Happy Birthday and Farewell

Grace's birthday is just a few days after we land in Albuquerque. That didn't sound like such a fun way to celebrate your 7th birthday, just after you've left all your best buds behind. So, a little while back, I decided to let Grace have a huge birthday/farewell bash and invite anyone and everyone she wanted. Hattie's birthday isn't until late in April, but quite frankly, I don't know if she'll have any good friends by then either because it's looking pretty unlikely that I'll be able to get her into another preschool so late in the year. This would be the first year I would let her have a real "friend" party and she does actually have a few great little girl friends she really loves. So what the heck, let Hattie in on it too, right? She wants to do everything Grace does anyway.

Normally, I hate big birthday parties for kids. I hate inviting the whole class when you don't even know half the kids. I much prefer the small parties at home, with just a few close friends, yummy food, and party games with a good theme. But, Grace has made quite a few good friends between kindergarten and first grade, even without inviting the whole class. In an effort to avoid feeling like I wasn't including people that maybe we should have included, I let the kids come up with their guest lists and stuck to it. By the time they both invited everyone they could think of and even added more as we went, it was a recipe for a giant party. 25 kids are not going to fit in my living room, that's for sure.

We ended up renting out the gymnastics gym nearby for a monkey party. The first 45 minutes were totally sweet. The staff took them around all the equipment, parachute, obstacles, and even had a ginormous inflatable whale thingy. I think they all had tons of fun. I was hoping they'd be worn out and calm afterward...


When my turn came to gather all the kids and feed them in the party room, I didn't know if I was going to make it. I was more than a little nervous it would blow up in my face. Most of Grace's friends are also boys. Some of them are calm and like to do little quiet things like she does. The others, though, are your typical, rowdy, LOUD boys. I felt bad for Hattie's 4 little "pinky" friends. I'm sure they didn't quite know what to think about the big kids. Thankfully, a few generous parents who stayed with their kids pitched in and helped me serve pizza, ice cream, and cake to all the kids before too much chaos broke out.I was beginning to wonder if the kids were really enjoying being with each other, or if they were too busy being wild and crazy and having fun. But, as we were wrapping things up at the end, they really started talking and posing for pictures together and hugging each other. I was afraid that Grace would be really upset, knowing that this was a farewell party for her too. But, she came through really great. I'm the one who ended up in tears as I watched them all together, thinking about how much she would miss them, and apparently, how much they will miss her.
Hattie's little friends were all darling. It was the first party they had been to for most of them. They stuck together and had their own little sub-party.
Grace and I did lots of brainstorming about cool things we could put in the party favor bags. She came up with the Japanese eraser idea (apparently a phenomenon found here in MA - shopped for them in NM and couldn't find a single one!) I came up with polished rocks from NM that we made into magnets, and then we finished off the bags with bubbles and some treats and a thank you note. Much better than a bag full of plastic junk.

As for our party bags...when you invite 25 kids, you really can't open presents at the party. That is one reason I really like to have a smaller gathering at home - so the friends can see the birthday kid open their gifts. It feels so impersonal to go home, open all your gifts by yourself, and then send out thank you notes like it was a wedding. But, I have to say, it was kind of nice to have the girls calmly open their gifts with each other and really savor each one before going onto the next one. I guess it makes a good "after" party.

The funny thing is - celebrating their birthdays before moving didn't stop there. Grace was dead set on doing her school birthday celebration. I don't blame her - it is kind of a big deal. They get to choose a book to bring to class, read it to the class, and then gift it to the class library. She wanted to bring her favorite Dr. Seuss book "Oh Say Can You Say" - the tongue twister book. I called at least 15 book stores in the area. No one had it. We finally found it last night near the mall just in the nick of time to take it to school this morning. I got to read it to the class, per b-day girl's request. (good thing too - it would take a 1st grader an hour to read that book out loud.) I love spending time in Grace's class. Once again, though, it was just a hard reminder of leaving her friends.

I was really impressed with Grace last night though. She sat down and made a card to glue inside the book. She drew a picture of herself on the front and then inside, she tearlessly wrote "Dear Miss Gradys Class, I hope you can have fun when I'am gone. I will miss you. Love Grace" (with an extra I will miss you in a heart on the side.) I think she's coming to terms with moving which is great, but is almost even harder for me. She's actually being more mature about it than I am in some ways. I'm so proud of her for accepting this part of her life and trying to make the best of it. She has really been a trooper the last couple of weeks. So has Hattie.

Then, on Sunday, my really great friend Jeannie, threw our family a going away open house. Lots of people from the ward stopped by for dessert and some chatting. We have really made some awesome friends here. We certainly have a list of people we will be missing!

To top off the parties, we'll be taking pink cupcakes to school on Thursday for Hattie's birthday. (of course have to do things just like big Sis) By the time Hattie's real birthday rolls around on April 26th, these birthdays are going to be WELL celebrated. I'm just glad we can take some time to do some great celebrating in the middle of our chaos and moving blues. Next week is going to be much different than this week has been.

Thanks to all who have done so many nice things for us during these last few weeks!