2013 Primary Program

The theme for the annual Children's Sacrament Meeting presentation was "I am a Child of God."  Our ward primary is pretty small only about a third of the size when I was Primary President, but this little group of kids did a great job.  They sounded so great singing and really had improved their musicality.  The talks were also very cute.  Paige talked about Heavenly Father's Plan for us.

Paige's friend Riley came with us to church to see Paige in the program.  It's hard to believe that we only have 1 maybe 2 more programs and then we won't have anyone in Primary anymore.  Of course, this is such a special Sacrament meeting program that it doesn't matter if you have a child performing or not, you are going to moved by their sweet voices and the tender spirit they bring to the meeting.

Macbeth

This year for Freshman English, Ashley has to read Macbeth.  I was pretty excited when I learned that North Central College's theater department was performing Macbeth, a mere minutes from our home and for only $10 a ticket.  I decided to take Ashley to see the play.  I figured that Shakespeare is really meant to be seen on the stage and it would be so much easier for her to read and understand it if she had seen the play.  Plus she also had to do "A Patron of the Arts" project for choir, which basically meant go see some kind of performance, play or art show and write a report on it, so seeing Macbeth would meet that goal too.

Dave, Ashley and I went to the play.  We wisely decided that this would not be Paige's cup of tea.  I've read Macbeth but none of us had ever seen the play on stage.  The college did a great job.  The acting was very good, especially Lady Macbeth and the three witches.  The stage was fabulous and intimate and our seats were the best in the house.  We all loved it.  The show was the weekend before Halloween which was perfect because Macbeth is one scary story!
 

waiting to be seated

The stage, a hole opens up in the middle of the floor
for the witches to crawl out of....spooky!

Halloween Bash

The elementary school Halloween Bash is one of my many PTA projects at Paige's school.  The Halloween Bash was the first in basically a weeklong string of activities that I was committed to at the school.  It was a little crazy, but now that it is over, I can look back with fondness.

So the Halloween Bash is basically a Halloween costume dance for kids and their families.  People love to dress up and this event just like last year was a huge success.  Paige and I just went by ourselves, dressed up as Wonder Woman and the Hulk.  Ashley went to see her school play with her friends and Dave was still at work.

Halloween Drive

A couple nights ago, I told the girls to get their shoes on we were taking a drive.  I took them on a Halloween car ride to a nearby house that basically goes crazy decorating their house and yard.  It's so extravagant they pretty much have a steady stream of visitors dropping by to admire their work.  They've got a lot of publicity from the news, websites etc.  I figured we should go take a look and then stop for some dessert after.

Literally these people have thousands of yard and light decorations.  I can't imagine doing this, the time effort and expense have to be huge.  You really got to have a love to do something like this.  I mean they even have the lights choreographed to music for a light show.  Pretty awesome.

Honestly, the displays weren't too gruesome, violent or bloody but Paige chose to stay in the car!

Ashley and I got out to walk around the:

 CEMETERY

THE MONSTER CHOIR

Fortunately, Paige was brave enough to join us for an ice cream cone on the way home!

Pumpkin Carving and Painting

We did a big pumpkin decorating activity with our church youth group.  Dave was at work so Paige got to come along, which is good for me because now I feel no obligation to do pumpkins at home!

Both my girls decided to paint their pumpkins and I think they turned out pretty cute.  Paige even won the award for best painted pumpkin even though she is not technically in the youth group.  Ashley was pretty steamed about that!

Trunk or Treat

It's time for our annual Trunk or Treat Halloween Party at church.  This year we went with a family theme -- SUPERHEROES!

We actually just bought some t-shirts and the paired those with tutus.  Okay, we didn't make Dave wear a tutu, but we did make some jokes about it.  When I told Dave my idea, he suggested I be the Incredible Hulk, not sure if I should be offended by that?!

Corn Maze

On Columbus Day, I went with the youth of our church to a Corn Maze.  All the kids had the day off, so we decided to go on this little field trip.  I took Paige along and we also invited Riley and her mom to go with us.

This was a nice farm with a maze, general store, playground, and hayrides.  I think everyone had a good time or at least got to do something different.  I had my usual experience in a corn maze---pretty much lost walking around with kids in tow, until we are so tired we just give up.  Ya, for corn mazes!!

Ashley's Homecoming

Ashley experienced her first high school Homecoming Week.  It was pretty fun for her and the high school has a lot of neat traditions.  The week starts with the each class assigned a color, then they use that color to decorate a hall in the school.  These kids go all out with streamers, balloons, posters, etc.  This year the Freshmen were blue.  This also means that they dress up in the color blue to show class and school spirit.

The week includes lots of inter-class challenges and games.  There is also a big bonfire one evening and a huge pep rally.  All leading up to the Homecoming football game.  Ashley of course, went to the game with friends, but Dave and I also decided to go.  We weren't too optimistic about the team's chances as the school has never had a winning season in the nine years it has been opened and never in school history won a game against their scheduled Homecoming opponent.  But what a surprise---the Oswego East Wolves won the game!  Actually dominated the other team and looks like they may even go to the playoffs this year.  It was a fun night, Paige and Riley got their faces painted and bought lots of baked goods and treats to eat.  They also met up with friends from school who were at the game with their families, so it's a big social event for everyone.  I even caught one of those mini footballs they throw into the crowd.  It's pretty funny because the ball came line-drive like right towards my face and I put my hand up and the ball pretty much stuck to my hand.  Everyone around me was impressed by my one-handed grab!

