Ward Talent Night

The Young Women Organization was in charge of the November Ward Activity. A few months ago, the young women presidency asked the advisors to be in charge of the activity. To plan it and make it happen. Well, a month ago the callings in young women's got reorganized and I was the only advisor that stayed in. Therefore, I was in charge of the activity. Everyone helped me ofcourse, and I assigned a lot of it out so I didn't have to do it all.

I have met a lot of people that get a good amount of anxiety over new callings they have. In the past I have not been able to fully understand that fear. I am okay giving talks, teaching, etc. However, being in charge of an activity gave me a lot of anxiety. I was sooo nervous. It was a really good experience for me and I would do it again but I have not felt that in quite the same way before.

It was a great activity. We had a good turnout and had a lot of fun. Thanks to all that helped and participated.

Thursday Woes

Thursday night I went to the see Breaking Dawn with a bunch of friends in my ward. I was so excited to get to go out on a girls night and also to see this movie. It's a little embarrassing to admit that I was excited to see it, but it's true. My friends picked me up at 9:30 and we went to Village Inn to eat. I got Apple Pie and it was soooo delicious. Then we went to the theater and chatted until the movie started. Overall the movie was pretty good.

When I got home I was pretty excited to get to bed. I came upstairs and Joseph was on our bed that had no sheets on it on top of a bunch a towels. Gene was sleeping on the floor. I woke Gene up and asked what was going on. Joseph had been up all night puking. So sad!!!! I felt so bad. I had no idea that Joseph was sick or I wouldn't have gone to the movie. Gene didn't even text me or anything. I have to admit I was grateful that I was not there to see the mess, but I felt bad that Gene dealt with it all alone. Gene is such a great husband and father. Joseph woke up Friday morning and even ate some in the afternoon. That is one great thing about the stomach flu. It doesn't last long.

Benjamin Eugene Russell

Ben turned 5 months old this last wednesday (nov. 9).

Here are things I want to remember about him right now.

He is so happy. He only cries if he is hungry or tired. He smiles at anyone who looks at him and brings so much joy to our family.

He is ticklish. You find the right spots and you can get him laughing.

He loves his daddy so much. I have a hard time making Ben laugh sometimes and all Gene has to do is say his name and Ben will laugh. He adores daddy.

He never stops watching Joseph. When he was younger Joseph made him a little nervous. You could tell Ben was interested in Joe, but he always had a look on his face like, "What are you going to do to me now." Now he watches him all the time. Whenever Joe comes over to him he smiles so big. Joseph will squeal (Joe baby talking) at Ben and Ben will do it back now. It is so sweet.

He loves the sound of his voice. He loves to talk. He also squeals.

He is a great sleeper.

He is very calm.

He rolls over all the time.

He loves to grab everything. Especially his toys.

He is fascinated by his feet.

We love Ben and are so blessed to have him in our family. We are so happy.

Art City Music Academy

I love my job. I am very grateful that I have a job that is fulfilling and that I enjoy so much. I love teaching piano lessons and learning how to be a better teacher everyday. It's so amazing to start a student that can't play anything and then watch as they learn this skill. I taught them that. I helped them create that. I have given to them, what has brought so much joy in my life. I love interacting with my students both young and old.

I have taught at many music studios and I love the program at Art City. I am learning so much. The students choose between either 30 min or 45 min lessons. They can participate in recitals every 6-8 weeks. We have a theory lab where they work on ear training and other assignments. This past weekend we had our Sonatina Festival. My students prepared a sonata, sonatina, or concerto to play for a judge. There were judges for the elementary division (6-11), junior division (12-14) and senior division (15-18). The judge chooses 10 students in each division to come and play for a recital. I had one elementary and four junior students get call backs. Then, at the recital they choose 3 winners with distinctions and one of my junior students got chosen. It was a great day. I was so proud of them.

I have a lot of great students. A student I started teaching in August told her grandmother when asked how she like piano, "I love piano, It is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life." She is 7. She is a very hard working student and loves to go way above my expectations. She is so fun. I have been teaching her older sister since March. She has kind of struggled with learning piano. It has not come easy. Lately we have had a break through with her practicing and actually remembering the notes and learning songs quickly. She was one of the students that got a call back in the recital. It is so great. I just got a new student who is absolutely inspiring. He is like 8 years old. He had a stroke before he was even born and it's a miracle he is here. Because of the stroke the whole right side of his body is sort of paralyzed. He can move that side, but his right leg drags etc. This little boy is determined to learn piano lessons. I have never seen anyone work so hard at anything. He has to hold his right hand differently in order to do it. He was my elementary level student that got called back to play in the recital. It is truly inspiring to watch him work and to teach him. He is amazing.

I have so many great students and stories I could share, but it is getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow. Have a great night.

Halloween Night

I am not used to this blogging thing still. I wrote about Halloween and now it is at the bottom. Enjoy the pictures and then read about it. The picture above is Joseph and Ben and Carter trick or treating.

Ben had so much fun trick or treating he feel right asleep.

Gene and Ben.

Me and Ben.

Joseph saw this spooky spider and insisted that we get our picture by it. He loved his pumpkin candy bag. My dad bought some spiders that lit up all different colors and Joseph carried it in his pumpkin to light up all his candy he would get.

Joseph wearing Spinosaurus teeth for a little bit. So funny!

Here is the rest of Joseph's costume. None of the other pictures we got showed his tail or spine very well. We let Joseph use green finger paint to paint the tail, spine and jaws, but it all flaked off the duct tape. It didn't bother him so we didn't repaint it.

Halloween was so great this year. Joseph really understood trick or treating. He went with his little friend Carter and they didn't want to stop. They were so cute running up to the doors and yelling trick or treat really loud, giggling, and being so silly. They ended up trick or treating our entire neighborhood. Ben came out for just our street and fell right asleep. My parents were so nice to watch him so we could take Joe out longer.

Ward Halloween Party

Joseph is such a silly little boy. We had so much fun this year at our Ward Halloween Party. There was great food, company, and fun games. They had a spook alley for the kids where they could trick or treat. Joseph loved it.

We played a game where they passed out paper sacks and played music. If the music stopped you had to wear, eat, or drink whatever was in the bag. Joseph got this green mask and wore it the rest of the night. He is so adorable!

This is our cute little family. I can't even express how grateful I am for these three boys.

Joseph trick or treating in the spook alley.

Joseph doing what he does best: running:) Me and my little tiger. I absolutely adore my little Ben.

Boo at the Zoo!

This year we decided to go to Boo at the Zoo. This is where you let your kids dress up and go trick or treating at the zoo. It was insanely busy and the lines to the candy were huge. We still had a lot of fun.

Here is Joseph (Spinosaurus dinosaur) with his cousins Nathan (Optimus Prime) and Madeleine (Rapunzel). They are so cute and have such a blast playing together. A funny side-note. I asked Joseph a few weeks ago if his daddy was his hero and he said no. So I asked who his hero was and he said Nate. Joseph loves that boy.


My very fierce Spinosaurus on the Carousel. Just look at those teeth.
When Joseph told me he wanted to be a Spinosaurus for Halloween I really wondered how we were going to do that. Not many people even know what that is. I could find dinosaur costumes but they weren't a Spinosaurus. Gene and I decided to make the costume and Joseph helped. We had a lot of fun.

Here you can see Rapunzel, a Spinosaurus, and Optimus Prime. There is nothing better than that.

Ben was a tiger. We couldn't find the chicken costume Joseph wore when he was that age. But this was still adorable and definitely warm!

We had such a great time! Halloween is so much more fun with little kids.