HP for E

Is there anything more exciting as a kid than planning and anticipating your birthday? Not for Eliot. This excitement has gotten her through a few rough moments in the last month. Her second new school in two years (and this one entirely in German) has not gone entirely smoothly. She has been a wonderful sport. Though normally I'm a pretty sub-par party mom, I was willing to go all out for her this time. Also, she picked a theme that I possible love more than she does. (Kid life hack: if you want an awesome party, choose something your parents actually enjoy.)

Though I should admit, all the decorations and ideas came from my friend who I asked (last minute) to borrow a chocolate frog mold and she delivered big time. 

Eliot's excitement is so infectious that we have all been counting down to her birthday with her. Violet and Winston ask every day how long until her party--I think they might have been as excited as she was.

Wand making.

Rocky came through big time with the Hedwig cake. One of our kids favorite topics of conversation is about his cakes--which is their favorite, what they want for their next birthday. I wish I could record them talking about it.

The potions master. 

I told Eliot she could invite 9 people but then she kept inviting more people and we went with it. This was a first bilingual party (some kids only spoke English and some only spoke German) it was fun to see Eliot use her German and even more fun to have other kids who could help translate for me. 

 Potions class was slime making and it was 50% successful on making slime and 100% successful on making something potion-like to put in their jars.

I couldn't convince Rocky to dress up like Hagrid and teach a Care of Magical Creatures class. I reminded him of the time I dressed up like Splinter and taught a bunch of six year olds ninja moves, oddly enough this didn't change his mind. 

 The feast--Pumpkin Juice wasn't a huge hit but chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes were. Also, the Swiss think my cakes are too sugary. They say that like it's a bad thing.

Being grateful is hard. 

And because I only get my camera out on a biannual basis these days,  I caught these sweet moments and had to add them. 

I love how much they love her. She is so kind and patient.  I am so glad to have her be their example. She is a light wherever she is and we are grateful to have her be part of our family.