The morning of the party, Annie had to work really hard. She made decorations, helped me clean up, set up all of the painting supplies, printed out dinosaur pictures for a coloring book party favor, and made the cake. She decided just to do a box cake because that was easiest. Six of Scotty's friends came. She let them play for half an hour then called them in to start the painting lesson. She had a dinosaur theme for the party, so she had done an example painting earlier in the week, and she showed the kids how to do it. Aside from a little bit of joking about bodily functions, the kids were interested in the project. I think the most stressful part of it was everyone asking for more paint or more instructions or a different kind of brush or more water all at the same time. I did step in and help Annie a bit at this point. She was so cute and so thankful for my assistance.
After the painting, the kids went outside to play a little bit more while Annie cleaned up the art supplies. I also wanted to mention that Annie asked that I buy gesso (which she included in her budget) so that she could make economical canvases from cardboard.
Next was cake and ice cream. Annie had a very cute cake design and did her best with the amount of frosting we had.
Did the six and seven year olds care that we didn't have enough frosting? Not at all. And we had just enough ice cream--I had forgotten to buy extra for the party. There were a few different things we threw together at the last minute because this was Annie's first party, and she didn't think of everything. And I was really trying to let it be her thing and not take over. It was fun to see our resourcefulness and to see that it's really okay if everything isn't Pinterest-perfect. The fun part of a party is being together. And little kids are awesome because they are excited about everything. So maybe throwing a party doesn't need to be such a stressful thing in my mind. That's what I learned. Annie said she learned that being in charge of the party is a lot of work, and she can see why I don't want to do one every year.
After the cake, the kids did a dinosaur scavenger hunt. Annie hid about eight plastic dinosaurs and made a guide to tell the kids what to look for (including a color code for those who couldn't read). She put the kids into teams and said the first team to find all of the dinosaurs would get a prize. Then she gave me this look over their heads like, "I don't have a prize!" But we both knew we could come up with something. Her instinct was good that the prize would motivate the kids. Off they went, searching high and low. They loved it! Annie had thrown the scavenger hunt together that morning, and it was probably the best part. We got some leftover Easter jelly beans for the prize.
Lastly, Scotty opened presents. It is so funny to watch kids at a party when the presents come out. They can't help but crowd around the birthday kid and, in their anticipation, basically start opening the presents for him. It's adorable. Scotty got some fun presents--puzzles, games, gadgets, a science kit, books.
Annie's party was a grand success. All the moms told me their kid loved it. I had a lot of fun watching Annie host it.
We also had a little family party on Scotty's actual birthday. He chose hamburgers for dinner and requested a strawberry cake. Annie was sick with a fever that day, but you can hardly tell in the picture.
Scotty is a great kid. He is introverted, but he isn't shy necessarily. Watching him at co-op this year and at his little party, I can see that he is good at playing with other kids. He never tries to be the center of attention, but he kind of quietly holds his own. When he sits close to me, he will often put his arm around my shoulders. During scripture study, he will sometimes say, "Can you ask us questions and stuff?" I think he likes the new Come Follow Me curriculum that has helped us have more discussion as a family.
And he's missing lots of teeth. We didn't see the last one fall out. We think he swallowed it.
