Trunk or Treat Fun!

My kids always plan their Halloween costumes a year in advance. As they sort all the candy they got from trick-or-treating, their conversation usually turns to what they are going to dress up as the next year. So, Savannah has known for quite some time that this was the year she was going as a devil. And what a cute little devil she is!!!

Noah's costume ideas changed daily; one day he wanted to be a Musketeer, the next it was Wolverine. Obviously I wasn't about to fork over money just to have him change his mind the day of Halloween and refuse to wear his costume. Every few days he would go back to "I want to be Skeletor for Halloween" so I did spend $3 on a skeleton facial painting kit, pulled out some black dress-up clothes, and crossed my fingers. Thank goodness the night of trunk-or-treat he was more than happy to become Skeletor!

Xander had his mind set on being a vampire this year and couldn't wait to get his face painted, stick in his fangs, and go bite some necks.

We LOVE dressing up for Halloween!!

We had a blast at our ward's trunk-or-treat activity. And thank goodness we had the activity to look forward to; since Halloween is on a Sunday this year, the only trick-or-treating the kids get to do was at this activity. The night started with yummy soups, rolls, cornbread, and a variety of desserts. Awards were handed out for various costumes - I won "Most Likely to Have my Own Pyramid" (I was dressed as Nefertiti) and Noah also won a prize but the announcer spoke so softly that I have no idea what his exact win was. After the awards, we all headed outside for the candy.
David, dressed as "SuperDad" (costume consisted of Noah's Superman cape), handed out the candy and I walked with the boys.


A fellow bloodsucker! (Look, Bishop, you made the blog!)

The family picture.

"I want to suck your blood, Mommy!"

David did such a great job painting Noah's skeleton face...

that when it was time to clean it off, Noah was devastated.

Halloween Begins!

My sister Heidi mentioned on her blog that there seem to be 50 events that lead up to Halloween and I'd have to agree with her. Okay, maybe not 50 but there do seem to be a lot of fun Halloween activities before the big night even comes. Our first Halloween event was Noah's Halloween party at school. We decided that it would be best for him to go as Wolverine so as not to scare the kids with his other costume.
Here he is, muscles and all!

The kids started off the party by trick-or-treating around the club.

The party continued in the classroom with the usual activities: some crafts, a game, and plenty of food.



Noah made a fun Halloween necklace but then gave it to Miss Barb. What a bummer for me - I wanted it!

Check out his loaded cupcake...and he ate the whole thing!

Noah absolutely adores his teachers, especially Miss Barb.

Our Kitten Tragedy

Yesterday was a very sad day for us as we lost all of our sweet little kitties. The mother had started acting weird Thursday morning, not wanting to be in with them or nurse them. I let her outside in the morning and she headed off into the woods and didn't return until last night. We have a feeling that something was wrong with them or that they weren't nursing correctly and just slowly became weaker and weaker. By the time I realized that something might be wrong, it was too late. I feel just terrible; we were so excited to have the joy of kittens in our home and now they're gone. The kids are taking it surprisingly well and only shed a few tears; they weren't that attached yet because I had tried to keep them away from the kittens so as to not freak out the mother. The mother cat is definitely getting fixed soon because I don't want to go through something like this again.

Great Season, Xander!

Saturday was Xander's last game and I must admit I'm sorry that his season is finished. It has been so much fun watching him play!
One last cheer for the Black Dragons!

Receiving his trophy.


A family photo...yeah, Noah can be weird.

Four Little Cuties!

This time I was smart. This time I didn't hesitate. This time we got this:



Four cute little kitties born Tuesday night in our basement (rather than the woods) and, needless to say, we are all very, very excited!!!

Except for David.

The Tooth Fairy Pays a Visit

The tooth fairy has been working overtime at our house - 3 visits in the past few days. Last week Xander lost his very first tooth!

The best thing about losing his tooth, besides the whopping $5 the tooth fairy left him, was that he lost it at school. Any kid knows that when you lose a tooth at school you score this fabulous tooth necklace to store your little tooth in until you get home.

