Harry Potter Party

We are big fans of Harry Potter.  Earlier this fall we had the idea to throw a Harry Potter Party and we spent a couple of months thinking of ideas (and looking for ideas online), planning and preparing.

 We all made wands from dowels, clay and hot glue.  Then Mark painted them.  They turned out pretty amazing.

 We made some fun treats including chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts Yummy flavored beans (Jelly Bellies), Ferrero Rocher Golden Snitches, Gringotts Gold (from Hersheys Nuggets) and Licorice Wands).  

 Even Daniel dressed up!

Joy posing in front of the 9 3/4 wall which the kids went through to enter the party, and it also doubled as a photo backdrop.

 Grace (on the right) and her friend Karyssa

Pretty BethAnne

 Yummy treats, I should have taken pictures of some chocolate frogs by themselves, they were cool.

 These floating candles were a labor of love.  They're made from paper towel and toilet paper tubes, hot glue, paint and led candles.  Mark helped a lot with these.  

 We also set up a Quidditch hoop for Quidditch practice.  (It was a hula hoop on top of a basketball hoop which was on top of a storage bench).  The kids took turns trying to throw a beach ball through the hoop while a "Keeper" tried to stop them

 We also had a fancy feast, played Harry Potter trivia and Bingo and Find the Snitch (hide and seek).  The kids had a lot of fun.  The youngest girl who came to the party later told her mom "this was my luckiest day!"  I could hardly move for a day after, but it was worth it.  We saved a lot of the supplies so someday we can do it again. 

Random Adorable Baby Pictures

Babies are so fun and cute.  Daniel is a great baby, even though he's been struggling with ear infections the last month.  He's our biggest 6-month-old, we're getting strong muscles.  Here are some pictures from the last few months. We love our Daniel!

Happy Birthday and Baptism Joy!

Our sweet Joy turned 8 at the end of September.  

 She was able to have a friend party and a family party.  So much fun.

 She made this pin the fish on the seal game, she likes seals. The girls helped make the fish.

Then Joy was baptized on November 4th.  She was a beautiful angel that day.  We are so grateful for our Joy and for the love and joy she brings to our family.  She is so smart and creative, she is often making projects or reports that amaze us.  We have decided to homeschool Joy (after much thought and prayer).  She will probably be skipping a grade in the process (she was old for her grade). We have a great curriculum and she will meet with other homeschooled kids every Friday for fun extracurricular classes (art and lego robotics).  We love our Joy!