Friday I spent a large part of my day getting ready for David's birthday party. I saw a cute idea to make candy cones. I thought this would be fun to give the adults and kids, after all who doesn't like candy?
After I had just about finished, David asked how many I was making. I stated I was making 48. He informed me I would need to make more, since at least 50 would be coming the next day. Since at the last count we were at 28 I was a little worried that he had invited more without my knowledge. Visions of a hoard of hungry guests filled my imagination all night long. I am happy to say that no hoards invaded the party and we had enough food for all the guests.
Saturday began with a late sleeping teenager, a glimpse of things to come? We had him help us with some of the prep for the party. He was very excited that I had ordered hats and t-shirts for our family from Kennedy Space Center to lend an authentic feel to our NASA party.
The timing couldn't have been better with this weekend being Memorial Day weekend. There were lots of red, white and blue party supplies at all the stores. We decorated the backyard with space shuttles—inflated shuttles, a space shuttle piñata, space shuttle shaped cups and space shuttle favor boxes.
Because of the age range of the guests I decided to not have many games. The kids played on the tire swing, ran in the yard and pulled each other around the yard in David's large wagon. The kids had a great time scrambling for candy when the piñata burst open. When some of the balloons escaped and floated into the sky the kids loved just watching them. Hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, meatballs, beans and strawberries with chocolate sauce put everyone in a great mood.
About a month ago I went to my friend Stacy with the challenge of making the cake for the party. Stacy is a master cake maker with a willingness to create the cake or cupcakes of your dreams. When I told her the theme of the party she got the wheels in motion and we settled on a space shuttle cake made with her delicious special recipe and also two dozen cupcakes in chocolate.
We didn't let David in on the secret design until his birthday. When he laid eyes on his cake he was thrilled, declaring it the best cake ever. The cake looked just like the space shuttle, except that on the side "David 13" was written. It was the most moist and delicious cake I have ever had. Stacy will be making all our cakes in the future. To make it easier when it was time to serve the cake and ice cream I had scooped the ice cream out the night before into cupcake liners and placed into the freezer until it was time to serve.
Three young ladies we had never met that David had invited from school came to the party. We were very impressed with them, they were caring and considerate of the younger guests and made sure there were enough space shuttle cups before taking one for themselves. I had enough cups and all the kids were able to take one home to keep. They also stayed back and let the little ones get the candy from the piñata. We later told David we were thought his choice of friends showed wisdom and they were always welcome to come over. He took the good natured ribbing about the pretty girls from several guests (and his father.)
After David opened his gifts he wanted to spend the money he received. So he promptly thanked all his guests for coming—the not so subtle way of saying, "OK, time to go." So we explained that the guests were welcome to stay as long as they liked and they were not being asked to leave. David agreed, I think he just wanted to make sure everyone knew he was thankful for them being there and didn't realize how pushy that would sound.
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2 comments:
That is the kind of party I love to host. Inter-generational and themed. FUN!
I love the cake...and your idea of pre-scoooping the ice cream is awesome. Why have I never thought of that? Totally brilliant.
Sounds like all of your hard work paid off.
I just read the last few posts this morning and must say that you have had a lot of stressful situations but I am so impressed by your consistency and thoughtful approach to living out the truth in your own life for David's sake.
Of course, I am sure that you would do this either way, I just appreciated the thought process behind it.
Blessings on this day.
Becky K.
Becky, I have to admit the pre-scooped ice cream was an idea I saw in a book or magazine several months ago. I thought it was perfect for me, since sometimes with the running around during the party the ice cream has been forgotten in the past. It also made sure all the scoops were the same size and there were no complaints about "he got more."
Yes, with David we do need to make sure we are living out what we preach.
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