Happy Birthday Again

One of these years, we will get our act together and have one, and only one party for Clara, on the actual day of her birthday. Our main obstacle, year after year, has been the fact that on January 11, everyone is still trying to recover from holiday stuff. And, when I say, "everyone", I mean me. It would have been kind of nice if she'd been born in, say, July, when we don't have much going on. But I digress....

Today was the friend party.

You can take the teacher out of the classroom....but you're not supposed to take the supplies. Then again, what's the point of having access to a few dozen bottles of glue if you don't abscond with them for large kid-gatherings at home?

And look how cute the little people turned out. Here you see them admiring my fabulous cake. (There I go, boasting again!)
I admit that this is a bit creepy: smashing the dickens out of a referee. They didn't have a soccer ball piñata, so we decided to ignore the violence factor and just go with it.
Clara created a special scavenger hunt which led her friends to the piñata. She wrote a series of clues and hid them in little soccer ball Easter eggs (lucky for us, The Dollar Tree thinks it's April) which guided the girls around the house. Definitely a highlight of the whole party.

After a few dorky (but time-honored) games, like Musical Chairs, Freeze Dance, and Pin the Soccer Ball on Clara's Foot, we had an impromptu limbo contest. Hot dogs were eaten, presents were opened, candles were blown out, soccer was played, and gift bags were turned into hats by a little brother begging for attention. It was all a party should be.
As Clara climbed into bed, she said, "This was the best party EVER, Mummy."
Success! Yay!

But next year, when January rolls around, can someone please remind me that four hours is a really, really long time?