Emma's 12th Birthday

Our beautiful and sweet Emma turned 12 years old today.  We celebrated her birthday over the weekend with our extended family at Grandpa North's house.  The party was Harry Potter themed, due to Emma being on a Harry Potter kick lately.  Emma recently finished reading the entire Harry Potter series with her dad a couple of weeks ago.  The two of them spent the last couple of years reading through all the books out-loud together.  Emma loved hearing her dad's Harry Potter voices, especially Hagrid's and Dumbledore's.  They are reading The Hobbit together now, and Emma is loving it so far.

 We had beef stew and shepherd's pie for dinner at Emma's birthday party on Saturday.  Emma loves those entrees, and it helped that they were both mentioned in the Harry Potter books to go along with the theme.  For dessert we had butter-beer, chocolate frogs, golden snitches, snowy owl cupcakes, jelly beans, and a candy cake that Emma designed and decorated herself.

Emma's 12-Year-Old Interview

Emma woke up bright and early on her birthday, because her feline roommate, Miss Sushi, was meowing in her bedroom quite loudly.  As soon as Emma opened the door, Sushi leaped out of the room at full speed, making her way downstairs to use the litter box as fast as her four little paws could take her.  Emma followed not far behind, rubbing her sleepy eyes.  Brad and I greeted her by singing Happy Birthday as she descended the stairs, and then we bombarded her with hugs.   I decided to take advantage of Emma being up early by interviewing her for her birthday. 

Here is what Emma has to say about herself this year:

Me: What makes "12" such a special age?

I'm going to be in Young Womens, and I will have bigger responsibilities and do things I couldn't do before, like baptisms for the dead.

Me: Who are your best friends?

Makenna Torgesen, Brooklyn Roper, and my cousins Kaylie, Rachel, and Jessica.

Me: What do you like to do when you are with your friends?

Play Minecraft, play outside, or just talk.

Me: What makes you laugh?

A funny episode from Rhett & Link, and crazy Scott and Lizzy.

Me: What is your favorite subject in school?  Why?

Art, because I love drawing cats, and because I don't always get to draw whenever I want.

Me: What are your favorite books?

Warriors, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Alice and Wonderland, Batman comic books, Foxtrot, and Garfield.

Me: What are your favorite movies?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Gravity Falls, My Little Pony Friendship and Magic, Napoleon Dynamite, Brave, Toy Story 3, and Monsters Inc.

Me: If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?

I would give at least half of it to Makenna and my family, and the rest of it to buy Warrior Books and My Little Pony, and to buy a forest and have lots and lots of cats.

Me: Describe your perfect day.

I would wear my super Nyan Cat shirt and I would go ahead and go downstairs and eat breakfast, which would be Nyan Cat shaped bacon and eggs.  Then I would go to school riding on a cheetah, and it would run me to school.  I wouldn't be wearing a uniform.  Instead of learning, we would get a million dollars for not wearing uniforms.  You could play on the computer, or you could go outside on the super slides.  They would say, "You can have a brand new Microsoft 4000 for not wearing uniforms."

Me: What do you want to do when you grow up?

I want to be an author, because I have a lot of good ideas, like The Golden Sand Island, and The Black Cat series.

Me: What is your favorite family activity?

Going to Aunt Marian's house and having a swimming party.

Me: What is your favorite holiday?  Why?

My favorite holiday is my birthday, because it's the day I was born, and I get to celebrate it, and I know lots of people care about me.

What I Have to Say About Emma

Emma is the sweetest most tenderhearted girl I have ever met.  She cares deeply about others and what others think of her, and she always wants to do her best to make things right.  She is very honest and trustworthy.  Emma and I have always gotten along well together.  We are both easy-going people, and we like to be in each others company.  I have been a part of Emma's life since she was four years old.  During the first three years of my marriage to Brad, I was Emma's main caregiver, and I spent all of my free time with her teaching her how to read and write, and helping her build up her self-confidence.  I feel very attached to her, and very proud her.  I feel very grateful to be a part of her life and for what she has taught me as a mother.  I love you, Emma!

