Harry Potter Birthday

My soon-to-be 9 year old loves Harry Potter so she decided to have a Harry Potter birthday party with her friends this year. We started out with a trip to the store to buy some parchment paper for our invitations. We used a Hogwarts crest on top and addressed the invitations as follows (obviously, some things have been changed for safety concerns):

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE(Order of Merlin First Class Grand Sorc. Chf. WarlockSupreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear (child's name),
We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to a celebration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in honor of (my child's name) 9th birthday. You can wear wizard attire, or, if you prefer, dress in the Muggle manner. Magic Wands will be provided by Ollivanders.

The celebration will take place on March 12, 2011 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m at Platform 9 ¾ located at (my address was here). Snacks will be available.

We await your owl as soon as possible. If you are unable to reply by owl, you can RSVP to Rachel by Muggle phone at 801-999-9999.

Yours Sincerely,

(your name here)
Deputy Headmistress

I bought a frog mold off of E-Bay as well as some Bertie Botts Beans and some Bertie Bott Bags for the treat bags. My husband found some Hershey bars on sale and thought they would taste better and be less expensive than buying melting chocolate. It was only a dollar for a BIG bag so we made chocolate frogs and edible wants from that (edible wands are pretzel rods dipped in chocolate where the chocolate makes the wand handle).

I bought a gold balloon on the day of the party and wrote 9 3/4 on it so the parents would know where to drop off the children.

Inside, we had a trivia contest, made wands by decorating chopsticks with unicorn hair (yarn), dragon scales (sequins) and phoenix feathers (craft feathers). I had seperated the Bertie Botts Beans and had them taste them and guess the flavor. The winner guessed 4 out of 6 correct. That person won a small bag of Jelly Belly Beans, The person in second place recieved a gummy spider. I wasn't exactly expecting that to take as long as it did so I had to not do the Goopy Gooop or make brooms from pencils but the children didn't know what they were missing out on so it worked out okay.

For snacks we had Bugles (because they are in a cone shape like a hat) and Doritos (because they are in a triagle like a flat hat). I made cupcakes with a chocolate covered sugarcone on the top to look like wizard hats.

It was actually lots of fun and hopefully memorable. I did take a picture of the cupcakes but apparently, I didn't download it yet so I'll get one on here in the next couple days. Have a good one y'all.

Sunday Birthday Party

My brother died when he was 18. On Sunday, August 1, 2010, my brother would have been 40 years old. My mother wanted to celebrate his life on his birthday this year. We had cake and ice cream in Mueller Park Canyon. There is a nice little covered patio with tables and some stairs down to the creek. I'd never been there before but my uncle said it was old when he was young. He's in his 60's. I think everyone had a nice time. My sister wanted us to bring photos of him. I didn't take many pictures those days. Thanks to my digital camera a take many more now. I can remember one photo I did take and wish I could find it. My parents house had a small wall enclosing the porch. I took a picture of my brother jumping off that wall (it was forbidden of course but we did it anyway). He was a Star Wars fan as many were at the time. He was a fantastic artist. There are just boxes full of his art. One was so cute and humerous, we even had T-shirts made from his drawing. Happy Birthday Big Brother. We miss you.

Fairy Party

For my daughters 8th birthday party, she wanted a Tinkerbell party. For the cake, I bought a kit from the store, then got to work. I made the cakes a few days in advance and froze them. The day of, I frosted the cake and added the decorations. Okay, I'm not a professional but I thought it turned out pretty good anyway.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday, my youngest turned 4! Four!

Late Over Birthday Party

My daughter is turning 7 in a few weeks. We decided to have a late-over party where the children are picked up late instead of a sleepover. I got lots of postive feedback from the parents on this idea.

We had pizza then decorated cupcakes. I was surprised how little time this took.

Then we decorated foam purses I bought at the dollar store. I also bought 1 package of stickers and 2 packages of alphabet stickers so the girls could write their names. I also picked up a package of 4 glitter glues in case any of the girls wanted their purses to sparkle. (They are girls after all). When the girls were done decorating their purses, it was time to fill them with the essentials. Okay, they were not all essentials but it was still fun. The purses were filled with small boxes of candy, a ring pop, and a plastic bracelette. I also gave them tiaras. I think most of them wore them for the rest of the night.

Then, we opened birthday presents. She was very nice and thanked everyone for being so thoughtful.

The last thing we did was pop popcorn and watched the twelve dancing princesses. The girls choose which movie they wanted to watch from a selction of "G" rated movies.

I overheard one girl telling her it was the best party she'd ever been to and thanks so much for inviting her. She got a thank you note from another little girl at church today telling her the late over was "grate". Personally, though I'm glad they all had fun, I'm just glad its over. No more birthday parties until June.

Son's Birthday

I wanted to do this on my son's birthday but it came and went so fast that the whole week was just a blur.

I just want to let my son know what a wonderful person I think he is. He is full of energy, life and enthusiasm. He is such a good friend to all. He could be a better student but because he is smart he does well without trying too hard. He loves to tell stories. He loves to play games, especially when he beats mom! He is loving and kind to his sisters even when they don't reciprocate. He loves to spend time with his friends and also with his family. He makes sure he gives me a hug and kiss every night and tells me that he loves me. How can you beat that?

Busy Weekend-ish

I said weekend-ish because Friday isn't actually a part of the weekend, but Friday is when my weekend started. We had a family Christmas party for my side of the family. We had a potluck and the children exchanged gifts. No pictures, I forgot my camera.

Saturday, we celebrated my son's 10th birthday with all his friends. None of them were on time and one came 1/2 hour before the party ended. And I forgot to take a picture of the cake. I did get pics of the party but none of my son alone and I won't post pics of other children without permission.

Saturday night we had a Christmas party at my sister-in-laws house for my husbands side of the family. His parents didn't come cuz they were sick. My brother-in-laws family didn't come because they forgot so their children weren't home. My husband suggested not going because no one else was coming and now he knows why we don't plan stuff like this for his side of the family. We were late but we did show up. The children made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. Then Santa and Mrs. Clause came and handed out gifts to the children. They were really late and I felt jipped. (Is that even how its spelled?) Okay, I was disappointed but it really was fun.

Sunday, we had a party for the family to celebrate my son's birthday even though he hasn't had it yet. I invite my mother and father in law but not the rest because they never come anyway so I just quit. I guess my brother-in-law felt bad so I called him and gave him an official invitation. My sister-in-law thought it was more important to play her Nintendo than come so I have just proven my point as to why they are never invited. Anyhoo, he is on a Bakugan thing so I didn't get him any for his birthday (I saved them all for Christmas). He did get some from my sister, my sister-in-law on my side, and his grandma so he was happy. I am also happy to report that my husband did not give in and give him any presents early. He has a hard time waiting. Sometimes I think he is more excited than the children.