Weston Potter's Birthday

Since Weston read all the Potter series this year and has a teacher (Mrs. Roden, whom he calls Headmistress) who loves Harry Potter, Weston thought it fitting to have a Harry Potter birthday party, of course.  Luckily, we had one for Jordan a few years back so it was easily done!  

We pulled out the Honeydukes sign and bought crazy candies

made some pumpkin pasties and butterbeer for the Three Broomsticks,

found a tutorial on making wands on Pinterest,

and set up the shops for the kids to hit when they first arrived: Ollivander's wand shop and Madam Malkin's Robes.

This was Weston's first real ALL friend party- these kids all run around at recess everyday playing Harry Potter: the later years (for real!) so they jumped right in to character!

Once they got their wands and robes, we went right to King's cross and found platform 9 and 3/4.  From there, it was downstairs to Hogwarts where they took the 'spellcaster's knowledge' test with floating candles above their heads.  Once they passed (they did it twice to make sure they got every question right) they received their patronus (this time the only sponge capsules we could find were dinosaurs- who doesn't want a T-rex for a patronus?).

Weston's crazy face...

Then they celebrated with a trip to Diagon Alley, filling their bags with candy from Honeydukes and their stomachs with pumpkin pasties and butterbeer (they were a little cautious about the butterbeer until I told them it's just cream soda with butter flavoring...OHHhh.)

Tanya blowing bubbles in her butterbeer

As soon as presents were done, Dougie (who showed up with a cape and a Dark mark on his arm:) said "Follow me if you want to go back to Hogwarts!" and they all ran back to the platform and back downstairs to play Harry Potter.  It was fabulous. Play, play away!

Marlee

Meridian

Dougie

Kassidy

Tanya

Happy birthday you little Wizard you!

Voice lesson Recital

This summer Weston and I did voice lessons with Kobi, Bella, Grace and Liesel.  It was Very educational and we had a lot of fun learning some Italian, classical pieces, musical pieces and some Disney.:)  Afton also did dance lessons with Grace and their neighbor and learned a dance to Under The Sea.  Well, after all our hard work, we planned on having a recital. But between school starting, vacations and people getting sick, we didn't ever have a chance to perform until Nov. 30th.  But it was pretty awesome.  We used the stage in the cultural hall and Kobi's karaoke machine and all had a chance to perform. 

Weston did his "Summertime" from Frozen, Afton danced her Little Mermaid dance and also sang "Someday My Prince Will Come" from SnowWhite.  I sang "Sebben Crudele" (It's Italian) and "Loathing" from Wicked with Kobi.  All the other cousins took their turns and even Maddie and her friend Addie did a little Frozen karaoke... Good times.  I just forget how nervous I get on stage- I am not a performer! Afton, though, seems to love it!

LIttle Anika at 14 Months Old

A year ago, this was Ani... 

Now she is a 14 month old toddler walking all about and jabbering up a storm!
I took stock of the words she says:  "Nah"-no
"nana"-banana   "Yeah"-yes   "duh"-duck    "Ahh-duh"-all done
"Da"-Dad   "Mamama"- Mom
"Aaaan dah"-aaand stop! (from Music and Movement class)
"Hellooo!"
She also signs More, all done, Banana, drink, I want; and does animal sounds for Elephant, Monkey, Duck, and Dog.
Ani is still a tiny girl- she fits in her 12 months just fine but still hasn't hit 20 lbs so she can graduate to the big carseat!  (This needs to happen before Kristi has her baby so we can give the car seat back!)
Anika loves coming with Mommy to nursery to play toys and eat snacks.  She eats two rounds of craisins, crackers and cheerios during snack time!  Her favorite sign is "More, please" because she eats all day long.  Course, that's what happens when you burn as much energy as she does-running, crawling, dancing, climbing on Mommy, throwing fits on the ground, being extra cute, chasing Jag, laughing at Hyrum, copying Afton... She is a busy girl!

This is Ani's "Cheese" face at nursery...:)

We love our Ani-girl!

Master Chef Jr season 2

Master Chef Jr. is on again so the kids get cooking!  It's so fun to watch the 8-12 year olds cook and then watch OUR kids be inspired...

