.

www.inthe80s.com/glossary.shtml

Anonymous said...

Peggy...that was the name they gave themselves...I think it is a combination of Cheese Heads and Lady Hens...so Cheese Hens.

Anonymous said...

Actually you are sort of right about our name the Cheese Hens-
We call ourselves the Hens because the name was given to us in 1991 when we all gathered at our friend Samira's apt. We were chatting and catching up and drinking and catching up- you get the idea- well Samira's roommate told her with all of our chatter we sounded like a bunch of Hens!
So almost 20 years later the name has stuck and carried on to our S.O's- the Roosters and Children- Chicks! Instead of Cheeseheads, we're CheeseHens-Hey! It was late and I had to come up with a name! :)
There ya have it... the rest of the story!
Carrie

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Welcome and thanks for sharing, Carrie. The Hens are going to be strong competitors!!!

Peggy said...

Cheese Hens!!! heee heee :0)
Gotta love the story behind it!

Wasn't hinting that anyone should change their name after 20+ years!

The term "cheesehead" began as a derogatory term used by Illinois sports fans (namely those of American football and baseball) referring to opposing Wisconsin sports fans. The term, however, was quickly embraced by Wisconsinites and is now a point of pride.[2] The original display of a "cheesehead" hat was at a Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago White Sox game in 1987.[

Just saying, from someone just over the Cheddar Curtain... Illinois/Wisconsin state boarder.
:0)