Happee 9 & 3/4 Cambree!

This year we decided to do something a little different for Cambrie's birthday party.  Instead of celebrating her 10-year-old birthday party, we celebrated her 9 & 3/4 birthday party-Harry Potter style.  I spent a week turning the house into Hogwarts and coming up with fun activities for the girls.  Judging by how many, "This is the best birthday party ever!" comments I received, I'm going to assume it was a hit.  

The girls had to enter the house through Platform 9 & 3/4.  Only the brave of heart made it through that brick wall.  

Once inside all the girls were sorted into one of the four houses, and made their house ties they used for the rest of the party.  They made magic wands.  

They played a wild game of Quidditch in the basement.  (It was so wild none of the pictures were even in focus).  They visited the Ministry of Magic and made wanted posters.  I ended up with some goofy pictures on that camera roll.  That's what happens when you leave a bunch of 9 and 10 year olds in charge of the camera!  

They went to potions class and attempted to make gak....I think we needed some more practice with our potions magic.

 

They visited Hogsmeade and had all sorts of tasty food: mandrake root, chocolate frogs, pepper imps, licorice wands, gillyweed water, dragon claws, doxy eggs, and Butterbeer.  Yum, yum, yum.  

They filled up so much with the goodies that when we pulled out the cake that Hagrid made for Cambrie they were too full to eat it.  Cambrie decided to try a little magic of her own and put out the candles with her fingers instead of blowing them out.  It was windy outside and her friends were being good sports trying to keep the candles lit.  

It was INSANE having 13 kids running around the house, but so worth it.  What an awesome group of girls, and what an awesome birthday party!

"My bunny slippers just ran for cover!"

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well my words need these pictures to do my story justice.  Kelton started playing small fry soccer this season.  He has had a great experience and loves every game.  This week though was by far the best and most entertaining game I have ever seen.  Now, you can't jump ahead in the pictures just to get to the end of the story.  That is called cheating.  You have to experience it step by step.  Let's begin at the beginning.  

Game face!  He is psyched!  He is ready!  And to take a quote from Mulan, "I think my bunny slippers just ran for cover!" That goofball grin should have clued me in to the rest of the game.

Game on!  He dribbles the ball really well on the run and is one of their star players (as much as you can have a star player at 3-years-old).

This is where my funny bone started tickling.  This is Kelton's field, but I want you to count how many different colored shirts you see on that field.  Four!  Kids from two fields over just kept playing and playing with no regard to where they were until their coaches caught up with them on our field.  The best part?  Our team didn't even notice.  

 I looked twice to see what was going on here.  Kelton had pulled his shirt over his head.  Ok, a little weird, but he was smiling, his coach was smiling, and he was still playing.

   

His team ran off to start another possession and he just stood there like a clown, happy as can be.

Did I say clown?  Yes I did.  I had a conversation with my dad when Kelton was little about how Kelton was going to be the class clown.  I guess I'm starting to see some of that personality now.  He decided to get down on all fours and play soccer like a bear.  He crawled around for two possessions and then the rest of his team wanted to play like bears too!  The coaches were cracking up!  They didn't know what to do to get the kids back on their feet.

And let's save the best for last shall we?  That is Kelton with his shirt completely over his head.  It's a little chilly, but he doesn't seem to mind bearing his belly.  Our coach is standing next to me at this time just shaking his head and laughing at Kelton.  What is this kid doing?  Did you guess dribbling down the field, stealing the ball from other players, and scoring a goal with his shirt over his head? Wow! You are 100% correct!  Best 30 minutes ever!

Easter

This year I amazed myself and remembered that we had "The Holy Week for Latter-day Saint Families," and actually used it the week before Easter!  We read about the week before the Savior's death, about some of the symbolism used at Easter time and what it really means.  I felt like it made such a difference for me at least, as to what Sunday was like.  I was so excited about church, that I didn't think about the Easter baskets at all.  Even though I didn't get to enjoy an adult Easter lesson (spending most of the day wrestling Daxton), I still felt like I was thinking about the Savior the whole day.  I loved it. 

While Jeremy and I were cleaning up the kitchen, we turned around and saw the girls getting the boys ready for church.  I LOVE their sweet hearts!

 The traditional before church picture.  It is hard to get all four to smile!

The Easter Bunny also did something a little different this year and didn't lead the kids to their Easter baskets until after church.  When the kids came home they started on their annual Easter basket hunt.  

They were led to the kitchen, 

the tree outside, 

Cambrie's telescope, 

and they eventually found them in the furnace room.  There was a little candy, bath bombs, drinks, church music, Jesus coloring pages, and seeds for planting.  The kids really wanted to plant their seeds right away but Jeremy and I made them wait until Monday. 

Our friends, the Hubbards, invited us over to their house for some treats and an egg hunt.  I was happy for the invitation since the kids missed all of the other egg hunt invitations because of soccer.  We went over and met the other families they had invited, then hung out enjoying the beautiful weather as the kids played.  They played with chalk.  

They dyed eggs. 

They played on the playground and ran around the yard like hooligans.

Daxton loved this car and spent most of his time in it when he wasn't boomeranging down the slide.

They met the Easter Bunny. 

But the most exciting part of the evening was the egg hunt.  The dads hid 700 eggs in the backyard!  There were only 13 kids, including two little ones Daxton's age, so there were absolutely no limits on what they could put in their baskets.  My kids went wild running through the sand, climbing into trees, climbing up the play set, tromping through weeds to find those eggs.  It was so fun to watch!  

Daxton wasn't wild, but he picked up on the idea quickly enough and enjoyed putting eggs in his own basket...at least those he could hold on to!

(Wait, did James Bond come Easter egg hunting?  No, that's my hot husband!)

All of the kids needed a mid-hunt reset of their baskets.  They dumped what they had found into our family bag, then went out to fill their buckets again.  I didn't count, but this is what the haul looked like.  Insanity!   

We hung around long enough for the adrenaline to wear off and the kids to calm down then called it a night.  It has been fun to get to know the Hubbards and share a little of the gospel with them.  I always hope that the kids are brave enough, willing enough, and comfortable enough to share the gospel with their friends.  I am grateful for my Savior, and I love the story of the Atonement and resurrection.  I know that He lives and that He loves me.