Old Kids

We've had an odd theme reoccurring in our home this month: 

 Gray hair and wrinkles!  

For Carson's 100th day of school, he got to dress up as a 100-year-old man!  For a boy who loves costumes anyway, this day was a dream come true for him.  From the second I "baby powdered" his hair, he was in full blown character.  I was laughing in fits watching him walk to the bus stop.  I can only imagine what the bus driver was thinking as he waited for several minutes with the bus door open while Carson took his time... walking hunched over... slowly tapping his cane...  and hobbling... oh, so carefully.  And Carson kept this get-up going all day long.  When I picked him up from school, he STILL was hunched, hobbling, and balancing those spectacles on the tip of his nose.

McKenna was transformed into a Grandpa as well... but not just any Grandpa... A really righteous one:  David O. McKay!  

Can't you tell?  Just look at that resemblance!

For Achievement Days, all the girls in her class had to choose a prophet, research their life, memorize several facts about them, and teach the rest of the girls as the character!  Did you know that David O. McKay's middle name is Ohman?  Did you know that the church membership tripled while he was the prophet?  Did you know that he created the first stakes outside of the U.S?  Did you know that he became an apostle at the the age of 32 and served as a General Authority for over 64 years?!  Did you know he was the one who said, "No success can compensate for failure in the home"?  Well, I do because I did the researching!

  I really, really love that my kids have the courage and spunk to sport all the crazy hair and costumes I come up with!  They don't mind getting attention for looking different or even ugly! When I was a kid, I was embarrassed to wear a winter hat to school.  It's so sad that I was so overly concerned about fitting in.  My kids are nothing like that, and I'm really thankful.  They're going to have a lot more fun!

This final photo doesn't have any gray hair and wrinkles, but it's the "oldest" one of them all!  This is McKenna holding the poster used to introduce her at New Beginnings!  Yes, McKenna is leaving primary behind and becoming a young woman later this year!  It's hard to believe.  A mischievous ward member leaned over to Justin and I at the program and whispered, "You know, you're officially 'middle aged' when you have a daughter in young women's."  I couldn't agree more.  Though it seems like she was born yesterday, I feel old!! But looking at my beautiful kids makes all the stress, diapers, drama, messes, worry and aging worth it!