October

A few highlights from October (aka - times I had my camera).............

I love that my kids are off school for half of October. It's perfect weather, and there's plenty to do. We started our track break with our annual trip to the favorite Pumpkin Patch.

They had a new and improved corn maze this year. It was bigger, with more turns, and much more fun for the kids now that they're a little older.

We took a little road trip to St. George to visit my family. My parents treated us to Tuacahn Theater. We love Tuacahn, and Little Mermaid was great.

The plays are so good that it's even safe to sit these two crazy kids next to each other and they'll behave.

We came home from St. George and had fun playing with friends at Planet Play - don't you love the glasses on Kylie's bff?

I had to include this because Kylie's face is hilarious. A little too much fun playing in the leaves?

Here is a normal one, so you can get that other one out of your head :) Kylie is starting to look a little too grown up for me though :(

We became a four-eyed family in October. All four of us now require glasses.

Soccer season ended at the end of October. Kylie was awesome as always. She only has spring season left to choose between gymnastics and soccer.......her schedule can no longer fit both.

Kylie and her friends making Halloween treats from Grandma. Love the rabbit ears.

This is what happens to Kylie anytime she has too much sugar. Seriously. Halloween is a scary time of year around here.

Matthew's class performed the 'Thriller' dance for all the parents. This is his best zombie face :)

See how much Matthew likes to have his picture taken? This is during the Halloween Parade at school. Me: "Hi Matthew! Smile!" as I try to catch a picture. Matthew: "mumble, mumble" as he waves his hand and continues looking the other way. You would never know from this picture what a mommy's-boy he really is. Whenever I don't have my camera pointed at him, he will run to hug me, yelling "Mommy!"

Kylie, on the other hand, cannot have her picture taken enough.

Here we are getting ready to Trick-or-Treat. Halloween night was fabulous - nice and warm. Matthew made it to the next street before bailing out. He is not a big fan of candy, so he gets bored after a few houses. Kylie and her friends however, were among the last ones out.

*If you are a Star Wars fan - yes that is a Boba Fet helmet with a Jenga Fet outfit. Matthew decided to be Jenga, but then at the last minute decided he liked the Boba helmet better. I was surprised by how many people knew he had both on......they all look the same to me!

October

It feels a little wrong to be blogging about pumpkins while listening to Christmas music. But, I am determined to get this thing up to date!

Our favorite pumpking patch

The cornmaze still freaks Matthew out a little bit. I don't know if it really does, or if he just acts scared for the sake of tradition at this point. He likes to imagine (out loud) all the things that might be hiding and waiting for him in there. A few years ago he spotted a squirrel and a few chickens in it - that's as scary as it gets :)

I just love the mini wheelbarrows.

Matthew does not share my love of the miniwheelbarrow. He says it's embarrassing, and that this would be the last year I could make him use one.

We discovered a new place to have fun. Have you been to Incredible Pizza Company? Kylie & Matthew L-O-V-E it. They have a kid buffet there that is every kids dream.....pizza, mac & cheese, french fries, ice cream, etc. Then you buy a game card that is good for mini-golf, mini-bowling, bumper cars, laser tag, and video games. Hours of heaven for them.

It's a fun place.

I joined them on the bumper cars. I felt like a kid - they spin, and they're fun :)
The place is a little pricey - especially if you have more than a couple kids - but I thought it was worth it.

Kylie's class performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance for Halloween. Adorable. The kids had soooo much fun getting ready for it. Her teacher cracks me up. She is obsessed with Michael Jackson. She used to be a back-up dancer for him. The week of Halloween she had life-size cardboard cut outs of him around the classroom and they listened to Michael Jackson music all week. Her son is even named Jackson.

I helped with Matthew's Halloween party by doing the craft. We made little mummies out of popsicle sticks.

Kylie and Matthew went with a Star Wars theme for costumes this year.

