Breakfast with Santa

I got to host, hands down, the most fun party I have ever hosted on Monday. I have been wanting to host a Breakfast with Santa party for a few years now but had just not gotten around to doing it and was being cheap. Then, my fabulous friend Tiffany had the idea of still doing it but making it more like a playdate and doing it on a budget. I was sold! Then, it just so happened that we have a connection with Santa Claus (it's all about who you know, right) so he offered to make a special guest appearance! We were so excited that he could come, with it being this close to Christmas and all. David's Aunt Cyndy (CiCi) is one of Santa's helpers so she told all the kids that she thought she saw Santa up on the roof. Everyone ran outside to see when all of a sudden, they heard Santa INSIDE the house! He was climbing out of the fire place (see video at the bottom). The pictures do not do it justice... the kid's faces were so precious! Most of them were so excited and surprised. There were a couple that were very freaked out by Santa, Laurel being the worst. I have never seen anything like it. She screamed and cried and clung to me like a koala bear (that's just what it reminded me of anyway). I hope that poor Santa didn't get his feelings hurt. Here are the details from the party:

Invitations made my yours truly 

(instead of mailing them out, we just used Pingg because they let you upload your own invite)

Since it was at 8:30, we wanted all of the kids to come in their pj's ready for breakfast! Everyone brought food. The menu included Reindeer donuts, Christmas donuts, "melted snow"(yogurt), "elf helpings"(fruit), "polar bears"(pigs in a blanket), "snowman milk"(horizon milk packs with googley eyes and black dots for buttons), and a hot chocolate bar. Sugar overload? Yes. Me and Tiff made food labels, a sign for the door, and hung snowflakes in the kitchen. I laid out white blankets (with some pillows stuffed underneath) to make "Snow Mountain Breakfast Lodge" (didn't get a picture of the sign) as a place for the kids to eat. They are all too little to sit at a regular sized table with chairs so we just decided they could sit on the floor, but the floor is no fun so we had Snow Mountain! They loved it!

Like I said before, Laurel was TERRIFIED. Micah was not at all, he ran right up to Santa and climbed in his lap!

Most of the kids did great with Santa but there were of course a few like Laurel

Santa even had little gifts in his bag for every kid! He got them little board books from the $1 section of Target and had his elves wrap them with a candy cane attached. He is so thoughtful. 

I just love all of these sweet mommies and kids. The kids play so well together and now know each other really well. I feel so blessed to have such a great group of moms that I get to get together with to play! Because, after all, these kinds of things are just as much fun for the moms as they are for the kids! BIG thanks also goes to Mimi who came and was a huge help the whole time!

Here is a video clip from the party (you are welcome for not sharing all 30 minutes of footage):