Party on Wayne

It has been cold this week. As mentioned earlier, we've had to have the dogs inside and that just makes it hard to keep the house clean. So, today was a mad scramble to get the house cleaned up, to MY standards since Baby Girl was having her birthday party. The annoyance I felt with the whole process is fodder for another blog entry, suffice it to say, someone was annoyed and someones are going to be in for a shock! After dealing with the aggravation of cleaning the house, we had to go pick up vehicles from oil changes and run the party errands. In the past, we've had to invite Kim Possible over, sludge through snow to pick up Hogwarts and pray that McGonegal and Trelawny made it out of the mountains, and create a cake that featured Spot the Dog. I really wasn't sure what to expect this afternoon, but I was prepared for anything. 

My sweet hubby joined us at Hobby Lobby, as unsure of the festivities as I was.  Baby Girl grinned and told us she needed some henna tattoo kits. On the way to the henna, she spotted "Silly String". We NEEDED two cans of each color, so into the basket they went. We collected zebra striped plates (pronounced like we're British) and matching napkins. Hubby and I looked at Baby Girl and at each other. She declared that everything else we needed would be found at the grocery store. We did the secret parent high five over a $50 birthday party compared to many in the past and headed to the cars. 

Big sister had been invited to a friend's house. Normally, we insist that she be around, but in the interest of no tension, we allowed her to head out. Baby Girl picked her cake, chose some chips and drinks and decided we were finished. I grabbed some ice cream, despite her protests and we headed home to order the pizzas. 

After years of extravagant, well attended parties, Baby Girl decided that this year was going to be super low-key. She had a few close friends who showed up at 6:00. The giggles began about 6:10! 

Anyone who looked at the list of activities would probably guess we were entertaining 9 year olds, not teenagers. There was more play at this party than I've seen in a long time. The crew laughed at the cartoons they pulled up on the television. They added laser canons to the Silly String battle and cackled through all 10 cans of Silly String. Elaborate henna tattoos were done on hands and arms of every guest, male and female. Sprite and Mr. Pibb were consumed in fancy plastic wine glasses which caused more giggles. They took sparklers into the front yard and took as they chased each other with them.

I have always loved hearing my children laugh. As they get older, their laughter gets more cautious. Tonight was a very special treat, for me. And I think the birthday girl enjoyed herself too!

oops - hit save not publish. Saturday, January 25.