Levi’s Harry Birthday

[Harry Potter, of course]

I have a teenager. That blows my mind. He’s changed a bunch this past year. No longer a childish boy, he’s all limbs and scraggly hair and dark peach fuzz. Most days, however, are wild swings between acting 2 and 20. I imagine that’s pretty typical.

Levi’s my imaginative, playful son, and though getting older is inevitable, I believe he will always have a little boy soul in there somewhere.

I try to do simple themes for our family birthday parties (not the elaborate detailed parties I used to dream I would put on, back when I had no kids—or when they were little and I only had a couple). This year was Harry Potter.

• I printed off some Hogwarts Crest and a Design Your Own Crest coloring pages from Activity Village UK. I know Levi’s a little old for coloring pages, but I thought some of the other kids might enjoy them (younger siblings, cousin, friends). Turns out Levi’s the only one who colored one that evening, because he enjoys drawing and using colored pencils and the design appealed to him.
  
• I used the butterbeer ideas from Bakingdom, and improvised a little. I’m all about making things simple. I just used cream soda, a smidge of butter flavoring, and plain whipped cream. [I also had regular rootbeer and ice cream, so that guests could choose to make a rootbeer float instead.] Levi loved the butterbeer.
  
• These cauldron cakes are simply adorable, but I cheated and just used black cupcake wrappers and a butterscotch candy.
  
• I got the idea to make snitches at this site. I wandered around the craft store looking for just the right thing. I found little wooden knobs, had Russ drill the holes all the way through, painted them gold with craft paint, and added the ribbon. They were a huge hit (and my personal favorite).
  
• My amazing friend Brandy at The Prudent Homemaker did a gorgeous Harry Potter birthday party for her son, and that’s where I got the idea of the banner and printing the short prequel by Rowling as well as the train tickets.
  
• My lack of adequate planning and last-minute prep caused a bit of a problem when a few things I ordered from Amazon didn’t make it in time (estimated arrival time was December 31st, but they didn’t show up until today, January 2nd). Sigh. I had a little something different planned for the cake, but I made a little banner out of the paper scraps from the larger banner. It worked.
  
• Harry Potter Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans showed up late. We’ll have to deliver them. Ha!
  
• Chocolate gold coins made perfect gold galleons (if you don’t pay any attention to the markings on them…).
  

 

 

I shared a bunch about Levi last year, so this year I’ll just share my three favorite quotes that best express his personality:

“I always wanted to be Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up. I can’t fly, but swimming is the next best thing. It’s harmony and balance. The water is my sky.” ~Clayton Jones

“Completion is the death of possibility.”

“A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.” ~Doctor Who

Yep, that pretty well sums him up.

Levi. 13.