Party Time!

When we decided to move, my kids were understandably sad to be leaving their school and friends. We didn't move very far though, and we assured the kids they could still see their friends. Even so, they wanted to have a party to say goodbye.
That is, they wanted to throw themselves a going away party. As in, while I was in the midst of packing our stuff, cleaning and fixing up the house to get it ready to put on the market, and dealing with my own feelings about moving, the kids wanted me to invite over all their friends so they could say, Goodbye. Call me crazy but I thought that was a really bad idea.
Fortunately I was able to think fast and I suggested rather than having a "Moving Party," we should have a "Moved-in Party." I told the kids they could invite their friends over to our new house, and that way everyone would know where we live. (And I could buy myself some time!) The kids agreed, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Well, as you know, we're in our new home. Starting about five minutes after we were here, the kids have been asking, "When can we have our 'Moved-in Party'?" This past week I was thinking about it, realizing school was just around the corner, and declared Sunday afternoon to be the official time for the Moved-in Party. I had the kids make a list of who they wanted to invite and I got on the phone to extend the invitations. We started brainstorming ideas for activities and went shopping to get some party supplies. (The shopping trip was another opportunity for me to be thankful that I have a creative and frugal daughter. She wanted to get a pinata for the party but we couldn't find one at the Dollar Store. The ones at WalMart were $15 and $16 and I just couldn't see spending that much money on something kids were going to destroy with a baseball bat. She said, "That's OK. I'll make one." So she decorated a brown paper bag and called it a pinata.)
Finally this afternoon, after a week of anticipating, fourteen of my kids' friends came over for an afternoon of games and fun. We had a three-legged race, batted the pinata, ate snacks, and played sardines. After the "organized" activities the kids gravitated to their respective groups (the little boys, the bigger boys, and the girls) and did their own things.
I walked in on the girls playing Truth or Dare and taught them how to play HaHa. (Did anyone else play that game at slumber parties?) The bigger boys enjoyed catching bugs, and Joshua thrilled them all by feeding Ring a moth. And the little boys climbed the trees and the sign in our front yard. It was a true joy to see them enjoying themselves so much.
In fact, Joshua just walked through the room and said, "This was a fun day."
Yes, some days I feel like I'm getting it "right." Some days the kids are happy with the things I do for them. Some days I'm a little more able to overlook the crumbs on the floor and the doors that keep getting left open, and I can just be happy that my kids are having fun. Today is one of those days, and I'm going to cherish it!