Andrea and Tiffany's dance

Tiffany and Andrea take creative dance classes at BYU - I teach both of their classes. Each year, children are invited to create their own dances. They show the dances to the program director, and if the dance is chosen, the children perform in one of two evening performances at the Richards building on campus. The girls were chosen to perform in both shows. This is from the first show, and not quite as good as the second time, but still cute. They don't get a chance to practice on the stage, so it can be challenging to not get a bit turned around. It is called "Primary Jamboree", and the song is done by Inside Out.

Red is not our color!

This is the view we had on the lawn outside our front door.
It says "GO UTES 11-0"

This one says "Utes #1"

Here it is - our red Y. The top part doesn't look as red in this picture, because Nate was trying to wash it off with hot water. It got rid of the frost, not the red. Nathan mowed the lawn after the game to get rid of the red, but some neighbors thought it was mowed off because BYU lost so miserably. They obviously don't know my husband very well - he is a die hard BYU fan, come what may. Just not into a red lawn. I didn't get my camera out before we threw away the 14 or 15 cans of red spray paint stacked neatly on the front porch. My children are so lucky they got to hear the "don't vandalize" talk throughout the day. They loved it, and were grateful for the opportunity to hear it!

Things one shouldn't have to hear in the morning...

7:43 am "Mom, I have a note that says I can't go back to school until I bring in a record of my 7th grade immunizations."
"Ok then. Let's pull out the paper and make a copy."
Come to find out, we didn't have a copy of the immunizations.
"Why didn't you tell me about this after school yesterday, when we could have gone down and picked up a copy for you to take today?"
"Well, you were busy, and I didn't want to bother you."
"Why did we only get one night to do this?"
"Well, yesterday they pulled us out of class if we didn't have the shot record turned in. One of my friends got pulled out, but his mom had dropped the form off in the morning, so he went back to class."
"So, they told you about this last week."
"Oh yea, but I forgot."
7:45 am - the time he should have left for the bus.
7:48 am - the bus has now left the corner....but it doesn't matter, because we have to wait until 8:00 am, when the pediatric office opens and we can get a print out of the shots, and then go check him in to school, AFTER giving the office the magical form that allows him to go back to class.
Isn't it nice to know that our children are safe from un-immunized children. I now have proof!

How cute!

Yesterday Andi informed me that all of her dolls had a new name for the day...Chiwawa. OK then! Perhaps this is a not so silent cry for a longed for dog. I'm ok with dolls named chiwawa, since I don't do dogs.

Champion bowling night. Jas turned twelve on Friday, and we went to BYU to eat and go bowling. We had a great time - and we LOVE the gutter bumpers!!

Halloween kids

It was a beautiful Halloween night with a fairy, nerd, cell phone and genie. Our neighborhood is fabulous! The kids went trick or treating, and I felt like it was a ward social! How often do we go door to door to say hi, and visit with ALL our neighbors as we pass on the street?

Something I like about Halloween

I admit it - I am not the biggest Halloween fan. The dressing up is cute, but I don't love the chore or stress of coming up with costumes every year. The decorations are fun, but I am not a great decorator, and it is another thing to clean up. Yes, I am a party pooper. The candy is delicious - big problem!! Who needs more candy - or any candy, for that matter? Certainly not me or my children! (Nate hates candy. Why can't I have that taste bud?) When the kids were younger it was no problem to have them all donate the collected loot to a communal bowl. I went through it and sorted it out - all hard candy got chucked, all chocolate candy went into a baggie to be frozen and either used in Christmas stockings, or chucked the next time I cleaned out the freezer. The rest was eaten slowly, and typically thrown out after a few weeks. Some of the kids still go for that, but Cam rebelled from the plan years ago. Fortunately he is now too old to go door to door, so he is out of the mix there.

What I DO like about the holiday is the fun places to go, and the creative crafts that are interesting to make. These pictures are from fall break. Kathryn brought her kids over and we painted pumpkins and made cookie spiders. Then we watched Corpse Bride. We also went to HEE HAW farms last Tuesday. We had a great time petting animals, picking a pumpkin, sliding down slides, and going through a blown up haunted house. That one wouldn't have been too bad, but it was dark by the time we went in, and it was pitch black inside. Fortunately I had brought my bag, and it has pretty much everything in there, including a trusty little flashlight. Good thing, because Andi and Emma were inside screaming, and Kaylee was crying. Kathryn and I went in after them, ran through the maze to get to them, and led them to safety. Tiffany was sure that she would have nightmares about being in a pitch black maze, and running out of air to breath. Should be good for a halloween dream, eh?