Month: May 2018

This Memorial Day was also Jack’s 8th birthday!  To start the day he requested a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, strawberries, and donuts.  Opening presents was fun, he got a lot of games and books this year.

Ben took the kids to BigTime jump gym and then to the Toys R Us to scope out the going-out-of-business sales.  They got a great deal on an enormous LEGO robot set that Jack has been eyeing for years.  We had lunch at Red Robin, where he politely declined the birthday hoopla.

In the evening we hosted a Harry Potter themed birthday party.  I had various activities tied into the wizarding world, with lots of magical items for them to collect and take home.

I turned the front door into Platform 9 3/4 to enter the magical world.  The kids were sorted into the different houses and received their wizard cap and a wand.  The snacked on pizza, Huffle-puffs, Raven-claws, Gryffindor Grapes, Slytherin Snakes, Quidditch Brooms, Bertie Bott’s Beans, and Prof. Sprout’s veggies (ok, mostly the adults snack on that last one).  Then we began classes.  First they had Charms class (float the balloon with “Wingardium Leviosa!”).  Then they learned to write with quills.  Then we went to Transfiguration class to turn into owls and race the letters.  Lots of cheating with that one, so I switched to charades, whispering an animal to each child to “transform” into.  During this time Amanda and Ben set up the table for Potions class.  This was the clear winner of the night.  We had a selection of ghastly ingredients and recipes they could mix up and drink.  Next was cupcakes and presents, and we finished with Care of Magical Creatures by coloring their own Basilisk snake.

Everyone seemed to have a blast.  I’m indebted to Amanda for being such a helpful Sister Witch.  She plays a wonderfully stern Potions Master too.  Ben was also great at making sure all the kids were having fun, and managing Sam as he tried to blend in with older kids.  The night capped off with an impromptu sleepover for Jack’s best friend.  They were absolutely giddy about getting to play for another few hours, and right back at it in the morning.

We decided it was time to add a furry friend back into our family.  I searched high and low and finally met this little kitty at a shelter in Littleton.

The boys were overjoyed when we announced we would be getting a cat – apparently they believed our cover story that we had been visiting shelters “just to visit the animals.”  Jack started crying actual tears of joy.  He has been wanting a new cat for years (geriatric Molly wasn’t the curious and friendly creature he had in mind).  We showed them pictures of the cat I found and gave them the short list of name ideas we had come up with.  Furious discussion with new suggestions ensued.  Once the kitty came home we all decided that she fit the name we all liked: Nimbus.  Like the stormy cloud, and also like the quidditch broom from Harry Potter.

Being a shelter cat, we don’t have a full background.  They estimate her birth date as April 27, 2017, so she’s about a year old.  She’s from the Bahamas.  Apparently there have been a lot of programs shipping stray pets from the hurricane-battered countries to Colorado and other states where the adoption rates are higher.  Her coloring leads us to think she’s of the “Russian Blue” variety, but surely not a purebred.  Sam has declared “We have the best cat in the world!” I’m inclined to believe him.  So far she is everything you could want in a cat.  She’s bold, curious, gentle, playful, cuddly, patient, and a total purr machine.

So far it’s been a splendid Mother’s Day. The boys gave me shiny necklaces from target, three bouquets of flowers, an Alamo gift card, and cooked me a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, and chocolate croissants. We roasted marshmallows in the backyard and pretending we were camping.

It’s been a tiny weekend-my favorite weather. Sam is matching the sky with a drizzly nose. He’s been performing some dramatic nose-blows during church. Motherhood is full of mucus. 😉

The boys got to build porgs at the LEGO store. I brought a friend from home to watch.

Fourth time 3D printing a cookie cutter was successful. My Wookie Cookies were not ready before the boys went to bed. It will be a fun treat for Free Comic Book Day tomorrow.*

*provided no one else gets sick. Ugh. It’s been 7 days of one boy or the other having a stomach bug. Fingers crossed the virus is done with our home.