Hospitals, pneumonia and sepsis are behind us. This past weekend was all about a party!

My hubby, Richard, and I have two daughters (his and hers) who are two months apart. Step-sisters so close in age?  Yikes! Sounds like a disaster in the making! It hasn’t been – not even close. They don’t just tolerate each other, they are best friends. Richard and I constantly shake our heads at our good fortune.

On Saturday, we celebrated their college graduation and couldn’t be prouder.

(Well, I was actually pretty proud we were able to make these adorable chocolate graduation caps. So easy even I could do it – thankfully, with a little help from hubby.).

Yummy and adorable!

We had enough people at the house to be grateful for a big backyard, an extra borrowed barbeque and college kids who know how to be comfortable in large, noisy crowds with barely enough seating. (Nice to know that college tuition was not wasted!).

A little tip: It helped to have invested in a five dollar table Ping-Pong set, a few red cups and a couple bottles of beer which turned out to be worth hours of entertainment.

A few days before the party, I called Robert to tell him I will pick him up early because we were having a graduation party for the girls.

He gave me his usual response of, “That sounds good” but sounded excited he was coming over a little earlier than usual.

There’s going to be a lot of people at the house, Robert.

Robert’s words don’t change but the big smile through the phone is evident. “That sounds good.”

Richard is going to barbeque hamburgers and hot dogs.

“That sounds really good.” Ha! The promise of one of his favorite foods gets him very excited about the weekend.

Even though Robert didn’t deviate from his routine of sitting on the couch doing his word search puzzles (yes, during the party), he seemed to enjoy the commotion and the extra conversation and the food. Definitely, the food. “The food is excellent” was his response to anyone who asked. Followed by, “Can I have some Rocky Road Ice Cream?” (Some routines can’t be changed.)

Congratulations girls!

The girls were relaxed and happy all day, visiting with friends, family and neighbors and probably more than a little thankful finals were a distant memory.

Even the dogs ran around soaking up the attention and way too many scraps of food (my protests to the brothers-in-law falling on deaf ears).

Having a house full of people and hosting big parties is one of my favorite things even though it’s chaotic and exhausting and, days later, I am still picking up confetti (every party needs confetti!).

Congratulations, girls. You two make me smile every day!