Fun Halloween Festivities

There are always so many fun activities that precede Halloween that get the kids even more excited for the big night. Tuesday night we headed to our church for the annual Trunk-or-Treat activity. There were yummy soups and pies to eat as well as plenty of candy. The kids got to showcase their fun costumes; Savannah looked awesome as Medusa and the boys were skeleton pirates.


Noah was so proud of himself and knew that he looked dang cute.


David got to sit out in the freezing wind to pass out the candy.

We had some of our neighbors join us this year and we had alot of fun with them.


On Wednesday Xander had a Halloween party at his preschool. There were crafts, games, and tasty treats.

Two CUTE pirates. Xander and Miss Cutie-Pants Dominique. (Xander has a little crush on her and says he wants to marry her.)

Pumpkin Carving

Monday night we headed to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out some BIG pumpkins to carve. We had to settle for a small produce stand that sold pumpkins since it was raining cats and dogs. The kids still had fun picking out their pumpkins and Noah just ran around pointing at them and saying, "Pump! Pump!"




Later that evening we got out the knives and did a little carving. Both Savannah and Xander are very good gut-removers!



Thanks to some really great stencils, we have really cool pumpkins again this year!

Redistribution of Wealth

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not too crazy about Barack Obama. I really can't understand why so many people in this country are so crazy about him; I mean really, what has he actually done? First of all, he's a complete socialist. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not too crazy about this whole take my money and give it to others who don't deserve it. And what's this whole attack on Joe the Plumber? Weren't the Democrats the ones so upset about the Patriot Act and how the government was going to spend time spying on us innocent Americans but it's okay for the Obama campaign to delve deeply into someone's personal life if they have the audacity to ask Obama an intelligent question? And speaking of questions, if a news anchor decides to ask some hard questions, it's okay for potential government leaders to ridicule and condemn that person? I guess we'll only be allowed to ask our leaders questions about butterflies and rainbows. Oh, and my favorite of today...do I really want my president to view the Constitution, a document that I consider a gift from God, to be the fundamental flaw of this country? To have that person believe that this amazing document that has made us the most free nation ever is only a charter of negative rights? Scary, scary. Obama claims he will bring about change...well, he certainly will do that but I know that it's not the kind of change that will be good for this country or for us Americans.

Maybe she should have just said, "Let them eat cake!" (or lobster, in her case).


If Obama is elected, expect this blog entry to disappear along with the rest of my blog. Fairness Doctrine, people!

We Got Boo'd

Last year at this time a person driving through our neighborhood would notice a little sign that said "We've been boo'd" on almost person's door...except for ours. We definitely felt like some pretty big Losers with a capital "L". Thank goodness this year we got some love from someone very nice...We got boo'd!

Little Keepers at Home

Friday night Savannah and I attended our first meeting of Little Keepers at Home. A Christian woman started this program years ago to help young girls learn about our Savior, about being good Christian women, and about preparing to be a wife, take care of a home, and rear future children. The handbook Savannah received lists many basic skills to learn in the areas of Godly Girlhood, Basic Skills, Homemaking, and Nature. For each skill passed off, Savannah will receive a pin that will be displayed on her sash.
At this first meeting Savannah earned her Table Setting pin (an easy one for her since setting the table each night is one of her regular chores) and her Painting pin.

After each of the girls told us about the skills they had been working on this month and each had been awarded her pins, we learned about sewing and actually sewed on Savannah's patch to her sash. Well, we sewed on about half...it was hard work for both of us. I don't think I've picked up a needle and thread since my mom taught me how to sew on a button when I was in my early teens. I have a feeling I'm going to benefit from this program as much as Savannah will.


Both Savannah and I had such a great time with the other girls and their moms. Savannah is so excited to get working on some of the other skills and earn more pins. I'm excited to spend quality time with Savannah each month as well as help her set and achieve worthwhile goals.

The Pumpkin Patch

Monday morning Xander and I went to the Pumpkin Patch for his preschool class field trip. Although it was a bit cold, we had a fun time.

Xander got to pick out two little pumpkins to take home. Xander had some trouble finding two that he liked, even though most of the pumpkins looked EXACTLY the same...but he finally made his choice and we now have two more pumpkins on the front porch.

We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, which the kids really enjoyed.


After the hayride, the kids got to spend some time running through the hay bale maze. It was perfect for these little 3 and 4 year-olds...just the right height with lots of ladders for them to climb on and jump off of.

18 Months!

Okay, I know I'm prejudice but I have one of the cutest little guys in the whole world and it's hard for me to believe that on Friday he turned 18 months! Noah is our caboose, the last child, and so I have tried to relish every baby minute that I can. Just a few weeks ago David decided it was time to put the high chair in storage and move Noah to the table in a booster seat. Here is Noah, sitting proudly at the table...one of the few rare moments that he has actually remained in his seat eating. Mealtimes have become Noah's favorite time of the day...sit in the seat for about 2 minutes to prove he is a big boy and then jump down and race around the table, grabbing food off everyone else's plate, throwing his food everywhere, and basically just causing a ruckus.

