Primary Sacrament Meeting Program

Sunday, October 24th was our ward's Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. It has always been my favorite church meeting of the year. I am the Primary President, so it still is my favorite program to watch and listen to, but this year was more stressful than past years. Instead of worrying about my own children and their speaking or singing parts, I worried about all 56 children and their parts. Of course, it was wonderful. The children were well behaved, they sang beautifully, they all delivered their speaking parts well. We have a deaf couple with a hearing son in primary, so our children learned sign language to 2 songs. I don't know what it is, but it is powerful watching them sing and sign. We actually had 11 different people signing different portions of the sacrament meeting for this family. What a testament to serving others. I am so humbled by the willingness of the members of our ward to learn sign and help our friends "hear" and understand the messages that were prepared. As the main interpreter and ASL coordinator, I appreciate their time and efforts. It's not easy--especially with children who have memorized their parts because they speak so quickly! To commemorate this big day for our little family, I grabbed my camera and took them outside for a quick picture. What a sharp lookin' bunch! I love these kids!

I am so grateful to be in Primary. My to-do list continues to grow and there is never enough time to do all I want, but I love being with these strong kids. I love teaching the simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ and bearing testimony. I love getting to know each child and watching them learn and grow. I love the ladies I serve with. They are outstanding women. I have enjoyed listening to and teaching the lessons based on the theme "I Know My Savior Lives." I do know He lives and loves each one of us. I can see His hand in my life and am grateful to know He will continue to guide me.

Pearly whites

Yes, you guessed it. Emma has officially joined the ranks of a tooth-loser. This is actually a picture of the 2nd tooth lost. Her first one was the other very front bottom tooth. The roots on these teeth are so long that both of these adult teeth have surfaced in a second row behind the existing teeth. You can see the adult tooth just behind the new space now created for it. Luckily the adult teeth are gradually moving forward to fill those gaps. Weird! I freaked Emma out saying that she had shark teeth growing in rows and rows. Ooops. I have to remind myself girls don't like comments like that. :)

Carter is a different story. Carter has 5 baby teeth with cavities. Nice. He is also our only child who resists brushing, lies about brushing, and refuses to floss. Well, his story has now changed. Because the bill equals that of a nice family vacation we could have enjoyed, he is paying for one of the fillings. He does not receive an allowance, so he is relying on birthday money, gift cards, and going without a milk and dessert in his lunch (worth $1/day). His bag of Halloween candy (minus 3 pieces) did give him a $5 boost. I will say it is working. He now flosses, brushes, and uses ACT every day. It will probably take him until June to pay this off, which could ensure a true habit formation. Why do some kids have to learn the hard way?

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is my favorite season in Chicago. It's unbelievable gorgeous. This fall has not failed me. My kids had a 1/2 day off of school in October, so I planned on taking them to a pumpkin farm. It rained the entire morning and I didn't know if it'd work out, but Carter was really counting on it. It turned out beautifully. No one was there, which meant no waiting in lines. Perfect for my kids who have 3 second attention spans. I don't know how much longer my boys will allow me to drag them to pumpkin farms, but I sure appreciate their enthusiasm, even when it's to watch their sisters enjoy the attractions.

Carter continues his theory that he's a chick magnet.

This joke will never get old.

The boys make me giggle every time they say it.

Evan was so sweet trying to help Lizzie touch a chick.

At the very end of our stay she finally caught one. Sweet success!

Lizzie is nearly terrified of all animals. I was shocked she got so close to this goat.

She was such a hoot! Here she's singing her made up song,

"I'm goin' on a hayride. I'm goin' on my first hayride."

It's much better with her hips a-shakin'.

Sweet Emma.

We passed this sign on our hayride. I laughed out loud. Who thinks of this stuff?

Lizzie LOVED the slides.

But so did the rest of my kids.

The boys complained that this was the easiest corn maze EVER, but the girls didn't mind.

