A Magical 8 Year Old Harry Potter Birthday!!

Our Maddix Liam Johnson is officially 8 years old today. This is a special birthday year because he is now old enough to be baptized and receive the holy ghost; this is something he has been excited for and preparing for by going to church, reading his scriptures, and always making sure to say his prayers.
At first Maddix was pretty sure he wanted to have a "rock" themed birthday... just rocks; I was pretty excited! That is simple enough! And then, inspired by this summer's adventure of reading all the Harry Potter Books, and then finishing all the movies, he decided he REALLY wanted a Harry Potter Party.... not as simple, but to Pinterest I went!
I found too many good ideas. I spent too much time... and too much money on this party! But it was fun thinking how excited he would be! And when he declared this was the most amazing birthday he'd every had, it made it all worth it!
Maddix also declared he was fine with inviting all the kids in the families we are friends with, so that Aaron would have kids his age to play with too, I though, "Oh wow, that is so sweet to think of his brother; I am proud of him." And then we ended up with about 25 kids, along with babies and a few adults... and the weather didn't allow us to stay outside for very long... that was the mOsT Chaotic thing I have EVER done in my life... ever.... like, ever!

So, Moral of the story, making our kids happy is awesome! Makes us feel like a super hero; however, the aftermath reminds me that i'm not a superhero, I'm only human and I could FEEL my body being DONE with all the prep, chaos, and "fun" that accompanied that party! lol! What an insane blast it was!

We had his party Friday after school. There was "Pin the Scar on Harry Potter," and Prisoner of Azkaban Photo prop, want selecting and painting endless treats, a "create your own Fantastic Beast Station," and while the weather held out, "capture the horcrux," which was just kick the can. It began raining so we ate our ButterBeer treats and bday cake in the garage and then the kids ran around like crazies until all the parents came back to pick them up!

Maddix, I love you. You are an incredible young man. I love watching you grow. And you are so worth the craziness that came from shoving all those young people in our tiny house!!!! Happy Birthday, Maddix!!!!!

 These were his Birthday Invitations 

Bricks were representative of platform 9 3/4, or Diagon Alley 

And then this morning, on his actual Birthday:

Lucky duck: his bday is on a Conference Sunday, which means
getting to stay home in pj's all day!