Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

Okay, I can't sleep. I have managed to thoroughly freak myself out.

A couple weeks ago, I began planning for Z's birthday party this coming weekend. Traditionally, we have had an outdoor party involving water. This year, I also decided to serve roasted hot dogs and homemade snow cones (using my blender to shave the ice).

I am also attempting to make a red velvet cake from scratch, because when I asked Z what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said "red." Red is his favorite color.

Originally we'd planned to just have a few families over to our place; we'd all just hang out on the big lawn in front of our apartment, throw a few water balloons... But then, I thought why not make it more than just a birthday party; here was an opportunity to entertain a number of friends whom we've been intending to have over all summer and here's our last chance! We could put out a slip-n-slide, maybe get a large-ish wading pool, a few squirt guns, and of course the water balloons (because G decided two years ago that it should be a tradition to have water balloons at all of Z's birthday parties).

So I called up my mother-in-law and asked if we could have the party at their place, to which she graciously agreed (she's a generous soul herself).

At this point, I confess I got carried away (and Nick didn't stop me like he usually does-- he got a little carried away, too, though he probably won't admit it). I thought about the few families at church who have invited us to parties at their homes. And there were a couple of new families we wanted to get to know better. And then I tried to think of who the boys were good friends with and wanted to invite them. And then of course there's local family members who must be included. I had people I wanted to invite, and Nick had people he wanted to invite (and there were a few families on both our lists).

I made the invitations this morning and Nick and I handed them out at church today. We had twelve invites; nine were delivered (a few families were not there, and maybe it's just as well).

So, tally the potential guests (including us and familiy):

A=Adult; C=Child; B=Baby (under 2)

AA
AACCB
AACCB
ACB
ACC
AACB
AACB
AACCB
AACCCCB
AA
A
AACCCCB
AACCCCCCB

That's 23 adults, 25 children, and 9 babies. 57 total.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

It's the larger families that are doing us in...

Of course, as I told Nick, it's likely not everyone will actually come, and I'm estimating the actual number of guests to be more like 30 (which is still a lot). But then Nick pointed out that it's also possible that everyone will come.

So now I don't know which to fear more: the thought that no one will come and that all my effort will be wasted; or that everyone will come, chaos will ensue, my cake will come out disastrous, some kid will light his clothes on fire, and the motor on my blender will die halfway through blending the ice for the snow cones leaving some very sad children snow-cone-less (heaven forbid).

Also, when I told my mother-in-law over the phone how many people we'd invited, I think I might have given her a near-heart-attack. I really should not be doing this to her (and I wouldn't blame her if she never let me throw a party at her house again).

Perhaps this whole thing was not too well thought through...

But, the ball's rolling now, so better roll with it!