Maddie's Party

Since we welcomed a new little one into the family just one week before Maddie's eighth birthday, we didn't celebrate her birthday right on time.  We had a party with just family, but I told her that we would invite some friends over for a get together sometime.  Well, this Thursday was it.  With a two week old, I tried to do fun activities that the girls would enjoy, but I did not want to go over the top with time-sucking preparations.  Here's what we did.

We started with the girls making personalized bead bracelets.  I bought a little kit in the kids' craft section of Walmart for $10.  The girls had a great time.  I set out paper plates for the girls to put their beads on and taped their elastic cords to the plates so the beads would not come off of the ends.  Very little prep, and the girls had a great time with it.

Next we painted toe nails--very girly and easy to set up for.  I have lots of fast dry nail polish which I highly recommend for younger people. 

They thought we needed a picture of toes and bracelets together!

For supper, I set up a "pizza bar" for the girls to assemble their own pizzas.  I had individual crusts (made and pre-baked the day before), sauce (jarred to save on energy), Canadian bacon, pepperoni, sausage, shredded mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan.  (I would love a selection of veggies to choose from, but I don't think 8 - 9 year old girls usually go for those!)

The girls each got to make their own pizza. They loved it.  See the end of this post for the crust recipe.

Next it was time for dessert.

Then we had an ice cream sundae bar with lots of different toppings to choose from. I made 2 quarts of  homemade vanilla ice cream in my Kitchenaid mixer ice cream attachment (love that gadget!).  See here for my ice cream recipe.  Yes, I could have gone with store-bought ice cream, but I've been very excited about using my new toy.  I made the ice cream in the morning and put it in the freezer so it would be ready to go at dessert time.

We had M & M 's, sprinkles, and magic shell. See here for the recipe for magic shell. I found this on Pinterest, and my kids love it.  (Also super easy to prepare.) 

Then they all headed downstairs for the movie Dolphin Tale.  Afterward, since it was 7:30 and finally not so blazing hot, they played outside until their parents came to pick them up.

I kept reminding myself that little girls do not care what my house looks like, so I only cleaned the main bathroom they would be using.  I also had the kids pick up a little bit so no one would trip over anything.  All in all, fairly easy while still being lots of fun!

Here's the recipe for the pizza crusts:

Pizza Plus

1 package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use olive oil)

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water; stir until dissolved.  Stir in oil, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough.  Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface.  Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about five minutes.  Place in greased large bowl, turnin gdough over to grease top.  Cover, let rise in warm place 30 minutes.  Punch dough down, turn out on lightly floured surface.  Knead until no longer sticky, about 30 seconds.  Cover and let rest 5 minutes. 

Maddie and I made the dough the day before.  She got to knead the dough, which she loves to do.  (Works well for me, too, because I don't have to do it!)

I divided the dough into five pieces and rolled out personal-sized pizza crusts.  Then I placed them on baking sheets, built up the edges a bit, and pricked holes in the bottom with a fork.  (This is a great place for little ones to help out.  Anna enjoyed poking the holes for me.)

Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes, rotating between racks halfway through baking time, until very lightly brown.  They will be going in the oven again.  I stored them in a ziploc bag in the fridge until the next day.

After pizzas are put together, follow the same baking instructions as for the crusts until the cheese is melted and bubbly.