This year, we had a Mystery Box challenge.  The kids each picked what course they would make and Kristi and I put together mystery boxes for them with foods to make the dishes with.

Lexi made a drink. Weston made pizza.

Hyrum had a random selection of veggies in his box- he made a celery, cream of mushroom, peas and popcorn side... hmmm.

Bryson made a delicious cake and Afton and Lydia both made appetizers with crackers and cream cheese.

Someday, we will have our own Master Chefs!

Today's Thanksgiving Day, and we'll have a treat!

I love Thanksgiving Day!  I love Thanksgiving break. I love having my boys home, doing crafts, cooking food, playing outside (when we have record breaking warm temps of 65 degrees? yes!) playing with family- it's all so great.  This year for dinner, we went up to Robby and Lauren's house.  They were decked out to the max with silver chargers (the plates, not electronics), chilled water bottles, crafts for the kids and a gorgeous turkey ready to eat.  It was Fabulous. 

Wendy and Cindy arrived wearing matching vests and denim shirts, looking classy as ever.  Robby photobombed the run way...

The kids went hunting for feathers and made headresses to wear.

Pa kept Cooper entertained as always

Hyrum and Bryson spent probably two hours shooting the cardboard turkey- it may or may not have to do with the fact that Pa stuck a $1 bill on the box and told them who ever shot it first got to keep it...:)

Lauren is the bestest hostess ever with a check list, labels for all the food, silverware in bundles and napkins folded like boats- oh, the food was all so delicious too!

Kristi got clever with her banana pie... just kidding, she put it together right before we ate it.  It just looked so funny sitting with the other finished pies!

Speaking of pie... ummm, I made the pumpkin and the pecan, Mom made lemon meringue and apple, Kristi made banana cream and coconut cream.  Yum!

And, my two little girls were matching in their new outfits... Sometimes I can't get enough of them!

We are so thankful for so many things!  We had a lady "Sis Finch" come talk to the Relief Society the other night and her topic was gratitude.  She said Don't think you'll be happy when you get something or do something- BE HAPPY NOW.  Don't be a 'Why-ner" like "Why did this have to happen to me?"  I made this little card for my VTing:

The Attitude of Gratitude: Choose to be Grateful, no matter what, and you will live in happiness.  I feel like this can be my motto!

My clever boys...

I have two clever boys.  I'm not just saying that because I'm their mom.  I really do have some smart kids and I couldn't be prouder of them!   Weston entered two entries into the Reflections contest this year with the theme "The world would be a better place if..."  For those two entries, he got two prizes: an 'Award of Merit' and a ribbon for his photograph (pictured) and a trophy and a place in the district round for his visual art display.  It's a large yellow, recycled poster with photos he took of trees and a giant tree made of recycled magazines stating that we need to recycle more to save the trees.  It was all very clever. 

 Hyrum is also a clever boy.  He finished up his science fair project and got it all turned in- Titled "How Loud is This Crowd?", it was a study on how loud public places are for our ears.  He made an awesome poster that must have wowed the judges because he is also on to the district round! Oh, yeah.

Not only that, but Weston once again took second place in all the third grade boys of Westmore Elementary at the Annual Turkey trot!  He won us a delicious Dutch apple pie.  Speedy boy!

 And, last but not least, the boys played in the Piano ensemble festival, got 37's and will now receive their gold trophies for reaching 100 points at contest.  Seriously, I could not be prouder.

Weston's pumpkin

This is Weston's pumpkin for Halloween. He did it ALL himself- the designing, the cleaning, the cutting... It turned out pretty awesome.

Just my girls...

Most days I get to just do my jobs-wash dishes, clean up, sweep (5 times a day), laundry, groceries, and hang out with two cute girls.  Some times they can drive me crazy but Usually, they are just the best!  I realized I'm going to be a little sad when Afton goes to kindergarten next fall. She's my little buddy, my helper, my shopper, babysitter and friend!  Luckily, Ani is getting funnier and smarter everyday.  Maybe I'll be okay...:)