Halloween Party

Liz, Amie and I decided that I should host a Halloween party. They really enjoyed the one we had a couple of years ago, and it was time to get the kids together to play. I'll say this, by the time the party started I was mighty jealous of the adult only party that our other friends were hosting! Trix Bunny.

Lucky Charms, Trix, and Captain Crunch. I do have some pictures of them smiling, but I loved this goofy picture. Dan and I were Count Chocula and Buzz Cheerio's bee respectively, however, Dan did not get off of work (come out of his office) until 1 1/2 hrs into the party. He did not dress up and we did not get a family picture.

I set up a table outside for the kids.

And I set up the table for the adults inside.

I just want you to know that it was 90 deg when I was decorating, so I set up this little canopy with lights and spider webs and then gave up. It was way too hot to be Halloween. Each family had to bring a game for the kids to play. Amie did an eyeball dig in speghetti. Liz did a donut on a string game.

Kasie did a cake walk.

Julianne did tape the face on the Jack. And I made up a game of Deal or No Deal.

Here is me and sister. She was tired before the party got started, but managed to stay up through all of it.

We had lots of fun. Thanks friends for coming!

October Happenings

Macey is playing in the water table. The boys regularly move around the play equipment. This was arranged so sister could get in for a dip.

The end of fall break; the kids are all trying to play cars together.

Macey has always got her bootie in the air.

This is an outfit girlie got for her birthday. It is very cute, but a little big for our skinny minnie.

Ah, pumpkin carving. Start with one pumpkin.

And one dedicated dad. I was just going to carve out what the boys drew, but Dan found 2 prints for the boys: a ghost and a spider in a web.

Macey's first pumpkin.

Look at Alex's face. He drove us crazy talking endlessly about the slimy goo inside the pumpkin. The boys finished, but I didn't get a picture.

One thing I love about this little girl is her bed head. It is cute now, but I hope it tames down a bit as it gets longer!

Day at Papago

Emily called and said she had a free day, so we met up with her at Papago Park. We first visited Hunt's Tomb where the first governor of AZ is in tombed with his family.

Then we went over to climb up to 'Hole in the Rock'. It is some place that I have always wanted to go and wanted to check it off.

Did you know that October means 95deg weather? Yeah, it was a short hike, but a hot day!

This is the view from the hole.

Picture of us'ns.

Our next stop was the Hall of Flame. There they have many old fire carts, cars, trucks and engines. The complete history of firefighting is contained in the small museum. My kids were only impressed with the play area. I thought it was very cool, and recommend it to folks without kids, or at least with kids that will let you actually look at the artifacts and read a few of the signs.

We had a nice time, but I think I'll stick to the zoo when we go back. Although, I do want to visit the botanical garden... maybe someday when all my sweet children are at school...

Ryan's triumphs

We put Ryan in a class called 'Kick n' Tumble'. After seeing him do this you may wonder, 'Why the heck didn't they do this sooner?' In this hour class they do 3 activities: karate, floor exercises, and trampoline.
He insists on calling karate ka-RAH-te just like SpongeBob.

Duh, trampoline is his favorite. Look at the joy on his face.

This is from day 2 (he goes twice a week). The first day there were too many kids/instructors. This time he got lots of attention. Dan has taken him so far, mostly because I think Dan needs to get out of the house! I can't wait to take him and watch him.

Another exciting thing happening for Ryan is he is learning to read. For the last 6 months he has been begging me to teach him to read. Big brother won't always read him stories and he wants to do it himself. When we reached lesson 30 out of 100 we went to Peter Piper to celebrate. I just want to add that you can always go play the games at Peter Piper without eating. We decided to spend our money only on games and not on food too this time.

Ryan did this race car game 3 times.

This was Macey's first trip to Peter Piper that she participated in.

She rode this carosel 4 times in a row.

I love that the kids find things to do together.

1 yr old Macey

Macey loves basketballs.

Mornin', Bed head!

Macey loves the boys clothes. She regularly carries around one of Ryan's gray shirts, his swim shorts or his black dress shoes.

This is my plasticware cabinet.When Macey is ignored or is bored she zooms to the kitchen and plays with the dishes in here. This time she got inside.

She fell asleep sitting up watching TV with Mom. (I know you are thinking, but Mom doesn't watch TV. Probably we were on the couch and the boys were watching one sporting event or other.)

Brothers say she got in here herself. Maybe...

Baby has learned to walk! She has taken her time walking, instead spending her time talking. But now she is getting more sure footed and going further.

Molly Mormon

I hope you don't find the title offensive if you are Mormon and named Molly, but for those of you not of our faith it sort of signifies the perfect Mormon housewife. In September I helped sew up I Spy bags for our Super Saturday (craft day). I'm not much of a craft person since I don't collect knick knacks, but an I Spy bag was just what our Sunday bag needed. The same week I picked up a box of apples and 2 boxes of peaches to be canned.

Julianne and I canned one box of peaches together on a Friday night.

Us hard at work.

Look at our beautiful peaches. We have enough jars to eat one a month and on Easter and Christmas. The fresh peaches were perfect. We only had one peach with bad spots. If you haven't ordered Utah fruit before, I highly recommend it.

The next day was our Super Saturday. All day I managed to paint one block and adhere a picture of the San Diego Temple. It was fun none the less and now I'm ready for my next craft project: Halloween! Now a true Molly Mormon would have fed her family properly and had her house clean at the same time. Alas, I'm mortal. Thanks, Dan, for feeding the family!

Macey's room

Here is Macey's finished room. This is the south wall. Imagine if you will a dainty vinyl letter saying over her bed. I also want to get a castle road map rug for her room, but I'm waiting for it to go on sale at Target. I know this needs crown molding to really finish it off, but I'm not investing too much into our poor devalued house.
North wall over the changing table.
That is a picture of Jesus by the door.

I'm happy with the results. It is PINK and girlie. It is a shame that if and when we move I'll have to paint every bedroom a neutral color. But I can't see too many buyers wanting a girlie room, a bright green room, an orange room, nor a rich blue room.