Party Planner

Hi Knitters,
I have been the party planner these last few days. My daughter has officially turned 9 and she has officially had four parties to celebrate. I'm not bragging for her or anything, it is just the way it always turns out. We have different extended-family parties, our own quiet family party and then a friend party. Is that crazy? I am exhausted. Party planning is not my calling in any way, shape or form. Honestly, I am much more of a party avoider.

My friend Betz has a super tutorial for sponge balls. As soon as I saw these I knew they were happening at my house. The good thing about a summer birthday is that water is usually involved. The grand finale was a pool party for my daughter's friends, some neighbors and a couple of cousins. The sponge balls were the hit of the party. Thanks for sharing, Betz.
See, the sponge balls soak up the water which makes them great for throwing and splatting. My sister thought they looked like gobstoppers, Willy Wonka style. Some of the sponge balls were over-taken by a group of of older teens while we were at the pool. I thought that was pretty funny. They loved them as much as the little kids. That's the sign of a true hit.

The party bags were stuffed with treats and toys. I have learned over the years that what's in the bag is more important than the bag itself which usually gets tossed aside. We just used brown lunch bags that we already had and tied on some curly ribbon. When I was tying up and scrunching the bags I couldn't help but to think of a certain hat. Yep, it's right there on the cover, the pink paper bag. See that big container of gum? We've all been chewing so much Dubble Bubble around here that our jaws hurt. That's got to stop. It's not attractive.
This was party number two. We made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. I made a second batch just the same for the pool party.
The first party involved a Dairy Queen cake entitled, Chocolate Extreme. The eating has to stop or more realistically, slow down. We had pizza, ate out at a local diner, had a party platter of subs, a breakfast feast including sweet rolls and eggs...and I loved it all. That's the problem.

Okay, now I get to catch my breath for about a week until my other daughter has her birthday. That will include a sleepover with a few twelve year olds, fireworks, a cookout or two and more and more eating. And I will love it all again.

The knitting work is still going on strong. I have a couple of new books to review. It's already Tuesday, Knitters, hope you are having a good week so far.
best, susie