Youth Fall Party and Halloween

We had a Bi-Ward Youth Fall Party October 27th. Kevin, Jessica, and Melissa had band practice, but Rachel went and had fun. I was in charge of all the games. We played Mingle, Mummy Wrap TP relay, Lilly Pad Relay, Dragon Tail Tag, Fruit Basket, Candy Bar Unwrap Dice Game, and had a costume contest. We had over 60 kids attend, and all seemed to have a great time. The other ward took picutures. I'll add some after I get the link. Here is Rachel being wrapped as a mummy:

Today, October 31, we are spending most of the day at the Band Competition. I took Rachel to the church at 1:30 for some Trunk or Treating. We made her costume. She is Padme Amidala. We looked at a lot of pictures so that we would make it right. We got the booties, and belt and fabric (shower curtain) at Goodwill. Rachel made her blaster out of a contact solution bottle, dowel, and cut sanded, stained, and varnished the handle. She wanted buns, so we covered her ear muffs with some braided wig hair. For trunk or treating it was raining so she wore a hat. We had to duck tape the bottom of her booties so that she can walk in the rain outside. Rachel will go Trick or Treating with her friend Maria. The rest of the family will be at the Band Competition.

Happy Halloween!

Homecoming 2009

Westview High School Homecoming was on October 17th. What a fun time to dress up! While the girls spent countless hours finding the right dress, then "modest-ifying" them, - Kevin and his friends spent an afternoon and went to the Goodwill to do their shopping.

The girls decided to go to the Homecoming dance sponcered by our stake. Jessica double dated. They had dinner at Charolette's house, went to the dance, then played games at one of the boy's house.

Melissa and 4 of her friends spent the afternoon together doing nails, hair, had thier makeup done (by Jane D.) then went to the Stake dance.

Kevin and His friends did an anti-homecoming (thus the outfits). They went out to eat at Romanos enjoying the responses from thier waitress and other high schoolers that were all decked out in formals. They then hung out at one of thier homes, played wii, and ate cake (left over from his bday).

The end result: They all looked great, and they all had a great time!

We are still waiting for the pictures taken at the stake dance to be posted.

Tuba Girl

Melissa plays the tuba in band. She plays the Sousaphone in marching band. She is so cute in her Barret! There are only 3 tubas in the band. There are only 2 girls in the low brass section. She won't change to melophone like her brother tries to persuade her to do. She likes to play the tuba!

Her violin teacher can't believe it. "Trumpets (brass) and violins are supposed to be enemies!" She says. "That is part of being a violinist in the orchestra!" (Melissa also plays trumpet.) When ever the subject of Tuba comes up in their violin lesson she tells her this joke:

"There was a boy who was learning to play the tuba. He came home from his first lesson and his dad asked him what he learned. He said that he learned to play the note C. The next day when he came home from his lesson his dad asked him the same question again and the son answers that he learned two more notes: G and A. The next day the son came home very, very late. His dad asked, 'Where have you been?' The son answered: 'I was playing at my first Gig!'"

Her teacher thinks this is very funny. However, Melissa is very proud of the notes that she plays on the Tuba.

There's an 18 Year Old Boy in the House

Yes, Kevin turned 18 on October 16, 2009. We woke up early to celebrate before he had to leave for school at 6:40am. We had a birthday breakfast. All he wanted for his birthday was money. That's what he got. He had band practice after school from 4-6, and then a football game at 7. So I took a cake in during their dinner break for the band. (Also Togo sandwiches for our family). Did I say "a cake"? Well actually I took in 4 Costco cakes.

He requested chocolate with cream cheese frosting so I got two of those, then 1 white cake with strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting, and one chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting. I wanted to make sure there was enough- the kids had complained that last time a cake was brought in there wasn't enough to go around. There are 137 kids in the band. There was enough to go around. . . and around. We took 1 and 1/2 cakes home with us! We ate it for the next several days. The weather was so nice, Brian, Rachel, and I went to the football game. It was homecoming. We enjoyed seeing the kids in the band. Anyway, that was Kevin's birthday. I think he had fun - he always has fun with his band friends!
Something fun that his friends did for him was to decorate the van. They did it a few days early, because Jessica gets the van on Fridays afterschool to go to piano lessons. (They had filled it with balloons one friday, and she was surprized- they had to pop them quickly so that she could see out the window and get to lessons on time). This is what they did: (I got the photos off of facebook)

The Eagle Has Landed! (almost)

What a feeling of elation I felt on October 11th. Kevin had gotten everything completed and signed for his Eagle Project and for remaining merit badges that he needed.

5 days before his 18th birthday!

HURRAH!

He recieved his last few needed merit badges at a court of honor the following Wednesday.


It had been a little bit stressful. A big THANK YOU to cousin Ben W. for sitting down with Kevin in June and helping him evaluate where he was on his Eagle trail, motivating him, helping him to make lists, and helping him to decide on a project. He was in the right place at the right time.

As Kevin was filling out his final paperwork he made this comment: " Wow, my friend did his project in two Saturdays. It took me 4 Months!" That is true, but I feel that Kevin's project is one that he enjoyed and will remember for many years to come. He raised money and built a percussion rack for the Westview High School Marching Band. Marching Band is something that Kevin loves.

Here are some of the things he did:

On July 4th he and some of his band freinds marched in our nieghborhood parade to raise awareness of the project.

On August 13th he held a Bake Sale at Bethany Village Shopping Center and raised over $300. He had so much support from his band buddies, church friends, parents, and church members. A big thank you to all those that donated baked goods, and helped to set up, sell, and take down!

He bought the steel. And with the experise and time of a band dad, and help from many others, they cut and welded it together on two different work days. They painted it, and even had enought money left over to buy 6 clamps.

He spent his last few dollars on a name plate.

Here is a picture of the rack in use.It was great to see it on the field at the homecoming football game half time show on Friday! Can't wait to see it at the competition on October 31st at the Hillsorro Stadium!

We now have 3 months fo get his board of review, and hold his Eagle Court of Honor.

Good Work Kevin!

Meowing over a Fish with a little added SQUEEK!

Well, we did it again. Claudia and I sang Duet for Two Cats for our ward Fall Party. We couldn't do it the same as before, so we added a new twist. When we were introduced, the MC gave us each a fish. Too bad for Claudia- hers was little. Luckily for me, mine was huge! She cried, and tried to steal mine- which then ripped in half. Now we were both unsatisfied, but then hear a squeak- and see Rachel the mouse on stage. So then we stalk and grab her, but she sneaks away as we argue over her. The result? Laughs for all. It was fun.

I made the fish out of muslin that I colored with crayon, stuffed it in two halves. The halves were attached with Velcro. It was such a fun and relaxing day making it- I need to do more crafts.I made Rachel's ears by covering food storage can lids with fur. The pink material was left over from a Cinderella dress I made many years ago. I attached them to my hat with safety pins. The tail looked so cute. Rachel made a great mouse!

Rachel is going to be Padme Amadala for Halloween, so we had gotten her white shirt, pants, gloves, and booties for that. The pictures didn't turn out too great, and when Brian was videoing the camera had some difficulties, but at least you can kind of see what it was like. I'll try to upload the movie later.