What 16 looks like

Helping with her ipod brownie bars...

She rolled out all the gumdrops on sugar

so we could cut them into circles and rectangles while

I melted and colored the frosting to glaze the brownies.

She wanted them to be very colorful so we had yellow, red, purple, green and blue

I was worried about how to present them but the 24 ct acrylic cupcake holder worked great.

We used black licorice stuck into mini marshmallows for earphones and we just kind of laid them under the brownie ipods because our efforts to insert them into an end of the brownie met with crumbled brownie and we weren't sure what else to do....

We planned her party for June 4th because she would be leaving June 5th and would be gone until the day before her birthday. It was the first week the kids were out of school but I was still working 2 1/2 hours a day in summer school so....

We cooked all week to prepare and make it easier. Carly was right there with me every step of the way and it was fun to work together to prepare for her party.

On Monday and Tuesday, we baked 4 pans of brownies and then used a melon baller to make them into brownie balls which we rolled in powdered sugar and then froze. On Wednesday we popped a bunch of popcorn and then made it into caramel corn that you cook in the oven so it is not sticky. We filled up little carnival style popcorn bags with the caramel corn and set it aside in straw baskets lined with colorful tissue paper. Wednesday night we made and decorated the brownie ipods and cleaned the water cooler out and bought table cloths and ice.

Thursday we peeled and cut carrots, trimmed broccoli, picked up balloons, borrowed and decorated tables, filled the water cooler with ice water, took the brownie balls out of the freezer, popped buttered popcorn, bagged it up and made chip dip.

At 7:20 we were ready and she started to panic that nobody would show up and it would be a bomb and she'd be a social outcast and AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

At 7:28 the first car showed up and kids jumped out and she smiled and all was right with the world. We ended up with about 20ish kids at our house. Thankfully the weather was beautiful and they hung out, outside and played games and goofed around and ate and she opened her presents. Gone are the days where I pass out goodie bags and run the games, I was reduced to peeking out the mini-blinds and refilling the chip bowl and fetching more cups when needed.

The kids were good and not obnoxious. I did have to remove a megaphone from the mix at one point as I worried about our neighbors with small children who might be trying to get to bed...

At 9:30 Mark set up his projector and outdoor screen and they settled down on blankets to watch "The Village". She wanted something spooky. The movie ended at about 11:00 and some left and some came inside for another 30 minutes or so while they waited for rides. The last 2 boys left at midnight.

We all survived and I think she felt it was a success.

She had her first date on her actual 16th birthday the next Friday....

It was his first date too. His birthday is the same day as hers so they had been planning this 1st date together since 8th grade. They're just good friends and she had a blast. She did say it was a little weird at times but weird-good!

Mark did the whole

"come in and sit down young man" thing

He asked him where he would be taking HIS daughter and what time he planned to bring home HIS daughter home.

At one point he laughed and said to Michael "I know this is a little weird for you but to tell you the truth it's weird for me too but it needs to be done!"

Michael seemed nervous.

I felt a little sorry for him but Mark didn't overdo it he handled it very well.

She was home by 10:45 so all was well with the world.

Grandma Donna,

she loved that you remembered her love for In N Out and loves her hat and shirt!

Thank you for being so thoughtful. It was fun.