I'm off to camp!

I was released today from being the Primary Chorister and called to serve as the Young Women's Camp Director. I am actually pretty excited. I didn't have the best experiences at Girls Camp (I was the only one my age or even close to my age, so there weren't too many girls to hang out with) so it's my chance to really make camp fun for some other girls. The Assistant Camp Director has been to camp as a leader and director many times and is super excited to be doing it again, so she will be a great resource. Now I just need to get all the gear.

When we were in Las Vegas and Bryan was called into Young Men's, the Bishop told him that it was the best calling because your wife had to support you purchasing all this camping/hiking equipment because "Hey honey, it's my calling!" So now I get to do the same ;)

The Primary had me go in at the first of both Junior and Senior Primary so they could sing to me. That was a killer! In Junior Primary they stood up and sang "I am a Child of God" and both Ethan and I were both bawling by the end. I have been in Primary with him since Sunbeams, with the exception of three months. So he was a bit nervous, but he did fine.

But I'm excited for camp.

The Halloween Fairy

Has anyone ever heard of the Halloween Fairy? I hadn't until two girls from our neighborhood came to our house trick-or-treating last night. Ethan was home with his loot and was answering the door. He gave them pencils (yes, we gave out pencils for trick-or-treats and all but 2 kids LOVED them) and then they asked him if he knew about the Halloween Fairy. He told them that he didn't so they told him that if he put his candy by the fireplace on Halloween night that the fairy would come and take the candy and leave a toy in its place. Ethan explained to them that we don't have a fireplace, but they assured him that he could put his candy just in the living room and it would work too.

Ethan thought this was a pretty good idea, but I told him that the fairy may not know to come to our house so "don't be disappointed in the morning." Bryan and I didn't notice Ethan's Halloween bag of candy in the middle of the floor when we went to bed.

This morning when Ethan woke up he went straight for the living room and was a bit disappointed to see his bag of candy still sitting there. But he hasn't given up hope on the Halloween Fairy. He is going to try again tonight to see what happens and he's even gotten Courtney to try it too.

Some of our neighbors pay their kids $10 for their candy. And I wanted to try something like that to get them off the sugar, but this may work better...and it's cheaper!

Neighborhood Halloween Party

Our neighborhood always has the funnest Halloween Party. Each street is assigned something to bring (soup, apple cider, rolls, etc.) and then we all meet in front of one house and talk and eat. They get two bounce houses for the kids, play scary music and have a scary movie going. It's so much fun to see everyone in their costumes and to let the kids play together.

After Ethan and Courtney bounced for a while, and had a little bit to eat, they were ready to go trick-or-treating. I went home to give out the candy...or pencils in our case (I am boycotting candy right now)...Bryan took Ethan and two of his friends while Courtney went with the mom and dad of one of the friends that was with Ethan (did that make sense?). Anyway. Bryan rode Ethan's scooter to try and keep up with Ethan and his friends. When they got back Bryan walked Carter home and saw Courtney coming up the street, so he went and finished up trick-or-treating with her and her friends. They had so much fun!!

When Ethan came home we watched a BYU volleyball game while he handed out candy when the trick-or-treaters came. He said that was more fun than going house to house because he was helpful. ;)

Here's some photos:

Ethan's Halloween Parade and Party

Ethan had his Halloween Parade and party today. He was Spiderman and loved it! Courtney and I met my parents at his school at 9:30 this morning and waited for the classes to come out. They did a parade through each classroom so they could see each other, so it took a bit of time for them to get outside, but it was cute. All the 1st grade teachers, but one, were dressed as ants with signs on their backs saying "Where's the picnic?" and the other teacher was dressed as the picnic. It was really cute. The Kindergarten teachers were dressed as the Three Little Pigs with someone else as the wolf. So it was a fun parade to watch. Here's the video:



After the parade, I went into Ethan classroom to help with the party (I'm one of the room moms) and my parents took Courtney back to our house to play. The party was so much fun. The kids played "Binghost" with M&Ms as their markers (although a lot of them needed more M&Ms before the game was over). They played that three times with the last time being "Blackout" but since they all had the same cards they all got blackout at the same time. It was cute to watch them all yell "Blackout" at the same time. Then we split them into three stations. One station did a craft, another station decorated cookies (that was my responsibility) and another station played "Wrap the Mummy" with toilet paper. It was hilarious and the kids had a lot of fun. Here's the video of Ethan being wrapped as a mummy.



