Maddi girl turned 11 Sunday, but we had her party Saturday and let her open her gifts from us before her party. This is an 11 year old after rolling out of bed ready to open presents.
This is what she looks like after fainting when she realizes how much money she has and what she can buy with it!
This is everybody dressed and ready for Maddi's birthday party. Maddi made sure Cocoa was even dressed for the occasion.
It's hard to believe my baby girl is all grown up. Brett and I are so proud of who she is and are so thankful that she is our daughter. Maddi is honestly one of the sweetest and most kind little girls you will ever know. She has a heart of gold and I can't wait to watch her continue to grow and see what kinds of amazing things she does with her life.
The whole crew with Daddy.
Two sisters that adore each other.
Maddi's party theme was "America's Got Talent". It was her idea and we had fun planning all of the things for her party. When the girls got to our house, they decorated gumball machines and then filled them with candy. It was a big hit.
Cade got to invite one friend (Jack) so Cade wasn't the only boy at the party. The candy for the gumball machines was Gumballs, Peanut M&Ms, M&Ms, Skittles and Mike and Ikes. There were 22 kids total and I was worried I might not have enough candy, but there was plenty.
As they finished their gumball machines, they played Just Dance on Wii. That was Cade's idea to play and it was a great way to fill time (and fun to watch).
Then we broke up into two groups for a scavenger hunt. It was a talent theme, so we were asking neighbors for things like a wig, microphone, fake eyelashes, autograph from famous person, sheet music, etc. Brett's team won. First time that my group has lost a scavenger hunt. Boo. It was fun anyway. We took pictures of the items on our phones instead of having to bring it with us. Then it was back to the house for pizza and birthday cookie cake.
We had kids eating all over the house. At the kitchen table, the bar, a folding table and the dining room. It worked out perfect with enough room for everyone. Maddi had friends from dance and school, so the list got pretty long pretty quick. It's amazing having 22 kids at Maddi's party didn't feel like anymore kids than the 12 or so boys at Cade's party. Girls are just different (and calm). :)
It was cute, Maddi said at her table that they all went around and said how they met Maddi or a favorite story about her. So sweet.
Sweet little brother and sister enjoyed big sisters birthday.
This little girl had a great time at the party. All week as we would go and buy things to prepare for the party she kept telling me it was Emma's Happy Birthday too. So cute.
Happy Birthday to you! I love the sound of a group of little kids singing Happy Birthday to their friend. Brings pure joy to my heart.
Sweet Maddi girl!
Making a wish...
...I hope all your dreams come true big girl.
After lunch, it was time for the talent part of the party. To break the ice, we played the Oreo game. You put an Oreo on your forehead and try to squish your face to get the Oreo in your mouth without touching it.
Clearly they all enjoyed this.
This little girl enjoyed the cookie cake and wore the pink icing well!
Maddi started the talent show with her "are you smart?.....am I touching you?" trick.
Emma's talent was singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She started out great...
...but then she got shy. I love how Emma and Cade are looking at each other here. She ran over to Cade right after this and gave him a big hug! Adorable.
Maddi came to help Emma with her talent.
It ended up that everybody sang it and did it and Emma pretty much watched. Ha!
Cade showed off some yo yo tricks.
Abby sang a song.
Olivia hula hooped.
They busted out with a dance party between acts while someone else was preparing for their talent.
Maddie Hjelle did a back flip on the trampoline.
Maddi did some crazy front hand spring on the tramp.
Their dance group did their lyrical dance. Other girls showed art work, did tricks on the tramp or didn't do anything. It was cute to see what all they did for the talent show.
Everyone voted (eyes closed, hands raised) and 3 winners were chosen and won a candy bar. As an example of Maddi's kindness, she was one of the winners and she gave her candy bar to her friend Maddie because it was her birthday and she didn't want to win a prize. She just does these things. Nobody tells her to do that. She's just a sweetheart. After the talent, everyone played outside or in the basement or Just Dance on Wii until their parents came about 15 minutes later. Maddi had a smile on her face the whole time and she said it was her favorite party yet.
She opened gifts after the party and she got lots of cash and gift cards and other fun gifts. With the money she has been saving for almost a year along with the cash and gift cards she got, she was able to buy an ipad and a case for it.
Whoo hoo!
Cade was just as happy as Maddi that she got an ipad. He bought an ipod touch for his birthday and has been letting Maddi use it when she wants. The deal was, if she could use his ipod touch, then he could use her ipad when she got one.
This was Sunday morning, her real birthday. She took a break from playing on her ipad to write her thank you notes.
I remember when she was so little, I'd have her sign her name only for the thank you notes. Now she's old enough to write them on her own and she really understands why a thank you note is important. I hope 11 is the best year yet for Miss Maddi girl. It's pretty cool because this year she'll be 11 on 11/11/11! Having a birthday in the year 2000 is pretty cool. She missed out on 1/1/01, 2/2/02, etc. because she wasn't that age yet on those dates. I think a bit of my mom and her weird number things are wearing off on me. Yikes!
Happy 11th Birthday Maddison Shea! We love you more than you'll ever know.
