Morgan turns 5 on Monday and I decided this year I would, for the first time, throw her a "friends" birthday party. We always have a great time celebrating birthdays with our families. But this year, in addition to our family celebration, I decided to tackle a party just for Morgan and her 6 closest friends. :) Leading up to today there was much excitement in our house, and in her friend's houses too from what I heard. It was a BIG deal!
Of course Morgan requested a Princess party, Princess Jasmine to be exact. I spent a lot of time planning and getting ready for all these little friends who would be spending 2 hrs of their Saturday morning with us. I have to admit, as party time got closer and closer I started getting a little nervous. I had to keep reminding myself that our guests were preschoolers, not Martha Stewart. :)
Crowns was first on the list. They each decorated their own crown with stickers, markers, and "jewels". It was a great ice breaker. It was so fun to see what they came up with.
Hannah, a family friend, came to help with crowd control. Good thing she was there too. We had one wonderer. A great little girl who just always wanted to be doing something different from the rest of the group. Hannah is great with kids and did a great job leading her back to the flock. :)
They were all very proud of their creations. Sporting the fresh works of art, we moved on to dress-up!
We helped everyone find an outfit they felt great in and ended up having a fashion show. They weren't sure if they wanted to be in the spot-light at first. So they helped me get accessorized and I went first to break the ice. Lucky for me none of the pictures Dave took of me turned out. :) Once I took my turn, they were all quick to follow.
Cupcakes were next on the list. Need I say more...
Presents came next and this part made me laugh. For the most part at this age, it is really hard for the kids to part with their gift. Because lets be honest. They picked out for Morgan, what they really wanted for themselves. So I had them all hold their gifts and then give them to Morgan when it was their turn. Then Morgan decided she would let them hold the toy until she was done opening her gifts. It was pretty funny. The other part that cracked me up was the ever-shrinking circle. They just could not get close enough to the action. :)
Treasure Hunt time!!! Oh the screams I heard when I announced we were going on a treasure hunt. Hands down, this was my favorite part of the morning. You guys have to do this with your kids! They were glued to me, listening to each clue. Then exploding with excitement as they figured out the clue and ran to find the next clue. It was great!
After I had them run all over the house a couple of times, they finally found their treasure.
Samantha woke up from her nap in time for the end of the party. Can't believe she was able to sleep through all the excitement.
The kids had time to play with the new toys for a little bit before it was time to go home. We did have a mini crisis of too many girls, not enough Barbies. But nothing a 3 min. timer can't solve. :)
So here is the whole group. Notice Adrienne got to be in on all the action. She thought she was pretty big stuff. :)
What a great morning!