The very next day was Savannah's turn.

Monday Xander came home from school with exciting news - he had lost his second tooth. So, as you can see, the tooth fairy has been leaving a lot of money at our place this past week!

Noah's Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Noah and I headed to the pumpkin patch with his class for a fun fall field trip. While waiting for everyone to arrive, Noah played on the playground and ran around in the hay-bale maze.

We got to ride on the hay wagon out to the pumpkin patch! This was the only part of the trip that Noah actually paid any attention to me...the rest of the time was spent sitting on Miss Barb's lap, holding her hand while walking through the pumpkin patch, or showing off the pumpkins he picked up for her approval.

Noah picked out this nice little pumpkin!

He had a hard time choosing because he also really liked the teeny, tiny pumpkins.
Enjoying a snack and some apple cider before heading home.

Although it was a cold and windy day, Noah and I had a great time at the pumpkin patch!

Savannah's Soccer Pictures

After much begging and pleading on my part, as well as some cooperation from the boys, David finally got some pictures of Savannah in action in her most recent soccer game. Unfortunately the game did not go well for our Green Dragons; the girls played as if this were their first soccer game playing together as a team (that's the coach in me talking!).
But Savannah played really well, as usual. She has been mighty aggressive this year and her ball handling skills have really improved.


The highlight of the game for both our team and Savannah was when she scored our team's only goal of the game. Here she is dribbling the ball as she approaches the goal.

And here she is right after she scored, receiving hugs from her teammates.

One of the most frustrating but funny moments of the game came when Savannah knelt down to tie her shoe...and kept tying it despite the fact that the ball was coming right to her. She ignored the ball and kept tying!!! Later I told her that she better get up next time and get that ball...I don't care if her shoe does fall off. I can definitely forgive her, though, since she did hustle the whole game plus she had that goal.

My Scary Little Pumpkin!

When I picked up Noah from school the other day this is what greeted me:

To scare some folks on Halloween

I'll tell you what I'll do,

I'll hide behind this pumpkin face

And then I'll yell Boo!

I must admit, his "Boo" was really good!

Savannah Did It Again!

For the very first month of school, Savannah was selected by her teacher to be the ABBY student of the month. Way to go, Savannah!
Unfortunately we were in the back so this was the only shot I got of her being awarded her certificate and pin.

Savannah and her good friend Natalie who was a fellow ABBY winner.

Savannah and her wonderful teacher, Ms. Hill.

The Dreaded Trip to the Dentist

Brushing Noah's teeth is a major battle in our house. He absolutely hates it, even after all my threats that his teeth will turn black and fall out if he doesn't brush. I even showed him a picture of Mao who had black teeth from never brushing and Noah actually thought it was cool. So obviously I was a little concerned about Noah's first trip to the dentist - how was he going to react to some strange person messing around in his mouth and touching his teeth? I had nothing to worry about! Noah was great and actually enjoyed his very first trip to the dentist.

He especially loved the sunglasses he got to wear.

And yes, he is wearing a cape!

No Soup for You!

Actually, everyone got soup...I just love saying that Seinfeld line whenever talking about soup. Anyway, Savannah's Keepers meeting last night was all about - you guessed it - soup!

After reviewing all the different kinds of soups that are out there, we headed into the kitchen to invent one of our own. Bente's table was spread with all kinds of ingredients and the girls got to choose which ones they wanted to include in their soup. Savannah, Cate, and Kaia worked together to create a nice vegetable soup in a beef broth. Rebekah and Lydia were a little more adventurous with their invention, adding MANY different vegetables, herbs, and noodles.




Although both soups turned out fine, Savannah's group definitely created a winner! Bente wrote their recipe down so that we could all make their yummy soup again this fall and winter.


To complete her soup making award, Savannah has to make several more soups so if any of you have some mouth-watering soup recipes, please send them our way!