Party Time

Some people are very good at theming and hosting parties.

Some are very hands on making and creating everything themselves while others out source everything.

MissM's first birthday was fabulous, as was her Naming Day. The house was full of family and friends, G made the main cake, MrsH came over the night before with one of MissJ, and helped with the finishing touches to the afternoon tea.

Since then MissM has had some interesting birthdays -

• 3rd birthday was a few months after we arrived in Dublin, and was a few mates from Montessori with her grandparents who were visiting from Sydney to make it special; 
• Doesn't every child want to turn 4 in Paris? It just happened that way, tho I think turning 24, or 44 is more appropriate for the location.
• Finally another celebration in Sydney for her 5th birthday, surrounded by family and friends; 
• 6 in Sydney and shared the day with us at the Post-Wedding afternoon tea (that theme works for us), 
• Because she's a summer baby (northern hemisphere) and bang smack during school holidays, all she wanted was for her Yokohama mates to sing her happy birthday like she does for them, so we had a brain wave and held a 6 1/2 birthday at home so her friends could sing her happy birthday around a cake (this apparently became the thing to do as so many kids missed out on parties over summer);
• 7th birthday was as we were leaving Japan and most friends had already left so we went to dinner at her favorite restaurant and then to Cirque de Soloi ZED in Tokyo;
• 8th was a disco party at home with her class mates
• 9th will be dinner with BF's then home for a slumber party.

Poor kid hasn't had more than two birthdays in the same place with the same friends. That's gotta be very tough, hence our annual desire to make her birthday memorable in other ways.

Her actual birthday is the day after school breaks up for summer. Apparently all the weekends in May and June have been booked up with kids who's birthdays are legitimately in those months, and from kids in July/August who are having parties early.

She's decided she'd rather have her close BF's and do something special than a big party, and as much as a parents wants every birthday for their child to be special, this one needs to be more-so. So her very first full on slumber party is happening. 

The kids have been invited; the RSVP's are in; the cakes ordered (thank you MrsA).

All done, until I realised the kids can't just sleep over. It's a birthday party! It's more than a slumber party plus we leave in a few weeks after that so it has to be super special for all of them.

Our rooms are very large in every sense of the word. HIGH ceilings; BIG windows; LONG rooms.

It really is the perfect party house, but how on earth does one decorate it as it's so big (I know, everyone should have such problems)

One of the new mums at school who's little one is in reception has launched a new business The Complete Party Box. She's also an event planner. So in a panic I emailed her and asked for help.

She popped over this morning and I feel I've wasted her time, but she's so professional and lovely and vivacious that she said it's fine and happy to help.

How sad we're meeting just as we're leaving! We'd have been a formidable force if this mornings first meeting is anything to go by. It makes me realise how much I miss being creative, and planning and thinking, and well, doing stuff. She has a HUGE capacity for ideas for her business and we happily brainstormed a few more.

Anyhow, between us we've decided to turn the lounge room into a Bedouin Princess type space - she's going to get LOTS of pillows to scatter on the pull out lounge/sofa bed; thru a haze of mushed brain that is still focused on schools, we've masses of fairy lights, reams of organza that was used to decorate the chairs at Christmas and numerous candles that will definitely work with our theme.

She's going to source pillows of various sizes; work out how to create a canopy over the sofa bed; and look for pretty sparkly dangly things to hang down from the light fitting.

As much fun as we had this morning, if I'd stopped and cleared my head for a few minutes, I could have come up with the entire idea on my own but it was a lot of fun.

Sadly G probably won't be home for the party - but he's trying to fly back that night for MissM's actual birthday.

I can not imagine how devastated she'll be if he's not here for the actual day. I'm sick just thinking about it, so I won't.

Now, what else is on my to-do list before I forget ................

With friendship
x