Brandon is officially a teenager!!!

I guess it had to happen someday. I would become the mother of a teenager. I can't believe it happened this fast! Six short years and I'm the mother of a missionary. Crazy!

Brandon's 13th birthday was last Sunday, but with the craziness of having the kids home for almost all of last week, I'm just posting about it today. He had a party last Saturday night with a few good friends. He requested an ice cream cake, so I took a stab at making one. It was o.k., not really great...I need to work on it for next time... I was worried that candles would start to melt the ice cream, so he and his friend Richard pretended to blow out the candles instead, haha! He was really great about letting Sydney and Ryan hang out with him and his buddies for a while (very un-teenager-ish). Here they are all playing Apples to Apples. For the last hour of the party, I made Ryan and Syd go to bed, so Brandon got some party time without them around. I have come to the decision that throwing a party for a 13-year-old is WAAAYYYY easier than for little ones. I pretty much just let him choose what they were going to do and caught up on some DVRed shows while they hung out and played football outside in the freezing temps (much more teenager-ish).

Sunday morning just before church, he opened his presents. He has really wanted a guitar for a while, and he finally got one. He's had fun learning a few chords already. He also got some new clothes, new shoes, and some spending money. He just bought a new video game with his birthday/saved-up-allowance money...some things never change...

I think he really enjoyed his special day. Please pray for Tim and me as we enter this new phase of life...

Mr. Vice President

You are looking at the new vice president of East Canyon Elementary!!! Ryan decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to run, and Tim and I were very encouraging. But I didn't want him getting his hopes up too high, because his older brother had run the same race 2 years earlier with different results and a few tears walking home from the bus...

But that's another story...

So we helped him make some cute posters ("DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE; PICK RYAN" among others :)) and write a little speech and wished him luck...and didn't really have high hopes... Then last Tuesday, I had honestly forgotten that it was "election day," and he came home from school with a dejected look on his face and said, "Guess who won for vice president...." in a mopey, sad Charlie Brown-ish sort of voice. I was so sad for him and asked who. He then put on the hugest grin and said, "ME!!!" I was so shocked! And excited! He's just always been such a shy, reserved kid, so I think this will be awesome for his self-esteem and social life. I was definitely one proud momma!!

New calling...

On Sunday our ward Primary presidency was released, including me, the old secretary...what a great calling that was! Partly because I didn't really have that much to do, and partly because I absolutely love the ladies I had the pleasure of serving with, and partly because I got to be IN Primary without having to PREPARE much for Primary...pretty sweet. But the only thing constant is change, so whatever...

The good news is that I'll be staying in Primary. I'm the new chorister. It's been over a decade since I've had that calling, so I feel a little rusty, but not completely overwhelmed (I was pregnant w/ Ryan last time I had this calling...). I'm excited to stay in Primary and work w/ a whole new group of ladies in the new presidency...hooray for a new adventure!

Halloween '10

Here are the pictures of the kids' Halloween costumes. Brandon originally wasn't going to dress up, but changed his mind last-minute. He made a pretty sweet hippie. Ryan has been begging to be something creepy and scary like the Grim Reaper for years, and I finally gave in. Sydney decided to be Dorothy so she could have some sweet sparkly red shoes in the end. What can I say, she knows how to work it... And Jake was an alligator, just because it was so stinkin' cute...and warm. They had fun at Trunk-or-Treat, and we went around to some friends' houses on Saturday night, too.

Tribute to G-ma

Sydney and my mom share the same birthday. Pretty sweet, I know. Last year when my mom was visiting, she and Sydney spent some quality time together coloring huge Tinkerbell pages she had gotten for her birthday. She was so impressed w/ her grandmother's coloring abilities. Syd loves to hang pictures and drawings all over her room, and they can change quite often...and sometimes I don't even notice... Last week, I saw these pictures above her bed. The one on the left is Sydney's work, and the one on the right is my mom's. "How sweet," I thought. Then I looked a little closer and started to chuckle... Sydney's has her first and last name and a number 6 for her age...Meanwhile, G-ma's name is spelled like a 6-year-old would spell it, but that's not what made me laugh. It also has Grandma's age, or what Sydney guessed as her age...89!!! My mom might not be 20-something anymore, but she's a far cry from 89...have I mentioned how much I love my little girl?!?!? Makes me laugh every day...

Pumpkin crafts

So even w/ reading so much in October, I still found a little time to do a few fall/Halloween-ish crafts. One of my new obsessions is blog-hopping different crafty blogs, and I had to try out a few ideas. My absolute favorites are the glittered pumpkins on my kitchen table. I saw them on Martha Stewart several years ago, and always wanted to do them, but you had to special order her super-fine glitter and it was pretty pricey. Fast-forward a few years...now they sell her glitter at Michael's, and it was 30% off a few weeks ago, so I splurged. I pretty much want to glitter everything in my house now, and I'm already wracking my brain for what Christmas-ey things I can glitter...so many possibilities! And super-fast and easy! Love them! I also copied a few other ideas and made some scrapbook paper pumpkins and fabric pumpkins. They turned out pretty cute. And I love that they will be able to be stored and re-used year after year. And that they're a little different... I also love that they're not Jack-O-Lanterns, so I can keep them out through Thanksgiving. Cause I hate having to change things out...too lazy.

I did it!

So I finished the Book of Mormon this afternoon. All in one month. I still almost can't believe I did it! My mother probably can't believe it, either. If there's one thing I don't like doing, it's reading. But I did it! Wait, did I say that already? Who cares, I'm pretty proud of myself! And more importantly than proving to myself that I could do it, or not having to be ashamed on this little blog that I gave up...more important than that--I really enjoyed it most of the time and was reminded of what I already know. It's true. The whole thing. And it made so much more sense since I read it all so quickly and didn't have time to forget who was who, etc.

I hope that now reading for 15 minutes a day will seem much easier now and my scripture reading habits in general will have improved. I learned a few things in case you ever want to do this yourself.

1. Missing a day is really hard to make up!!!
2. Pick a month with 31 days to give yourself the best chances!
3. You CAN do it!

It was a great experience, but I am glad it's over and I can have a little more time to blog and craft now. Almost any extra time this month went to reading...so unlike me... So Mom, hopefully you can look forward to many more posts in November than I was able to fit into October. :)