I like to think the Minecraft party made up for it, though! We had a lot of fun planning this out. Thank goodness that other bloggers and Pinterest helped me get started. My kids helped me sort out the details of how Minecraft works from there.
We started off coloring bookmarks that I printed off. I was worried that they wouldn't be very interested in this, and intended for this to just fill the time as everyone arrived, but I was impressed. They worked really hard to color them all in.
Dinner was a large assortment of Minecraft food. We had "potions", like the Potion of Strength or Potion of Invisibility, which were made of drops in water. We had "bucket of water", which was JELLO in a cup. And since chicken, bread, and carrots are all things that you eat in Minecraft, that worked out pretty well. Daddy insisted on getting pizza, too, but he was informed that there is no pizza in Minecraft. We brought out the rectangular food trays because circular plates felt wrong.
After that, they broke apart some "ores" (dried out cornbread) to find the "gems" inside ( dollar store green rocks) that they could trade with the Villager (thank you, Daddy) for some gold and iron ingot (small chocolate bars). Kaitlyn and all of her cousins loved all of this! Even the older cousins were 100% into this as "the most fun ever".
After that, they headed to make crafting tables. Crafting tables is a way to exchange things in Minecraft, from what I gather. You put things you have in an arrangement, and you get something else out. At our party, you could make a crafting table with stickers I printed out placed onto a grid on paper, and then get the real food in return. So they crafted a golden enchanted apple, chocolate cookie, and then cake.
So in case you were wondering why I made a circular cake with frosting sloppily applied halfway down the sides, that's why. Kaitlyn loves raspberries, so that was the obvious choice to imitate the red dots on top.
A week after her birthday, we even got a chance to go ice skating again.
A birthday snapshot (written a few months later while I catch up on the blog):
* She is still my social bug. Her teacher has had a fun challenge this year as she tries to keep Kaitlyn isolated enough to stay quiet. At my last visit to the classroom, everyone else was in grouped in two or three desks together, and Kaitlyn was the only one with a desk by herself. One day in class, she responded to the weekly "what was your favorite part of the week" question by saying her favorite was the math test. Which might have actually had some truth to it, but was still said to be funny. Next thing the teacher knew, a large group of the class giggled so much that they also said a math test was their favorite. So the next day, the rest of the class got art time while they were handed an extra math test "since it is your favorite." HA! I love that her teacher will call her out on her nonsense. They had a good talk, as a class, about telling the truth and focusing in class.
*Meanwhile, she is still struggling to learn to work hard. She has to work hard to get something so rarely, that she is used to life coming easily on the first try. I think that's why she talks and goofs off so much in class. (And at piano lessons, and in Primary at church.) She's reading at a middle school level (though her vocabulary and skills at following difficult plots are still catching up), she skipped a grade of math this year and still is one of the best in her class. She has been blessed with a mind that learns everything as quick as can be, and I am constantly amazed by that.
* She is such a snuggler. She is constantly coming up to me and saying "Mommy? I wuv you!" and hugging me as tight as she can. She loves to tease (and be teased by) Daddy, and would love to spend every day playing with friends. ALL day.
*She has dozens of stuffed animals, and they are all her dearest friends in the world. She's moved on from Disney Junior and other shows that Jasmine still loves, and in fact, loves to sit with me and point out all the absurd reasons that those shows are wrong. Her new favorites are Studio C, and more recently, I converted her to Animaniacs and Abott and Costello routines.
*She is getting more picky, as an eater, all the time. I think the current list is that she doesn't like pizza, chicken, tortillas, rice, or anything made with those ingredients. Taco Tuesday is her enemy. I'm sure I'm forgetting a dozen things, too. We're down to her loving sweet potato soup, ribs and sushi, along with edamame and berries. She's used to knowing that dinner is dinner, and she'll pick at her food well enough, but I'm not sure what to make for dinner some days.
Kaitlyn truly does amaze me all of the time. Sometimes I worry that I am trying to expect her to grow up too fast, since Tyler and Jasmine need so much more help than she does, and other times I worry that I haven't taught her to power through difficult things. But most of the time, I just watch her in awe of all that she can do.
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