Happy Birthday Ryan!

 Ryan is now eight years old.  He is a cub scout!  He is getting baptized on March 3!  I can't believe how time flies.  He chose a Harry Potter birthday party and I have to admit, I was really excited to plan this one.  We love Harry Potter around here.  When Ryan started writing his list of friends, it just kept getting longer.  I had to tell him to stop, at 13, even though we could both think of a few more boys that we could have invited.  I felt bad not inviting everyone, but what do you do?!  13 boys plus Ryan and my other kids, was definitely a crowd. 
When the boys first got here I had them run around outside while we were waiting for everyone to come.  Nathan and Ryan had taught Greg and I four square earlier so they played that and soccer.  I WAS going to think up some Quidditch type game, but I think the boys had fun without the extra work on my part.
Next was the sorting.  I borrowed a cool hat from a neighbor and put a walkie-talkie under it.  Greg was upstairs with the other walkie-talkie and first sang the sorting song from the first book.  The boys were amazingly quiet as they all listened closely.  I called each boy up and Greg said a couple of silly things before putting them into their "House."  I was relieved that we didn't have any complaining about what house they were put in (we didn't put anyone but Nathan in Slytherin, but he wanted that).  

 Next we had our big feast.  Nathan had my camera and this is what he took.  I was hoping for Ryan to be in the picture, blowing out the candles, but that is what a get from my goofy 10 year old.  Thankfully Greg took a couple pictures with his phone, but I have yet to see them.  Aunt Katie had had a Harry Potter cake and so we were able to use her decor for Ryan.

 

We had the kids go to a few classes at the party.  We had Divination, Spells, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Nathan graciously accepted the job as one of the teachers.  He did a magic show with some tricks he got for Christmas a few years ago.  The boys loved it and Greg and I are still not sure how he can guess the right card without looking.  

 For Divination I bought a magic eight ball and I was surprised at what a hit it was.  First with just my kids, and then with all the boys.  They loved hearing their "fortune."  We let each boy ask 2 questions, making sure they knew it was just a game and not real.  Some were a little upset with the eight ball's response so I had to reiterate that it was pretend a couple times. 

 Callie and I went to the park in the freezing cold one day and found a bunch of wands.   Greg became Mr. Olivander and measured the boys' arms and had them try a couple wands before finding the perfect one.  I love how he can make things up off the cuff.  For example, he would tell a boy, "Your wand is made from willow and it's core is made of marshmallows."  The boys loved hearing what their wand was made of.  During Spells I taught the boys a bunch of spells and what they do.  We kept it clean and fun, like "lumos" to turn your wand into a flashlight or "accio" to make some thing come to you.  One little boy asked for my list of spells and his dad told me the next day that he came home and taught them to his family. 

 Next came Potions.  I found the greatest thing at partyland for only 99c apiece.  It was an edible science experiment.  It came with 3 ingredients (pop rocks, baking soda, dye-I think?) and a tube.  From the boys' reactions after they tasted it, it wasn't too yummy, but they all seemed to love that they each got to try it out.  We told them it was Felix Felicis, a potion in Harry Potter that brings good luck.

 Finally it was time to go down stairs and open presents.  Ryan kept begging for this.  We of course had to do the spanking machine and I love how red Ryan's face was when he was came out. 

 And last we had our Defense Against The Dark Arts class.  I had hoped to find a dragon pinata, but the colorful bull was as close to a dragon as I could find.  The boys are all pretty strong and we had to limit hits so everyone would have a chance.  Inside was candy and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (actually just jelly belly's with a homemade tag that said they were Bertie Botts). 

 After that we had  few minutes so the boys just went outside and ran around again, waiting for parents.  All in all, it was a successful party.  Everyone seemed to have fun, Ryan was spoiled and felt very happy at the end, and I was able to clean up while the boys played outside. 
It is amazing to me that Ryan is 8.  He is growing up and turning into a great young lad.  He is very tender-hearted and cries easy (good and bad).  He cares about other people and most of the time is aware of how you should treat people.  He once told me that he was at school when some boys playing football were arguing and he said, "You should stop arguing or not play."  And another time he told me a friend wanted to watch a show that Ry thought would be too scary and he was brave enough to tell his friend no.  We love Ryan, all his craziness and laughter.  He is a great big brother to his two sisters.  He plays with them and reads to them and helps them all of the time.  We are so lucky to have him in our family.