Surprise! 10 year old girl party.

Anna’s birthday was in April—but we were out of town.

I surprised her with a party last Thursday.

It was a small, sweet party.

Every party I do costs me around $20 at the dollar store.

Don’t ever buy party supplies anywhere else.

Seriously.

They have 20 plates for a dollar—I have learned this after returning the same red plates to bimart that I paid $3.96 for eight (times three).  Blah.

Just start at the dollar store when planning a party.

Some fun things—

Here is a great cake or cupcake recipe...

1 box of cake mix.

1 small box of pudding.

2 eggs.

2 cups of water.  (I use a little bit less.)

Bake at 350* for about 25 minutes.

mmm.

I just use cream cheese, powder sugar and a bit of milk for the icing.

I scoop it into a Ziploc, snip the edges, and squeeze.

For anna’s party I sprinkled them with nerds.

Fast and cute.

For the table I always find a big picture of the kids and set it on a holder.

I like to layer the treats using bowls upside down to hold up other bowls.

I just plan one or two games.

-my girls painted ceramic figurines that I bought at dollar store.

-we like to paint nails.

-we like to decorate balloons with permanent marker and make balloon babies.

-we like to play murder in the dark.

-we like to play badmitton or balloon volleyball with a make-shift net I set up out back.

-and, our favorite game lately is Pictionary where I make clues about the birthday kid.

Some words they had to draw for anna were:

-long hair

-bike riding

-running

-hates pizza

-ten (don’t use numbers)

-big sister

-barbies

-sings in choir

I do very easy parties, but I love inviting a lot of people.

Birthdays are a great way for meet to my kids’ friends and their parents.

I try to take some extra time to talk to the parents as they’re dropping off and picking up.

We exchange numbers for play dates during the summer.

I am always grateful for the opportunity to have people in my home.

Friends are so important.

Here are a few things I loved about anna’s party.

A good friend of hers was having a party that started an hour before hers did...
so there were only two girls here to surprise anna.

And, it was JUST FINE!

Anna is a sweet girl with very sweet friends.

They play best quietly, without a lot of people.

They loved painting their figurines and while they painted they sang songs from choir.

Sweet, inspiring songs.  These are good girls.

Then, they all went into the piano and were playing and singing together.

I LOVE that.

And, all of my kids have friends that LOVE their little sisters.

It always makes me smile how included the little girls are in the big kids’ party.

Overall, it was a fun day!
Anna felt loved and celebrated!!

Can I tell you something special that happened to me this day?

I have been praying to be more in tune to the spirit.

I read this scripture...

“It is not needful for ... mine elders to be MOVING SWIFTLY ... whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief.”  D&C 61:3

I have made it a point to SLOW DOWN. 

To try to really listen to the people that I come in contact with. 

To listen to ways that I can help and love more.

One sweet mother (one of the TWO girls that came at the beginning of the party) came and we began talking about our impending summer vacations.

She mentioned casually that she just got custody of her two step-sons.

I listened, really listened.

And, she poured out a story that made us both teary.

Her stepsons had been being abused by their mother’s boyfriend (a man that had previously been in jail for rape).

The boys have burns all over their body, and other scars that are too sad to talk about on a blog.

JUST THAT MORNING, I had felt impressed to clean out my kids’ storage closet.

Something I had been meaning to do, but NOT the day of Anna’s party.

I had compiled two bags of really cute boys clothes and found two Tupperware’s of boy toys. 

I set them neatly in a pile with the thought “Help me to find someone who can use these things.”

{I don’t have any little boys to pass my stuff onto.}

It was NOT a coincidence.

All I had to do was desire and then listen. 

God brought a woman to my door that I could serve, if only a little bit.

It also wasn’t a coincidence that two of my favorite women were also picking up their daughters at the same time.

They also offered to help.

Heavenly Father loves that mother and her two stepsons.

I know it.