Maddux's Slumber Party

Each kid loves to think about and plan their birthday party. Even the day after their birthday(s), you will often find Eli and Maddux talking about what they want to do next year. Since Maddux turned 7, she's been talking about having a slumber party for #8.

I was not up to having a house full of girls overnight (no basement makes for a loud party house), but we discussed Maddux having two friends over to do pretty much whatever she wanted. (This could have included the pool, the movies, dinner out, etc.) Maddux chose to stay at home for the entirety of it though. She was very specific in what she wanted: Papa John's pizza, nail painting, a craft, and a movie. Maddux also asked about party bags; this is not something we've done for parties in the past, which Maddux and I discussed. So she decided to make her own goodie bags for them including a bracelet, a ring, some stickers, a shrinkadink animal and lego first initials, plus she decorated the bag. Love her DIY-self!

The girls arrived just after 4PM and all three were playing up in Maddux's room for about an hour. Then we did one of the crafts Maddux chose (ceramic piggy banks that they got to paint and decorate). The pizzas arrived and Eli was a waiter to the girls with pizza and fruit. Maddux offered sparkling water to her friends (she and Eli love love love it), but no one else seemed to share her affinity (which shocked Maddux).

After the pizza, we turned on a few Just Dance youtube videos and it turned into an all-out dance party for about an hour. We followed that with cake and ice cream and the girls changing into their PJ's while I put Ruby to bed. Maddux chose to watch Rio, which all of the girls seemed to like (and Eli...he watched too).

We put the girls to bed on Maddux's floor in a giant sleeping bag, group pile of pillows and blankets. We told the girls they could stay up making bracelets (another craft), talking and playing as long as they stayed quiet. It was just before 10PM at this point. About a dozen trips into Maddux's room to remind them to keep the volume down later, it was 12:45PM and I shut the lights out. That seemed to do the trick :)

The next morning we had pancakes and eggs and bacon (Maddux's choice, of course), and the girls danced some more. We finished up with manicures...each of the girls picked different colored patterns and got all gussied up.

 Maddux and Lehr drove her friends home at noon, because that's another thing Maddux loves to do (ride in the car with friends).