Party Time ~ Rio 2016

I had so much fun planning for the last few weeks (months) for the opening ceremonies, but of course it's always MORE fun for that awaited day to finally get here! We just had a fun family party to celebrate this colorful country of Brazil and the opening ceremonies in Rio.


The food is ready...

* Pastel de Carne beef empanadas) with Pico de gallo and sour cream

* Strawberry-Kiwi Kool-aid and Dr. Pepper

* Iced Almond Cookies in "Rio" style

*Brigadeiros (chocolate truffles) with cocoa and toasted coconut coatings (I can't believe I forgot to take a picture...but they didn't look much different from this blogger's photos). ;)

I absolutely love making these cut-out iced cookies for special events. 





 Everything was delicious! The family ate up the Pastel de Carne Rapidos. And the brigadeiros were the perfect chocolate touch to round out the meal. :D

The decorations are up...
....floating tissue paper puffs, streamers, posters, and my favorite - the 100 country flags banners (I had enough for 4 of these banners around the house!).










The day has arrived...


the countdown begins (excited screaming!)...


It's time!!! :D

*WOOOHOOOOO*







God was so good, as I knew spending money on a "party", even a small family one, is a bit of a frivolous use of our money. But I prayed, and waited, and waited some more, and in the end I had everything I'd planned for and all I had wanted...just some good food, a few decorations for fun, and my family around me. :) God provided and it was a really great night and a wonderful weekend together.

 $1 store glowstick bracelets and bead necklaces in fun colors added a nice Rio flair to our party. :)

  

 

As did these cute pineapple straws for our drinks!

We girls painted our nails, just for fun. Jessica is very artsy, and managed to spell out "Rio" and "USA" on her nails, with some Olympic gold sparkle on the side. ;)

 

My nails ended up a little crazy. lol

 

 

* * *

 I used the leftover Pico de Gallo the next day to make a Pico de Gallo Quesadilla with a little cheese and sour cream. Really tasty! :)

{Mm, I could go for another one!}

My favorite highlights of Rio so far were the magical mirrored torch lighting, the seed planting for the athlete's forest, and the men's relay last night (Go USA!)... plus the volleyball, the gymnastics so far, and wow were the cycling road races so scary!

I'm getting lot's of cross stitching and reading done during all the commercials. I hate wasting time. ;)

Are you all watching the Olympics games this year? What has been your favorite part so far?

Love and blessings all! Thanks for stopping by today.

Off to Rio!

Ola (that's hello in Brazillian!)! 

Anyone who knows me well knows I'm a HUGE Olympics fanatic. How other people are around football season is how I am during the Olympics, especially the summer games. I LOVE it!

The opening ceremonies are on friday! EEk! I am SO excited! I love the color, the lights, the patriotism, and it's always a great family time for us. I always enjoy finding some recipes to show some host-country spirit, too, which is a lot of fun.

I thought it'd be fun to share some of the crafts and recipe ideas for Rio that I've found with all of you. There's still time to bring a little bit of Brazil to your homes before the opening ceremonies! ;)


Menu:

Pastel de Carne (Fried Beef Empanadas)  - Jessica and I are making these, but we're adding a slight mexican twist with some Pico de Gallo on the side for dipping instead of the ketchup. This woman's blog is fantastic if you're looking for Brazillian recipes. I learned so much about Brazil from her articles! :D

Brigadeiros (Brazillian Chocolate Truffles) - You HAVE to have some chocolate, right? ;) These look so easy, and I've made something like them before. We'll coat some in cocoa, some in sprinkles, and some in coconut...this last which is a Brazillian tradition.


And I will probably try this recipe one day for lunch, just for fun. Canja is a national food, kind of like our American version of chicken noodle soup. ;) The blogger said they have resturants where they serve soup in the evenings - only soup and bread...nothing else! :D I love soup, so this Brazillian favorite is a must try.


If you're interested, I also found these recipes I might try another time:

Limeade

Galinhada Mineira (Saffron Rice with Chicken and Vegetables)

Decorations:

For decorations mom and I printed out some posters to tape up around the house. And I found some wonderful tutorials (thanks Pinterest!) for garland.

And I found this fun banner with mini flags from 100 countries you can print/cut and make into a banner. This is going in our living room above the tv area where we can see it while we cheer on our favorite Olympians! :D

Jessica and I did some shopping at the dollar store, and found some party items like pineapple straws, more streamers, and some fun tissue paper hanging flower-balls to hang from the ceiling. Oh, and glow stick bracelets and colorful bead neckalces, so we'll fit in with the Brazillian's.

I have a Pin-Board set up on Pinterest if you'd like to see some of my favorite Olympic moments, recipes, and decoration idea's I've found so far! :D {There are some wonderful younger children's crafts if you have little ones at your house. My mom always incorporated the Olympics into our homeschool - it's a great way to learn about other countries!}

Thank you for visiting!
Ate logo! (that's goodbye) ;)