Matt and Kristin: Princess Pajama Party

March 11, Turning 5
This year Matisyn requested a princess pajama party to have with her friends. She went back and forth a little between that and something like Chuck e Cheese because she really wanted it all! She also wanted to be able to have her friends that were boys come. In the end we decided that the pajama party was the thing to do with all girls there. It turned out soooooo cute. The girls were all adorable, and even with so many it was manageable ( I can't believe the difference without boys. . . or maybe they're just getting older and more mature!!!). There were 12 girls, including Matisyn and my triplet eight year old nieces. I was short on help, but luckily Matt and his best friend Blake stepped up and were awesome helpers. The girls called them "the big Daddy nail painters."

We started with some crafts, making wands, painting nails, and coloring princesses, by rotating the girls around. Next we had snacks and played Pass the tiara, which was like hot potato, and then Musical Pillows, played like musical chairs (which Matisyn strongly requested be played at her party). I found a blog from a mom that suggested playing the games and as someone got out, sending them to pick out some sort of prize for their goody bag. That worked so well, nobody was upset when they got out. They got to pick a necklace, then a ring pop, and then a princess pop made out of chocolate by my cute sister in law Becky. Next we did a pull-string pinata, where our fears came true, and the first girl pulled the string that opened the pinata! The girls didn't seem to care though, and it was a way to distribute the goods! Then we had, again per Matisyn's request, princess cupcakes with princess toothpicks in them. We opened presents having one girl go up at a time and sit next to Matisyn while she opened their present. It worked so well because we got to have a picture of each friend with Matisyn, instead of a bunch of heads together. They all sat on their pillows to watch. We finished up the party with a pillow path game where they lined up their pillows in different paths and hopped over to the bean bag to pile on. They thought this game was hilarious, and I just had to keep them from piling right on top of each other! With the last few minutes we played freeze dance with their extra energy. Emilyn LOVED this game, and caught on really quick how to freeze. All in all, quite a success, even incorporating everything Matisyn had to have at her party. At the end she kept saying, "Wow Mommy, you did everything I wanted. You had . . . and you did this . . . and you had a . . . ," you get the idea. Some of her requests were the special cupcakes, decorations on the ceiling, balloons, a princess pinata, playing musical chairs, and so on. It was so nice to have her that excited and grateful about everything.

Matisyn's friend Kayla wasn't able to come at the last minute, so she brought a present down for her. Matisyn was so excited to get to open it, and even more excited with the mermaid barbie inside! Also shortly before the party came a knock at our door from the postman. He delivered two packages from her cousins David and Sam in Washington. Matisyn was elated, and couldn't wait to open them up. She LOVED her gigantic card, especially the special messages inside, and her new fairy. It was a great way to get her ready for the party!

The cupcakes I made just how she wanted them, pink, with sprinkles, with a princess toothpick on top!

Emilyn loved being part of the festivities. The girls were great to include her.

Here is the whole gang getting ready for games!

After the pinata broke. I realized I don't even have a picture of the cute princess pinata because it opened so fast!

My little girl is really 5!

Thanks for the nice presents everyone. Matisyn was so excited about every one she opened. She would squeal and scream with this huge smile on her face.