Pancakes & Pajamas

Isabelle asked for a slumber party for her 7th birthday this year. Since I'm generally not a fan of little girls crying in the middle of the night and overall d-r-a-m-a, I tried to steer her another route. It worked this time and I'm hoping to eek out another ten years or so. We'll see.

We decided to have a "Pancakes & Pajama's" party and it was a hit. It was an easy theme to run with (thank you Pinterest).

"Eye Mask" invites

The funny thing is, I am not crafty. I have key Martha Stewart and mothering skills that are missing from my DNA (things like sewing and cooking and baking and generally being soft and quiet). Case in point: that fantastic banner you see in our dining room? Triangle quilt scraps on clearance stapled on twine. Pretty sure Martha would never do that. But I had a blast planning this easy party that we spent a total of $50 on. Win.

Pedis for the girls

The girls loved all the activities centered the slumber party and breakfast theme. I did pedicures for each girl, we played charades (the girls pulled little clouds out of a pillowcase for the clues), made fruit loop necklaces, and played dress up in the "photo booth" I created in our backyard. The little ladies also decorated frames and we had the pics printed for them to go home with.

Jamy made this amazing pancake birthday cake stack. You can find the recipe here. We've decided this will be a new birthday morning tradition since they were so yummy. We created a pancake bar with chocolate chips, fruit, and whipped topping. It was amazing and the girls loved building their pancakes. He also made these adorable "bacon and eggs."

What photo booth isn't complete without feather boas and lips?

Jackson even got in on the action.  You can see he's thrilled.

I'm not a fan of little bags of  junk "goodies" that eventually every mother throws out. So I decided to make the girls personalized pillow cases. This is how the conversation went with the clerk at the local craft store after explaining what I wanted to do:

Her: So what you want to do is a blah-blah-blah stitch around each letter (understand she did not say blah-blah-blah but this is definitely what I heard)

Me: Okay. What if I don't sew...

Her:  Sure. Then you just want to do a simple yadda-yadda-yadda stitch (again, pretty sure she didn't say yadda-yadda-yadda...)

Me:  Right. What if I really don't sew... 

We then came to a mutual understanding that I should outline with puffy paint full-on 80's style. I thought this was doable considering I mastered this art making sweet t-shirts and hats in girl's camp. I went with glow-in-the-dark paint which dried clear and was cheered by all the girls when they discovered it. Win for me for not sewing. What blah-blah-blah stitch can do that?!

Um, yes.  We let our daughter with an injured arm play in the bounce castle. At one point Jamy and I looked at each other, shocked upon realizing this, and then continued to let her jump with her friends. Luckily, no runs to Children's Mercy (that day).

Isabelle is already blessed with sweet little friends. I am blessed that there are only six girls in her class.  Although her best friend couldn't make it (ok - so we didn't deter all the drama). I love the thought of helping Isabelle create memories with these precious girls and her brother.

So, the Pancakes & Pajamas Party was a success. Now I have a year to think of how to celebrate my girl another year...

*For those of you wondering what happened to Bella's arm, that's coming in a post later this week (it deserves a post all of it's own...)