Les français fête d'anniversaire

I'm interrupting the A&H Show blogroll to bring you today's important event...Till's French Birthday Party. I promise to get back to the show soon.

Till was going to have a birthday party, a while later we decided she wasn't, then weeks passed (as did her actual her birthday) and I suggested 'what about a friend over to play'? Somehow 'a friend over' became 'Can I have a few friends for a birthday afternoon tea'? and then somehow that plan morphed again to become..."Now we are having a party, with 10 kids...this weekend.....oh and it's going to have a French theme"! For several years now, Till has been intrigued by the Eiffel Tower and hopes desperately to visit Pairs one day. A French themed party seemed appropriate!

Now I don't normally do parties! They stress me out BIG TIME (as in I become a complete crazy nut, losing patience with everyone and panicking about every detail). Crumbs on the floor can almost cause my head to pop off and kids running through my house will often lead to steam coming out of my ears. But today's party went well...and given that we organised the whole affair in less than 4 days, I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself! Even the mess didn't cause me to twist my knickers! Till had a GREAT time, and really, it was all for her. Seeing Till's happy little face throughout the whole party helped me to remain cool, calm and collected - knowing the party would only last for 2 hours may have helped too!!!!!!!

Ben and Till put up the decorations the night before. There was red, white and blue aplenty.  Ben made 'french' play-dough for the take-home goodie bags. We gave brown lunch bags some flair by gluing on a pretty 'Thank you' label and a paper doily.  Each bag was filled with stickers, novelty erasers and a few sweets. Croissants with jam and cream were served for lunch, as well as french dip with crackers, french fries and sliced french bread with pizza topping (Yes, a little Italian snuck in - Italy is close to France after all). For beverages, I mixed fruit juice with soda water, which went down a treat with the thirsty hordes. Till didn't want a cake and instead requested mousse au chocolat. I did however have a small cupcake, just so we could sing and have a candle. What birthday would be complete without that ritual!

Many games were played (you've got to keep the little muchkins busy is my way of thinking). First up, a game of Zingo, then musical statues, followed by 'Pin the Madeline on the Eiffel Tower viewing deck', followed by more musical statues.  Ben supervised a game of blackboard 'pictionary' while I got them all burning some energy on the verandah with a vigorous game of 'Red light, Green Light'. And then I think they played musical statues again! There were no prizes (that's not my style) - just good clean fun and laughs! You know, the kids didn't even ask about prizes!

Till was very spoiled, receiving some lovely gifts from her friends. I think that photo above beautifully depicts how delighted she was! I was proud of her graciousness and good manners! And don't you just love her dress? It was a present from Ma. The photos don't show it, but around the hem is a gorgeous French inspired streetscape.

Well I've vacuumed and mopped. The decorations are down. Even the blog post is complete. 

Phew. 

I survived.  

Et maintenant à vous détendre