By this past Saturday I had had enough of that and the high chair returned. Thank goodness Noah had no problem returning to it (I had envisioned massive temper tantrums as we tried to put him back in it) and his eating has returned to normal. He will still, on occasion, throw some food on the floor but I don't mind that...the sanity of mealtime is back to a somewhat normal level. And Noah is just like the other kids - he is an excellent eater! Some of his favorites are dried mangoes, macaroni and cheese, saltine crackers, hot dogs, and suckers. Noah definitely keeps us on our toes.
Noah is not much of a talker yet; the few words he can say are: Ma-Ma (and this is said in a high, shrieking voice that grates on my nerves), ball, Da-Da, bye-bye, no-no (and he shakes his finger back and forth with this one), kaker (translation: cracker), and Men! at the end of a prayer. He's my little ball player; he loves to throw and kick any ball. We haven't been able to figure out if he's right or left-handed because he uses both. His eyes have been changing color and I think they're going to be hazel, just like David's. Noah always wants to feel like he's a big kid...he follows Savannah and Xander around and loves to play with them and with their toys. Here he is on Xander's scooter...doesn't he just have the best smile?


Noah is a pretty happy little guy but when he doesn't get what he wants, watch out! Last week he threw a temper tantrum complete with hands punching and feet kicking the floor. It was something to behold. But those moments are pretty rare. He LOVES music and tries to sing along to songs. He has a dance to his step and when music plays, he is quite the dancer. He has this great elbow and arm movement that he has incorporated into his dance routines. And musical greeting cards are his favorite. He will keep opening and reopening a card for long periods of time until we are all sick of the song. He also does what we call "the Curly". Think of Curly from The Three Stooges and how he would do that crazy running/dancing move in place and that's what Noah does. Another favorite of his is the bath. Throughout bath time he will run from the tub to the shower and back and forth and back and forth (Xander will be in one and Savannah will be in the other) leaving bubbles in his wake.

We are so glad that Noah is a part of our family!

Blue Rock Stars Game 6

I LOVE watching Savannah play soccer. This season has been so much fun! She seems to understand the game a little better than last year and is so much more aggressive.

She wanted to score another goal so badly this week and was so upset that it didn't happen. I told her that I was so proud of how well she played and it didn't matter if she scored or not.

She had a few tumbles during the game and extremely dirty knees at the end of it. I reminded her that these are signs of a good soccer player. If you don't have dirty knees at the end of a soccer game, then you haven't played well enough...and if you don't hit the ground at least once during a game, you haven't played hard enough.

The game ended in another tie, 1-1. Her last game is next week.

Beautiful Fall

Fall just might be my favorite season of the year. Growing up in Southern California, I never really got to experience the changing of the seasons. Right now the East is alive with color; I love driving everywhere, looking at all the beautiful leaves, trees, and bushes. Some of the other great things I enjoy about fall are the cooler weather, sweaters, making comfort food, sipping hot cocoa with LOTS of whipped cream, and of course watching football and basketball.

And of course there's Halloween! Halloween is one of our favorite holidays and we so enjoy decorating the house and yard as well as choosing which costume we're going to wear on the big night.

The kids helped me decorate the house this year and Savannah was able to find her favorite Halloween decoration, Mr. Mad Pumpkin.


For Family Home Evening Activity on Monday night the kids decorated brownies with Halloween motifs. Although the frosting didn't harden like it was supposed to, the kids still enjoyed painting them.

Every October 13 I give the kids a Halloween goodie bag. I'll post a Halloween pajama picture of the kids when I get one.

Another Wonderful Weekend

Another wonderful weekend! It started Friday night as David and I attended our Stake Temple Night. We were lucky enough to have a prayer meeting with the Washington DC's exiting temple presidency and to listen to their amazing messages of faith, hope, and love. Then, early Saturday morning, I traveled up to Philadelphia with several close friends to attend Time Out for Women. This was my first time attending one of these meetings and I had such a great time. The message of the conference was joy and all of the talks as well as the music were so inspiring. There was also a special excitement in the crowd after just receiving the announcement that Phili will have a temple soon. We then hurried home from Time Out to attend the adult session of Stake Conference, the session that is my personal favorite. Just like last week with General Conference, I had a very spiritually fulfilling weekend.
Check out our cool Time Out for Women bags!


Oh, look who I ran into on my way to Time Out for Women...one of my favorite people of all time. (Ha-ha!)

The only disappointing thing about this weekend was that I missed Savannah's soccer game...and of course it was in this game that she scored two goals!! I am so proud of her but so upset that I missed her first goals ever. Hopefully there will be plenty more.