Chaotic Household

Faithful Reader, do you recall that Abigail had plans for a birthday party with her friends last August?  Well, that party never came to pass because it turned out to be too difficult to track them down in the summer.  We decided to wait until the school year when everybody would be back in town and available to hand an invitation to directly while at school.  And Suzanna usually doesn't have a birthday party with friends on her actual birthday because it happens during Christmas break, when her friends (and/or we) are off traveling for the holidays.  We just wait until school is back in session and have a belated birthday party for her then.

Well, last night we had a combined birthday/slumber party for both Abigail (a very belated party!) and Suzanna, each of whom invited two friends to come over after school to eat supper and then spend the night.  And we all survived.

Suzanna had requested a fancy Olive Garden-style supper, and she, her sisters, and Susan bought all the ingredients the other day so that Susan and I could make the meal.  We set the table with fancy dishes and served the meal in four courses: soup (zuppa Toscana, a creamy rustic soup with potatoes, kale, and Italian sausage); salad (tossed in an herb vinaigrette and served with cheesy garlic toast); chicken Parmesan; and homemade cheesecake for dessert.

Abigail requested a marble cheesecake (vanilla and chocolate swirled)

Suzanna requested a vanilla one, served with cherry topping

The girls mostly made them scarce downstairs, out of sight but not out of earshot (their laughter and singing could be heard through the upstairs floor/downstairs ceiling).  The seven of them (Suzanna and her two friends, Abigail and her two friends, and Hillary) played together all night and into the wee hours of the morning.  They started by giving each other spa treatments (three stations: nail and hand massage, facial mask, and hair and makeup), but they also did crafts (making spoon dolls), played Wii, listened to music and danced, played with Barbies, watched a movie and ate snacks, and did lots of talking and giggling.

This morning Susan made them ice cream caramel rolls and fruit salad for breakfast.  More playing ensued before it was time to drive them all home.  Now for a few hours of quiet until our relatives come over!  Yes, we're babysitting a pack of littluns: Susan's cousins' kids Trae, Tatum, and Kylan will spend some time with us while their parents are out for supper to celebrate Susan's cousin Traci's birthday.  It should be fun!