The evening started at 5:30 pm on Friday night. Siblings were invited to come along if dad didn't get off of work on time. We ate at 6:00 pm. Dinner was easy. We had pizza, a veggie tray, chips and pretzels. For dessert, the girls got to make fruit pizzas which were a real hit. They were seriously delicious. I used the frosting recipe from here and the cookie recipe was the same one from our cookie sale.
We also had a table set up with the scrapbook pages that I had made a few weeks ago. It was a good reminder for all of us about all the hard work that we had done this year.
After dinner, we went into the church to pray and spend some time with Jesus. The most precious thing happened. Oh how I wish I had my camera with me!!! The girls had gone up ahead of all the moms. When we got in there, the girls were all kneeling in front of the Blessed Mother and were praying!!! It made me realize that all the time I spend on Little Flowers is soooo worth it. They have learned a lot this year and their love for Jesus has grown.
It was then time for games!! Jessica was in charge of the games. She had the girls playing some Minute To Win It Games. They had a blast. Lots of laughing. It was hilarious to watch the expressions and poses that they made. It was great. Maybe next year, we should get the moms involved!!! Although it was sort of nice to sit back and just visit while the girls played.
At 9 PM, we popped popcorn and watched My Catholic Family - St. Edith Stein. It's only 30 minutes long so its the perfect amount of time yet the girls thought it was so fun to get to watch tv. For some reason, I thought the girls would sort of calm down after the movie. If they did, it was short lived!!!
Our plan was to get the girls washed up and ready for bed after the movie, read a bedtime story and then let them have a little quiet time after lights out. They did wash up and get their beds all ready. I got them to settle down and listen to a story. I read from First Communion Days which is a great little book and then it was lights out. I figured it would take a half hour or so for them to really calm down and sleep.
Part of the problem is that the moms were sitting next door in the kitchen doing some tea party planning. Of course, the girls took this to mean that they could have a pillow fight and all that other good stuff. They certainly were not ready to go to sleep. Finally around 11:00 PM, I decided it was time to just go to bed to get them to sleep. It took a little firmness with my daughter and then all was quiet.
Everyone was up bright and early the next morning. A good thing to remember for next year. Let them know what time they are allowed to get up. This year, they were making noise at around 5:45 AM. I told them all to go back to sleep for another 45 minutes. I'm thinking next year, around 7:00 AM would be nice, at least in my dreams.
Breakfast was kept simple. Everyone signed up to bring something and there was lots of fruit, bagels, and muffins. I think the moms appreciated it after a rough night on the floor. The mess was kept to a minimum and not too much to clean up.
After breakfast, we got dressed and went over to the church to say the rosary. I found this wonderful idea for praying the rosary here. I had wanted the girls to be able to decorate the felt hearts with glitter glue but after trying it at home, I realized that it was going to take longer than 12 hours to dry. It was still a beautiful visual. While I led it, Jessica passed out the hearts for the girls to lay down. We sat up near the Blessed Mother's statue and when we were done, gave Mary all of our hearts.
Unfortunately, it started pouring the minute our sleep over started and never let up enough for us to spend much time outdoors. It would have helped the girls to burn off some of their energy if they had been able to run around but they still did great. We had two crafts planned and had been hoping that the weather would improve enough to do the one outside. It never happened. No big deal, we laid down a couple of disposable tablecloths and had the girls make their Mary Gardens right inside.
Before the gardens, they got to make necklaces. I was able to get the bottle caps from Etsy, and the little medals came from Madonna Catholic Supply Company. Jessica did the wording for the necklaces. While this activity didn't take very long, it will make a nice keepsake for them to remember their year.
Our last activity was their Mary Gardens. Jessica is quite the gardener so she was in charge of getting all the plants. We got the pots at the Dollar Store and I made the grottoes. The little Mary statues came from Autom. Before the girls started their planting, Jessica shared the meaning of each flower that was going in the garden. It was really interesting to us all. All the moms helped their daughters with their gardens and so the mess wasn't too bad. My daughter's garden is looking a little wild in this picture, but they all turned out so beautiful!
Whew!! This was quite the post!! It was a fantastic sleep over, and I would say the girls and moms all feel a lot closer now. We are so fortunate that we are allowed to use our church's social hall. I wish I could say that it's time for a break, but it's now time to get ready for a tea!!!
