Lazy (Busy?) Mom's Guide to Birthday Parties

Michelle turned 11 last week.  (11?  How is that possible?   How is it that she isn't still this cute little baby?)

 

For her birthday, she ALSO chose to go to In N Out.  I tried to dissuade her.  I've really been wanting to try Waffle Love and it wasn't that far away the evening of her birthday.  But it was her birthday, so she got to choose.  In N Out it was!   (But now that summer is almost here, Waffle Love and I will be having a lunch or dinner date soon!)  She got a cute new dress for her birthday because recently she has been sprouting up and most of her dresses no longer fit her.

 

 

Her birthday party is where the Lazy (busy?) mom comes in.  She wanted to have a sleepover, but she wanted to invite friends from the neighborhood and from school and I wasn't sure I was up to a sleepover.  So we did a late over instead.  It was sheduled from 5-10 PM at our house. 

 

I picked Michelle and her friends up from school at about 4.  It would have been a bit earlier, but I got part way to her school and realized I had left my cell phone at MY school.  So I had to go back and get it.  So I was already running late.  I picked them all up and still had to stop and get pizzas.  I hadn't made the cupcakes yet either.  There was more traffic than I was expecting as well.  So I ended up telling Michelle to call her neighborhood friends and tell them to come at 5:10 instead of 5. (Embarrassing, but what can you do?  Ummm...maybe leave work a little earlier?  Maybe plan ahead a bit better?)   So we got the pizzas and made it to our house at almost exactly 5:10.  The girls all went in the backyard to play.  (Thank goodness for good weather and a big backyard!)  My plan was to serve pizza and soda, then have each person decorate their own cupcake (which I hurriedly baked while they were eating pizza), and then they could open gifts and then watch a movie and eat popcorn.  Very little effort on my part.   Lazy (Busy!) Mom! 

 

So after they'd played a bit, we served pizza in our nice big backyard.  Pizza and sodas.  Then I brought out the cupcakes and all the toppings.  (I tell you, letting the kids decorate their own cupcake is the way to do it!   It entertains them.  You don't have to stress about either making or buying darling cupcakes.  Each cupcake is unique.  It is cost effective.  Lazy mom's guide, I tell ya!)

 

  

Then Michelle opened gifts.  Her friends know her well.  She got lots of duck tape (which she loves...she makes wallets, hairbows, etc. out of it).   She got bands to make bracelets.  Peyton gave her a Razor scooter because her scooter was stolen recently.  Kate gave her a darling Young Women bracelet.  She got an Icee maker and a piggy bank and other darling gifts.

 

So then, the plan was to go inside and watch a movie.  Well, they did go inside, and I popped popcorn and they sat down and turned on a movie.  And two of them played the piano and all of them talked, and they maybe watched the movie for 10 minutes...long enough to eat the popcorn.  Then they decided to go outside again instead.  They played in the backyard and the front yard and they laughed and shouted and had a grand time.  Things didn't go quite as I had planned (the VERY limited planning I did...LAZY mom) but they had a great time.

 

 

Michelle at 11:

 

Michelle is in 5th grade in school.

Michelle's Best Friends at School:  Mia, Alondra, Daniella

Michelle's Best Friends in the Neighborhood:  Peyton, Olivia, Kate, Tia, Kodi

Favorite Food: Lasagna
Favorite Song: Unconditional
Favorite Color:

purple, black and blue together

Favorite Thing about School:

My great teachers
Favorite Subject in School: Writing

Michelle Doesn't Like:

Too much testing! (I wholeheartedly agree with her on this!)