Jillian's Birthday Party

Friday night we had Jillian's 9th birthday party. She was sooo looking forward to this!! Instead of a big party like I did with Jorja and Logan, I kept it small and did a late-over instead of a short party.

Brad and I cooked up some pizza dough for individual pizzas and had the girls create their own pizzas. While they baked we played some games.

Jillian, Mae, and Emily

Jorja, Kaylee, Brittin, Brynlie, Jillian

Somehow, Mae thought her pizza looked like a turtle. The girls were joking with it and she'd say "Hey! Respect the tur-tel!" It was really cute.

While the pizza's baked, we played a game where each girl was timed to see how many cotton balls they could move from one pot to another using a spoon, while blind-folded. Most of the time they didn't even have anything on the spoon and the girls thought that was such a hoot!!

Emily carefully carrying her "cargo" while Kaylee and Brynlie watch.

Kaylee, Emily, May -- dumping her "cargo" -- and Brittin.

Brittin trying to find the pot. Kaylee, Jillian, and Jorja in the background.

Brynlie and Brittin. They were standing up at the top of the stairs singing and dancing. It was so cute and I tried to catch them doing it but I liked this picture just as well!!

After they ate their pizza creations, it was present time!!

Thanks for all the fun presents!! Jillian loved all of the them!!

We played "Spin the Bottle" with nail polish. I would spin each bottle and whoever it pointed to, that girl had to paint one nail that color.

The finished products!

Love this picture! It just makes me smile. :)

Jillian didn't even want a cake this year (yahoo for me!!!) so we did root beer floats. We lit a candle for her to blow out after we sang to her.

In this game the girls had to cut away the flour from the malt ball without making it drop.

Mae, Emily, Brittin with the knife, Jorja, and Kaylee's head in the corner.

Mae made it drop so she had to put her hands behind her back and pick up the malt ball with her mouth.

Mission accomplished! The girls thought it was so funny!!! I love Emily's face in this picture!

I had them all sit on chairs in a circle for the next game I would give instructions like "if you are wearing blue, move one space to the right" and they would move accordingly. If someone was already in the seat, they had to sit on that person's lap. The object was to move all the way around the circle.

Jillian, Kaylee, and Jorja on the bottom.

Jorja, Brynlie, and Mae.

Brynlie, Brittin, Jillian, Kaylee


For this game the girls had to roll two die to get doubles, after which they would quickly put on a hat, scarf, and mittens and try to unwrap and then eat a giant chocolate bar before the next person rolled doubles.

Mae took wearing the hat very seriously. :)

Jorja and Logan even got turns, although Logan didn't end up with as much chocolate as Jorja, which upset him.

Kaylee and Brittin

Brynlie was able to uncover the chocolate!

Emily stuffing her face as fast as she could before she had to pass it on.

Brynlie's full mouth just after she passed it on to Jorja, who finished it off.


After we finished all the games they went downstairs and sang with the karaoke machine, and danced while they waited their turn. So much fun! We ended the night by watching The Hannah Montana Movie. What a great party!

Service Solution

We have challenged our kids to do some kind of service every day so that we can think more about the needs of others. Every night we discuss what we all have done that day. The other day Logan took his turn and after some thought said, "I know! I started to fall and then I caught myself! So I helped myself today." We busted out laughing! That funny boy. Obviously he hadn't thought a second about doing service but I'll give him kudos for coming up with something creative.

The Great Pumpkin Smack Down of 2009

In our family we have "The Boys Club" and "The Girls Club" and every year we have a contest to see which club can make the best Jack-o-Lantern. Usually, Brad and I do the more difficult designs and then we let the kids do their own on other sides of the pumpkin, all the while talking smack about which club does the better job and why and how one club doesn't nearly measure up to the other. It is great fun. :)

The Girls Club Jack-o-Lantern

Skull, by Brenda

Ghost, by Jorja

Traditional Jack-o-lantern, by Jillian

The Boys Club Jack-o-Lantern

Halloween-Themed Jack-o-Lantern, by Brad

Monster Face, by Logan

The Girls Club clearly won this year, in both creativity and degree of difficulty, but the Boys Club definitely get points for their creative use of toothpicks.

Halloween, 2009

Unlike most people, I have always enjoyed Halloween. I would get so excited to go Trick Or Treating that I would throw up at school, they would send me home, and I would then rest up for the big night. My, that sounds like Jillian!!! Ha ha! Anyway, that happened in MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!! It really makes me laugh that I used to do that.

