Marching Band Competitions and Halftime Shows

The month of October brings a lot of busy times for a high school freshman marching band member... Ciera had football games almost every Friday all month, and 3 Saturday marching competitions in a row. plus the Homecoming parade.  It was really busy, but I have really enjoyed watching Ciera, and the entire band, learn and grow.  They have done really well at their competitions, and Ciera has become quite good at what she does.  We are really proud of her!

General Conference Weekend

For General Conference, we have a fun tradition that we have been doing with our girls for the last few years.  We buy a lot of candy and then pick some key words for them to listen for during the talks... they can each get one piece when those words are said.  It is great, and has helped our girls listen to conference.  It was a wonderful, uplifting weekend.

During the Priesthood session on Saturday evening, while Dave was gone, Ciera, Chloe, and Autumn all had things to do.  I took Brooke out for a mommy/daughter date.  She chose McDonalds (of course)! It was great!

General Women's Meeting

For the General Conference Women's Meeting this fall, all girls ages 8 and up were invited to attend.  That meant that Brooke, Chloe, Ciera, and I got to go.  I took them out to eat and then we went to the church building for the broadcast.  It was wonderful!  We had fun, and were uplifted... but we missed Autumn.  (She tried to photo bomb our picture before we left!)  Dave and Autumn had a date night... lucky girl!  They had a great time too!

Book Character Parade

Today at Dodd Elementary, they had a book parade. The kids all got to dress up as their favorite characters and parade around the school. Brooke chose to be Hermione from Harry Potter. Autumn was Fancy Nancy. They both looked so cute. I couldn't be at the parade because I was taking Ciera and Chloe to school. I was sad to miss it, but at least I got these adorable pictures before school!

Selfies and Sweet Rolls

I have been trying to master the "selfie".  I am always taking pictures of my family, but I am rarely in the pictures, so I have been trying out taking pictures of myself.  Some turn out terrible (which get promptly deleted), but some turn out pretty good.  I haven't yet gotten any that I like of me smiling.  That is what I will work on next.  I like a few of the serious face ones though. I mess around with the filters, and viola!  Here are a few selfies for posterity.

I recently got a recipe from Dave's Mom for Grandma Betty Tanner's Butter Horns.  I have made them a couple of times now... they are so good.  The last time I made them was for Dave's Seminary class.  I made half of them butter horns and half cinnamon rolls.  Yummy! (This is when the were rising... I didn't get a picture of the finished product.)

Marching and Yoga

Ciera's band had their annual fundraising march-a-thon at the beginning of the month.  It was a Saturday morning, and the band marched a route through the neighborhoods of Wylie, stopping along the way to play for people.  They ended at Home Depot and Albertsons where they played in the stores.  It was hot and tiring, but turned out to be a great experience.

Brooke and Autumn were doing one of my Yoga videos, and I couldn't pass up the chance to snap a picture.  They are too cute!

Football, Band and the National Anthem

Ciera is up to her eyeballs in marching band.  She has practices all the time, and they play pre-game, during the game, and half time at the football games.  For the first home game, we bought tickets and all of us went.  It was "Future Raider Night", which meant that all the junior high band kids who will be attending Wylie East were playing with the band, all the junior high dancers and cheerleaders danced and cheered too, and the choir kids got to sing the National Anthem with the High school choir.  Chloe got to sing, which was fun.  Brooke and Autumn were so bored with the football game that we left shortly after half time.  (Our team was getting stomped anyway.)  It is fun to go and get to see our kids doing things they like to do... even when sometimes it makes me crazy how busy it all is!