Police Promotion Party

HF's Sergeant party was this past weekend. For decorations I set up the food table with the following: 

Pearl Black and Dark Blue balloons. I was going to make a garland or an arch with them but decided that just a row across the top would suffice. Black foil fringe backdrop, crime scene kit (includes crime scene tape, crime scene markers, and chalk) and thin blue line flag are from Amazon. Table cloth and congrats balloons are from Walmart. The chalk was to make a body outline on our driveway pointing to the front door. If kids are coming and you want to make it less scary, draw a smiley face on the chalk outline and have hand outline pointing to the front door or party entrance. I got blue and black plates and napkins, cups, and gold utensils from Walmart. 

Possibly my favorite decoration: I printed out a picture of "CHiPs" tv show for our bowl of chips. I used the crime scene markers to mark the different foods on the table. The food we served were pigs in a blanket (we just grilled hot dogs and brats) with a variety of toppings and buns, assorted fruit, a veggie platter, chips, Popcorn aka Cop Corn, and a cooler of drinks labeled "Cop Pop". Some other fun food ideas I saw online were Miranda "rice" krispies, and thumbprint cookies. Some good police party food ideas and displays are found here.

I ordered 3 dozen donuts from a local donut shop. Ask your donut shop if they will do a special order! They could do a shield shape with yellow icing, thin blue line, etc. It's worth finding out. They got my order wrong. It was kind of a fiasco, but donuts are donuts and we ended up with these and I was okay with it. For one, the thin blue line was supposed to be on chocolate donuts instead of white icing, but oh well! The "Stop Resisting, Take a Donut" sign is from Etsy. 

This bucket was labeled "seized goods" and it held the prizes for our Bingo game. 

I printed off the evidence labels and affixed them to these little mini paper bags. They were filled with caramel and cheese popcorn.

I made a police bingo game by using this website

Guess the Cop game I made when HF graduated the academy. You can make your own or I made mine available here.

Pin the mustache on the cop! My daughter drew this police officer and we used sticky mustaches for all the players. I think there may have been some peeking. No one sticks it on that perfectly. We also had some outdoor games set up like Bocce, Cornhole, and a mini shooting range (nerf and airsoft). 

It was kind of like a giant kid's birthday party but for grownups and it was so much fun. I can't wait to have another reason to throw a police themed party again.

HF got his stripes

HAPPY NEWS. Last week in front of his peers, HF was promoted to Sergeant. I was thrilled to be able to pin on his shiny new badge. It was a wonderful evening as he was recognized for all his efforts and hard work over the years that led to this moment. We've been a little busy the last while adjusting to the new assignment and schedule. He is back on graves, unfortunately, but at this point I can do any shift. I am an expert at shifts. I mean, once you've done all the shifts, it just doesn't matter anymore which one he's on. They all suck. Am I right? 😉

I've been calling him Sexy Sarge, and other Sergeant nicknames galore, and we are generally, all in all, very happy with this promotion. Two things. The difference in pay, which we were in need of desperately. And recognition. It's a little difficult for HF to take all the attention. On the one hand, I think like most cops, they don't want the recognition. He's a pretty humble guy and doesn't like to toot his own horn. On the other hand, police receive such little praise and attention, that it is a very satisfying and an emotional experience to FINALLY hear the things that you need to hear, mostly from your peers and superiors. Kind of a funny juxtaposition. Now he's a little police daddy to his own crew at night and I know he will do well. He is respected and looked up to. And a lot of fun too! Or so I've been told...

I am in full party mode. Whether he likes it or not, we are having a party this weekend with friends and family to celebrate him. He will wake up, partay, and then head off to his grave shift. I will post pictures of our party because it will be awesome. As soon as he gave me the go ahead to throw a party, BAM. This place was decorated the very next day. I can't wait to celebrate this guy with the people we love most. And thank you to Pinterest for all the amazing police party ideas. Oh, you know there will be donuts and police bingo at LEAST. 👮😜