Double Harry Potter Birthday Party!

Spencer and his best buddy Sawyer both have peanut allergies and were born on April 20th, 2008. I believe the allergies are the main reason they have been in the same school class since kindergarten and we are just lucky to be in the same ward as well! Sawyer's Mom, Allison, and I are friends too so when she asked me what we were doing for Spencer's birthday this year, I suggested we do a joint party. The boys have a lot of the same friends and are both currently obsessed with Harry Potter so it worked out perfectly. Birthday parties can easily overwhelm me, but doing only half of the work wasn't bad at all. Allison was in charge of decorations and food and I did the invites and the games. So much more manageable! I highly recommend doing joint birthday parties if you can get away with it.

Harry Potter was a super fun theme for this party. I had a good time searching Pinterest for ideas. There were so many fun things we could have done. We kept things fairly simple, but I still thought it turned out great. I just wish I could have taken more pictures!

Each kiddo got an official start of term letter on Hogwarts' letterhead and a ticket for the Hogwarts' Express as their invitation. Spencer and Sawyer invited six kids from school and/or church and five of them were able to come. Seven was a good number for this party.

We started of the party with wand decorating at Ollivander's Wand Shop. I found some simple tutorials for making really cool, authentic-looking wands, but Spencer wanted the kids to be able to decorate their wands so we kept it very simple - dowels with a small hole drilled in the center. They colored their dowels with markers and then could put a phoenix feather, dragon scales, or unicorn hair in the core of their wand. The feathers were by far the favorite and it was fun to see their creativity and personalities in their decorating.

After wands, we split the kids into two houses, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, for some classes. Allison taught Charms and Dueling Club while I taught Potions. In Charms, the kids had to keep balloons in their air with their wands while chanting, "wingardium leviosa." In the Dueling Club, they got to choose a spell off a list on the wall and shoot paper straw shooters at each other. I didn't get any pictures of those two classes, but I judging by the noise level, the kids had fun. Both activities were quick.

I had a lot of fun preparing for the Potions class. We used things like "dragon's blood," "worm guts," "wolfsbane," "crushed dragon bones," etc. to make Exploding Polyjuice Potion and Veritaserum. It took longer than I expected because the kids were so wound up and had a hard time focusing. They liked the chemical reactions though.

We went outside for Defense Against the Dark Arts after that. In that class, the kids had to fight off a Dementor pinata with the awesome brooms Allison found for them. I used two paper bags inside of each other for the Dementor's head and it never occurred to me that the bags wouldn't protect the prizes inside very well. Every thing had been packaged in individual bags so each kid would get the same amount of things, but when someone finally broke the pinata open, the bags and some of the prizes were all broken! It was a mess and I learned a lesson! Thankfully, Allison was able to salvage most of the prizes and sort everything back out while we played Quidditch.

Quidditch was the activity that Spencer was the most excited about, but the logistics were a little tricky. The Holden's yard wasn't suitable for playing this game so we had planned to walk the half block to the park to play. Alan and Mason had to go set it up for us during the party because we had to pound the stakes into the ground before screwing the hoops onto the top. The park was super muddy though so we wound up walking a little farther to play at the school. A few of the kids loved this game, but some preferred to be the seeker and search for the Golden Snitch (a golf ball spray painted gold) the whole time.

Not surprisingly, the dads had as much fun as the kids with this one! ;)

By that point, the kids were ready for a snack so we headed back to the Holden's for Butterbeer and Golden Snitch cupcakes. The Holden's are vegan and Sawyer has dairy and nut allergies so kudos to Allison for making delicious treats within all of those restrictions. She is a great cook!

I made each kid take a pictures with Spencer and their gift and then we used the pictures as thank you cards. I felt bad that each kid had to bring two presents, but they were all so generous and both boys got some great gifts.

 I had to take a picture of Sam's card because she made awesome pop-up cards for both boys! They were so cute and thoughtful!

The birthday boys!

