I am gutted because this is the first birthday ever that I don't get to see her because she is away camping for the weekend, raising funds for an outdoor centre. I consoled myself with the fact that at least we would have the morning together as she wasn't away til 1pm but now she has to go into school and practise all morning for her drama exam. Grrrrrrrr!
Every birthday I tell her that this is the last party. I think I have been saying that since she was 10. The reason I don't mean what I say is because it is so much fun planning her parties.
One year we had a murder mystery party. I downloaded a party plan from the internet for just a few pounds. It was a vampire murder mystery and even the dog had a part. He was Count de Bodies side kick, Count de Bones. The invites described your character and what they should wear. I was Taffy the welsh vampire slayer. I looked like a reject from a Blue's Brothers movie and you should have seen the look on one mother's face when I answered the door in costume, complete with stubble, waving my holy water and garlic about! I think she was frightened for her son. The kids thought it was great and were particularly impressed with my "crime scene" which consisted of a chalk outline of a body (Holly's) and crime scene tape all around.
Holly and I made party bags and certificates which we were mega proud of until the dog got a hold of them and managed to eat his way through one before we caught him! By the look on his face he obviously didn't see why he couldn't get one!
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| Holly's 16h birthday, balloons courtesy of Emma |
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| in the Limo with the girlies |
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| Kathy and I in the Limo |
We have been tubing, had a horse riding party, spent time in wigwams and for her 16th we hired a Limo then had a wee party and sleepover in the house. I even had to leave in the middle of one of her parties as my mum was in Intensive Care and the family were called to her bedside. Thank god for the mums (you know who you are) who stayed behind and kept the party going especially since it was a sleepover!
The best party of all was the food fight. OMG the preparation took hours. My friend Kathy and I had so much fun organising that. We had all sorts of gooey food and we used food dye to make it that wee bit more interesting. Then we prepared the garden. It took us from 9am -4pm to get ready and it was all over within 20 minutes! It was boys against the girls, was such a scream and we were all totally filthy and stinking. Kathy slipped on some food and took a nasty tumble and had to spend part of the evening sitting in a borrowed wheelchair!
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| Kathy in the Limo, last year |
I had to let them all have a shower after, as they were staying over for pizza and a movie night. That's when I learned the hard way that teenagers take sooooooooooo long in the shower, especially the boys! By the time they were done, the food I was covered in, had dried and hardened on my skin and hair and I'd to practically chip it off! Kathy was last to have her shower so it must have been much worse for her. Suffice to say that all of our clothes had to be thrown out!
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| the food fight preparation begins |
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| here we go! |
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| it's getting really slippy now |
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| oh what fun |
One of the boys, Lewie, didn't even wait for the shower to get out of his yucky clothes and stripped to his socks and boxers much to the amusement of us all. He then paraded around, once he was clean, in his boxer shorts which had red lips on them and rainbow socks, thinking he was the coolest of cool! Eh, no!!!
Once the kids had had their pizza they hung about in the garden, chatting and bouncing on the trampoline. Kathy and I, in the meantime, melted some L.P's to make bowls for their nibbles which took ages but looked very cool.
All these parties have been brilliant but I could never have managed it without Kathy who has always been my partner in crime and thinks nothing of throwing herself into my madcap ideas and just going with it.
This year though, there is to be no party. Instead she wants me to take her to Dublin, Ireland for the weekend. Hopefully that will be in May, depending on her exams and we can't wait.
I am a sucker for an Irish accent.
