Welcome to the Red Carpet Birthday Bash for Maddy!

Maddy celebrated her 9th birthday last Friday, November 14th.  It seems that in our family, birthdays turn out to be a week long celebration!  On the Tuesday before her big day, we went to HS Musical with the Gillies cousins and then did Glow in Dark Put Put at the supermall.  We then met up with Grandma and Grandpa Benson at the Country Buffet for dinner to celebrate with them.  Grandma B made her a cupcake platter and got her a little purple christmas tree to match her room. 

Then, on Friday, her actual birthday, we celebrated as a family.  We went out to La Fogata with all her cousins and they sang to her with the sombrero on. They brought her deep fried ice cream with a candle in it and she almost caught the sombrero on fire when they were singing to her.  It was really funny(sort of!) and lots of other patrons in the restaurant were freaking out as they could see the candle and the sombrero getting too close to each other.

Saturday, we held her actual party with her friends.  This proved to be quite and undertaking!  What to do with 16 8-9 year girls??

On Friday I still was at a loss as to what to do for 2 hours.  I usually prepare ahead a little better but I've had a lot on my plate these past few months (Okay, I know, when do I not??) and I was stressed to figure something out.  Maddy had said that she wanted to do a Hannah Montana Concert party.  I rented the concert DVD and thought I would play it in the basement on the big screen and went to the party store to buy some supplies.  I figured we could do popcorn and play some games.  As I was in the store, I had a brilliant idea, at least I thought it was considering the timeline I'd left for myself.... (and the fact that before the party that started at four, I had to do a 3 hour rehearsal in Bothel and coach a soccer game in MV).  I was pretty proud of myself and excited about my idea!

I came up with a "Movie Premier/Red Carpet" party.  We have this huge (106") home theater screen so why not use it!!  I found all these cute red decorations, stars, and shimmery stuff.  Then I came up with using a long red tablecloth on the roll to use as the red carpet, got popcorn containers like at the movies, bought movie candy and a bunch of other red accessories to make a concession stand.  I borrowed my neighbors movie popcorn popper and whala.....we had a "real" red carpet experience.  We have a helium tank at Craig's office so I did a bunch of balloons as well which always adds to the fun!

The girls lined up outside and had to walk the red carpet and head down to the "theater".  It was a total hit!  I gave each girl $20 in monopoly money and they were able to buy their own popcorn, drinks, and candy at the "concession" stand.  It was so funny!  The girls really got into it.  Cameron manned the concessions and took his job very seriously.   The girls watched the movie and then then the screaming started!  It was a serious ear plugging time!    I apologized to the parents when they came to pick their kids up as I feared their kids might get sick from all the junk food!  I've never seen girls pack that much candy, popcorn, pizza, cake and more down in one setting!

It was a really fun party and after it was all over (and I could hardly keep my eyes open) Maddy came up and hugged me and said it was the best party ever.  Doesn't that make it worth all the effort when one of your kids says thank you!!

Maddy's family celebration and getting her first Ipod!

Watching the concert with some of her friends. 

Her favorite thing...a DQ ice cream cake.

Watching the movie on the big screen.

Maddy's entrance on the Red Carpet!  Each girl was greeted at the door with "Welcome to the Red Carpet" and was given a red necklace to wear.

Cameron manning the concession stand.

Happy 9th Birthday to the sweetest girl we've ever known!