Lastly, all of the kids got a gold galleon to spend at "Honeydukes." They each got to fill a baggie with as much candy as they wanted. It was WAY to much candy, but the kids loved it.

Allison even made chocolate frogs.

These two goof balls have dubbed themselves "Ron" and "Harry."

The only sad part of the whole party was that Spencer somehow lost his wand between this last picture and when we left 10 minutes later. He was bummed about it and it still hasn't turned up. Who knows what happened to it?! Besides that, I think both boys had a fantastic time and loved their party. Sharing their special day didn't seem to bother either of them a bit. I'm glad it's over, but I'm also glad that I could do this for Spencer. It was fun and hopefully something he'll remember for a long time!

Pinewood Derby 2017

Spencer's 2nd Pinewood Derby was the week after his birthday. A lot of these pictures are from Debbie. Mason took off at a run every time I let go of his hand to take a picture!

The evening started off with awards. Spencer earned his Wolf badge and is now a Bear Scout! I had him pin my little pin onto my camera strap where there was no danger of being stabbed. ;) He has had some great leaders (Sister Moon, Sister Zahlmann, and Brother and Sister Anderson) who worked hard during den meetings so he hardly had to do any of the requirements at home.

Getting his wolf paint.

Alan volunteered to be in charge of the "timing" of the races. He used a simple system with no electronics.

Spencer, Alan, and Darwin had worked really hard on his car this year. Darwin has a small wood shop set up in his garage and has all of the right tools. Sadly, one of the wheels wasn't completely round and Spencer's car wasn't one of the fastest. I was proud of what a good sport he was though. He didn't get upset and just kept cheering for his friends.

Spencer and "The Firebolt!"

Mason had fun with this blow up tire!

I know not everyone loves the Pinewood Derby and there is always someone who leaves in tears, but personally, I think it's an excellent activity. It requires lots of father/son/grandfather bonding time, the boys learn some basic physics, and it gives all of them another opportunity to practice good sportsmanship. And good sportsmanship is a skill that requires practice! ;)

Spencer Turns 9!

Spencer had a birthday a few weeks ago. It was on a Thursday this year and he was happy to be able to go to school on his birthday. Spencer chose not to go to track practice that evening though. Sadly, Alan had to time a track meet so he didn't get to be home at all.

Spencer got to open his presents after Mason woke up from his nap in the afternoon. He got a book and a small Lego set from Mason, a climbing rope from me, an awesome card from his cousin Porter, and a check (some for his savings account and some for spending) from Grandma and Grandpa LeFevre.

It was a dry day, so we spent the afternoon playing outside. Spencer loves to shoot hoops and Mason had fun shoveling dirt on the tulips between ours and our neighbor's driveways.

Spencer requested grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for his birthday dinner then he played a computer game while Mason watched while I put the finishing touches on his Golden Snitch birthday cake. I thought it turned out alright, but tragically, right before I finished frosting it, one of the wings hit my paper towel holder and broke! I made Spencer hold it up for the pictures. He was happy with it though and that's what matters. :)

Alan was really excited to give Spencer his gift, but we decided to wait until the next evening so Alan could be home. Alan and Darwin built Spencer some ninja warrior obstacles for our backyard! Spencer is a huge American Ninja Warrior fan and we knew he would love something like this. They built quadruple steps, three sections of balance beam, and two hurdles - one to go under and one to jump over. Spencer loves it. In fact, we all do and we had fun running the course for FHE one night! It's a nice alternative to more Legos.

Spencer is in the 89% for height at 4'8" and will be passing me up all too soon. That will be weird! Spencer's health is excellent besides some seasonal allergies. He got a cough in January and it didn't go completely away until we finally discovered that it was allergies 3 months later! I had been worried that is was asthma, so it was a relief to find out it wasn't. He wakes up with a runny nose and coughing a bit most mornings, so I just give him a Claritin pill and it clears right up.

