Halloween, Part 2!!

So Saturday night we got all dressed up and headed to Grandma and Grandpa McAlister's house. Well, except Syd. You can't really sit in a car in that clown suit. Or anywhere else, for that matter. :D So we dressed her once we got there. Then we did some token Trick-or-Treating at some of her neighbors with the cute little Wright girls...both dressed as little tiny U of U Cheerleaders. Grandma took some pictures and gave our kids each a fun Halloween doughnut to go with their soda and candy bar. They gave us a cute little witch doorknob hanger...She always finds the cutest things!...along with some bags of Hershey's Bliss Mint Chocolates. Mmm...Yum! Tastes like Christmas in your mouth! Then we bid them all farewell (after "de-clowning" Syd!) and piled back in the car. Normally, this is where we head off to Grandma Crabb's house, but she had the nerve to go to Disneyworld! Rude. :D (I'm just jealous they wouldn't shove me in a suitcase and take me along!) On the way to our house, Sydney called her friend Ryan, and we went and picked her up...She wanted to Trick-or-Treat with us!

From left to right, Syd's friend Ryan, Syd (The Fat Clown!), Spencer (IronMan!), Michael (A Dragon...From "How to Train Your Dragon"), Megan (Astrid...From How to Train Your Dragon), and Tory (A Motocross Racer).

I gathered my ipod (My favorite toy EVER!), put on my coat, and we headed out into the rain. We were out for about 1 1/2 hours, until we were too far from home and kids (and maybe mom, too!) had to go to the bathroom. So we called dad, who we'd left at home to pass out candy (to the 20 kids who came while we were gone!), and he came to rescue us and return us to the warm, dry house...with a toilet!

We were all starving, so we ordered chinese! Then we headed to bed. All in all, a great time. Even with the rain. It's fun having kids who are old enough to manage the walking! :D

Pumpkin Carvin'

Here are our carved up pumpkins! Notice everyone kindly looking at the camera...except Tory! He's looking at his pumpkin and making a face like he's afraid of it...I think. Too funny! And Spencer, with the bunny ears for Meg! And I'm not sure what gang Syd has joined...Do you suppose the wig is part of some crazy initiation? I guess it's time to have a chat with that girl!

Good Times...

My hubby is freaking adorable!

Tonight after we put the kids to bed I suggested we watch a movie or something before heading to bed. (I like everything and can watch some of my favorites about once a week...Not so much for Lee. Most movies he's content to watch once!) So he looked through our movies and didn't find anything interesting. No worries, I said. I've got a book...A fifth in the series, actually, so I'll just read here by you while you watch whatever you'd like.

Guess what he's watching.

NASA.

Did you know they had a NASA channel? Yep. Real pictures from space...and from the Space Station. Every five or so minutes, he'll nudge me and say "Look!"...So I look. Guess what he's showing me! Earth. From Space! When I giggle, he just says, "What? It's so cool!"

See? Adorable!

Halloween, Part One!

Today was the Halloween parade at the school. We had to get all dressed up for the beginning of school, and I dropped off my little costumed cuties at the school, parked, and walked in with Michael to watch the parade.

(This is where GOOD mom's would post pictures of their kids walking through the parade...You know, the kind of mom who actually REMEMBERED to take a camera to the school? (Ah, well. I remembered all five kids...Points for that?) I will be sure to take pictures of them tomorrow, and I'll put those on here for all to see!)

Sydney wore my favorite costume from when I was a kid...She was a fat clown! Megan went with Astrid (she's the heroine from How To Train Your Dragon!), Tory was a motocross racer, Spencer was IronMan, and Michael was a Dragon (from How To Train Your Dragon).

There was this really cute boy, maybe 2-2 1/2 years old dressed as a pirate. I mean, curly Capt. Hook type dark wig, big 3-corner hat, ruffle at the neck, velvety pants with matching coat...His parents had even drawn on the little curly-cue mustache, and arched eyebrows! (See? Bad mom...I'm not so sad I didn't take pictures of MY kids...I'm sad I missed a picture of THAT kid...!)

Then after dinner we "carved" out some time to carve pumpkins. It's one of my favorite Halloween traditions. I help take the guts out of all the pumpkins, then I encourage all of my kids to draw the face they'd like on their pumpkin. Then one at a time, Lee takes each design and pumpkin and tries his best to create their design on the pumpkin! Some efforts, total success...Others, not so much. (Especially if the 6-year-old doesn't want only two teeth, but the others accidentally come out...And then he's SUPER mad at dad!) It's really fun to see the creativity of both parties involved...the kids AND the dad!

Here's to more Halloween fun tomorrow!

Skate-O-Rama!

Tonight was Butterfield Canyon Elementary School's Free Skate Night at Classic Skating! (Free is my favorite price!)

