Mystery Meal Fun!

I'm having a hard time believing it but our sweet Mackenzie turned 13 this week...  WOW...  Where did the years go?

We have a tradition about birthday parties in our family...  The first time they get to have a big friend's birthday party is when they turn 10 (family/best friends only before that...)...  Then again at 13 and 18...  For their 16th birthday, they get a weekend trip to the BMW driving school (we don't have a BMW but it's an AWESOME driving school where you learn to drive in all kinds of conditions)...

So this was a big birthday party for Mackenzie and she chose to have a Mystery Meal...  In case you don't know, with a Mystery Meal you choose 10+ items and you name them, even the utensils...

So our menu went like this...

Fork - A Miniature Farm Appliance
Spoon - A Shapely Shovel
Knife - Ripper's Delight
Lemonade - Golden Sweet & Sour
Cheese/Sausage Balls (appetizer) - Porky Mouses Favorite Toy
Salad - Peter Rabbit's Downfall
Rotini Spaghetti (she likes spaghetti made with rotini) - Spirals of Love
Texas Toast - Cheers for Southern Stinky Breath
Filo Pastry filled with Chocolate Kisses - Snuggled Smooches
Ice Cream - A Screaming Matter
Conversation Hearts - Heartfelt Love Notes

The girls were given a menu with only the made up names (each item was numbered) and they had to choose which items they wanted in which course (We had 3 courses)...

For example, one girl ended up with Rotini spaghetti, ice cream, lemonade and a fork...  Some of the girls didn't choose a utensil for their first course.  I had put chop sticks on the table as an option, but some gave up and used their fingers...  It was quite funny!

Mackenzie ended up with her dessert in her first course, so we stopped everything and sang Happy Birthday to her!  It was fun watching the girls go from really uncomfortable and unsure about how to eat without utensils to playing the game all out...  Ice Cream with fingers...  Cheese/Sausage Balls on a chopstick...  Civilized conventions went out the door...  They even started telling us they didn't want their utensils!!

And if you will indulge me for a minute, I'm going to be a proud mom...  But for her 13th Birthday party she asked me to print on her invitation that instead of birthday gifts, she would like for a donation to be made to Project Canaan at Heart For Africa...  (Looks like she has a trip to Africa in her future!  God has really grabbed her heart for children who are hungry!)

Here are a few photos from her Birthday night...  She prefers a homemade cake so we always get a little silly with the decorations...  Might not be as pretty as a store bought cake, but it sure tastes better and it's alot more fun! 

(I definitely need to get a real cake pan...  that cookie sheet looks AWFUL!!)

 

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl...  You are such an amazing blessing to our lives!!