Slumber Party Activities

Good Monday morning!

The Showcase Pic is of something that made me VERY, VERY happy this weekend. The picture kind of speaks for itself.

The Gallery Pics are from Saturday night's Auburn game (as seen from our den). Austin came in during the end of the third quarter after spending the day in Atlanta (where JSU celebrated another win). The Faulkner guys do not watch a ballgame quietly. Generally, I have to take an Excedrin Migraine after watching a ballgame with them in an enclosed area, so Roxie and I tend to crawl into my bed and watch a chick flick until the final minutes. However, Roxie hung in for the entire game. She made her Daddy proud.

I slipped in with my fourth child (MY BRAND NEW CAMERA), and watched the final minutes hoping, hoping, hoping I would get some "happy" shots. AND I DID!

RANDOMNESS - I started my "Connection" Class last night at church. I am participating in an eight-week study of Your Girl, Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World by Vicki Courtney. I think it is going to be so good. I read Your Boy, Raising a Godly Son in an Ungodly World several years ago, and I gained tons of insight. I'm expecting more of the same... Plus, I'm in the company of several women who have daughters in their upper teens and 20s. I'm there to learn, Baby!

I wanted to share a little excerpt of what we'll be studying the next few weeks...

"Over the next eight weeks, you will be confronted with six major issues teen girls face: conformity, self-esteem, modesty, purity, boys and girl politics. As you learn about how these issues impact your daughter, you will be challenged to evaluate how these issues impact your own life."

Uh-oh. Sounds like there's going to be a little homework, but that's okay. I think I have the self-esteem situation under control. At 49, I'm pretty much at peace with who I am.

As far as modesty goes, I'm a very well-covered individual. Having teenage boys in and out of the house for years kind of prepares you for the unexpected. When I step out of the bathroom, I am wearing more undergarments AND overgarments than most nuns.

The "boy" issue was taken care of 23 years ago for me. I have Mikie (and Austin and Josh). I do not have the time or the energy to deal with more boys on a daily basis.

The issues which I want to really delve into for myself AND Roxie are conformity and girl politics. These two subjects are the ones I feel the least comfortable with parenting-wise.

I am the WORLD'S WORST when it comes to completing a Bible Study, but this one seems like it NEEDS to be completed. Wish me luck! Oh, and if you're in the area, come join us at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday evenings at the North Campus (the new building). I'll save you a seat!

Weekend Review

We had a very good weekend, full of fun and sun. I helped a friend chaperon her daughter's slumber party... always exciting. Mike and I spent time slinging young ladies all over the lake in a tube. Very entertaining.

We arrived home in plenty of time to watch the Auburn game, and then Austin surprised us by coming home Saturday night instead of Sunday morning. (YEA!)

Roxie and I crashed Sunday afternoon, of course. Josh played football with friends. Austin visited with Melia. All in all, a very, very good weekend.

I just wished I hadn't worn my giant sunglasses with little or no sunscreen on my nose, forehead, cheeks and chin. I look like a giant red raccoon. Hopefully, this will get better as the week progresses. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Slumber Party Activities

Every girl wants to have a slumber party. Below I have compiled of list using several different websites with ideas to keep your guests happy and "under control," because as every mom knows, the best slumber party is the one that does NOT get "out of hand."

1. Have a Scavenger Hunt. I've given you several go-bys over the last two years of fun Scavenger Hunts. This is always a crowd pleaser.

2. Play "Let's Make a Deal." You will need three boxes and prizes of varying quality (really cool, okay and a booby prize). Each child has a chance to play so make sure you have enough "really cool" prizes to go around.

Place one prize of each type under the boxes without anyone seeing. The contestant chooses a box and the prize is revealed. The contestant can then keep that prize or be given the choice to choose another. Offer incentives (candy, money, etc.) to see if they will keep the first chosen. They may keep either the first prize and incentives or choose the other box. This is their final choice.

3. Play "Mummy." You will need rolls of toilet paper (one per person). You can form teams to see who is the fastest dressing their mummy (other person), or just let them have fun. This can be a very messy activity with the dust from the toilet paper and the paper fight afterwards.

4. Have a "Picky Marshmallow Relay." You will need toothpicks... one per child and one marshmallow per team. The marshmallow is placed on the end of the first person's toothpick. They hold the toothpick in their mouth and try to pass it to the next person in line using only the toothpicks in their mouths.

5. Play "Clothes Pin 7-Ups." Each person should have seven clothes pins. Clip clothes pins on the backs of all players and have them face each other in a circle. (Did I mention this was an outside game?) When you yell "GO," they each run around trying to get the clothes pins off the other players' backs. No grabbing or holding the other person is allowed.

6. Have a Talent Show or video the kids performing to music. Lip sync is always fun.

7. Have a night-time Easter Egg Hunt (even if it isn't Easter). Hide eggs and prizes outside. Everyone must bring a flashlight to the party. Hide items like fingernail polish, body mists, candy, etc.

8. Play "Piggly-Wiggly." Everyone lays out their sleeping bags. Choose someone to be "It." They must leave the room. Everyone else hides inside the sleeping bags (not their own). When they are ready, "It" comes back into the room. She sits on one of the sleeping bags and says, "Piggly-Wiggly." The person inside says "Oink, oink." "It" must guess who is inside the bag. If they are right, the person in the bag is "It," and the game continues.

9. For a fun snack, make Sweet Dreams. Use frosting to decorate a graham cracker that looks like your sleeping bag with you in it!

10. Make Puffy Pillows. Decorate plain white pillowcases with puffy paint. Let them dry overnight.

11. ALWAYS make smores. If you are indoors, give each girl a sheet of aluminum foil, two graham cracker halves, three squares of a Hershey bar and a marshmallow. After they stack their smore, have them wrap it tightly and write their name on the top with a Sharpie. Cook the smores on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees for 8 or 9 minutes.

12. Make your own sundae!

13. Think of unusual places to sleep: the attic, a tree house, the basement, a tent outside in your backyard, the back deck, etc.

14. Play "Burglar Alarm." Set a little timer and have everyone go out of the room. One person stays in and hides the timer. Then the other kids come back in and try to find the timer before it goes off. Whoever finds it can be given a little prize.

15. For breakfast, have everyone brush their teeth and their hair and head to Krispy Kreme for Hot and Now doughnuts... in their pajamas. (Let the moms know beforehand what your plans are so they will pack pajama pants and t-shirts appropriate for wearing in public.)

I'm sorry. If you can't have a fantastic slumber party using some of these ideas (which doesn't even include the basics... movies, manicures, pedicures and dance-offs)... Well, you're just not trying hard enough!

I sincerely hope you have a very good Monday. I will share Martha Stewart's Bacon/Toast/Egg Muffin Breakfast recipe in the morning. So good. So easy. I may have a theme for the week somewhere in the back of my brain. We'll see. We'll see.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda