Happy 8th!

Kobe wanted to have a Harry Potter party this year and has been talking about it since last Spring. In years past when we have had all these boys over for parties, it is complete chaos. Boys are so much louder than girls! So I knew I needed to keep them very busy for 2 hours to keep my sanity. Here is what we came up with!

We made signs for different places in the book and put them up all around the house. First they went to Flourish and Blotts for their spell books. I found every spell on-line that they use in the Harry Potter books- there are so many nerds out there! The boys had crayons to add some of there own spells to their books. I realized quickly that I had to make a rule that they couldn't use any potty words for spells. So silly!

Then we went to Ollivanders for wands. I just got some wooden dowels that Jed cut down and stained - they were super simple, but the boys loved them. We went to platform 9 3/4 and went to Hogwarts. Then we sorted them into the 4 Houses and went on a treasure hunt to find the Sorcerers Stone. They each went to different "places" around the house and had to complete a quest to get the clue for the next place to go. They went to Honeydukes for a bag of "Every Flavor Beans", Potions class to make a potion with dry ice & rootbeer, Gringotts Bank to get some gold coins, Hogwarts Great Hall to make a tie, Flourish and Blotts for a word search and finally to Knockturn Alley to find the Sorcerers Stone. We have this huge snake stuffed animal that grandpa Jody gave the kids for Christmas that worked perfectly as Nagini. I found some cool plastic "jewels" at Roberts that worked great as the "stones" (k-I'm a Harry Potter nerd myself...).

After the treasure hunt, we went to Zonko's joke shop and Jed did a magic show. I asked him the night before to see if he could find some easy magic tricks to do to take up some time. All morning he was in our bedroom "practicing." Before the party he told me how nervous he was and made sure there wouldn't be any other adults at the party. Haha! The magic show was definitely the highlight of the party. He did such a great job! If you need a magician- you know who to call :)

Gryffindor inspired cupcakes

It ended up being such a fun party. I actually enjoyed myself and didn't need Calgon to take me away. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Wax Museum

For Teylor's wax museum book report, she chose to do it on Laura Ingalls Wilder. I LOVE Little House on the Prairie. It's my favorite tv show ever. My family makes fun of me, but secretly they like it too. One time I turned the channel to Little House and Jed started complaining but after 5 minutes you couldn't have pulled him away from it.

Back to the book report... Teylor had to dress up like Laura Ingalls Wilder (she pronounced it Weelder)and make a poster with a button on it. Then she had to sit still like a wax statue until someone pushed her "button" on the poster. She would then tell them all about Laura. It was chaos in the gym with 50 wax statue 4th graders, parents, and other students looking around. Teylor was terrified. It broke my heart to see her sitting there looking so sad. When I pushed her button she started talking, but so softly I couldn't hear her. People would push the button, she would talk soft and they would just walk away before she was done. I heard her finally say, "Oh forget it!" It made me laugh. She gets so nervous in front of people!

TEENAGER- AHHHHH!

As of November 3 2010, I officially own a teenager. It was a shock to me when it happened. I saw all of the signs- sass, rudeness, moodiness, out of control giggling, etc. But with Jess, I've seen them since she was like 3. So it caught me off guard. She is our drama queen.

One thing I wasn't expecting is how much easier our relationship would be. We talk more and have more fun together than we ever have. So far, I have really loved having a teenager. I know it's only been a few months and all of you who have had teenagers are saying in your heads, "JUST WAIT." I'm sure it will get harder, but for now I am really enjoying it. She is full of fire and determination - sometimes good, sometimes bad. I love hearing about all the boy drama and listening to her way of thinking. She is a beautiful dancer and wants to have good grades. When she brought home her honor roll certificate we were so excited about it. Jed and I have never seen one of those before :) I love that she wanted her party to be in Riverton High colors - even though she doesn't go to high school yet. She wants to. I love that she loves to laugh and thinks she is hilarious. I love that she tells me so much and listens when I try to give advice. I love that she is better at hair and makeup than I will ever be. I love that her cell phone is her life-line and I can get her to do anything when I threaten to take it away. Jess is a great kid.

Ya - so far, I love my teenager.

Kobe

I have been thinking about blogging again ever since my sister Mandi mentioned that she has a private blog just about her kids. I thought that was a great idea! After reading past posts and looking at pictures, I think I have missed out on almost 2 years because I haven't blogged. I didn't get to hear my bro-in-law Pauls inspiring words on blogging, but I'm sure I would've been touched sooner if I had. :) So, I just want to write down what is happening in my life and whoever wants to read it, be my guest.

Today is about Kobe. He came home from school today all smiles. I asked him how his day was and he said, "It was the greatest day ever! I got to do tons of math." I was surprised by that comment and it made me laugh. I didn't know he loved math so much. So weird.

He had to do a biography on someone he admired at school today and he proudly got out his paper to show me. It was about Harry Potter. The kid is a want-to-be wizard. For Christmas, Teylor made him a wand out of a dowel and he hasn't put it down since. He sleeps with it, eats with it, takes it to friends houses, even today I walked in on him doing a spell on the laundry he was supposed to be folding. I think he was trying to make them fold themselves and put them away magically. To be honest, it makes me cringe - a lot. Jessie constantly tells him what a nerd he is, but he doesn't care. I read on his biography poster what he admired most about Harry Potter. He wrote, "He's osum, power full, kind and fun." Who wouldn't want to be like Harry Potter?

One more thing, he just asked me if his full name was just Kobe. Me -"Ya..." Him - "It would be cool if it was like Kob-era." Uh...