Spooktacular Month of October

Halloween often gets left behind at our house.  Everything usually waits until the last minute, and then it's over in a blink of an eye.  Most of the time I don't mind Halloween zipping by, but this year I decided I wanted to get into the Halloween spirit more and do more activities with the kids.  I wanted to create some fun memories, and create some possible traditions for the future.  This is what we did for Family Home Evening in October:

October 1st-- Witch Hunt
Gardner Village is such a great {free} place to go in October.  The decorations are suburb, and they are quite famous for their large witch collection.  We found a witch riding a bike over a pond, one rafting down the river with TNT, one with a cat and mouse chasing under her skirt, one that had crashed into a barn, one playing the piano, and one pretending to be a fireman. We loved seeing the fall decorations up at Gardner Village and seeing the cute shops.  Lizzy was fascinated with the pumpkins everywhere, including some that fell into the creek.

October 8th-  Candy Apples and Paper Ghosts
We attempted to make candy apples for Family Home Evening during the second week in October.  I wanted to make the caramel from scratch, so I bought all the ingredients and spent a great deal of time making it, but the caramel overcooked and it came out very hard to chew.  It was still yummy, just a little hard on the teeth.  We made paper ghosts while the caramel was cooking.  The kids and Brad had fun creating character ghosts out of tissue, cotton balls, and string.  Scott made a creeper ghost, Emma made a Nyan Cat ghost, and Brad and Emma made Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter battling each other with wands (toothpicks).

Monday, October 15th-  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" and Homemade Pumpkin Bread
I did not expect the pumpkin bread to be such a hit, but we ate that bread in almost one serving while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  It helped that I made honey butter spread to go with it.  We decided to watch the first part of Harry Potter, since Emma was almost done reading the book series with Papa at the time.

Monday, October 22nd-  "Nightmare Before Christmas" and Dirt with Worms
We introduced Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" to Lizzy, and she became obsessed with it.  She watched it over and over for the next few days and had a number of lines memorized.  I just about died of laughter when I gave her a bowl of soup and she told me, "What's this?  Frog's breath?"  We made some dirt with jello worms while the movie was playing, and it was a big hit.  Very, very yummy.

Monday, October 29th- Spooky Dinner, Spiders for Dessert, and Carving Pumpkins
I decided to make a spooky dinner on the Monday before Halloween.  I made eyeball meatballs, using ground turkey and olives.  I also made some spaghetti and died it green to make it look more spooky.  It was a very spooktacular dinner.  The spider cookies were yummy, too, and the pumpkins turned out wonderful.  I made a Jack Skellington face, Emma made a cat, and Scott made a Gravity Falls jack-o-lantern.

Halloween Night
For our Halloween costumes this year, Emma decided to be Catwoman, Scott was a reaper from a video game, Lizzy was Red Riding Hood, David was a Little Bad Wolf, and Brad was a woodcutter.  I was boring this year and decided not to dress up.

We had a wonderful time dressing up and going over to Brad's work in the late afternoon on Halloween.  After that, we went over to Bruce and Loralee's house for dinner and trick-or-treating.  Loralee made a delicious Halloween-themed dinner with her famous snake sandwiches, witches brew, deviled eggs, and salad.  It was fun going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and seeing our neighbors.  I love living here.

The Highlight of My Day: October 2012

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in October 2012:

Mon 10/1/12: We hunted for witches at Gardner Village for Family Home Evening tonight. We also made some delicious pumpkin spice cookies for dessert. YUM!

Tue 10/2/12: I was very pleased to learn that my mother bought airline tickets to visit me in November! I am thrilled!

Wed 10/3/12: Lizzy, David, and I had a giggle-fest tonight at bedtime. David crawled onto Lizzy's bed, sat on top of her legs, and clapped his hands while we sang songs. Lizzy was surprisingly tolerant of her brother invading her personal space, and clearly thought the whole scenario was very funny.

Thu 10/4/12: My sweet baby boy turned a year old today! We drove to Wheeler Farm tonight and took some cute pictures of him. We had some homemade cake when we came back from taking photos and sang "Happy Birthday" to David.

Fri 10/5/12: Brad and I watched "Temple Grandin" tonight. It was a very good movie, and I loved spending time snuggling on the couch with my hubby. He's awesome!

Sat 10/6/12: General Conference was fabulous today! There were some incredible announcements and talks. My favorites were President Uchtdorf's and Elder Cook's talks. The biggest announcement we heard today was that the missionary age requirements were lowered. Missionaries can now serve at age 18 for young men, and 19 for young women.

Sun 10/7/12: We teamed up with the Bruce-Clan to take Family Photos tonight. Little Lizzy was a busy girl, and wouldn't hold still for very many photos.

Mon 10/8/12: We made tissue ghosts and caramel apples for Family Home evening tonight. After FHE, we watched "The Avengers." I'd say we had a pretty fun night.

