Birthday Party!

Even though Maddie's birthday isn't until June 5th, we decided to have her birthday party early so Daddy could be there (aka set up, tear down, clean up!!).  Maddie had decided on a dog party a while back so we stuck with that (after some debate as to whether we should change it to Olivia) and had a blast planning her party.  It was supposed to be a small get together and nothing fancy, just let the kids play in the backyard and have cake.  Well, it didn't exactly happen that way.  It was still a small get together.  There were 3 of Maddie's friends, Maddie, 3 younger siblings and 6 adults...just enough to fill the seats in the livingroom and all the seats in the backyard! 

Maddie wore a headband with dog ears and a dog collar for her party.  I had the table set with a dog bowl for each kid with some cocoa puffs to look like dog food, a bone shaped crayon holder with each kid's name on it (filled with bone shaped crayons) and a noise maker.  For food we had Li'l Smokies, Chex Mix puppy chow, dog shaped cookies, some chips and cheetos, and watermelon.  Kids drank Capri Suns and adults had iced tea.  Maddie's cake was made out of cupcakes arranged into the shape of a dog's head.  After she blew out the candles we just gave each kid a cupcake and there was no need for forks!

The kids played and played and played in the kiddie pool and with the three water sprinkler toys we had set up in the yard.  They had so much fun!!  We let them play for about an hour and 15 minutes then had them come in, dry off and had Maddie open presents.  She did so great!  She was gracious and thanked her friends after she opened their presents.  The only embarrassing part was when she opened something she already had and she said, "Another one?!?!  Oh...this isn't what I wanted."  I was so embarrassed, but everyone laughed and the mom said that's why she put a gift receipt in the card :)  I tried to make her feel better by letting her know that, yes, Maddie does already have one and it's one of her favorite toys so it was a good idea. 

After gifts were opened, we had everyone come to the kitchen to sing to Maddie.  She got embarrassed and had to hold onto my leg to be shy.  It was sweet :)  We had a few minor issues with friends trying to blow out her candles but I kept relighting them and she got to blow them out!  The kids loved their cupcakes, Maddie loved the frosting so we kept refreshing the frosting on top so she could lick it off :)

All-in-all it was a really nice day and turned out to be a lot of fun.  I think I'll always keep her birthday parties small.  I only sent out 8 invitations and 3 friends came...it worked out really well!

Here are some pictures from the day:

never mind...for some reason the server is rejecting my pictures.  I'll try again later.  Maybe blogger is just having some issues right now.  :)