Sweet 15

I love hosting parties for 15 yr olds - so much easier than when the girls were little. I made a reservation online for the birthday girl and her posse at a local Italian place a five minute walk from the house. I took the teen to buy a cart full of snacks at the grocery store. I bought an inexpensive fire pit and the ingredients for s'mores. That's about all it took for a happy 15th birthday sleepover celebration. 

Thanks to a winter storm hitting the British Isles, we had some serious wind gusts last night. Every time sparks flew at the girls gathered around the fire with their marshmallows on stick, they shrieked and screamed. So I spent the whole s'mores portion of the party running out the back door to make sure no one needed to stop, drop and roll. Worrywart that I am, I filled up the tea kettle with water... just in case.

Now we're down to just one guest still at the house. She's a boarder at the school, so we hate to rush her back to the dorms at campus. Both of the girls are in the kitchen putting together a gingerbread house from a kit I found at the local Costco. They've got the original Home Alone movie playing on the TV. It's all very sweet and festive.