Party Prep!

It's *never* too early to start planning a party!
Even though it's only February, and Julia's next birthday isn't until November, she has been hard at work putting together all the deets for her 7th b-day party. 

First, she constructed her guest list:

JULIA: Mom, this is just a SCHOOL FRIENDS party.  Mom.  Did you NOTICE that about this list, that, like, there's no...no...
ME: People like Nate and Anja?
JULIA: Yeah.  Like, it's just SCHOOL FRIENDS, and, also...did you notice it's ALL GIRLS?  Well, Mom?  I don't think I even noticed I was doing all girls, I guess I just realized that it's only girls JUST NOW.
ME: Well, I guess your closest school friends must all be girls, huh?
JULIA: Yeah.  Like, whenever Sydni and I look at each other, we, like, SMILE at each other.

Well.  If that is not criterion for who to invite to your birthday party, then I don't know what is.

Next, Julia created napkins by decorating small squares of paper with marker and stickers:

JULIA: Mom?  If I want these to be the NAPKINS that kids use at my party, is it okay if I use MARKER on them?
ME: Well, maybe you shouldn't, because we don't want people getting marker in their mouths.
JULIA: (thoughtful) Well...remember that time that Madeleine ATE a bite out of a marker?  Well, remember how you said that it's a good thing the markers aren't POISONOUS because she ate it?
ME: Yeah.
JULIA: So, like, wouldn't it be OKAY if the kids get marker in their mouth?

Wow.  Now THAT is a convincing point.  A little marker won't hurt anyone, right?


After making her napkins, Julia designed her dessert menu:

JULIA: So, here, Mom, here are the ingredients for the cupcakes, so, why don't you put this on up in your room until it's closer to my birthday?
ME: Uhh...why don't you keep it in YOUR room?
JULIA: Okay.  Maaaaaadeleeeeeine!  Do you want to come to my BIRTHDAY PARTY?  We're going to have vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting with M&Ms and maaaarshmallows!
MADELEINE: Um, no, I don't want to.
JULIA: But Madeleine, you're inviiiiiiited!
MADELEINE: No I'm not.
JULIA: Yes you are!  Here, look at this napkin!  It says your naaaaame!
MADELEINE: No it doesn't.
JULIA: Yes!  It says M-A-D-E-L-E-I-N-E.  That spells Madeleine!
MADELEINE: Well Julia.  No it DOESN'T.

Glad to know Madeleine is being cooperative as usual.

After the cupcake details, Julia got to work making goody bags for all her guests-to-be:

I supplied the paper bags, after her initial frustration with trying to construct a goody bag entirely from sheets of printer paper.  Hence, her first goody bag wound up being a compromise: she glued the paper decorations onto a brown bag:

Despite the ample room inside a brown paper bag, Julia is only supplying one special item as each person's goody.  And that item is...hold your breath...

A paper necklace held together by staples!  And it even has the word "necklace" printed on it just in case you're not sure what it is.

I'm pretty sure this is going to be a HUGE hit; who wants stickers, tattoos, candy, and all the other sorts of usual goody bag gifts when you can get strips of paper stapled together?!?

I have to applaud Julia's can-do-it attitude here, as well as her ambitious initiative.  As she pointed out to me, "Mom, I'm also doing a good thing, so we're not, like, BUYING things and WASTING MONEY."

So.  Once she's all finished with all of the party prep, we will just sit tight for the next nine months until the big party day finally arrives!

And in the meantime, February vacation is coming to a close and school starts back up tomorrow, which is a good thing, because at the rate she's going with her vacation-day crafts, Julia is ready to suck our printer paper, staple, and paper plate supplies dry...