Princess Leia and a Clone Trooper. Kylie wore the wig to a party early in the week, and it irritated her, so we somehow managed to get her super short hair into buns for Halloween day.
In the picture they are in the elevator on their way to Daddy's annual Halloween party at work.

Trick-or-Treat!

Happy Halloween!

We visited our favorite pumpkin patch this week. We normally go at the beginning of October, and we have our pick of all the best pumpkins. This year it was slim pickings, but after a thorough search we found a few good ones.

And who needs perfect pumpkins when there's a super fun corn maze?

And really cool tractors to sit on?

Matthew was convinced he could get that thing started and drive off in it. I will now be hiding my car keys!

Yay! Matthew was excited to see Mommy at the Halloween Parade at school. I love seeing all the cute kids in costume. Matthew is Darth Vader - his costume has a mask, but they aren't allowed to wear masks at school:(

Part of Kylie's class got lost and I missed her in the parade, but found them wandering down a hallway. Here she is with one of her best friends.

After school, we went to the annual Halloween Party at Daddy's work. I think this might be their favorite part of Halloween.

I mentioned in my last post that I have the best neighbors. Here is proof! My neighbor, Krystal, brought me this plate of deliciousness for no other reason than to say thank you for something I did for someone else. Krystal is amazing, sweet, talented, giving...... but the more amazing thing is, that describes all of my neighbors. I never want to move.

Trick-or-Treat

Matthew loves Transformers, and was so excited to be Optimus Prime this year. Kylie was Tinkerbell, but she was unusually shy this morning and would not let me take her picture. She would not even wear her fairy wings for the parade at school. But, she did have lots of fun, and was ready for her wings when she came home.

After school, we headed to John's work for their annual kids' Halloween party. I love that they do this every year. First we watched 'It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown' on a big screen projector. There was popcorn and soda and tons of candy. Then we went trick-or-treating through the offices. My kids love hanging out at daddy's work. Kylie drew pictures for daddy all over his whiteboards.

Coffee Break

No, my babies are not drinking coffee. They had to try out the hot chocolate in the break room.

Who knew fake teeth would be their favorite thing tonight? I think Matthew might want to be a vampire next year just for the teeth.

This is the first year Kylie has been crazy for candy. (Matthew still prefers brocoli over candy!) Plus, all the frosted sugar cookies and other homemade treats - I had to take her pumpkin full of candy away because she had a major sugar rush going on. Then she tried sneaking in to our stash to hand out. Just look at that wired face.

Tonight the weather was absolutely perfect for trick-or-treating. It's normally freezing cold on Halloween, but tonight it was almost warm. As I was walking around the neighborhood, the kids just a few feet ahead of me, I had to pinch myself. For years, when John & I were unsuccessfully trying to have kids, I dreamed of moments like tonight. I am so grateful for my babies.

Pickin' Pumpkins

We went to our favorite pumpkin patch today. We go every year, and the kids love it.

I love this picture! Kylie spotted a squirrel in the corn maze this year.

Posing with the pumpkins

Normally you get to wander through the actual pumpkin plants and cut your pumpkin from the vine, but they changed it a bit this year. Either way, the kids love loading up the wheelbarrow with pumpkins. Now it's time to make some warm apple cider and watch "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Don't you love fall?

Happy Halloween!

mmm, starting the sugar rush early.

Spiderman and Princess

John's office had a fun party for the kids. When we walked in, there was a big green balloon arch that said Welcome to Emerald City. The receptionists were dressed as Dorothy and Glenda the good witch. Then we followed a yellow brick road around to the different departments trick-or-treating. The kids love visiting Daddy at work. We took him some of the cookies we made.

Check out all the loot :)

Devil's Night

Does anyone really like to eat these things?

We carved our pumpkin to scare away all the ghosts and goblins tonight. We only carve one because the kids prefer to paint them. They think we're killing the carved one, but it's a sacrifice they're willing to make to keep the monsters away.
I normally do not do the carving, but John is working late. Do you think my goofy-looking pumpkin will still scare the ghosts?