Arlington's "Sleep" over

This past weekend was Arlington's sleep over birthday party.  She hadn't had a party for her friends, and since her birthday hits our February school break each year, we had to move her party into March.

She was so excited.  She had 6 of her little friends here started at 4pm on Saturday.  The did some craft projects we set up for them, had pizza for dinner, sang and ate cake, and then retired to the playroom which we set up all their sleeping bags.  We have a TV/DVD player, cable up there, and it is at the opposite end of the house from all the bedrooms, so they wouldn't disturb Finley and Cainan.

It was a good plan because in the end they tried to stay up all night.  I slept in our family room in case they came down from the playroom and needed something.  I got as much sleep as they did.  I heard the last sound at 3am.  Who thought 10 year olds had that much stamina?

In the morning they were all up by 7:30 am.  That was crazy.  I have not gone on 4 hours of sleep in a very long time, and even then I couldn't handle it.  I felt like I was in a haze.  But they were up, chipper, and ready for breakfast.  Mat made them cinnamon waffles, and they played until their parents came for them at noon.

By mid afternoon, Arlington was melting down and by bedtime she was a mess.  She was so over tired that she was sobbing, and once she fell asleep, she slept like a rock.  This morning she woke up and was back to her normal self, but fell asleep early tonight.  It is going to take us both a few days to right ourselves.

I am glad she had a great party.  The girls were great, and I heard lots of laughing and giggling.  But if Finley asks for a sleepover when she is 10, I am making sure it is a weekend the grandparents are in town.

Enjoy the pictures

Wait until you see her cake!  Our good friend, Courtney Hamilton, makes these amazing cakes.  Arlington wanted an Ipod.  So Courtney made her one.  Each app is a piece of fondant that she decorated and then placed on the cake.  They are all things related to Arlington - softball, tennis, dogs, monster high, scooby doo, her age, her birthday - really, really clever.  It was so pretty I didn't want to cut it.

 Arlington wanted Monster High for her decorations.  Here is our dining room before the guest arrived.

 The goody bags for her guest, and the table where we put the cake:

 The party guest having dinner:

 Opening presents:

 Singing happy Birthday: