Lion House Fun!

Xanthe has been looking forward to her Lion House birthday party for a long time.  It was supposed to be last year, when she turned 8, but some of her cousins and friends were only 7 then, and it didn't seem like a good time to do it.  Thinking about Xanthe in that situation, with food and all the crazy energy of a birthday party, made me feel stressed, so I cancelled it last year.  I am so glad we waited until this year, because it turned out just wonderful.  Xanthe was at the perfect age for her, and she enjoyed every minute.  At the end of the day, she twirled around and said, "This was a fantastic day!"  Aaahhhh.

I enjoyed every minute, too!  The babies and I spent some time cleaning the house and car and preparing for the girls' arrival.  We had after-school snacks waiting for them as they changed into their fancy dresses.  Moms had dropped off their Sunday clothes and gifts at our house ahead of time, because the girls walked to our house straight from school, and I didn't want other girls to have hurt feelings if they caught wind of the gifts and saw the group in their pretty clothes.

Grandma took the advance group, comprised of her grandchildren, in her car while the friends and I swung by Davis High to pick up Golda from Moonlight Serenade rehearsal.  While we waited, we watched Frozen.  It's so exciting to have a musical that is this good!  When I was young, Andrew Lloyd Webber seemed to always be coming up with something amazing.  So I loved that the girls all knew the music to Frozen, and were belting it out at the top of their lungs.  It's fun that they all have a common soundtrack for this part of their lives.

Carol, our host, was enthused without being saccharine, and the kids really responded to her.  She took us all over the Lion House, showing us all the rooms and telling stories about Brigham Young and his family.  She talked about how he made sure his daughters learned music and dance, and all of my girls leaned in to catch my eye.  I love sharing that love with them.

Carol took us outside to admire the gardens.  We were reminiscing about Golda's 8th birthday party, how it was in June, and outside in the gardens.  The flowers were absolutely breathtaking.  I don't know how they do it.  Aubry, Esmae, Sophia, Isabella, Xanthe and Jade.

The kids each get a gingersnap and a sucker, and the birthday kid gets a little cloth sack with sunflower seeds, sugar cubes and raisins inside, to represent what a pioneer child would have received for their birthday.  You are supposed to eat one raisin a month until your next birthday.  Wow, do you think we're spoiled in the 21st century!?

We played Hide the Thimble, and it was uproariously fun, but I was glad our host spent more time on the Lion House tour and less time on games.  The party seemed to clip along.

The funniest was when we hid the thimble in Freestone's ear and Xanthe and Sophia could not find it!

Scott was going to a concert in Salt Lake that night (Young the Giant), so the timing worked out perfectly for him to spend some time with us between court and the concert.  In fact, I couldn't believe how all the pieces fell into place for this evening.

Golda has been on a committee for Youth Conference, which usually happens in the summer.  For whatever reason, it had to be moved to this Thursday night.  Despite all the kids' hard work, it just wasn't coming together easily, and Golda was asked to be a speaker two days prior.  Here she is at the party, polishing her talk.  The three girls left the party a few minutes early to walk over to Temple Square to meet up with the rest of the youth, who had been bused from Kaysville.  Another example of serendipity with the timing.  And Grandma was to be to her missionary duties at 7:00, which gave her time to attend the party, walk the girls to their youth conference, and spend a few minutes with them at their meeting before going to the same Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal that the youth were slated to attend.  It was so fun for them to have Grandma and Grandpa with them at the rehearsal!  So even though we missed a couple of ballet classes, scouts, Xanthe's tutoring and all of Ruby's Thursday students for the party, everything ran like clockwork so that everyone could be there, stress-free.

The cake is moist and scrumptious, and there is a gumball hidden inside for one lucky party guest.  Xanthe's face was priceless when the candles were being lit.  That's the face you want to see when you pay big bucks for a special party!  And THIS VIDEO was so funny.  Xanthe could not get the candles blown out.  We were all laughing!

Ruby found the gumball!

We were so lucky Grandma could be our special guest at the party.  One of the most fun parts of the party in the taffy pulling, which I didn't take any pictures of because my hands were full of taffy!  Grandma suggested having a cousins' taffy pull sometime.  She is a master at candy making, so it would be fun to have her do that with the kids.  She told us that her mom used to make taffy for fun occasions.

At the end, when Xanthe was given her choice of dolls, she knew this would be the one.  It was easy to get ready to go at the end, with three girls already gone.  I had brought all the presents in a bin, which I put them back into as Xanthe opened them.  I also put the kids' goodie bags in the bin, to hand out as I dropped them off.  I know from experience that 7 kids eating taffy and gingersnaps in my car is going to make me unhappy!  I felt organized this time, and everything seemed to flow.  When I quieted the kids down at the end to talk to them about thanking our host, the host asked me if I was the Primary president.  Ha ha!  I said, "No, I'm the music leader.  And I teach ballet and violin."  All my teaching experience has finally given me enough insight and experience to be able to manage a birthday party with aplomb.  It cracks me up.  I do feel confident with a group of kids.  I don't micromanage; I trust them, and I'm calm, and yet just a titch mean, just like I am in class.  It's my groove and I like it.  The older kids' Lion House parties were special and fun, but there was a level of tension on my part sometimes, a worry over everything going just right, but a hesitation to take over and make it go a certain way.  I don't do that anymore.  I find myself able to predict what situations I will be good in, and what I just don't want to do.  If we all play to our strengths, we will all be so much happier.  Walking out of the party, I felt so happy and peaceful.  I had had such an enjoyable time, I didn't want it to end.  If I hadn't had to get back to the babysitter, and if parents hadn't been expecting their girls, I would have spent more time with them, walking around the grounds, admiring the absolutely incredible gardens.

We did stop and take a few moments to pose in front of this explosion of springtime, just outside the Joseph Smith Building.  Freestone was my assistant, carrying the bin of presents and snapping photos.  He was very mature.  These six little girls were just darling.  They were all polite and adorable, and they all said thanks.  I love them!  (Esmae, Aubry, you-know-who, Izzy, Jade and Sophia)

Darn, we had so much fun!  Enjoy the lovely pictures from our spring collection!...

My handsome assistant. :)