Today's my munchkin's 9th birthday. I can't believe how fast she's growing and changing. We threw a great big fun party for her yesterday, and it went really well!
Forest and I were both nervous about it, because we really haven't hosted that many things at our house, and this turned into a large group of people. We cleaned, organized, scrubbed and cleaned again. We were expecting one guest who is 1 year old and still crawling, and Ruth, and pretty much every age range in between, so we had quite a hurdle to people-proof our house. Forest took all of Sunday off so that we could decorate, make food, and tidy up some more. We make a really good team. He loves to make pretty trays of food; it was fun to watch. He made ants on a log, a couple of beautiful fresh veggie trays, and some plates of cookies and goodies all splayed out in pretty designs to compliment each other. I've never seen such pretty food.
We ended up getting Power Puff Girls crepe paper and napkins, which we thought Kirstin would like, and blew up about 15 big purple balloons. I think the house looked really pretty when we were done with it, and we stopped being so nervous and started to just get excited. Jeff and Alex were the first people there, and I was really clad they had made it. Alex immediately started playing with Eilonwy, and waited for Kirstin to get there.
We ended up with quite a group. Let's see. Mom, Sam, Ruth, Yeffy, Reagan, Tiffiny, Andy, Shelly, Jeff, Alex, Lacey, Jen (Kathy's friend), Maddy (her daughter), Sean (Forest's brother), Kristin (his girlfriend) , Darcy (Forest's sister), Josh (Her boyfriend),Daryl, Bill, Kathy, Allyn, Kirstin, Forest and I were all there. We had to have the party inside, because there were thunderstorms at about 8 PM, and everyone came over around 7. Luckily there was a nice crossbreeze, so we didn't cook to death. It was sticky and humid, though.
We had taco salad (I had one bowl labelled 'omnivore' and one labelled 'herbivore') and Ruth brought wonderful baked beans. We also had chips and salsa (one bowl labelled 'Sane - Wendy's' and another labelled 'Insane - Forest's') a bunch of different kinds of rolls, and lots of fresh veggies and dip. I think everyone had more than enough to eat, and I was glad I didn't serve any hot dishes. It was too muggy for that.
I had the kids sit at the table to eat, and Lacey, Alex, Allyn and Kirstin seemed to get along really well. The grownups enjoyed chatting in the living room and ninja room. (I had asked everyone to bring folding chairs, so only a couple of people sat on the floor. That was nice.) Jeff hadn't seen mom, Sam, Bill, Kathy, and Ruth in about a year, so it was nice that they got to catch up. The groups mixed a little bit, but there was also enough room that people could break into natural conversation groups, too, without getting too noisy. Our house turns out to be just the right size to entertain about 2 dozen people. (Which is sheer luck. We were afraid it would be crowded.)
After dinner was put away Kirstin opened presents. It was the most excited I've seen Kirstin get about it. She, Lacey, and Alex all sat together in our easy chair and plowed their way through it. Kirstin was really geeked, and it was rather like a tornado tore through all the packages. Still, I think she remembered to thank everyone and read all the cards. Mom and I had made her a scrapbook of her time at camp, and she took a minute to flip through that. After gifts, we had one of mom's vanilla texas sheet cakes, with purple frosting (a coincidence that it matched the decorations.)
Jeff and Alex had to leave then, since it was nine 'o' clock, and Alex had to be at her mom's in 15 minutes. Poor Alex cried, and didn't want to leave. I think she knew she'd missed Kirstin, but deep down she'd also missed me, mom, and ELBEE (most of all). I think she made 5 different requests to see the dog. I hope my mom and Jeff can work out some time when Alex can visit while Kirstin's there.
Everything had started to calm down, and the kids were unwinding, and the adults now knew each other enough to make happy-sounding conversation on their own, which was nice, so Forest and I put our heads together and decided it was time for the main gift. We handed Kirstin a little white box, telling her there was one more present before bedtime. She was nicely excited, and opened the lid, and looked in there in confusion.
I said, "one of them is for Forest, one for you, and one for me." Kirstin stuck Forest's wedding band on her thumb before looking up at me with a very anticipatory look of disbelief. I repeated it. "One's for Forest, one for you, and one for me."
She squealed, "Oh my gosh, I think I know what this means."
Mom's curiosity had peaked, and she leaned over the box, and gasped, "Are those REAL???" She looked at me with little tears in her eyes, and I nodded.
Kirstin filled in the rest, "They're getting married, and I'm getting a stepdad!!!" She was really happy, and immediately Lacey helped her put her ring on its chain around her neck. It's the most pure joy I've seen out of her; possibly in her whole life.
Forest says Sam immediately stood up and shook his hand and congratulated him. My grandma Ruth exclaimed 'how wonderful,' and hugged him. Mom smiled from ear to ear and said "CONGRATULATIONS!" Apparently she'd been working up the nerve to ask me about it, and she seemed really happy about it.
Anyway, it worked out to be even cooler than I thought. Forest's family was there, many of my friends, too, and everyone was really happy for us. Mostly, though, Kirstin was THRILLED. This morning she told mom that she thought Forest was the greatest birthday present she'd ever gotten. I thought that was sweet. The best part, though, was that Mom, Sam, and Ruth felt really special to have been included in such an event. Ruth hugged each of us probably 4 times, and told us over and over how we'd made her month, and how glad she'd been to be there. Mom thought it was really a neat thing to do for Kirstin, and Sam yanked me into one of his great big bear hugs. It was nice.
The best part is that everyone was HAPPY about it!
So, we're on for a wedding on June 9 in mom and Sam's yard.
Anyway, the wind-down for the party worked out very nicely. Mom, Sam, and Ruth left around 10 PM, and Kirstin, Bill, Kathy, Jen and Allyn shortly after them. Bill invited the folks he knew over to his place for an afterglow, which left Forest and I with a nice, quiet bit of time with his brother and sister and their dates. We cleaned up, and talked to them for some time, and played a Cheap Ass Game. (It's a company called 'cheap ass games', honest.)
They left at about midnight, and Forest and I had plenty of time while we cleaned up to chatter at each other at how well things had turned out. I think everyone had a good time. Sam complimented us as he was leaving on what a nice party it was, as did Bill. (Bill also complimented us on the presentation of the rings and so on. 'Artfully done', I think, were his exact words.)
Kirstin was still wearing her ring around her neck and mom was still smiling when I saw them this morning.
Since it's Forest's first wedding (and our first wedding, hee hee), we're going to do the whole 'wedding' thing! We're hoping it will be a great big happy celebration of how lucky we are to have found each other, and kick off a wonderful life for the three of us as a family. We want to include Kirstin as much as possible, and will likely have vows especially for her. If you're interested in reading about it, there's some stuff at http://www.geocities.com/lunardaisy.
