Right before Winter Break ended we celebrated another birthday with Kaitlyn turning SIX years old on January 5th. Kaitlyn is a wonderful little girl with two helping hands and a huge smile nearly all the time. One of her favorite things to do is leave notes on my pillow for me to find at bedtime and I love that. She is sweet, intelligent and caring and we are so thankful to have Kaitlyn in our family. I cannot believe that she arrived to us six years ago already. It seems like it was yesterday.
One of the things that Kaitlyn really wanted to do was have lunch at Big Boy with just Mom and Dad and then go to see an Omnimax Movie at the Museum Center on the The Last Reef. So we spent the better part of the afternoon with her doing those things. We had a nice time together and it is rare for her to have Mom & Dad all to herself.
When we came home it was already time to fix dinner; a balanced menu of Kaitlyn’s request. Dogs in a blanket are her favorite and I managed to find some decent strawberries at the grocery store for the occasion along side some potato chips.
I always ask my children what kind of birthday cake they want and I go from there; a creative challenge for me often during their younger years especially. This year Kaitlyn wanted a green carrot cake with 7 snowmen (one for each person in the family), lollipops and gummy worms. After considering the criteria I decided to make a “winter melting into spring” cake. I had loads of carrots (I purchase carrots in bulk on the cheap) for the cake and a supply of sale cream cheese already that I could use for the frosting and a whole bunch of marshmallows too that I could use. I decided to head to the store to search for some edible flowers for my spring green section of the cake and maybe something to “help” the snowy part of the cake. The first store I went to that I knew had some really cute edible flowers closed at 8 p.m. instead of 9 literally 5 minutes after we walked in. Disappointed I went to another store I suspected might be able to help me that I knew was open until 9 p.m.
The second store, smaller, also had a much MUCH smaller selection of edible flowers and they were super expensive. Dilemma… I decided to purchase some hefty clear sugar sprinkles to make the snow look cold and icy on the top of the cake as I began looking for alternatives when I got an idea. Kaitlyn loves buttons. A couple of years ago I gave her a little box I had and let her pick out some buttons from my button box to start her own personal collection. What could be better than flower buttons? There was a huge selection of cute buttons and after they were done being cute on the cake we could wash them off and she could add them to her button collection.
So that is just what I did. The buttons were adorable and I even got some bug buttons to go with the flower buttons and flower lollipops. Sparkly snowflake buttons were purchased as well.
I stood marshmallow snowmen up using toothpicks inside of them and we enjoyed our dinner while people kept getting a sneak glance and the wonderful cake awaiting them. It really is fun trying to bring these dream cakes out from my children’s imaginations and translate them into a reality. I will really miss when I no longer have anyone asking me to make them a seven snowmen cake of green with gummy worms. The kids tend to outgrow these ideas eventually but maybe it’s better that I have less of a chance of disappointing them then. If taste is what you’re after I can make just about any conventional concoction there is to make.
The turtle had joined us in the living room when we had company for dinner a few days earlier. The cats loved keeping an eye on the Brownie and a couple of them enjoyed batting at birthday balloons.
Now Kaitlyn was anticipating her gifts. It had also been a long busy day and she was starting to get tired. She usually starts telling me that she is wishing to go to bed. It doesn’t often come out as misbehaving for her and she was still happy and excited for presents.
There were cards to open, which she read all by herself but did need help with a note that her Aunt Rachael wrote to her. Her first gift she opened was from Lindsay; her very own box of lemon heads! A years supply or at least have around for a while with some sharing and trading ability. Kaitlyn also got some craft items. She loves to make things.
Kaitlyn and Spooky have one very special relationship. Now it looks like Spooky can go to school with Kaitlyn on her shirt. This was the first thing she wore to back to school in and she told everyone that this was just like her special cat Spooky. This was especially comforting at nap time in the classroom as it reminded Kaitlyn of Spooky always snuggling with her at quiet time on the pink blanket when she was at home.
Kaitlyn wasn’t too sure about this GREAT game which won the Parent’s Choice Award called the Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel. But Nathan ended up being extremely enthusiastic about it. Kaitlyn also got a few fun books.
Books are a favorite gift around here and get lots of love. Kaitlyn also got some play figures from “Tangled” to add to her castle play set.
Sandy’s quiet room and sleeping spot had obviously been invaded.
Time for Birthday Cake!
The dining room looked very pretty bathed in candle light so late in the evening.
All those marshmallow snowmen standing in close proximity to the candles had the effect of a roast for Smore’s. 
We sang to our birthday girl and presented her with the cake.
Make a wish!
She loved it but figured out later that she really wished for a pumpkin cake instead of carrot but she was OK with it! Sometimes she is a little adult in a small body, it seems to me.
A few days later we brought in 27 ghost cupcakes so Kaitlyn could celebrate turning six with her class. Kaitlyn loved doing this.
And a birthday package arrived in the mail later that week too from her Erickson grandparents. This was a fun surprise to open at the end of the first school week back after Christmas.
Kaitlyn loved her sweatshirt, two outfits with hearts and a new raincoat with a button in lining. She really had a great birthday. She is a special part of our family and we would not be the same without her. So glad to celebrate SIX years!!!
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