Happy Halloween!

SUGAR OVERLOAD

On Wednesday we went to a Halloween themed party. So the kids got to dress up again! Three of the four kids opted to pick something else out of the Halloween bucket to wear instead of their costumes for this year. They thought it was totally awesome to be something different! Chloe was a cat, Alex was Bumblebee from Transformers, Cooper was a scarecrow, and Nick stayed Darth Maul. Even though it was kind of chilly they spent most of the night out in the bounce house, it had a slide. On the way home they told me that was a real fun party.

Thursday was their school parties. When I took Nick to school we stayed in the parking lot for a bit to see what Chloe and Alex's teachers were dressing up as. So on the way home Alex and Chloe decide that I should dress up for their party too. I decided to be a 'cool' mom, so I gave into their whim. It was fun and all the kids at school got a kick out of it!

Nick, Chloe, and Alex all had their party at the same time and they all wanted me to go to theirs. So Cooper and I were party hopping all afternoon. Cooper got to have treats in all 3 classes. I think he had 3 cupcakes! They had a costume parade, played Halloween games, made some cute Halloween projects, and Alex's class even got to go trick-or-treating. It was an afternoon full of lots of sugar and fun!!

Today we enjoyed a lazy day with NO school and then headed to my dad's office party. I think that Halloween is definitely their favorite holiday, they went all out!! We went from office to office trick-or-treating. There were themed areas which made it super fun for the kids. After they loaded up on tons of candy they headed outside for lots more fun. This was the best Halloween party ever! They had pony rides, a bounce house, face painting, lots and lots of food and treats, and the best part was it was all free! All of their cousins were there. They had fun running around together and Grandpa had fun showing off all his grand kids!

Halloween Memories

Yesterday on the way to school the kids started asking me what characters they have been since they were babies. So one by one I went through each child telling them everything they have been, so I though it would be fun to do post about it. Kind of funny too!

Eeyore

Superman and a Hunny Bunny

Batman, a Hunny Pot, and a little bee

Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and Roo

Dorothy, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and Captain America

Handy Manny, Cinderella, Jango Fett, and Roo

After going through all my pictures to get this post together my goal for this year is to get a 'good' picture of all 4 of them together. Easier said than done!!

Trunk-or-Treat

This last Tuesday was our ward trunk-or-treat. Of course the same day a cold front came in, so it was freezing! Luckily we got to have our soup potluck inside, so that was nice. We could all sit and chat and actually see what we were eating! After dinner we did head outside quickly for a trip around the parking lot for some treats. I think I whined more about being cold than the kids. But as always we had a good time hanging out with good people!!

Chris got a new camera for his birthday, so he was the photographer for the night!

Carving Pumpkins

For Family Home Evening on Monday we carved our pumpkins. They had all picked out their own pumpkins and we started figuring out who wanted what on theirs. Chloe wanted Minnie and Cooper wanted Mickey and neither would fit on their pumpkins, so dad donated the "BIG DADDY PUMPKIN" (that is what the kids have been calling it) to them and they shared. Nick cleaned out his own pumpkin by himself and then offered to clean out the big one. Because it was so big he was pretty much in it up to his shoulders. He said he was starting to itch and his arms were covered in hives. Poor guy must be allergic to pumpkins. He asked me if he will always be allergic because he had alot of fun!

Mom and Dad had to finish the craving after they went to bed. So we ended up with 2 bats and Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

Another Pumpkin Patch

Last week we got invited to go on a 'field trip' with Alex and Chloe's old teachers. I was surprised to see how NOT afraid of the animals Chloe was! The slide here was super slippery, so you flew down, and as you can see, Cooper was not a fan. It was fun to see Ms. Bonnie and Ms. Mary and let the kids play.

