Mikayla's 12th Birthday Party

With a birthday that takes place right around Christmas, Mikayla generally alternates between before Christmas break and after Christmas break (every other year) as to when she celebrates with her friends.  This was a "post Christmas" year, and she opted to go casual with her party plans.

 

Mikayla, Nati, and Ellie put up some streamers as decor - and blew up some balloons.  I only worried about the food aspect - they did a great job.

The plan was to have them each do their own pizzas, supply Orange Julius shakes while they waited for the pizzas to bake, then, for dessert, supply generic cookie dough, and then allow them to add whatever they wanted to it and then bake them in to "Pazookies" in little Pyrex bowls.  Add a little ice cream, and it's a pretty sweet treat.  So, there was a little bit of prep work in making sure everything would go smooth and organized with 10 girls "having at it" with food assembly.

No need to worry, though, as Mikayla has incredible friends who all did a great job following directions...

Orange Julius time.  The girls cranked up Pandora on to a station with all the hits this age group knew all the words to.  It got loud and festive in a hurry!  (We wisely stayed out of the living room during that stage of the evening...so no pics to document that!)

Pizzas got re-distributed and the girls seemed pleased-enough with their creations.

Present time.  She got a lot of things that fit her style perfectly - and some "snow check cash" for those that didn't want to brave the elements for a present.  We should have made a point that that was absolutely unnecessary...

This is Brita - she moved to the neighborhood during the summer and is a natural fit with this gang.  She's also a dancer and obviously, very, very flexible!

About halfway through the movie, we had them pause it and gave instructions on how to put together their Pazookies.  

After coming out of the oven, ice cream was added - with the potential for more toppings.  Yummmm!

We didn't have a good group shot, so I'll just use this.  We'll start with Nati (bottom left and go clockwise around the table).  Nati, Meg, Kenady, Piper, Grace, Julia, Mikayla, Brita, Harley, and Ellie.  

And then, back to the movie - which ended at just about the same time as parents began to arrive to pick up.  Excellent!   Mikayla said it couldn't beat her "Limo Christmas Lights" celebration, but came in a close second as far as parties go.  Hard not to with such a sweet group of friends.

Poor Brayden.  Actually, I should say, poor John.  Brayden was "held captive" in the bonus room so as not to disturb the girls (or drive Mikayla crazy).  So, instead, our guy who was wound up all day because of the snow and did not have a need for ADHD medication, was such a pest to John.  I think these pics say it all - well, there was a lot more that could be said, but this kind of sums it up!