So much Christmas fun...

Yesterday we hosted a party for Kelsey's friends from school. Bless their hearts, Kelsey and her friend Julia decided they wanted to have a fun Christmas party and invite all the girls in their grade at school. There was a passing mention of inviting boys, largely mentioned by a friend who is a boy, but both girls vetoed the inclusion of males on the grounds that the girls wanted to dance and have fun and they thought that if boys were there they'd be more focused on what they boys thought of them than on just having fun with their friends. [Insert big "Yay!!!" from Mom and Dad here.]

They planned, made invitations, kept an RSVP list, decorated, assigned refreshments and even cleaned the basement for the party. I am so proud. At the last minute I panicked and went out and bought more food and drinks, not knowing what the girls were bringing. Wouldn't you know that with the exception of a case of water and one cookie, everything I bought extra was left over. Yay for Kelsey and Julia!

I would post pictures of the event but there were a WHOLE LOT of girls singing karaoke, dancing, playing ping pong and playing DDR in my basement so I didn't get any good shots of the party itself. Just ones of before and after.

So... Here's an AFTER shot of the girls who planned the party.


And here's an AFTER shot of a major AFTERTHOUGHT... We didn't use the $.99 white vinyl tablecloth I bought and I hated to let it go to waste. So we cut it in half, taped it to the wall with painter's tape, and placed a stand next to the banner with a cup of Sharpie markers on it.

We wrote "MERRY CHRISTMAS" in the center and "Luke 2:10-11" in the upper left corner (just to remind everyone there that they were there to celebrate a Person and not just some random break from school).

Here is the banner from far away...


And here is a close up...



It was so very cute the comments we got about how they trashed our house. Know HOW they thought they "trashed our house"? Someone accidentally dropped a cupcake and tracked red and green icing on the carpet. I hope that's as trashed as it ever gets.

The other half of the tablecloth is still blank. I'm thinking that this may be the start of a tradition where we put up a vinyl tablecloth for guests to decorate at all our parties. It'll be like a guest book. Only hanging on a wall.

This was my first foray into hosting a teen party when the teen in charge is my own. I've done those parties as a teen. I've organized and hosted them as a teacher and cheerleading coach. But I had never been down this little road in the adventure. So in preparation I went to the best... the expert... the one who has done it with excellence for years.... I went to Momma G. And she, being the amazing woman of God she is, spent a huge chunk of time counseling me on everything from logistics of where to put people and what furniture to have in the space to what kind of food to serve to how to handle the crowd control and establish rules. For her wise, wise counsel I will forever be grateful.

And Momma G, if you read this in your busy schedule, know that over and over we heard from parents and girls alike, "We need to come back and do this again!" :-D

Now... fun as that was... I've gotta go inventory the Christmas gifts and head out for a little more shopping before a very special Christmas Open House tonight!

Merry Christmas Y'all!!! Hope your Chirstmas season is blessed!