Upon my announcement that it was time for all Bird children to leave, this donkey brayed and brayed and brayed. Carter answered in donkey-speak and the donkey continued to talk back. They had quite the exchange and created a scene for the other 3 families to gather around and watch. Carter thought he was pretty special to have the animals wanting him to stick around longer.

Apple Cider donuts and Hot apple cider are an imperative at every pumpkin patch outing.

Upon hearing that we would not be buying our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, Braxton asked, "Then what are we doing here?" Good question, but we only went for the fun. The pumpkins are WAY TOO expensive. They sure do make a fun backdrop for a few photos, though. :)

Halloween Happenings

This is the face of Halloween for me this year. It was a little scary how Evan really tried to play the part of Gene Simmons. Who knew his tongue was so long and skinny?
Braxton, the Pirate

Emma, the butterfly

Oh, I wish you could see her pink cheeks covered in glitter!

Lizzie, Fancy Nancy


Carter -the rock star, of course

Steve-Alice Cooper

Me- Brett Michaels

The Ultimate Band
(I think you can see Evan's tonsils!)


Lizzie got to have a parade at school and enjoyed every minute she got to perform.

She goes to a preschool held at the local high school, which is why the teacher/student ratio is so high.

I decided to have some fun with food and made a Halloweenie dinner. :)

Mummies
and
Jack-o-lanterns

The kids thought I was "amazing" and "unbelievable" with these 2 dishes.

This year I didn't sew a costume, so I had to put my creativity elsewhere, like the food pictured above, and my darling daughters' hair.

We got comments all over town. Emma has eyeball rings in her hair and Lizzie has spider rings in hers. Too cute!


The next day, Kendall Elementary held their parade and fall parties. I even got to help out in Evan's class.

I love Emma's face here. She is so excited for kindergarten each day!


Saturday night was our annual ward Trunk or Treat.

Here's Emma with our sweet neighbor, Sydney.

Evan and that tongue are capping off my Halloween pictures. Sunday, we were invited to party at a friend's home in lieu of trick-or-treating. Three other families were also invited. We had a "gross out dinner"! What a blast! The food was delicious, decorations entrancing, and company priceless. What a great Halloween. Now if I can get myself to stop stealing from the candy bowl, I'd be happier.

Carter's a rock star!

Carter's birthday was back in August; however, due to our lovely schedule, his birthday party did not get to take place until October! We had a great time and made sure he had one "rockin'" party! Carter invited 8 fun boys for a Rock Star party. We played some games (musical chairs and head pimple--a fun, new game my kids love), had pizza and pop, played some Lego Rock Band, ate cake & ice cream, played some more, and then it was over.

This was one of the bands who fought- - for their right - -to pa-a-a-ar-ty!

Band #2 gave Band #1 a good fight.

Musical chairs

To help them get some attitude, I helped them put on temporary tattoos.

Emma scared me with this pose. Who knew she had it in her?
The cake

For party gifts, Carter had discussed with Steve his favorite Rock songs and made a compilation CD for his friends. They got to decorate the label if they wanted and Carter signed them all. The party was loud, but tons of fun! Carter has some great buddies. One even said that the tattoo made him feel tougher as he played his soccer game the following morning. Rock on, brother!

Evan's eleven!

I can't believe my Evan is eleven! He's such a great kid to have around. He is an extremely talented young man with a really fun sense of humor. He is my Mr. Hobby. He loves to play football, swim, draw, sing, play the cello, play the piano (and he's AWESOME!), play the guitar, read, create computer animated videos on a website called "SCRATCH", and solve every rubiks cube he can get his hands on. He has always required a lot of energy from me to keep up with his own. I don't know when this will ever end. :) I hope he keeps me young!

Evan's advanced to BOY Scouts. Another milestone

I found the latest Rubiks cube puzzle, the RubiksSlide. Yep, he had it figured out within 24 hours.

You'll always be my superman, Evan. XOXO