With $2 meal deals, how could we pass it up? So we packed up our skates and scooters and headed over. (Yet another example of how great Lee is! One: Hates skating. Two: After a long day at work, wanted to go home and relax. Three: Hadn't had lunch, and the $2 "snack" deal left him wanting real food! But he was a trouper! He watched the kids skate and helped to shuttle food like a champ.)

Megan, Tory, and Sydney all enjoyed rollerblading. Spencer wanted to try skates, but changed his mind when he realized how tough it is! Michael was content to ride his scooter most of the time. (Although, we did take Spencer's pair of skates and split them up...One shoe/one skate for each of the little boys. That worked pretty well, for a while.)

Another fun event: Some champion skate team was there that night, and did an impromptu show! Lots of skate dancing. Very cool.

Watch for the post where Tory breaks a leg because he was trying to copy...It hasn't happened yet, but it seems inevitable.

Haunted Forest!

My brave 9-year-old ventured into the Haunted Forest this week! He was invited to a birthday party, and after cake and ice cream they were going to head to the Haunted Forest. I was reluctant...but he REALLY wanted to go. I talked about what would happen...that unlike a scary movie or TV show, these people are trying to actually chase you...and once you start, you have to finish...No "go backs"!

He was adamant...He wasn't going to be scared.

He came home (at 11:45 at night!!) and the first thing he said to dad was, "Mom was right." :D

Then in the morning, when I asked him how it was, all he could talk about was how cool it was. He'd do it again!

Good...'Cause Lee hates those things...Now I can have someone to go with ME...In a few years. (I still think he might be just a little too young!)

Hooray for primary programs!!

I really do love the primary program. You know, when all the small children in the ward flock to the front of the chapel to sing for the entire program? Love. It. I look forward to it all year...and even did before I had kids! This year is somewhat monumental...This is the last year all my kids will participate in the program...Next year Sydney will be too old! (Her 12th birthday is in just over a week...something I'm kind of freaking out about!) Megan and Sydney are singing "He Sent His Son" all by themselves. They've been practicing really hard. I can't wait to hear it! And I will be sitting there with no children all through Sacrament meeting...Fabulous! :D

A delightful bonus? The email I got from the primary president. Today, for an hour and a half I needed to drop my kids by the church so they could practice! Hee-hee! Can you say "Alone time"? Never happens.

I almost started to miss them...

.

Cut Footloose...!

Yesterday afternoon I (finally!) got to go see Cody's latest show! He was cast as Wren in Footloose out in Draper, and I've been really excited to see it. It's been open for a couple of weeks now, and with my work schedule the only time I could go was the matinee half way through the run. It was great! Although, admittedly odd, since it's tough to think of my little brother as the male lead. (You know, I remember him running across the stage in a teeny band costume in Music Man a lifetime ago...it's quite a different kind of performance!) But he carried that show so well. Willard was also fun to watch...Not AT ALL like the Willard in the movie, but entertaining all the same.

Cody, well done! I was very proud of you...you were most excellent!

(Plus, at the Draper Historic Theater, you can apparently get movie theater popcorn...I'm just sayin'!"

Long time no post!

It's been a while...I haven't really had time for much. I've had a pretty full couple of weeks...fun, and fulfilling, but CRAZY!

Anna, my sister in law, invited me to make and sell some things at the fall boutique she was planning at her house. At first, I was thinking, seriously? The only craft I excel at starts with a "K"! But I thought, okay. That could be fun. Last year around Halloween my sister Heather and I made some wooden spoons she found in a magazine. We painted/decorated them to look like frankensteins and mummies. They turned out better than I had expected! So I decided to make and sell those, along with adding a pumpkin spoon.

During the same time frame, came the fire. And also, the Saturday after this boutique was a surprise birthday party for my mom. I was so very crazy busy I didn't even sit down the whole week. In fact, I had read "Hunger Games", and was about 500th in line for the 2nd book of the series and then Sydney told me she could borrow it and bring it home from her in class library. So she did...and I told her she wasn't allowed to give it to me until after Grandma's party! (Anyone who knows me knows how I get when I'm into a good book...Can you say "Ignore the world?")

Whew! All I can say it that I guess I'm glad it's over...and I've spent the last two days relaxing! (Mixed with laundry...I can't afford to let laundry for 7 ever pile up!) The boutique went well...I made a few sales. And it was fun! I'd even do it again!

As for mom's party, it was a riot! She was so surprised...and genuinely delighted, I think. We tried to put a lot of "Mom" into the party...We found an inflatable jukebox (because she's always wanted one, and a real one costs too much!), we used her fancy "pink lady" bowl (If you don't know, I can't really explain it.), we dug up old posters from when she was over the Activities Committee and hung them all over the church, and we set up a candy bar, but pulled all the orange candies out of the bowls (when we were kids we had to sacrifice the orange candy to mom, since they were her favorites.)

Lots of friends came, and the crowd was small enough that it gave her a chance to visit with them, yet there were enough people that it felt well attended. I'm glad we made the effort...it was worth every bit!