Zombie Woman, the Angel Friend and the Par-Tay

...and so the adventure of Miss A's 7th B-day Par-Tay come to a close for Zombie Woman. Here's the shake down of the Par-tay:

One of my favorite exchanges from the whole thing (because I RARELY have a good comeback that just zings right out):

As one of the guest's mom was leaving, she said, "Have a good time! Party like a Rock Star!" (which is funny considering a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds can probably come close). To which I quickly and with a wee bit of panic, shot back, "NO!!!! Not like Rock Stars!!! Like a bunch of Convent Nuns!" hehee.

ANYWAY!

Super J calls at 5:00pm my time. He's at the Airport in L.A. and he wishes us all luck. Thanks. We'll need it.

Yeah, so I actually DID get the main floor presentable, thanks to Miss Q's nap. I had Miss E and O go downstairs to "clean-up" (ha!) after their successful afternoon playdate, but whatever they did was fine because it allowed me to get massive amounts (ie: the dishes) done upstairs.

I set things out (cupcake muffins, can of frosting, sprinkles, napkins, plates) and got everything just so and then went and picked up Miss A from school.

At about 4:50 (read, 10 minutes early), our first guest arrived. And we're off!!!

I took food orders for McDonald's (we were Happy Mealing it for dinner, almost a catered affair, which seemed like such a good idea. Looking back, WHAT WAS I THINKING???! Another small fortune. The kids loved it, of course, but left half their precious precious Happy Meal toys at our place when they departed for home. What have I learned? I can buy and whip up Mac & Cheese, Chocolate Milk and still buy a 10 (or even 20 piece) Chicken Nugget from McD's (because, let's be honest...some kids won't eat any other kind of nugget. I'm serious. Not my girls, but I know of some who may or may not have come to the Par-tay. Ahem.) and STILL have saved much of my small fortune). NOTE TO SELF: When parents RSVP, get the food order THEN because waiting for all guest to arrive takes precious precious time away from par-tay-ing. AND, if you have them early, the Angel Friend who is donating her time and energy to pick up said Happy Meals (the biggest order the guy at McDonald's had seen, which just says that more people are so much saner than I am and can do better math) won't have to wait around to get the very complicated order.

However, that being said, at least *I* wasn't frantically cooking dinner for the guest thus my inner peace was better able to be sustained, and by that time of day, I really needed a cola beverage to keep me going; so six of one, half a dozen of the other...in other words, there were some positives to "ordering out" and some (namely cost) were ridiculous and should be avoided. So now I know.

On to the frosting of the cupcakes! In all seriousness, what a great idea! The kids LURVED it, and did a pretty good job. And they cared not one whit that there were no liners. It was pretty funny watching them continue to add and add and add to their tiny little cakes. I had one little guest carefully put every single type of sprinkle on that cake muffin; I swear she had an INCH of sugar standing atop the frosting. She later told Miss A that she was spelling, "Miss A is seven." Which I believe by the amount of sprinkles that kid put on her cake muffin!

NOTE TO SELF FOR FUTURE CAKE MUFFIN DECORATING: do NOT (repeat please for emphasis) put out all the sprinkles that you can find in your kitchen cupboards. Kids do NOT need 15 different types (at least!) of sprinkle/cake candies to choose from. It just creates a sticky mess when stuff falls on the floor. Remember this, Miss L. Remember.

That being said, they did have a great time. And, when the time came, did manage to eat quite a bit of their sugar with a touch of cupcake muffin.

The next round of events (we did decorating first, then Happy Meals) was the opening of The Present from me (though I later found out that Miss A thought that a friend had given it to her): Barbie and the Three Musketeers. Screams of DELIGHT! Wahoo! We all tromped downstairs where I had them cozy up on pillows with blankets and they began the "movie." NOTE TO SELF: if you think that your own child will not be able to sit through a movie at the theatre, please remember that other of her peers may not be able to sit through a movie in your basement.

Oh! And another NOTE TO SELF: Check the time on the movie and start accordingly earlier!!!! Because when you chose to stop the movie half way through for a brake so the kids can eat their cake muffins and Miss A will open her presents like a 98 year old woman, you WILL run out of time.

Yes, Gentle Reader. You see where this is going. We sent our guest homes WITHOUT KNOWING THE END of what happens to Barbie and her fellow Girl Power Barbie-ettes. I made promises of play dates where they could watch the end, but we had at least 20 minutes left. tsk. One little guest was not happy, but everyone else (especially the two that got B.O.R.E.D.) were fine.

NOTE TO SELF: When you say a specific time for parents to pick up their kids, don't be surprised if they all arrive AT THAT TIME. Whoowee! The mayhem of packing up kids, giving goody bags, shoes and socks...well, suffice to say something will be forgotten. Namely the happy meal toys. Oh well.

In the end, here's what I learned. Par-tays always cost more than I initially think I can pull it off for, but that's probably my own issue instead of the fault of the birthday. But things go well. Because it's a Par-tay! Woot!

Oh, and here's a big thing I learned: If your Super J is out of town, with the help of an amazing friend (THANK AGAIN, Kristan!!!!), you can host numerous little friends and live to tell the tale, even if you are a Zombie.