*why am I sitting here...*

...when I should be getting ready for the par-tay??!!! A very good question! I will not dally much longer - just time enough to post that as of 09:51 my daughter is 6 years old, and is currently with her sister, playing with some of her new toys, whilst I am about to go and blitz the downstairs in preparation for my parents joining us for lunch (which mum is bringing, love her) and then the party at 4pm. YAY!!

*later that same day*



Next year, we'll invite fewer children!!!! Actually, considering we were entertaining 13 lively 6 year-olds and 1 lively 4 year-old, I think we did very well!! F and A had a great start to the morning, unwrapping their presents, and admiring each other's new acquisitions, and F even let A unwrap some of her presents, so that she had a few more to unwrap. We now have more Polly Pockets than we know what to do with (and our collection was already quite large!), enough crafty stuff to occupy many a wet afternoon, some fantastic new books (Judy Moody - off to a good start at bed time tonight) and some vouchers - F is particularly delighted with the vouchers because she LOVES any opportunity to go and browse and spend a bit of money. She is the world's most considered chooser when it comes to picking toys/books - she takes an absolute age, but is always delighted with her choice. Anja picks the first thing she sees - in, out, no messing! Mum and dad came for lunch, bringing with them a beautiful quiche, some salad, olives, cous cous, the works - it was great, and mum even took home their dirty serving plates so that I wouldn't have to wash them. Thank you, mumly - you are a star. And then, on the dot of 4, F's party guests arrived, pretty much all at the same time. We played good old traditional party games with them, and as far as I could tell, they all had a really great time. I had wondered whether, at the grand old age of 6, they might turn up their noses at such things as 'pass the parcel' and 'Simon says', but they were all extremely enthusiastic.



They all ate a good tea - usual fare of cheese, ham and egg rolls, crisps, cherry tomatoes, cocktail sausages, party rings and Jaffa cakes, and birthday cake to take home in their party bags. They were all collected fairly promptly at 6, and Ed and I collapsed into chairs while Freya opened the rest of her presents. The girls are now fast asleep, both in A's bedroom on airbeds as a treat - their idea, not ours! I feel like I could sleep for a week...