With everything going on in our household this month, I was determined to keep Natalie' s 12th birthday party simple (and easy for me). I suggested that we invite a few of her friends and go to the paint-your-own-pottery place then over to Johnny Rockets for a snack and a milkshake. Natalie was so excited by that plan but then added "But my friends will be so disappointed." What? I didn't understand. "Well, Mom. My friends love our birthday parties because we always do something creative and unique and they can't wait to see what we've got planned for this year." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! You've got to be kidding me. 11-year olds with creativity expectations? What have we done???
So, we rose to the challenges (one challenge to be creative and the other challenge to not stress out this mother). When the kids arrived we gathered in the family room and explained that they would be making a movie. I gave instructions to everyone on how to operate our video camera. Then I told them there would be different scenes, each printed on slips of paper. They would choose a slip of paper, have 5 minutes to prepare the scene and then have to film it and grab a new slip of paper. The stoyline: Our star, Natalie, is going on an adventure by taking a trip around the world. Scene 1: Natalie says goodbye to her family and friends. GO!
These girls went wild and they were incredible. Other scenes were:
* Natalie visits Africa and goes on a safari. The guides help her track wild animals.
* Natalie goes on a boat ride and gets caught in a horrible storm. She and the others on board have to swim to safety.
* Natalie visits Paris and shops for fashion in their luxury stores.
* Natalie visits the Austrian Alps and learns how to ski
* Natalie visits Hawaii and the natives teach her how to hula and surf
* Natalie visits Transylvania and meets Dracula
* Natalie meets a real live fairy and is granted 3 wishes
After filming, we had pizza and cake then the girls sat down and watched their movie. We all laughed at how clever they were. You should've seen the costumes they wore (we pulled out the dress-up bin). We're now burning DVD's of the movie for all the kids.
Whew - another year down!
6 comments:
Holy Smokes...I was stressed out just thinking about what you did! WOW...what a great party. You really should think of going into the party throwing business. FUN!!
You way out did the party I just had for Mahkala. That sounds like a lot of fun....Susan sent me your blog address because I guess she had dinner with your cousin last night (small small world)
*Very cute blog by the way
Stephanie (Maxwell) Champion
Sounds like so much fun! I love the video party idea! So you managed to be creative...what about your second goal?
Wow! What a party! I can not believe how old Natalie is already!! Happy Birthday!
I am so impressed with you, Michelle, with Natalie and with her friends. But you shouldn't wonder why others expectations of you are so high.
That is so amazingly creative!! I can see why these girls have such high expectations!
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