Tue 10/9/12: David had a very positive one-year doctor appointment. He appeared to have a great time socializing with his doctor, and he handled all the shots and blood test very well. The best news was that he is no longer anemic and he gained weight.

Wed 10/10/12: Brad, Scott, Emma, and I all got our flu shots at Brad's work. The little ones tagged along, and were both very cute for Brad's co-workers. We had homemade beef stew tonight for dinner. It was delicious and a big hit amongst the children and adults alike. More Merlin tonight, too!

Thu 10/11/12: I began crocheting a red hood for Lizzy's Halloween costume. Looking cute!

Fri 10/12/12: I Love Yarn Day! I bought a bunch of yarn at Michael's, since many brands were on sale today. I worked more on Lizzy's costume.

Sat 10/13/12: We didn't go anywhere today! It was so nice staying at home, watching shows, getting some chores done, fitting in time for some exercise, and crocheting Lizzy's costume.

Sun 10/14/12: I loved it when David tried to say kitty today. He couldn't hit all the sounds and instead made a hissing sound with his tongue and teeth. He likes Sushi a lot.

Mon 10/15/12: We had homemade pumpkin bread with homemade honey-butter while watching Harry Potter for FHE tonight.

Tue 10/16/12: I crocheted Brad's beard for his costume today. The kids thought it was hilarious!

Wed 10/17/12: I got done a lot of shopping today. Lizzy, David, and I had lunch while we were at Sam's Club, then we drove over to Entheos to pick up the Bruce-Clan and take them home. Lizzy was so tired by the late afternoon that she fell asleep wrapped up in a warm blanket inside the coat closet.

Thu 10/18/12: Lizzy came downstairs wearing Emma's beautiful red sparkly dress early this morning. It was much too big for her, but Lizzy did not care. "I'm wearing Emma's dress," she said in sheer delight. "I'm going to the ball!"

Fri 10/19/12: David took his first step today! He's getting to be a big boy! Dan, Marnee, and the girls came over for dinner tonight. We haven't seen them in a while and it was nice catching up with them. We had taco salad and pumpkin pie.

Sat 10/20/12: Had a nice day at home today. Brad got to spend some time typing up ideas for his book, and I enjoyed some time editing photos and crocheting. We also watched three episodes of Merlin and ate chocolate brownies. It was a nice day.

Sun 10/21/12: Bruce and Loralee gave us a surprise visit tonight and brought us chocolate chip cookies. That was nice.

Mon 10/22/12: We had a fun FHE tonight. I made some Dirt and jello worms while the kids watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It was a big hit. We'll have to do it again next year.

Tue 10/23/12: Emma, Lizzy, and I went to church for a Halloween carnival for the Activity Days girls. I was in charge of the "Pin the Spider on the Web" booth. It was such a great activity. The girls seemed to have had a lot of fun.

Wed 10/24/12: My little ones were my highlight today. I made chicken soup for dinner tonight. Lizzy took one look at her bowl full of soup, raised her spoon and said: "What's this? Frog's Breath?" I laughed out loud, it was so hilarious! And David learned how to wave and say, "bye-bye," tonight. Made my heart happy. He also began taking more steps on his own today. He's growing up fast.

Thu 10/25/12: David said "Pa-Pa" clear as a bell early this morning. He said it over and over again, too, each time he saw his papa. I love my little boy.

Fri 10/26/12: Lizzy has an incredible talent for remembering lines from movies and lyrics to songs. She cracks me up sometimes. This morning she was playing with her toys right next to me and began speaking in her most evil villain voice, saying: "Well, well, well... what have we here?"

Sat 10/27/12: I made chicken broccoli casserole for dinner tonight. It reminded me of my grandmother's Christmas recipe, which was one of my most favorite meals as a child.

Sun 10/28/12: My Sunbeams were very reverent in class today. They seemed to enjoy my lesson, and I felt I did a good job presenting it.

Mon 10/29/12: FHE Tonight: Eyeballs and Spooky Spaghetti for dinner, spiders for dessert, and we had fun cutting up pumpkins tonight.

Tue 10/30/12: I baked some pumpkin seeds today. Tasted yummy! And I finished crocheting another hat for my mother. 11 down, 9 to go!

Wed 10/31/12: We had a fun and happy Halloween. The weather was perfect for trick-or-treating. We enjoyed spending time with the cousins and walking around our neighborhood. Lizzy was very enthusiastic about trick-or-treating this year. She looked adorable as Red Riding Hood.