-
Bug’s 10th Birthday Minecraft Party
This last Sunday was Bug’s 10th birthday and to celebrate it we threw her a Minecraft birthday party. Actually I should correct myself and say that it was a glorified Minecraft playdate and sleepover because apparently being the child of the queen of parties makes you grow up and not like big parties. Let’s just say I feel some of Martha Stewart’s pain when her daughter decided to elope instead of have her mother host a fabulous party. Dammit.
Part of growing up is exerting your own unique independence and even though it might frustrate me, I have to honor that and let her do her thing, at least on her birthday!
For Bug that thing is a small group of friends and MINECRAFT!
Armed with extra controllers and a super big screen, the girls took up residence on the couch and played their Minecraft hearts out. For once we didn’t nag them to log off and do chores or switch to watching something more family-friendly on tv. It was Minecraft all the live long day and into the night. We served them dinner: enchiladas for Bug (her special request) and pizza for everyone else. AND! I made a Minecraft cake as close to the game version as I could muster!
There are many, many tutorials out there on how to make a Minecraft cake but I have to say that conquering marshmallow fondant was a new goal for me. It was a colossal mess of course, as I opted to make the recipe where you pour a whole bag of powdered sugar on your cutting board (that was too small) and fold in the melted marshmallows pasta-making-style. But in the end I persevered and it turned out pretty cute!
As the night wore on, the girls drifted off to draw on balloons and play card games. We covered the floor with blankets and an air mattress and let them attempt to sleep. That didn’t go so well, naturally. They stayed up until 1am. Payam swears we will never have another sleepover again. I’m not so sure. Especially since my kid is NOT a night owl and she got annoyed at her friends when she just wanted to check out and watch Minecraft videos on YouTube while they wanted to party the night away.
In the end they all fell asleep and were rearing to go the next morning. So of course we had to make garbage pancakes!
And so a new crop of garbage pancake artists were born. They really are the best thing.
Bug made pineapple-shaped pancakes, a theme with her as you probably know.
And that was that! Now it’s back to reality and not so much Minecraft. We’ve instituted some new rules in our house and now the girls earn screen time by doing chores and helping me with my crafting posts. For every chore they do they earn a Screen Time dollar. It’s working great.
So I made you some too! Click and Print!
-
Happy December!
The holidays are half over! I love and hate this time of year. It feels like September was yesterday but if you blink too long, it will be February already and time to start thinking about doing taxes. Blah! But I do love the festivities and coziness of winter. I just wish I could slow time down a little. Summer lasted forever, why can’t winter?
Payam and I hosted thanksgiving together for the first time. It was a really huge, big deal because my parents got to meet his (mom and uncle, his dad passed away a long time ago) for the first time. I knew they would like each other, they’re roughly the same age, same interests etc.. but they come from vastly different religious and cultural backgrounds.
I was actually way more nervous about cooking than I was about everyone getting along and to compensate I made way too much food. I really wish I had bought about three extra card tables and invited all the neighbors over too (or at least Lubna’s family) but that would have put me over the edge probably. Next year, if we do this again, I’m inviting twice as many people.
Everything went well until the virus that Bug had been fighting all week decided to take up residence in her throat and make breathing difficult for her. She’s never had any problems with breathing before so I was a little at a loss of what to do. She made it through the night and we stood in line at her doctor’s office first thing in the morning. Along with everyone else with sick kids after thanksgiving. I’m so thankful for the doctors and nurses who work on holidays. They really are a selfless bunch.
After Bug was loaded up with an antibiotic and some breathing treatments she got better quick. So we spent the rest of the week really enjoying not having to go to school.
The girls and I worked on an advent calendar game that I made for Alphamom. It’s actually a pretty fun one so you should click over and print your own copy. We made little polymer clay figurines of snowmen and gnomes. Bug made a tree with blue bark and pink leaves that looks like some kind of raspberry bush. It was good to be crafting together.As Bug gets older it’s been more challenging to get her to craft with me. She still enjoys it but she doesn’t like being told what to do or how to pose for the camera. I can’t say I blame her. But because of her unwillingness I’m always looking for other kids to craft with me and then that makes her sad too because I’m giving all my attention to someone else. But them’s the breaks, right? Parenting is never easy and learning how to not be an only child is always going to be challenging. We’ve had some growing pains lately but I hope she looks back on these changes as good changes in the long run. I think she will.
In other news, I’m thinking of hosting a crafting/painting party. If anyone local is interested, email me and maybe we can set up a date!
AND!!! I finished my SAJ 2016 Calendar. I just need to get toner for the printer so I can print a copy and post some photos. Come back tomorrow (or the next day) for a calendar download! :)