All the kids were really excited to dress up. Jillian went as a girl pirate, Logan was Spiderman (I was glad about this since he was Spiderman last year and we already had the costume. Bless you, my boy!), and Jorja went as a Hula Girl. I remember when I was little they made hula skirts out of real, dried grass, until some girl caught on fire from a jack-o-lantern. Little memory side-note. :)



Jillian and Logan ready to go to school. I was able to go to a bit of their Halloween parties in their classes.



Jorja after trick-or-treating. We went to a trunk or treat at the church first and then Brad took them around the block.



Brad actually dressed up this year and I didn't. He grew his hair out and debated doing Mr. T or an old man. He went for the latter because he didn't have the jewelery needed for a Mr. T costume. There were a lot of people who didn't recognize him at first. Then there were others who didn't believe he would actually shave his head. It was AWESOME!!! And I just LOVE this picture of him. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.



Ready to go!! Jorja looks like she already has a sugar induced tummy ache!



Ah, it wouldn't be Halloween without the annual candy bath. Jorja and Logan sure think this is so much fun. By the time the evening was over, they each only had a few pieces of candy left.

Logan Lost His First Tooth!!

My boy is growing up! He was wiggling his tooth back and forth so I told him to just pull it out. So he did!

The Lost Tooth

Now Logan can be in the Tooth Club in his Kindergarten class.

The Tooth Fairy brought 2 quarters! Yippee for money!!

My New Endevor

This article came out in the newspaper last Thursday. It made the front page!!! I asked the editor if he would do an article on the choir I started a month ago. I'm happy that they actually did it, although I think the writing and editing could have been better. They didn't even mention the name of the choir, Upbeat Music Company. But then, I'm not complaining.

Filling the Musical Void

Written by Lacey Storer/Special to The Kearney Courier

Thursday, 24 September 2009 00:00

The sounds of children singing filled the Knights of Columbus building recently when a group of seven children did vocal warm-ups, practicing their scales and exercising their diaphragms, before learning their songs.

The children are the first group of students in Brenda Simmons’ children’s choir class. The class meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays at the Knights hall.

The motivation for starting the class came from Simmons’ daughter, Jillian, 8, who told her mom she wanted to sing. Simmons began looking for a choir class for Jillian but quickly discovered there wasn’t anything like that available in the area. Although Kearney has plenty of opportunities for children to participate in sports, it wasn’t the same for music.

“I couldn’t find anything. The closest thing I could find were summer programs in Gladstone and the like,” she said. “I thought, ‘I have a decent background music,’ so I thought ‘Why don’t I start something like that myself?’”

Anna Faltermeier/The Kearney Courier — Jillian Simmons, 8, left, and Mae Chaney, 8, both of Kearney, practice a song during Brenda Simmons’ chorus class Sept. 10 at the Knights of Columbus hall in Kearney. Jillian mother, Brenda, teaches the class.

Simmons has been in youth and adult choirs and is currently the children’s choir director at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The choir class is an endeavor that not only gives her daughter the musical experience she wants, but helps other children in the community as well.

Anna Faltermeier/The Kearney Courier — Brenda Simmons conducts a children’s choir class Sept. 10 at the Knights of Columbus hall in Kearney. Simmons formed the class recently.

For Ali Ellefsen, the class was a much-needed activity. Her son, Brevan, is almost 11 and on the autism spectrum. Sports require coordination he lacks, but he does well with music, Ellefsen said. The class will give him a musical outlet and will help him to develop myriad social skills.

“I think that he’ll be able to kind of show his personality more, get more confidence, (gain experience with) public speaking, things like that,” she said. “… I know it’s been hard for him being in more of an area that’s so dedicated to sporting things … I think it’s good for him to find an are where he can excel.”

Melinda Haney, whose daughter Ayriana, 7, is in the class, said she liked that Simmons is teaching not just words to songs, but also how to sing the songs, focusing on using the proper vocal techniques.

“To me, that stuff is the most important,” she said. “I’m really glad (the children) enjoyed singing and had a great time, but I want them to learn how to do it.”

Both mothers also appreciated the performance aspect. Simmons plans on having several performances throughout the year, beginning with the Halloween Hallows on Saturday, Oct. 10.

“The whole point of the choir is to perform, because I think there is great value for performing, not only to the perform but also those who are listening,” she said. “That’s my whole goal, so in order to accomplish that ... the learning that we will do will be based on what we will be performing.”

Those interested in signing their children up for the class can call Simmons at 903-5444 or e-mail her at brenda_tsimmons@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The cost is $30 per month.