Here's the photos:

Courtney's Party!

Today was Courtney's preschool Halloween Party! Courtney wasn't too sure about going to the party. When I got her into her costume, she was a bit nervous about going and she actually cried all the way there. It took me about 15 minutes to finally get her calmed down to where I could go home. Then she had a great time!! The moms went the last 30 minutes to listen to their songs and trick or treat. It was so cute and Leanne Kemp (the mom of the week) did an awesome job.

The kids sang the days of the week song, itsy bitsy spider song, "What are you going to be on Halloween" song, and did a little skit of "Little Miss Muffet." It was great and the kids had so much fun. They even took a bow at the end. When we got home Courtney asked if she could switch her costume and be a BYU cheerleader "just like my best friend Hayley." I told her that she could be a BYU cheerleader next year and she seemed fine with it. But she kept cheering "BYU" all day long after that. Cute!

Here are some videos:

Best Teacher on the Planet!

A couple of weeks ago I was driving the kids home from Ethan's piano lesson and there wasn't anything good on the radio so I was channel surfing trying to find something to listen to (I had forgotten my Sansa). I stopped on a station called Planet 94.1 and they were announcing a contest called the "Best Teacher on the Planet." Ethan immediately perked up. It said that you had to get on their internet site and nominate your teacher for the award by telling why he/she is the Best Teacher on the Planet. When we got home Ethan instantly asked if I could get him on the radio station's site. So we did a search and found it. Then he asked if I would help him nominate his teacher for the award. I helped him fill out the form and he told me what to type in the essay part. He said that she was great because she didn't give them very much homework, was nice, made school fun and was a great teacher. It was sweet.

When we had submitted it, I made sure to tell Ethan that they probably had a lot of entries and that his may not be chosen so not to be too disappointed if we didn't hear anything back from them. He wanted to go to school and tell all his friends to get online and nominate his teacher also, but I think he probably forgot. He was so excited about it though. Then we forgot all about it.

I ran errands with Courtney today and when we got back the elementary school's name was on our caller ID. I was nervous that Ethan was sick or something, but they hadn't called my cell phone. I noticed there was a message and so I listened. It was Mrs. Feltwell, Ethan's teacher. She called to thank me for nominating her for the Best Teacher on the Planet. Ethan's entry had won!! The radio station gave Mrs. Feltwell a gift certificate for a pedicure and some other things (I think).

When Ethan got home he was so excited. He told me that they were doing worksheets in their classroom when some people walked in and asked if Ethan was there. He said he was a little nervous because he didn't know why they were there, but then they explained that his entry was the one that had won and that his teacher was the "Best Teacher on the Planet." Ethan got a gift certificate for a free meal at Ruby River Steak House, a coupon for Cinnasticks at Domino's Pizza and another gift card (I don't remember what for now). And the entire class got cookies...right before lunch! ;) He was so happy about it and said that his teacher was so excited and he felt so good making her happy.

His funniest comment was that he met "read people who are on the radio." That seemed to thrill him too. Mrs. Feltwell, in her message, said that this had made her year and I certainly hope so. She has really made school fun for Ethan and he just loves her so I'm glad we could give something to her that she will enjoy (who doesn't enjoy being pampered and told they are wonderful?!)! And I'm glad I have a considerate son who thinks of others!

Bedtime Stories

I think Courtney has to have the best big brother in the world! Ethan has books from school that he has to read each night and then I sign the paper saying he has read them and the next day he gets two different books to bring home. He loves reading these to me and calls them my "bedtime story by Ethan." Usually he reads to me while Bryan is putting Courtney to bed and it works out really well. But tonight Bryan was at Mutual and so I had to put Courtney to bed. Ethan wanted to be helpful (Sharing Time on Sunday was about Service Stars and Ethan has been really working on serving others since then) so he asked if he could read his take home library books to Courtney as her bedtime story. She loved the idea and then cuddled in her rocking chair while Ethan read her a story about a Dentist and a story about a hole in a yard. It was cute.

After he finished reading he put Courtney in her crib and sang her a song then gave her a big hug and told her he loved her. It was so sweet and she was in heaven with all the big brother attention she was getting. I hope, for Bryan's sake, that Courtney doesn't request this every night because Bryan loves his Courtney time.