Addie and the Harry Potter Birthday

Addie turns 9!

(Notice how I'm calling her Addie, now. We decided that for Isaac's sake we'd switch back to calling her Addie since Addilyn is harder to say.)

As per tradition, we let the kids pick out their birthday breakfast and serve it to them in bed. This year Addie asked for an Egg/Sausage McMuffin (bleh!)

Alex and Maycie got Addie her own sewing kit.

 Mom and dad got Addie a new bike since she had grown out of her old one.

She wasn't quite used to it yet because right after this turn she took a big spill and got major road rash on her elbows and knees. She was brave, though.

For the last several months all that Addie could talk about was the Harry Potter birthday party she was going to have. Though I spent hours and hours and more money than usual preparing it was worth it. It was a really fun theme to base a party around.

White owls delivered the Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Welcome to Platform 9 3/4, Hogwarts Express!

I sponged brick onto a brown curtain and hung it above the door so the kids could run through the train station brick wall.

 Then the kids all had a turn with the Sorting Hat and were placed into their houses, Gryffindor or Slytherin. As it turned out, most the boys ended up in Slytherin and the girls in Gryffindor so just divided that way. They all put on their house badge.

 Next, came the welcome feast. Professor Dumbledore paid a visit and warned the students of some peculiar happenings at Hogwarts. Rob was a sport dressing up, as he usually hates that kind of thing. Though I don't have a picture, I was dressed as Professor McGonnagal. 

After the welcome feast the students selected their wands from Ollivander's Wand Shop.

First on the class schedule was Care of Magical Creatures.

The kids had to search for hidden creatures around the yard, all which had different point values. The more rare the creature, the higher the point value. 

Next class was Transfiguration. The kids had to "transfigure" a blob of clay into the object that they selected and get their house members to guess what it was before the other house. Think Pictionary with clay.

Potions was probably the favorite class. The kids had to mix different magical ingredients to make their potion react. Troll pus (orange dish soap), distilled swamp water (green vinegar), dragon's blood (blue water) and powdered mandrake root (baking soda).

Success!

Quidditch practice came next. The different house teams had to run a relay with a broom, fetch a golden snitch and throw the snitch through a hoop.

The final class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

Though a dragon full of candy isn't very dangerous, the kids sure had fun.

After classes the kids got to visit Honeydukes Sweet Shop complete with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans....

chocolate frogs and chocolate covered wands...

butterbeer (cream soda)....

golden snitch truffles and cloud 9 cakes....

Cheers! The boys are cheering because they won the house cup.

The girls are cheering because they out number the boys.

Make a wish.

Present time.

Duke finished off the theme party with a Hogwarts Lego set.

May I Have This Dance

I love my kids. They can be so cute.

After watching his sister get dressed up  Alex really wanted to wear "fancy clothes" too so I pulled out a suit I'd been saving for him for when he turned 8. That did the trick. Suddenly he felt and acted like the perfect little gentleman. He was holding doors open and dancing with his sisters. Both the girls were fighting over who got to dance with him so dad had to jump in and make things even.

Best Friends

Avery and Maycie

Ella and Addilyn

I can't get enough of this guy.

I really can't. Except, of course, when he's ornery and throwing a fit - which seems to be a lot lately. Is it too early for "terrible twos"? Or maybe just growing pains.

Just look at that adorable cake covered face.

Playing his favorite game with dad's hat.

"Where's Isaac?"

"There he is!"

Happy Birthday America!

We started the day with red, white and blueberry waffles.

I spray painted these patriotic shirts for the kids. 

To beat the heat we tried to go see a movie but it was sold out so we headed inside the mall for some cool play place fun. I used to take the kids to this mall play place all the time when they were younger. I had kind of forgotten about it, but it was fun to rediscover it with Isaac. He had a ball. Even the bigger kids enjoyed it.

That evening we headed over to the Smiths house for food and fireworks. The Abbotts were there too and Kristin, of course, went all out. She had red, white and blue themed everything. Treats galore. It was kid haven. Everything was so cute and festive and I'm sure she was preparing for weeks. 

Adam is explaining to the kids that they can have as much candy and drinks as they want and if anything runs out come and tell him so he can refill it. Like I said. Kid haven. He put on quite a show of fireworks that night complete with coordinating patriotic music. 

My little firecracker.

Happy 7th Birthday, Maycie!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Maycie.

Maycie is always the life of the party. She has a very developed sense of humor and loves to make people laugh, especially her baby brother, Isaac. She is my flower girl. She is always bringing me flowers - usually clovers or blossoms from the garden or anywhere she can find something that blooms. Maycie continues to love to draw and can stay occupied with paper and markers for hours. Her picture amaze me. She also LOVES her stuffed animals and can't seem to get enough. She has names for all of them and she treats them like family. Her favorite color is blue and her favorite food is blueberries.

Birthday breakfast in bed.

Maycie's request was blueberries (of course), sausage (her other favorite food) and chocolate milk.

Addilyn gave Maycie a couple of water frogs that she bought with her own money and Alex got her a stuffed animal.

Mom and dad gave Maycie a new, blue bike.

For her party we took Maycie and some friends to Zootastic which is a small scale very personalized zoo. Unfortunately my camera was dead so no picture of that. But we did another little celebration with the neighbor kids that night.