God blessed us with two girls, unfortunately for us, their birthdays fall within 6 days of one and other. We haven't had big birthday celebrations for quite some time so this year we allowed it within reason. What I mean by that is we gave each of our girls a budget that was to include their gift and they could choose if they wanted to spend the budget on a gift, or a party instead, they could. All in all the girls did very well sticking to their budget, even looking at sale ads in the newspaper for menu ideas as they both wanted parties.
My eldest, turning 15 opted to have our church youth group over. Her budget...she had $100 to work with. She meticulously planned out her menu, shopped clearance at the dollar tree and borrowed outdoor games from a few friends of ours (remember that 4th of July party I always blog about?) She made the potato salad herself, we went to GFS for the chicken tenderloins which we skewered, and mom made the cupcakes (ingredients in her budget of course). We did relay games, yard games, and a cookout...I think it was a great success!
We stayed within the budget but provided a meal of BBQ chicken skewers, potato salad, chips, baked beans, a soda float bar and cupcakes...all for 30 hungry teens!
I personally loved watching the kids do life-sized Jenga, the clothesline marshmallow relay, and just having all around good clean fun.
My eldest, turning 15 opted to have our church youth group over. Her budget...she had $100 to work with. She meticulously planned out her menu, shopped clearance at the dollar tree and borrowed outdoor games from a few friends of ours (remember that 4th of July party I always blog about?) She made the potato salad herself, we went to GFS for the chicken tenderloins which we skewered, and mom made the cupcakes (ingredients in her budget of course). We did relay games, yard games, and a cookout...I think it was a great success!
We stayed within the budget but provided a meal of BBQ chicken skewers, potato salad, chips, baked beans, a soda float bar and cupcakes...all for 30 hungry teens!
I personally loved watching the kids do life-sized Jenga, the clothesline marshmallow relay, and just having all around good clean fun.
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Then it was little sister's turn. My 12 year old daughter wanted a luau pool party. She was very set on the idea of decorations so that is where the bulk of her party money went. This was also a big year for her as when our daughters turn 12 they get a special night out with mom and dad and are given a purity ring to wear until they are ready to replace that ring with a wedding band. This is something both of our girls were very excited to recieve and I think that it solidifies the importance of waiting until marriage as being a value we are trying to instill.
The luau was fun, the girls played in the pool, had some relays, had an icecream sundae bar, bratwurst, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, and cake pops. We had a cookout fire for smores when it started to get chilly.
The luau was fun, the girls played in the pool, had some relays, had an icecream sundae bar, bratwurst, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, and cake pops. We had a cookout fire for smores when it started to get chilly.
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And her special dinner out with just mom and dad. She said the restaurant was sooo fancy and she loved being treated like a princess! We truly believe that it is so important to let a young lady know how she should be treated and why she should value herself. She had a ball and the look on her face was priceless as she kept admiring her new bauble. I hope that as she gets older she will keep in mind the importance and significance of that ring we gave to her.
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