As promised, I am now ready to post about Kristen's 13th birthday party. It was really quite fun and I loved to see Baby Girl happy. She had about eight kids out of 20 invited that actually showed up. I think it made it a better party though so I'm ok with it. It was Saturday night and pouring buckets out but the air was pretty warm and we put tarps up along with our canopy and our covered deck and it made it ok. There wasn't much for the kids to do but they entertained themselves which was a good thing since Kristen wouldn't let us adults leave the inside of the house.

Here is Kristen and her best friend... The camera sucks and the pictures didn't come out very well but I'll do my best to share with you. Baby Girl is on the right in the blue sweatshirt. All the kids looked like drowned rats because they thought they'd act like the children they really are inside and go puddle jumping in the rain. This picture is a relatively dry one.

The food was really good if I do say so myself! Nacho dip in a crock pot, ham and cheese wraps and then the usual teen party food...you know, m&m's, bbq chips, cookies (homemade pumpkin chocolate chip), homemade brownies, veggies and dip...you get the idea. And believe it or not most of it stayed dry and I didn't have to throw away too much. Eight kids went through about 60 drinks...not the alcoholic kind...sodas, Propel waters, juices...and they all seemed to have a really good time.
Bother and sister in-law came to help chaperone, which was a very easy job. They brought our niece Bre and her friend. Visiting with them made the evening much more enjoyable for hubby and me.

Here is Kristen and her other cousin Tom. He's from my side of the family. The two of them were very close when they were both in Junior High together and I hope they rebuild that closeness once she gets to high school with him next year. My sister and I don't get a long that well, we are like night and day and it just isn't a good mix, but Kristen and Tom are two peas. I can't wait to see what it's like next year!

Mel says that I stressed WAY TO MUCH over the party preparations, and I admit I obssessed a tad bit. I will definitely have to think long and hard before I decide to give her a Sweet 16 party. It probably wouldn't have been so bad for me if I hadn't had to do it all by myself. Hubby worked overtime the whole week before so he wasn't much help then. He did do more than his share on the clean up end of it and I love him for that.

So, enough about the party. I might post about it again soon but there really isn't much more to tell...They came, they ate, they got wet, they had a good time, they left! YAY! Success! Those of you who have been reading know that I'm having trouble inserting links to my posts. It's driving me absolutey buggy! Grrrr! I tried to link Mel and I tried to link Baby Girl Kristen and niether one worked. I'll figure it out someday. Actually, Tomorrow night when I call Mel and she can walk me through it! Or Dear Scotty, bless his heart for offering to help this pathetically computer illiterate Blogger Buddy! Hope you all enjoyed the recap of the Birthday party. I'll post again soon. Luvs to you all!