My Ronin turns 8 today. It’s shocking how fast it’s flown when sometimes the day-to-day seems like it’s dragged at a snails pace. Motherhood altered my life in innumerable ways and it’s not always rainbows and kittens. But when I add it all up, I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I could not live without that smile, or his larger than life snuggles. When he was born (at 7.5 lbs,) John and I used to compete over who would get to hold him. We knew we never wanted to regret not cuddling our kids enough. Today, he’s still a cuddle bug but at 90+ pounds the hugs are quite the whoppers. That’s one of my favorite things about him though, that even as he becomes a little man, he still truly wants me close.
Other things I dearly love about this sweet boy are:
- How much he loves his little sister. They truly are best friends and I adore seeing their relationship unfold.
- His love of math and all things numbers (like sports stats, collecting and counting his money haha!)
- His awesome hip hop dancing.
- His love of playing baseball.
- His love of his Seattle Seahawks.
- And his passion and skill playing video games like League of Legends and Minecraft (like his gamer Daddy)
Ronin asked for a Minecraft themed birthday at Chuck E Cheese this year, which ties in his multiple loves of games and math (can you say tickets?!) so we took a few friends and family over last night for a gamer’s birthday party. John says that place is just like a free-to-play game and I don’t disagree. It’s hectic and fun, and they do most of the work so I certainly couldn’t complain.
Ellie hit the Super Bonus while we were there, which was so awesome. All the kids had been trying the whole time and she was so happy! And because Ronin was afraid to go into the ticket wind tunnel, he asked her to do it for him. I was so proud of her for doing it. She said she was part scared and part excited, and afterward said her legs were shaking!
The kids just had a ton of fun playing games! My only jobs were to make his Minecraft themed party favors, cake and cupcakes!
Minecraft Party Favors
Visit here for a detailed tutorial to create these Creeper-inspired party cups. I found these TNT printables here. They’re actually made for poppers, which is a cute idea but I decided to use red pixie sticks instead. Another alternative are Twizzlers (but those have wheat, which Ronin cannot have.) I also picked up Minecraft key chains for the kids on Amazon.
In addition to party favors, one of the things I’ve really grown to love doing is making my kids cakes. This is a recent development since Ellie got old enough to enjoy baking. She just loves it and her joy has inspired me to try new things. It’s really not as difficult as I always thought it was, and it gives us something to do together that is just so fun.
Minecraft-Inspired Cake
Ellie and I worked together to design this awesome Minecraft-inspired cake for Ronin. She LOVE designing cakes so she had some great ideas. We purchased the Minecraft fondant toppers on Etsy. The shop is local to Washington state and I just love supporting small creative businesses in this way. I do have a desire to someday learn to work with fondant but today is not the day! So here’s a tutorial below to create this awesome Minecraft cake yourself. It’s really not that difficult at all and it looked fantastic!
What You’ll Need:
4 Fondant Minecraft Cupcake Toppers
Ovation Chocolate Sticks (and scissors to trim these)
Small Square Cake Pan (Size of Choice)
Cake Mix (We used Pillsbury Funfetti Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix)
Minecraft Character Cupcakes
In recent years I’ve started a new tradition where I make a small cake for blowing out candles and then mainly have cupcakes for all of the kids and adults alike. It makes it a lot easier for distribution at a hectic party. Plus the kids are always excited by cupcakes. So this year was no exception. I used the remaining fondant toppers I purchased on Etsy and to really carry the Minecraft theme I just had to make square cupcakes as well.
What You’ll Need:
Wilton Square Non Stick Treat Pan
White Icing
Fondant Toppers
Cake Mix
Happy 8th Birthday Ronin! We Love You!
If you like this, don’t forget to check out my other Minecraft-inspired ideas!
Minecraft-Inspired Chore Chart
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links.
this is a great idea and then the idea for kid are good and then i done a cup cake party for party and they like them
Wow! Awesome ideas. My son Dareios loves Mindcraft and would totally praise me as the best mom ever if I could pull that off. Thanks for sharing! I love your blog, definitely subscribing 🙂
The cake turned out great, and I love what you did with the tumblers!