Victoria's 9th Birthday

Victoria and Bella were supper excited to get changed into their "birthday dresses" and wait outside for their friends to arrive.

We were expecting 12 to 14 kids at the painting party so I prepared the furniture with drop clothes. I think I used every chair in my house.

 The art chandelier- I saw something similar on Pinterest.

 Victoria wanted cookies instead of cupcakes (she's never been a real fan of cupcakes), so I made/bought the good frosted sugar cookies from the store, took off the sprinkles, reapplied some white icing, put some M&Ms on them, and dipped pretzels into melted chocolate for the paint brushes.

 The first guest to arrive was Laila.

 We played Red Light, Green Light in the back yard until all the guests arrived.

 Thank you to my special friends Chris and Dan and hubby Jer who helped make the party run smoothly.

 This was hilarious- the pizza man must have been smoking something or have a great sense of humor. Marlee asked for a piece of pizza. Jer asked if she had a big appetite...

 Check out that face.

 

 A couple of times throughout the night the girls broke into the theme song from Frozen. Everyone, (except Austin) sang as loudly as they could and danced around.

 She was so happy. I wonder what she wished for :)

 The balloon drop.

 I asked the kids to help me out by popping them afterward. They had so much fun!

 Victoria puts on her artist smock and pretends to be an elite artist with a mustache.

 

 Works in progress

 I know Victoria had a great time. She had a smile on her face the whole time. I love her so much!

 

 I was so proud of how wonderful all the kids works turned out. It made me really miss teaching art. However, I certainly don't miss the prepping and cleaning part. BTW- THANK YOU Chris and Julie for helping clean up afterward! 

 We played Red Rover until the parents came to get the kids.

 I told Victoria that she could have three friends spend the night; she choose our old besties who we don't see as much anymore since we've all moved- Kate, Abby, and Braelyn.

 Good friends! Many laughs!

 After Victoria opened the gifts, the girls decided to play, not with the gifts, but with the wrapping paper and bags that they came in. They were burying each other in the mess then pretending to be a mummy rising from the ground and chasing each other around. So I guess kids don't outgrow the phase of playing with the box the toy came in when they turn 9 :) They even took some of the box lids that I had for paintings that weren't dry to be taken home in, and built a fort.

 (It was the first party we didn't open the gifts with all the kids- we just didn't have the time. In fact, I was quite surprised that everyone finished their painting on time.)

I was finally able to put all the girls to bed by 11:15! This is the first time it's been that late. I was really shooting for 10 or 10:30 at the very latest. I sat outside the kids' rooms and kept shushing them every once in a while. The little kids were the last to get some sleep after they changed sleeping arrangements 2 times and learned it wasn't a good idea to sleep all together in the same bed. I was so tired by the end- I'm getting old. I let Jer do breakfast in the morning while I slept. They woke up by 6:30! I predict an early bedtime tonight.