Spencer still loves school and doesn't really like having days off. He's not super excited about summer like I am. His teacher, Mrs. Hill, has been excellent this year and we will both miss her. She works hard to make sure Spencer is being challenged with work at the appropriate level. He recently moved up to a 7th grade reading level, but the vocabulary and comprehension were pretty difficult so that's what we're focusing on now. I still read to him most nights before bed. I've always enjoyed reading to Spencer, but now that he can read books that I actually enjoy like Harry Potter, I really look forward to it. His favorite genre is fantasy.

Spencer's other two loves besides reading and school are sports and Legos. We're nearing the end of a very rainy track season that I will post more about later. Other things Spencer likes are athletic shorts and shirts, muffins, pizza, carrot sticks, toasted ham and cheese sandwiches with spicy brown mustard, chicken pot pie, playing kickball at recess, playing with friends, shooting hoops in the driveway, playing Trouble with Grandma Rasmussen after Sunday dinner, and a few computer games.

Spencer does not love cleaning out Kiki's litter box, practicing the piano, Mason touching his Legos, and any recipe containing cumin, squash, zucchini, lentils, or quinoa. He is generally a pretty happy boy.

Spencer's teachers and leaders in Church tell me all the time what a good boy Spencer is. He just has this innate desire to choose the right and to be a good example. He is firm in his faith and his testimony is growing. Spencer decided that he would start reading the Book of Mormon on his own once he turned nine, so now he reads a chapter every morning before school. Alan and I feel so blessed to have him in our home and are so proud of the strong young man he is becoming. Happy birthday Spencer!

3rd Grade Music Program

Spencer had his one music program for the year on April 18th. I'm so glad that he's had a different teacher this year. I didn't care for his 1st and 2nd grade music teacher at all. Mrs. Alldinger was energetic and fun and accompanied the songs on the piano. Most of their songs included some type of instrument or featured a class doing a dance. Spencer participated in a stick-clapping game during one song and "tied the knot" in another.

We weren't sitting in a good spot for pictures so this is the best one I got of the actual program. Spencer is to the very left on the top. They were using boom wackers for this song.

This was the song Spencer's class was featured in. He is wearing a turquoise t-shirt.

 At least I got a good "after" picture!

Easter

Easter fell on April 16th this year. We colored eggs for FHE the Monday before. It was Mason's first time getting to participate and he was thrilled! We narrowly avoided many spills by sitting right beside him and not letting him handle any cups on his own. It took a long bath and multiple washes to get all of the dye off his hands though!

Alan had a race on Saturday. It was a gorgeous, sunny morning and the boys and I went to the temple to take some pictures for a Cub Scout project Spencer needed to do. His camera battery was dead so he got to use my phone to take pictures and thought that was pretty awesome. The flowers were beautiful and Mason loved the fountains.

Spencer was quite disappointed that the Easter Bunny didn't come while we were at the Temple. He finally visited our backyard after Alan got home that afternoon. Mason didn't want to put any eggs in his bucket at first. He wanted to hold them all, but I finally convinced him to put some in his bucket so he could find more. :) Both boys had fun finding all 50 eggs!

Spencer wanted to try an Easter Rolls recipe from The Friend magazine this year. We made them for FHE the Monday before Easter, but there were so many that I froze most of them and we had them again for Easter breakfast. Spencer and Mason loved the sweet dough with a cinnamon and sugar marshmallow melted in the middle, but that was a little too sugary of a breakfast to become a tradition I think.

I made them all put their church clothes back on after Mason's nap so we could take some Easter pictures in the backyard. Spencer was NOT happy. haha!

Sad faces!

This was my favorite picture of the day and the credit goes to Alan. I love my boys and I love my Savior who has made it possible for us to be an eternal family! Spencer is old enough to have some good Gospel discussions now and it was neat to teach him about why Easter is so important. I don't remember who said it, but I love the quote, "Without Easter, there would be no Christmas." Happy Easter!