8th birthday party

This girl turned eight which warranted a birthday party (I give parties at ages 5, 8, and 12 -- after that they're on their own). That's her report card in her hand. I think she must have received some good grades. Good thing or that would have made her birthday somewhat lousy.
She loves to read. No surprise there with all the examples she has to follow. So we decided on a book party.

*Disclaimer: Lest you think I might be one of those crafty people, I assure you I am not. I love the internet and especially Pinterest for all the fun ideas that I never would have come up with on my own. I figure since I don't do birthday parties that often, when we do let's make it a big deal. Moneywise, this party didn't cost hardly a thing and wasn't a huge undertaking. Win, win!

Invitation

Bookmarks
Book Worms

A book exchange where they get to take home a book (Kiersten put together a scavenger hunt to find the basket of wrapped books.)

And of course a bag to put it all in. The first thing we did we decorate a bag. Boy can those girls pile on the paint. I was surprised when some of them showed up in Primary with their bags and they were dry. I was also grateful for no major paint mishaps.

Ash sure has a lot of fun girls for friends and one fun boy cousin who didn't mind hanging with all the girls. What we didn't count on was a major snow storm. It snowed all morning and finally tapered off about midway through our party.

No picture of our lunch, but the menu consisted of corn dogs, Cheetos (which I absolutely love and only buy once a year because they're so terrible for you), apple slice, string cheese, cookie, and water. This was by far the easiest way to feed 10 party people, 2 teenagers, 2 younger kids, and one mom.

When it was over, kids were delivered home safely, and the mess somewhat cleaned up, I gifted myself a nap. Planning a baptism is next on the agenda. Eight is kind of a big year.