These school boosters are hard core with tents, inflatable tunnels, etc.

After the game on Friday, the Homecoming Dance is on Saturday night.  Ashley got together with a bunch of her friends to go.  Nowadays, a lot of kids just go in groups rather than with a date, this is especially the case for underclassmen.  All the kids met at one person's house to get ready, take pictures and eat dinner before heading to the dance.

Ashley and 1,599 of her fellow classmates, danced the night away at the school.  Wow, that is a lot of kids at one time!  Anyway, she said she had a good time.  The theme of the dance was "Masquerade" everyone wore their masks for about 10 seconds.

It's nice to see her enjoy life and have fun, but also a little bewildering how grown up she is.  I have a feeling that I'm going to be saying that a lot over the next few years.

Fall Soccer Season

Both girls have been playing soccer this season.  It really hasn't been a matter of skill, neither of their teams are that good, but the girls have been getting some good exercise.

Ashley has been the number one scorer on her team.  She has scored almost all the goals this season.  She is by far the most skilled player on the team, her biggest problem is bulk.  She is so light that she is constantly getting knocked down.  After one game, she said, "I don't understand why I keep falling down, I'm not trying to."  I told her the problem is that everyone weighs about 25 lbs. more than her, she gets bumped and just goes flying.  We got to bulk that girl up!

Paige also played this season, after skipping last season.  I signed both the girls up at the last minute, so they both ended up on random teams.  Paige played with a lot of new players, but her coach is probably the nicest man I've ever known to coach a team.  That haven't won any games, but he is just so nice, we  don't even mind.

The season runs through the end of October and then we can reclaim our weekends, or at least that's what I like to tell myself.

Random Paige stuff

Here are some photos to preserve some October memories for Paige:

1)She was thrilled to get a surprise gift from Riley...A RAINBOW LOOM.  Not sure if it's like this everywhere, but Rainbow Looms are a hot item around here.

2)A tribute to Grandpa Tana.  Paige helped me make potstickers.  When Grandpa visited last year he gave her a tool and taught her how to make potstickers.  She remembered what to do.

3)This is the after school crew that we have at our house twice a week.  We dipped caramel apples for a treat.  Yummy.

4)Looking forward to our Twister/Bejeweled party.  Paige was very excited to get the party pack in the mail!

General Conference

We got back on track with our annual General Conference get-together with our friends, the Griffins.  This year we also invited another family--the Bodilys.  Rachel Bodily's parents where visiting her from out of town that weekend so we got to meet her parents and have them over too.  What a great pleasure it was to learn that Dave (Rachel's dad) is a birder!  Boy, did he and my Dave have a lot to talk about!

This was the first time we had our General Conference viewing party in our finished basement.  It was so great to have a tv upstairs and down with lots of space for people to spread out.

Paige, friends and a pile of Webkins

For dinner we did a big breakfast/brunch.  I baked a ham and made the best pumpkin zucchini bread (so good, you should ask me for the recipe!)  Aaron Griffin made everyone crepes, both sweet and savory.  Plus we had a bunch of other stuff like yogurt parfaits, donuts, fruit, hash browns, and sausage.  It was a feast!

We also did our bi-annual puzzle and finished it just as the last session ended.  Whew! Barely got that one in under the wire.

Of course, the best part of the day was the listening to all the talks.  Of course, my favorite talk was the day before from Elder Holland---I very much appreciated the compassion and love he expressed, could really feel that one.  Overall, my impression from many of the talks was the counsel to be patient, have faith in the midst of your challenges, and endure to the end.  You know how sometimes there are talks that just speak directly to you, this whole conference felt like that.  So grateful for the messages that just help to remind me what I already know and give me the encouragement that I need.

House Party!

A few years ago a friend directed me to a marketing program called House Party.  It's a program where various companies send you a bunch of free stuff in exchange for you hosting a party at your house and using their products.  I won a couple parties, but then just kind of forgot about it for a while.  I hadn't applied to host a party for over a year.

Then I noticed on my Facebook feed that Hasbro was offering a "Bejeweled  & Twister Slumber Party."  I thought why not?  And applied.  

Ding, ding, ding!  I won!  Even better the party is supposed to be at the end of October...sounds perfect for Paige's birthday party!

So Paige is having a small slumber party, with games, snacks and jewel body stickers courtesy of Hasbro!  This will be the first ever slumber party she has hosted.  She's pretty excited because she wasn't expecting a party like this.  

Anyway, I'll be back with a review of the party and goodies after its all over.

Little Smiles

Last week was a long week but this week we've had a little to smile about too.  Both the girls had great "dress" moments.  

Paige auditioned for the nutcracker again this year and was cast in the waltz of the dolls and as a sugar drop.  She had a  costume fitting and was all smiles in her blue waltz dress.

 

Ashley had her own "dress" moment when we found a beautiful homecoming dress for her at a second hand shop.  It fit her perfectly and was super cheap.  I'm not showing a picture yet.  I have to do an easy alteration on the top to cover her shoulders but I'm not worried about it.  I love it because its long.

Also Dave and I each were given blessings this week, which is always a good thing and a thoughtful friend made me some fabulous 3 inch thick brownies.  Chocolate always helps!!