I just wanted to let you know that the party for Alex's b'day was a blast!  The kids had a great time with the "concession stand" and loved having the wallets and money to use.  My parents have a real popcorn machine, so that was awesome to have--it even made the house smell like the movies!!!  (DH is loving it--we still have it here and he has plans to have popcorn all week!)  The kids watched the movie, but they also spent a lot of time "spending" money.  Besides the Skittles, M&Ms, Slim Jims, etc., we also had glow sticks, hackey sacks, etc., so that gave them something to do. 

My biggest surprise was that all 12 kids RSPVed and showed up!!!  I was prepared, but I also thought there might be a few who wouldn't make it! So, it was a little (ha!) hectic and a little (ha!) loud at times, but my parents, DH, my former student teacher, and I all managed to keep it under control!  :-)

Thanks again for all of the suggestions of movies.  While we weren't able to show some of them (just because there were other people's kids here) we now have a great list of movies that we need to watch with Alex!  We ended up showing Kung Fu Panda--not quite the one I wanted, but it was a "safe" choice and Alex was happy with it.

Oh--and the cake.  I had fun making it and it turned out pretty close to what I wanted.  I posted pics below. 

oooohhhh that is an awesome cake!!! and I too plan to hold onto that Idea until James and Isaac are older!!!

Thanks, everyone!  ...and feel free to use the ideas--it was a blast.  I am definitely going to keep it an option and use it for Ariana's 7th birthday--and maybe other birthdays as they get older!

Krista~too bad we weren't closer--think of the business we could set up--cupcakes and cakes!!!

Cari~ I can give you the details if you decide to make the cake (or if you want the other party details).  You could definitely do the cake--or you could do a flat sheet cake and make it that way.  I had considered doing it that way, too.