Kara's Birthday

Kara turns 9 today! For her birthday, she asked for a Harry Potter themed party. We told her she could invite 5 friends. When you have 3 siblings, adding in even 5 kids makes for a pretty big party, at least in my opinion. She tried to be very methodical in choosing her guests. Naturally, there were more than 5 she could think of, so she tried to choose those who she knew enjoyed Harry Potter and to reciprocate with friends whose parties she had recently attended. It was as good a system as any to narrow the guest list. One of her invitees had a brother tag along, so we ended up with 10 kids. Which worked out, because that was precisely how many our "great hall" could comfortably handle.

This was our first party at home since Kara turned 4. She wanted to have a feast, play Harry Potter Scene It and watch one of the movies. For all that fun, we figured we needed about 5 hours. Thomas was in charge of decorating the Great Hall and the wand/owl sort. I was in charge of supplies, food and the other activities. The division of labor worked out well.

The Great Hall complete with floating candles.

Our entryway

The guests arrived at 11 and were seated in the dining room. There, they met Professor Rumblewindow, who was very similar in mannerism to Professor Snape. The kids loved him! He introduced them to the wandmaker who asked each child a series of questions to determine their perfect wand. Once that was done, they looked under their chairs to find the name of their owl taped to the bottom. After they found the matching owls, we gave them a few minutes to practice their spells before the feast.

This party was brought to you courtesy of  Professor Rumblewindow and Professor Wilson.

Luke really liked this part.

Kara chose the food: salisbury steak, broccoli with cheese sauce, Kraft macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and rolls. We also had strawberries and Polyjuice Potion (green Hawaiian Punch). We figured there was enough variety that the kids would be happy and they were. After the food, everyone chose a "sorting cookie". It was a chocolate chip cookie topped with an ice cream cone that contained m&m's in the color of their house. That determined our teams for Scene It. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teamed up and beat Gryffindor and Slytherin. I'd like to say it was close, because I was on the losing team, but it was a pretty big victory for R & H. Fortunately, most of the kids had fun. A couple of the younger ones (Luke and one other) abandoned the game to play in the basement, which was fine.

Sorting hat cookies

After Scene It, the kids played a game with Jelly Beans, just like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, they didn't know what they were going to get. The game had matching Jelly Beans, one was a good flavor, the other gross.  For example white could be either spoiled milk or coconut. The kids loved it! They played for quite a while. Then, we took pictures with our photo opportunity, which I made with templates found at:  http://www.papertraildesign.com/harry-potter-party-photobooth-easy-diy/

Bertie Botts mystery beans.

Kayce was game to give it a try!

This one was my favorite :)

Next, it was time for cake pops. Normally, I would have made them. In fact, I had a plan in place and the supplies to make them designed after the golden snitch. But, there just wasn't time. I had Friday off from work, but as mentioned in the previous blog, I was volunteering at the kids' school. Friday night was time to cash in on one of my Christmas presents--tickets to see Adam Corolla. It was a fun date night, we had dinner at Chevy's and then went to the Kennedy Center. The comedy was funny and the company was fantastic. But, we left at 4:30 and didn't get home until after 11, so there wasn't much time on Friday. Something had to give and we decided it would be the cake pops. I was very glad I ordered them; they came out super cute and the baking pro did a nice Harry Potter assortment in two flavors chosen by Kara. Of course, I forgot to get a picture, but it was money well spent.

You can see them a bit in the box here.

So, the kids had their cake pops and Kara opened her presents. By now it was a bit after 2 and time to start the movie. Kara had chosen The Chamber of Secrets. We let the kids munch on chips, cookies, pretzel wands, little cakes and the rest of the leftover food. I thought we had a ton of food, but by about 3, most of it was gone. Those kids could eat!

Most of the kids watched the movie, but again, a couple decided to play in the basement instead. By the time 4 rolled around, I was exhausted and happy to see the arriving parents. Overall, I would call the party a success. I definitely prefer the ease of simply going to Great Wolf Lodge or a local party place, but it was fun to do. Now, Anna and Jack are saying they want to have parties at home too. Fortunately, October is a long way off and I am guessing they will change their minds between now and then!

Today is Kara's actual birthday. I am home with a "sick" Luke. He did throw up last night, but it appears he just has my weak stomach, because he is completely fine today. Jack threw up Saturday night. Also, not sick. His instance was not surprising. Pretty much anytime he drinks more than a cup of something other than water, he throws up a few hours later. Luke we weren't sure on, so I kept him home. The sick day has been nice, Thomas is going to come home for his lunch break, so that I can bring Kara lunch at school (which I had planned on anyway). Tonight, she has chosen Potbelly for her birthday dinner and a super easy cake, modeled after the one Hagrid made Harry. Should be a fun night. To close us out, a picture of the birthday girl, showing off her wand and owl party favors. (Every wand and every owl were different.)