Sixteen . . .

I hope you can excuse my absence. I have been in my room for the last little while rocking back and forth in the fetal position because I have a sixteen year old son. How on earth did that happen?

On Friday night we threw a party for Big C and one of his good friends who turned sixteen the day before him. These two are a perfect pair of friends because they are both fun, funny and creative. She was Belle when he was the Beast in the Homecoming hallway. They are like brother and sister.

Both were willing to sit down with us moms and make plans for the party and take on assignments to make it fun for everyone. We played off the idea of a “Sweet Sixteen” party by having a Sweet AND Sour Sixteen Party – with Miss C being the sweet and Big C being the sour.

One thing the two teens wanted was a candy bar featuring all of their favorite sweet and sour candies. We priced out candy online and then found everything we wanted much cheaper at WalMart.

Miss C is a creative gal. She did the back drop and I set up the candy bar. I loved her choices of color – bright red and tiffany blue. She was dead set that we not use red and green – these poor kids with Christmas time birthdays!

The candy bar was a big hit with all the guests. Imagine, if you can, forty teenagers hepped up on total sugar highs. Awesome fun, I’m tellin’ ya.

Personally, I could just sit in front of that jar of Sour Patch Kids and nibble all night. Yum.

 

A mom of one of the guests called me after her daughter’s invitation arrived to ask if she could make a cake for the kids as a gift. She is an incredibly talented cake artist. What a sweet gesture. We came up with a design together and then she did an amazing amount of work and surprised the kids with the cake. It was incredible and delicious!

We collected pictures from the kids’ growing up years and I made a garland to hang over the cake table. I transferred them all to black and white and had them printed at Costco. We also had the picture from the invitation blown up to poster size and all the guests signed it with Sharpies for Miss C and Big C to remember the night. Here they are blowing out the candles. I love this picture so much! It just captures the magic of the night.

 

The birthday boy and girl wanted to have a fun photo booth with props, so I was there with my camera to capture funny (and awkward) moments all throughout the night.

A few other things that made the party a success . . .

• Big C made a two hour playlist on his iPod which we had playing in the background all night. Dancing and singing at the ready.
• A few games at the start of the party to break the ice and get everyone comfortable, including one where everyone had to pop a balloon without using their hands to get to a super sour piece of candy inside.
• Munchies and soda. Non-stop. All night.
• The birthday boy and girl made a concerted effort to personally speak to each person at the party some time during the night.
• A little thank you favor to take home after the party. We sent each guest home with a giant sized Pixie Stick and a note saying “Thanks for making our birthdays so sweet”.

So now he’s sixteen. And I’m getting old and gray. I love my Big C. So glad we could celebrate him in a big way this weekend!