Carmen's Party

I almost wished we'd planned some kind of outdoor birthday party for Carmen this year. We've had such mild weather this winter - hello El Nino, wont' you stay awhile?

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We did welcome the guests outdoors with a mural of Carmen for her friends to sign before they came inside. Chloe did some filming of the guests as they signed the poster, and what the video reveals is that Chloe was busy getting the low-down on what the presents were before they had even handed the gifts to the birthday girl.

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First we made curled-edge flower hair accessories. I've mentioned this before, but I always start a birthday party with a craft to keep everyone busy while we wait for the other guests to come.

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By the time our Yogi arrived so had all the guests, and they got down to the main activity. The instructor was amazing (Can you pick your foot up off the ground and place it up that high on the other thigh?) (And then stay steady while all the children totter and blur in the picture?)

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Besides being amazing at yoga herself, Jan really understood kids and after she went through some yoga positions with them they played a game where a girl would choose a position they'd learned and then the other kids would place stones on the first child while she tried continue to balance. It was a little loud and giggly for yoga (I thought) but the instructor was great with it.

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When it was time, though, the girls quieted right down. I should hire this woman to come to my house every night at bedtime.

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Jan, our Yogi, brought a little gift for Carmen. At the beginning of the yoga session she asked each girl to think of a word that described Carmen and she reminded them to think of it throughout the session. At the end she presented Carmen with a canvas that had her name on it, to which each of the girls then added their words that for them describe Carmen. It was sweet.

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After the yoga instructor left the rest of the gifts were opened. The last one, of course, was unwrapped with her teeth.