her birthday was 2 months ago...

It has been busy around here and we have crammed about 9 months of activities into 2 and a half months. I am a total homebody and love to be home in my own nest. But, I have chosen to take advantage of different goings on to try and connect with more HS families and let my kids try and make some new friends. So we have done park days, nature center trips, watched bird banding, gone to the symphony, visited the zoo, checked out the science center, participated in the National Day of Prayer, signed up for summer camp, started tennis lessons, are finishing up a sewing class...the list goes on (plus throw in a trip to Disney and moving). If you know me, this is WAY more than we normally do. I embrace the SIMPLIFY way of life (HERE). But for this new season here, we need to get out and make friends and this is the best way to do it.

All that to say, Tristen's birthday was 2 months ago (HERE) and we finally had a party for her. I felt bad that we moved into our home just a few days before her birthday, so we never even had a cake. She wanted to invite some friends over for a party and since I have claimed this the YEAR OF CELEBRATIONS, we partied.

And this was actually a pretty easy party. Tissy loves pancakes (and doesn't like sleepovers) so we invited her guests to arrive on a Saturday morning in their jammies and we served pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. 9 little girls all crammed around our table and full of giggles.After breakfast we had craft time in the basement. The girls made butterflies to hang on a mirror or a window. Instead of paint, we used colored sharpies, it was much easier.


Most kids just love to run around and play at parties, but to prevent too much silliness, we planned some games. I love the game where you have to look at a tray and try to remember what was on it. I put all kinds of things used to get ready in the morning.

All trying to see the tray. Trying to use those thinking skills to remember. They look so sweet in their jammies, but how nice that they got a good night sleep at home. =)We also played pictionary. Chuck had ideas for them to draw that had to do with morning or sunshine or breakfast. Here they are drawing on the dry erase board in the school room.
We also had music that Chuck had hunted down, just morning or sunshine songs. It created a fun atmosphere, along with sunshine cut outs and homemade posters. We figured out we have a good party house. Lots of room for both kids and adults to mingle and talk. Before we moved here, I had prayed that God would provide friends. And in just a few months, we were surprised that we could come up with a party list like this. I guess going to all those activities has been worth it.
And look, the birthday cake (made of of rice crispy cookie)...only 2 months late. =)