Movie Star Song

Ashley had a cute movie star song that she was able to wear sunglasses and acted like she was all that!  I think it helped that she was able to stand by her BFF, Hayley.  This was her favorite song of the entire performance….

   

Dances

Nathan had his 8th Grade Dinner Dance tonight and has a Stake Dance tomorrow night.  He has been sooo excited for both of these!  The dinner dance is so well done.  The food and decorations are always over the top.  When I peeked in earlier today, it looked like a prom all set up. 

Anyway he looked so handsome tonight.  I can’t wait to hear every detail, AND Nathan is one to give me every detail.  ;)

Why are these kids of mine getting older?!?

Birthday

Nathan had a birthday!

He came with me one evening after track practice to help me pick out some presents.   I snuck a couple of picture of him with my phone. 

 

He ended up deciding on the shoes that are in the top left corner.  They are “SICK”, according to him.  This boy of mine loves name brands.  It doesn’t matter what it is, for him the name brand sells the item.  Which is funny to me because his brother could care less what brand his clothes are.  :)

Nathan LOVES music!  He always has his headphones on, and can always tell us who sings what.

Nathan is very athletic.  He enjoys a wide array of sports, but soccer is still his favorite.  (I do think basketball is a close second ;)  He has a fun personality and is always making us laugh.  He thoroughly enjoys teasing all of his sisters.  He is also such a good worker!   He is always quick to help and do things without being asked.  I will find the trash taken out, pets fed or a mess cleaned up and it’s usually Nathan that has pitched in to help.  He is also an incredible pianist!  He even plays hymns for priesthood meeting at church.

That in a nutshell is my Nathan!

We sure LOVE having you in our family!!!!

2 to 1

Last Saturday was very unusual.  All three of my soccer kids had home games here in Colorado Springs AND all three kids won their games 2 to 1!

Our swimmer, Jacob, however was in Denver for the day at his meet.  He was thrilled to have cut FIVE seconds off of his 100m butterfly time!

Chorister Ideas

I forgot to post this and it has been sitting in my drafts, I thought of it today and here it is….

One of my favorite music times was when I tied quite a few Hershey candy bars with a string and note.  Each note had a clue on it, as to whom it should be delivered to.  I talked with the kids about how many different people and responsibilities needed to be filled to have our church run smoothly.  I would then call a team of two with a member of the Primary presidency to find the person described on the card and deliver them a candy bar with the “Thanks for being so SWEET in our Ward”.  While the kids delivered the treat we would keep singing the song we were working on and see how many times we could sing it.  I had them deliver them to the librarian, Ward organist, Bishop, Relief Society President, Ward clerk, Nursery leader…. 

Song the Snake would peak out from behind the music stand to encourage the kids.  I had an Eddie Spaghetti man that would slurp his long pile of noodles off the stand.

As the program approaches I would get a box and fill it with some type of treat for everyone, like suckers.  Then I would tie different ribbons around the box that had different songs pinned to the ribbons.  When the kids would get a song down really well, we could remove that ribbon.  We did this until they were all gone and we could open up the lid for the treat.

We LOVEd this big cube box from the post office.  Sometimes I would put actions on the sides, sometimes I would put different songs, and for this picture we had to learn a lot of verses to Follow the Prophet so I had a different prophet on each side.  The kids would roll it down the aisle and whatever landed on the top, we would do.

 

Use holidays for ideas.  I would hide Easter eggs around the Primary room filled with different songs to sing.  Pass little American flags around the kids as we would sing, like hot potato.  I was always hauling in holiday decor that I would incorporated into some type of game.

Here is a fun poster.  The rocket is on a string that can be pulled up to the moon.  The rocket also has a pin on the tip of it.  The moon is a big balloon.  As the kids sing you can move him closer and closer, sometimes maybe even back a bit.  Then at the end of singing time he can reach the balloon, popping it.  :)

Here is the classic spin the wheel.  Just a way to sing a song over and over different ways.  We would also play find the music note by singing soft and loud, as they got closer.

 

I had made an apron years ago for Sharing Times.  I used it again for music time.  I would hide different trinkets in the pockets to represent songs.  I used to have a huge golden purse that was filled with objects.  The kids would come up and pull things out and we would sing the song that the object represented.

