--- title: "Small Success Thursday: What a Party!" description: What small successes are you celebrating this week? Join the fun and get some encouragement, too! Sherry Antonetti hosts this fun weekly feature. --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2015/08/06/small-success-thursday-what-a-party#) # Small Success Thursday: What a Party! Aug 6, 2015 8:00:13 AM  |  by [Sherry Antonetti](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/sherry-antonetti) [![Small Success dark blue outline 800x800](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Small-Success-dark-blue-outline-800x8001-400x400-48.png?width=400&height=400&name=Small-Success-dark-blue-outline-800x8001-400x400-48.png)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Small-Success-dark-blue-outline-800x8001-61.png)Back to normal life....but what a party! I have to share a few pictures from this epic event. [![copyright 2015 Sherry Antonetti. All rights reserved.](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/happy-kids-220x400.jpg?width=220&height=400&name=happy-kids-220x400.jpg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/happy-kids.jpg) [![copyright 2015 Sherry Antonetti. All rights reserved.](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/feast-220x400.jpg?width=220&height=400&name=feast-220x400.jpg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/feast.jpg) [![copyright 2015 Sherry Antonetti. All rights reserved.](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/here-comes-everybody-550x303.jpg?width=550&height=303&name=here-comes-everybody-550x303.jpg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/here-comes-everybody.jpg) [![copyright 2015 Sherry Antonetti. All rights reserved.](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/a-good-time-220x400.jpg?width=220&height=400&name=a-good-time-220x400.jpg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/a-good-time.jpg) Photos copyright 2015 Sherry Antonetti. All rights reserved. I think what I loved most was here we had all these kids at the party with their families, kids who live for the DS, the Wii, tablets, iphones, ipods, computers, kindles and the like, and the most popular toy at the party, the one that caused all 39 of them to spend the afternoon chasing each other around, was an old-fashioned radio flyer wagon. The grandparents brought bubbles and glow sticks and balloons and we danced and ate and played well into the night. Three days later, we're still recovering but the day, the night, the food, the company, the music, all of it was just joy unbounded. We'd put little LED tea lights on the table for when it got dark. The kids collected them and made a gift for us after we cut the cake. They took all the tea lights and made a big twenty-five on the ground, lit and luminous. It felt like a wedding feast more than a party, and fed us all in more ways than food. We wanted it to go on forever. The readings at Sunday's mass reminded us that heaven is like that, with us getting that bread always, and that the Eucharist is to feed us beyond the moment. Returning to real life this week, with laundry piled up, dishes, bills and ordinary stuff, the bubble of memory remained close to the surface, feeding us through the ordinary time with the memory of all the shared stories, happy faces and friendships old and new, just as the readings and the Eucharist fed us through the week of returning to ordinary work. Our small successes for this week? We ordered a plane ticket for our sophomore so she can get back to school, helped the senior fill out her common app for college, researched a car for my graduate-student son, started swimming lessons for the youngest five and began work on all the summer stuff we didn't do during the week of the party.   *Copyright 2015 Sherry Antonetti.* *Photos copyright 2015 Sherry Antonetti. All rights reserved.* [inlinkz_linkup id=552025 mode=1] ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F08%2F06%2Fsmall-success-thursday-what-a-party%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F08%2F06%2Fsmall-success-thursday-what-a-party%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F08%2F06%2Fsmall-success-thursday-what-a-party%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Small%20Success%20Thursday%3A%20What%20a%20Party%21) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F08%2F06%2Fsmall-success-thursday-what-a-party%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2015%2F08%2F06%2Fsmall-success-thursday-what-a-party%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Sherry Antonetti](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Sherry%20Antonetti.jpg) ### [Sherry Antonetti](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/sherry-antonetti) Sherry Antonetti is a freelance writer, high school teacher and a blogger at Patheos. She and her husband live in Maryland with nine of their ten children and a puppy named Pumpkin. [**](https://twitter.com/sherryantonetti) ## Related Blog Articles [ Small Success Thursday: Summer Vacation Special Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2016/08/11/small-success-thursday-august-11) [ Small Success: The Side They Pierced Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2016/10/27/small-success-side-pierced) [ Small Success Thursday: The 4 AM Smile Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2016/08/25/small-success-thursday-4-smile) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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