Saturday, April 12, 2008

Another little slice of Americana...

Kendall had her birthday party last night (13!!). Imagine a concert with screaming teens girls and then kick it up a notch; that's what it felt like in my kitchen last night at times. OMG; I had no idea nine girls could be that "exuberant" at the same time. (I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure the presence of my very-cute 16-year-old son had a little to do with it.)

Anyway, the girls had a BLAST! For dinner, Mr.4444 and I set up fondue for them, which was a huge hit (even for the girl with her tongue out!)I highly recommend fondue for special suppers. We had steak, marinated chicken, and pork, plus extras. Of course, dessert was chocolate fondue with marshmallows, strawberries, and bananas. (That's bottled root beer, by the way; don't be calling Child Protective on me!)

After dinner, we set up a little crafting activity, which was enthusiastically recieved (what 13-year old girl does not like puffy paints, glitter, and her own personalized bag?!) I highly recommend this activity for a party; we bought the bags (which all the girls carry at the middle school lately) at Michaels, along with lots of iron-on flowers and symbols for them to customize their bags. The girls were so into this project that it kept them busy for almost two hours! A little advice for this project:

1) Buy one or two extra bags, in case you have last-minute additions to the party. (We ended up one short, and true-to-form, Kendall graciously went without. We're going out to get her one today, as the girls all plan to take theirs to school on Monday!)

2) Be sure to do the ironing parts before the puffy paints (you'll have a mess if you don't)

3) Do not iron on your hardwood kitchen table (even through three layers of towels) unless your husband doesn't care that you ruin the finish. If you miss this tip, avoid clearing your kitchen table of junk (no one will notice that way).(I just want to point out that this is the first ever photo taken in the livingroom with the TV OFF in the background! I know it's phony, given that the dang thing seems to be on 24-7 in real life, but hey, this is my fantasy and no one else's, right?)

I went to bed at 12:30, shortly after the Starburst-roasting ritualand my lecture on the dangers of helium-sucking: The girls (reportedly) went to "about 2am." Surprisingly, they were up by 8:30 and ready for pancakes. There's only one girl left to go home. Time for a nap....

14 comments:

  1. My oldest turns 14 May 8th and she has her annual sleep over around then.

    That is a GREAT idea about the bags! I will ask her if she would like to do that.

    Her 13th birthday sleep over consisted of tons of junk food, really bad horror flicks (i.e. Killer Clowns from Outer Space), and begging to go TP the boys down the street (ok, I caved...but in my defense they ONLY used toilet paper, and then TP'ed our own house to make Tiffany look innocent).

    Your party certainly seemed a bit more structured and whole lot of fun (smart on your part...believe me). Hope Kendall had a great birthday!

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  2. The best part was that Kendall continually thanked my husband and me. It's easy to be generous with your kids when they are so appreciative (Slick, arent' they?!)

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  3. wow, you must be one of the best moms ever!!!

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  4. Wow this looks like so much fun!

    I'm just in awe at how different a 13 year old boys "party" is compared to a 13 year old girls!

    :)

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  5. Awwwww....

    sounds like an amazing party. I can't wait until we graduate out of Chucky E Cheese. :)

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  6. What an awesome party. Love the bags! Not sure about the Starburst thing though. That's a new one on me!

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  7. What a great blog!.
    Thank you so much for the link. My daughter turns 13 this year as well...

    Love your idea on the bags...

    Thank for dropping by...

    Danielle.

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  8. Sounds like a great time was had by all. Those are the best memories from growing up. Then for the parents to clean up the mess once everyone has gone the next day ... oh my.

    Best wishes.

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  9. The party looked like a blast! My girl will be 19 in a couple months... last year as a teen... The totes are beautiful.

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  10. It's easy to be the "cool mom" when your kids are so great. Seriously, the fact that Kendall is so appreciative (all the time) just reinforced my desire to say "yes" to the party. Even though it was a lot of work, I really had fun, too!

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  11. would that boys were so easy to entertain for such a length of time at that age.

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  12. I kind of want to have goody bags and crafts at my next birthday...

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  13. Princess, you totally should!!

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