I Solemnly Swear I Am Up to No Good (Potter Party Part II)

 Entrez-nous!

And the party started!

First up:  Wands!

Some serious wizarding!

 And...some not so serious wizarding...

I was grateful to have so many hands to help with set up, games, and clean up!

Next up:  Potions!

We made butterbeer (a super simple recipe that some of the kids liked, and others did NOT!)

Jeff and Kyle:  Over-seeing the class :-).

 After the butterbeer, Cubby had everyone see what color their drinks would turn (food coloring under ice--then pour Sprite over the ice).

 Skol!

 They then took cornstarch and mixed in water to make a messy goo-type consistency.  Good times.

 They also mixed baking soda and vinegar together and watched them fizz, and then put cut-up pieces of ivory soap in the microwave and watched it bubble up all funny-like.  (It also helped them wash off the cornstarch goo!)

Then it was time for "Charms!"  My sister was kind enough to head this one up.  And, despite the trouble the string for the bracelets and necklaces caused, everyone loved making them.

 And finally, it was Quidditch time!  Kyle was in-charge of this much-anticipated class and I wish we would've scheduled more time for it!  Everyone had a great time and there was only one "casualty"--and with all of those kids and brooms that's quite amazing!

Ju Ju was all tuckered out!

 More action shots...

 And sweet Britta, who by some miracle, slept through most of the set up and the party itself, was kept happy by a loving Great-Grandma.

 And, with about 15 min remaining, we opened gifts and had cake!  It was a fabulous party and one that Emily will remember for years to come.

Happy 10th Birthday, Emily!  You sure passed your OWLs!

Potter Party! (Part I--The Decor)

 Emily's 10th birthday party was a celebration to remember!  She has been really into Harry Potter and so she asked if we could do a Potter party.  How fun!  Pintrest is just swimming with ideas--some more crazy involved than others!  So, I embraced some and modified others!

Emily really wanted to play Quidditch.  And, since we couldn't count on the weather to be fair at the end of November/beginning of December, we had the party up at the church where there is a huge gym to run around in!  (As it turns out, the weather on the day of her party was SUPER warm!  It was crazy!)

Hedwig balloons :-)

A few of the treats that we put in the girls' good bags

My mom had lots of great decorations!

Potions and globes and microscopes--oh my!

The goody-bags (love those free print-outs!)

In the first Harry Potter book, Hagrid gave Harry a birthday cake.
Hagrid isn't the best speller and Emily got a kick out of it so I did the same for her cake.
(And boy, was it an easy cake!)

We had a photo booth station with lots' of funny dress up items for the kids to wear.  Personally, it was my favorite station.

 Along with Quidditch, we also had wand-making, "charms," and "potions."  I used chopsticks and had the kids paint them either gold or silver and then roll them in glitter.  Once they dried, we used balloons and they practiced the spell of "wingardiem leviosa" (pardon my spelling).  So fun!

 "Charms" consisted of making charm necklaces or bracelets :-).

 "Potions" was held in the kitchen.  Cubby ran this one and did a great job of it!  (More on the specifics later!)

 I had the kids all enter through "Platform 9 3/4."  I took an old bed sheet, taped, and spray-painted it to look like bricks and then cut about half way up from the bottom.  We taped it over the doorway into the party!

Thanksgiving 2014

Ack!  It's the New Year and I'm still stuck back at Thanksgiving!  Ugh.  So much for trying to stay on top of things...

Well, better late than never, right?  Thanksgiving was, as always, wonderful.  We are so lucky to live so close to family and that I have a mother who takes such pride in making her meals both delicious and beautiful.

This was my small contribution, the rolls.
I must say that they were pretty tasty.

 Grandma's house is always fun to play at--she was great at keeping and preserving so many of our toys so now my kids can play with them!

Some post-dinner chatting 'round the table.
Cubby's parents were in town too so Thanksgiving was extra special for us.

Britta did not appreciate Thanksgiving so much...
I think all of the noise and the different surroundings was a bit much for her.
Thank goodness for Great-Grandma--she fell fast asleep on Grandma's shoulder not too long after this picture was taken!

I took more pictures, but with my mom's camera.  Maybe one day I'll be so caught up on everything that I'll be able to go back and add them to this post.  Maybe, but not likely to happen anytime soon {Sigh}.