 

Sometimes it’s fun to sing the action songs with only the actions and no singing, just to mix it up.  The kids always get big grins on their faces as they are doing the “Popcorn Popping” actions and trying to not let out a peep. 

Here is another block that I would have the kids roll.  We call it the animal block and would have to do whatever the top side says.

I would rearrange the kids sometimes.  We would push all the chairs back and sit in the middle.  I then would have a lot of church items gathered in the middle, (CTR ring, picture of Jesus, ceramic temple, Friend magazine, Hymn book…)  Then someone would leave and I would pick another child to hide one of the objects.  We then would sing and sing as the person tries to guess what is missing.

Puppets are always fun for kids.  I would also bring musical instruments and have some of the kids come to the front to play, as we would sing.  Chimes are also fun to do.

 

I don’t know why the kids love the sombrero, but they do.  It used to have a rubber chicken hanging off the side.  I just FILLED it with a ton of random stuff and hot glued it on.  Which ever class is singing the best gets to have the sombrero.  Sometimes the teacher of the class wears it as we are singing, or they pass it quietly around their class.

 

One time I brought in the big TV and played a segment from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  We analyzed how they sang.  What were the hands doing?  Were they slouching?  How far open were their mouths? … Then we tried to do the same and act as a choir would.

  There is the classic magnet fish game with the paper clips.  Each fish can be a song or a way to sing the song.

I’ve already talked about the teeth.

The kids get sick of you, so it’s fun to bring in others.  I always used my pianist actively during music time.  I gave him a list of how to say “Hello” in a lot of different languages.  He clipped it to his music to refer to.  I would always turn to him and ask how we should sing the Hello song, and he would announce it to the kids …  Bon jour, Howdy, Guten Tog, Hola, Aloha….

I would also bring in energetic Ward members to help.  One time we created an American Idol panel that would judge the songs and give their opinions.  It was a lot of fun.  I’m sure this could be done using a “Voice” set up as well.

My favorite book hands down for being a chorister is this.  It has ideas for EVERY song in the songbook PLUS a lot of ideas in the front.  This is the one I have.  I noticed that amazon has the same book by the same authors, just a different cover.

I really did enjoy being chorister.  I don’t know why I never blogged about it before, but HERE you have it!  :)

Conference

We enjoyed conference this last weekend.  It was filled with answers.  It was filled with things that I have neglected and need to work on.  It was filled with peace and with love.

Kaylee was by my side as we heard the talk by President Uchtdorf.  He talked about a trip with his wife to Africa and how poor the people are.  He commented on how "they had so LITTLE of what matters the LEAST"  I loved sitting there discussing what really was important, and what gets in the way of that which is important.  A beautiful conversation that would have never taken place, if we hadn’t been listening to conference.

Anyway, I found a fun link on Pinterest and have decided to post conference quotes all over our fridge as sweet reminders of messages that shouldn’t be forgotten.  HERE is the link if you are interested, there are some good ones!  :)

  

Sock Bunny

During Spring Break, Kaylee’s BFF was gone on a ski trip, her sister Rebecca was gone down on the farm, SO what do we do? …  We make a sock bunny to keep her company until everyone comes back.

Kaylee is getting so good at sewing projects.  I showed her THESE instructions and she went at it.  She picked the socks, buttons, and created such a cute bunny.

 

I smile each day, as I see it sitting on her bed.

Jerrica was the only one home with us, so she of course wanted to make one too.  I helped her sew and she sat stuffed hers for hours, just talking away to her bunny.  I should have taken a picture of Jerrica with hers!

Anyway, perfect Spring Break / Easter / quick project!

My Boys

Last night Stephen took the boys out to eat and then to the Priesthood Session.  They looked so handsome!

 

But then they reminded me that they are still BOYS!  :)

  

Sure love these three!

Easter Eggs

The girls and I dyed Easter eggs last weekend.   

 

I loved how this egg matched Kaylee’s hair.

   

We also tried the silk tie technique. It really works, the pattern comes off on the egg as they boil.

 

I smiled as Ashley announced that she had made a chicken egg. We looked over at her and sure enough she was holding a brown egg in hand. :)