Madeleine || 3rd Birthday Party!

MADELEINE: BIRTHDAY PARTY!
I’d asked Madeleine many times what kind of birthday party she wanted, but she kept changing her mind between Goodnight Moon and ladybugs. I think I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do, and so I kept asking her. And she’s three (or almost), so naturally she couldn’t make her mind up, either.

Finally, I (we?) settled on Goodnight Moon, her favorite book of all time. I was pumped. I headed to google and Pinterest to see what I could find, and there were some cool ideas. I’m not the best at bringing things together, so the end result wasn’t exactly what I imagined in my head, but it was still awesome and much fun was had by all.

To help me get ready for the party, I enlisted Madeleine’s help in painting some frames. My idea was that kids could pose with them and we’d get some cute pictures.

(Like this!)


Didn’t happen, but much fun was had in the making!





Did I mention it was finger painting? Or rather, arms-up-to-elbows painting? :)

We decided to do big birthdays this year. To start Madeleine’s off, Poppi and Matt blew up 72 balloons (with the air compressor), and then before we went to bed, they stealthily put them all in Madeleine’s room. She woke up to her floor covered with balloons! She really, really liked the surprise.




Lincoln really enjoyed the balloons too!



Madeleine got to open her birthday presents on the day of the party.



Poppi and Mimi made the trip up for the birthday party, but I don’t think they quite expected the to-do list I handed out when they arrived! I had Mimi up baking until almost midnight the night before, and Poppi and Matt worked to transform a wall in our living room into a wall straight out of “The Great Green Room” (at least, in my head. It wasn’t that grand in reality, but it was still very cool). Just to name a few tasks. There was also the assembly of Madeleine’s big gift, her kitchen helper, and general pick up and house cleaning. Poppi even cleaned the bathroom!

Here is a before and after picture of the living room wall:



Poppi painted the letters on the wall, tracing over what I’d written. I’d wanted the whole phrase, but we just ran out of time and/or space. LOL.



Party setup pics:





Madeleine really enjoyed the red balloons. Since a red balloon is a Big Deal in “Goodnight Moon,” we got a bunch of them to have around the house.




She even wanted to share one with Lincoln.



Speaking of Lincoln, he was a HUGE fan of the not-noise-blowers.



Madeleine was quite keen on the idea of a party, at least until everybody got here. Then there were lots and lots of kids (some she didn’t really know that well) in her house, playing with her stuff, and making TONS of noise.







The blower things were a big hit. In retrospect, I’m quite glad that they didn’t make noise.




She got overwhelmed pretty quickly. At present time, she nearly lost it, but bravely held on to open her gifts. Then she retreated to the backyard for swinging.



For the food, she grabbed a plate and sat on this chair, watching everyone else in the room.



The cake is a moon with stars on it. You know, Goodnight moon, goodnight stars…. Hopefully it wasn’t too big a stretch!



After most of the crazy died down, Madeleine enjoyed riding her new bike, passed on to us by Jen.




I definitely learned that the big houseful is not her style. I mean, I knew that (it’s not really mine), but for some reason I forgot? Or I thought, if we don’t focus too much on her, she would be okay? No idea. But I am fairly sure that was the last big bash like that we will have for her. I also think that next year, she’ll be more able to decide what she would like to do, and then she can pick a few friends to invite along. How fun!

One last note: in order to prepare the house for the onslaught of kids and noise, we had to clear a lot out of the main part of the house. It all went into the rumpus room. As party time got closer, we cared less and less about where it landed, until we were practically just throwing stuff out there without even looking.

So here is a final parting shot, a prime example of the crazy moments.