The day of the party went so smoothly...Josh and John helped me set up tables and chairs (enough for 150 people), I only had to take Kanyon with me to decorate and I got it all done rather quickly, I cooked the hamburger the night before--so the remainder of the food preparations were not stressful, and the party started basically on time!
I decorated the gym with red and yellow crepe paper (for me, crepe paper always screams "Party Time" because my mom used to decorate our house with it whenever it was one of my sibling's birthdays") and the doorways had festive "FIESTA" banners:
The table centers were adorned with shiny little red confetti chili peppers:
The stage had 5 "FIESTA" pinatas hung from the curtain rods:
For dinner, we ate soft tacos (with all the fixings), chips and salsa, and rainbow sherbet for dessert. I had two sets of tables with all the dinner items on opposite sides of the gym, so that people could serve themselves from both sides of the tables--thus creating four lines. It really made dinner serving so quick and easy, and the time spent waiting in line was reduced dramatically!
After dinner, the kids all made maracas. Weeks before the party, I asked members of the ward to save their empty yogurt containers. I collected them, and then cut out lids from cereal boxes (I admit I pride myself on my resourcefulness). There was two tables at the party set-up with everything the kids needed to create the noisemakers. They chose a yogurt container, a lid, wrote their name on the lid, filled the container with donated dry beans, and then taped the lid to the container. VOILA!! Instant Maraca!!! (and entirely free, too!) The maraca creations were a huge hit! All the kids just LOVED them!!! I taught the kids how to shake their maracas to the beat of music, and then played "La Bamba". The children danced and shook their maracas to the song for everyone to see!!!
The last event for the evening was the pinatas! All the youth were SO excited! Each pinata had 10 strings (one string was the magic one that opened up the bottom letting loose all the candy and favors). All the kids found a place under a pinata, and I told them to hold on to a string, and wait to pull it until I counted to "3". At the sound of "3", candy was dumped all over the stage, and the kids all picked up as much as they could keep in their baggies. 
(in the photo below, look at the pinata in front of Josh--the candy is falling out! And see the reaction on Kanyon's face? This picture puts a smile on my face!)
It was the smoothest, best ward party I've ever done! Within an hour of its beginning, it was over! I didn't have one problem (or 'glitch') like I always have in the past! I smiled the whole night and really enjoyed myself! My boys had such a great time, too, and they devoured all their candy that night and shook their maracas for weeks after (don't tell them, but during the house-move, I threw them away).
I told the Bishop after it was over, that since it all went so perfectly, that probably means I'll be getting a new calling soon. And surprisingly, he agreed to that statement!! But the truth is, I really enjoy being the Ward Activities Chairperson. I love creating, organizing, and throwing parties that I don't have to pay for ;)!!!
2 comments:
Great work Kala. Looks like a fun night! Love the maraca idea!
What a fun Party Kala! Wish you were in our ward...Looks like they all had a good time and it turned out great! They would miss you too much if you were released...
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