Halloween Fun

For Halloween this year we had some fun activities. First we went to the Pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins. After looking around for a while my kids picked the biggest pumpkins they could find. They thought it was great fun. I however am 99% convinced that the pumpkin patch people went and bought walmart pumpkins to stock their patch and then charged us 3 times the amount. Next year the grocery store pumpkin patch will be just fine.

Our ward had a fun Trunk-or-Treat on the Thursday before Halloween. Nate was gone to Outdoor Ed for the 5th graders and Ben is in India so I took Bonnie, Jared, and Gwen. I told all the kids that they could be whatever they wanted for Halloween as long as they could make it from what we had here at home. I did offer to buy accessories. Bonnie drew her pirate flag on her shirt all by herself. She is quite a little artist.

For Halloween we had a family party at home. I didn't want to go trick-or-treating cause I just don't really like it, and Jared ended up with strep throat anyway so it worked out well. We carved the pumpkins, made some very cool Halloween food, and watched a Scooby Doo movie. We also turned off the porch lights. We live at the end of a dead end and nobody usually comes down here anyway, but we wanted to make sure.

I love this picture because it shows a lot about my kids personalities. Gwen was still drawing her design for her pumpkin and deciding what would be the very best. Jared is already scooping the seeds out of his because he wanted to be the first one done. Bonnie is carving her pumpkin. She had made the design before the other kids started and took her time drawing her very best on the pumpkin. Nate is drawing his design on his pumpkin after deciding he had to make a design that was "different" from everyone else. Here are the finished products.

Here are the fun foods that we made. Mummies.

Witch fingers

Worms on a bun and moldy bones.

The kids loved our Halloween and I rather enjoyed it myself. I am looking forward to skipping trick-or-treating every year. The trunk-or-treat is plenty good for me.

Catching up for the last month...

Since we last posted things have been kind of fun and crazy for us. It started with Gwen taking a dive off a bunk bed and breaking her arm. This was made bearable by the fact that she got to choose the color of her cast and only had to have it on for 3 weeks. She actually broke both bones; however, she was moving it around fine the night it happened so we didn't take her to Urgent Care until the next day. After taking the x-rays the nurses were very surprised at how much she was still using it. Apparently we better watch her closely she is one pretty tough little girl.

This was followed very soon with Jared being Student of the Month for September. They always do the assemblies at the first of the next month.

Then we continued on to Jared's 7th Birthday. He is getting to be so big. Time has sure flown by. We are so glad to have this guy in our family.

As you can tell he got just what he wanted.

The Raingutter Regatta for scouts came this same week and we got Nate's boat made the night before. We love this activity and would trade it in for the Pinewood Derby any day. Despite the look of this picture Nate did win this race.

We also have been taking a Kung Fu class as a family which we have really enjoyed. We all earned our white belts this month.

So despite our lives being turned a little upside down...

And sometimes feeling completely worn out...

Life goes on without too much wear and tear.

A few fun pictures

Just thought I would share a few of the fun things going on with our family.

Since we do not have a swimming pool in which to play Marco Polo the kids decided that a pillowcase over the head of the person who is "it" is the next best thing. It was very funny to watch.

We got two kittens. They were rescue cats that had been at the shelter for 3 months. They were brothers that had both been fixed and had all their shots. They were so desperate to find homes for them that we were able to adopt them both for $20. They are both black and white and their names are Oreo and Cookie. Thankfully they both know how to handle themselves with Chancho.

On Friday the 11th I went back to work at Natip, the company I worked for last year for about 3 months. They are letting me come in part time while the kids are in school and I am also able to take days off when the kids are off. Overall I am very excited. And I got a cute new haircut this week so I had to show that off as well.

On Friday night I went in to cover up the boys and this is what I found. I don't know how it can be comfortable, but apparently it can...."Isma put your hands in the air."

This morning, Sunday, we woke up to find that someone (Nathan) had decided our house was too hot and had turned the thermostat down to 68 degrees. During the night Gwen had decided she was cold and had dressed herself accordingly. This is what she had on when she came downstairs this morning. I love it!!

Arrow of Light

Nate earned his Arrow of Light on August 20th and I am just now getting around to posting about it. We are so proud of him for putting in the work to earn this award. He loves scouts and he has had a fantastic Webelos leader that has made it much easier on Ben and I.

The Cubmaster and Cub Committee Chair put together a great Arrow of light ceremony.

Nate with his Webelos leader, Ty Brewster, and his best friend, Jesse.

Our Tree

On Friday night we had a great rainstorm. We were very excited as we had not had one for a while and because we live in Arizona we are always in desperate need of rain.

On Saturday morning this was the view out our front door.

Our tree had blown over in the storm.

Thankfully it did not hit any vehicles or our house. We spent the day Saturday getting it all chopped down and cleaning up our yard. I promise I did help more than just holding the camera, but I am the official photographer of most events.

The kids helping with the cleanup.

The finished and very bare front yard.

After we finished the front yard Jared helped me mow the back yard.

First Day of School

So I can hardly believe that the first day of school is here already. Summer went by really fast, but apparently school is starting none too soon if the last week was any evidence. The kids had a little bit of cabin fever and this is what happened to our front room several days last week.

Here are the kids all ready for their first day of school.

Daddy worked from home on this day so he walked with us to school. Jared was very eager to get there so he could play on the first grade playground so he took the lead.

Gwen was very excited about school and after a few tears last night was able to recover very well and had no problems going to school today. I can hardly believe that my baby is in school. I know that I am not that old.

As you can see she had no trouble waving goodbye when it was time to go.

Summer Fun

I know it has been a while since I posted. We have been having a fun and busy summer. Here are some pictures of what we have been doing.

Playing in the sprinkler

Enjoying our 4th of July BBQ

Jared and Gwen playing at the splash park

Bonnie watching the ducks behind the splash park, she far preferred this to actually playing in the water.

Gwen warming up in the sun after playing in the water

Nate took a fencing class this summer. He really enjoyed the class and has been "teaching" the other kids how to fence with sticks all summer long.

For Mother's Day and my birthday combined Ben got me a Bosch mixer and a wheat grinder. In return I have been making bread every week.

We have also been swimming, going to the summer movies, and just hanging out. All in all we are having a pretty good summer. I will post more pictures from other summer adventures later.