Masquerade Murder Dinner

Katie turned 16 this month and for her party she decided to have a masquerade murder dinner. I was helping out with the food, so I volunteered to do a part if they needed me. A couple of people backed out last minute so I joined them. My mom told me I could dress up for my part if I wanted to, but I figured that all these teenagers wouldn't really get into it, so I wore my regular clothes to be "Blondie Hawn", a has been actress. I brought food over to my mom's early and find my sisters all dressed up, so Jenny decided she would dress me up too! I was very impressed to say the least! All the kids came dressed up for their parts. My mom had given them their parts a couple days before the party and a mask and they all decorated their masks to match their character.
We had appetizers while mingling and sharing our clues. Their were a couple of games in between courses to get everybody all hyped up. We ate pasta dinner and then somebody was murdered. I had to leave early, so I am not quite certain about the rest of the night. But it looks like the kids had a blast. My mom wants to do it again for adults, so that will be fun!

Happy 16th Birthday Katie!!

Annual Halloween Dance

To follow tradition the youth in our ward had their annual Monster Ball. I talked Chris into coming with me last year, but since he is in YM now he had to come! I was watching Hayden, so I went through the costume box and found something for her to wear too! Erin DJ'd and we had lots of fun! Chris was on the dance floor a little with some of the kids while I hung out with the other leaders by all the treats.

Soccer

Alex and Chloe started soccer in September. They have had 3 games now. I am helping a friend of mine coach, so that is fun. But I definitely understand why we moms generally leave the coaching of sports to the dads!! It is hard and frustrating when you are trying to be a coach of 10 3, 4, and 5 year olds and trying to take care of others kids too!!
Alex and Chloe love it though. I was a little worried after the first game. Neither one of them really wanted to play, but I think that they just weren't feeling well. They both played almost the entire game last Saturday. Chloe is liking taking turns as goalie. When she pays attention she is pretty good too! She throws her whole self on top of that ball!! I am glad they are having fun learning to play soccer and they get to do it with a lot of their friends and even Hailey!!

{little mama}

Chloe's love for babies has been quite apparent for a long time, but it is fun finding out what a good little mama she is! Everybody knows that her baby goes pretty much wherever she goes, she sleeps with her and I am the designated babysitter when she has to go to school. But give her a real baby and she is on cloud 9! We have been watching our niece Hayden lately and I really don't even have to do anything. She feeds her, changes her, rocks her to sleep. She just gets it and she is only 5! She is going to be the best babysitter when she turns 12!!
A couple of weeks ago I was in the shower and had a load of clean laundry on my bed, waiting to be folded. She came in asked if she could fold it. Sure! Why not! I though I would be refolding it before I put it away, but she did super good and even had it all sorted to each person, just the way I do it!! She had never done it before, definitely not something I taught her. She is just good! I love the way she mothers her little brothers (most of the time!) and is so willing to take care of anybody smaller than herself. Cooper will sometimes be yelling "MOM" over and over when I finally answer, he says, "my Chloe mom!!". She is the sweetest!! I love her!

Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weeks ago we made our annual trip to the pumkin patch with some good friends.

As usual the kids had a blast going down the slide and riding the rides. And we had fun hanging out with our friends!

Happy 27th Birthday Chris! I love you!!

Little Baller

I think these last couple of games the kids finally got it! They have been hitting and fielding really well and they have won the last 4 games, so that has been exciting. Nick got the game ball on Tuesday night. He stopped a couple of good hits and got a couple of good hits himself. At last week's game he didn't strike out at all! he got 2 doubles and a triple. It was so awesome!!!

Writing the TRUTH

Look mom Im on the rocks. We dont have time for it. You are takeing for ever. I dont want to stand here.

Nick brought this writing home acouple of weeks ago. I just started laughing. He said, "WHAT? My teacher laughed when she read it too." It's funny, but kind of sad at the same time. I know I am always in a hurry. I guess I need to slow down a little and let my kids play in the rocks!

We have a playhouse!

Friday I came home from lunch with a friend and this is what I found. Chris decided to build the kids a playhouse. No instructions or plans. he just started building!

I am thoroughly impressed! I think that I am more excited about the playhouse than the kids!!

And tonight it is finished! The kids say that it looks like a barn, so it is their barn playhouse!

The kids had lots of fun playing in the backyard all week while dad was hard at work!

A New Do

Before

Last Friday I took Chloe with me to get my hair done. I was only going to have hers trimmed, but she talked me into cutting it off. She had almost 7 inches cut off and she was thrilled to see all of her hair on the floor. She had fun cleaning it all up! It definitely takes way longer to do it, but she does look super cute!

After