Halloween

On the day of Halloween Noah had his preschool Halloween party. Since I was a party mom I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked but I did manage to grab a few.
Noah and his class trick or treating around the club.

One of the party moms had a face painting station and she did such a fabulous job!

I was in charge of the games and I'm pleased to say that the spider races were the hit of the party.

Hanging out with his favorite buds.

We also did the feeling game where the kids reach into a bag to feel all kinds of different things like ears, tongues, bones, and a brain. Here's Noah who "accidentally" pulled out some of the guts.

Those sticky eyes just wouldn't stick.


His fun teachers, Miss Kelly and Miss Carol.

That evening the kids were ready to go! What could be better than going out on a cold night all dressed up to receive candy from strangers? We had a few costume changes; Xander was the killer from the movie Scream (without the knife, of course) and Noah was a werewolf.

We invited Noah's good friend Anthony and his family to join us for trick or treating and then dinner after. Poor Noah...his costume change was a last minute thing so we didn't have time to "un-warp" his werewolf mask.

Savannah wasn't the only Clawdeen Wolf prowling the streets that night.

Xander thoroughly enjoyed passing out the candy.


Another fun Halloween! The kids are already planning out next year's costumes.

Carvin' Time

For Family Home Evening on Sunday we carved pumpkins which is always a fun time for the kids. We made it much faster and easier for ourselves this year by sticking to just the basic ole' Halloween faces rather than doing the fancy sketches.
First came cleaning out all the guts.


Noah wasn't too thrilled with this part of the process.

Each of the kids told David what kind of face they wanted and we were all pleased with the results.

Noah was so bummed that David had carved pieces out of his pumpkin that he stuck all the pieces back in. No amount of explanation on our part could persuade him that to make it a Jack-a-Lantern we needed to remove them. Oh, well...that's just so Noah.

Saturday evening was the Trunk or Treat at our church and, as always, it was a ton of fun. In the past we have enjoyed an evening of soup and pie followed by the trunk or treat but because our ward has basically outgrown our building the refreshments were donuts and cider. They were still pretty tasty and it left everyone plenty of room to mingle and check out everyone's great costumes.
Our family had such a fun time dressing up this year...okay, maybe not David but he was a good sport and went as Zeus to my Medusa.

Xander went as Darth Maul;

Savannah was Clawdeen Wolf (Monster High person);

and Noah was an astronaut.

Every year there are some pretty amazing costumes and this year was no exception. We had lots of witches, Harry Potter characters, policemen and robbers, soldiers and Arabs, and vampires but always the best are done by my friend Megan. Her family is always coordinated and she makes the costumes herself. This year they were characters from the movie Labyrinth and their costumes were quite impressive. Here is her husband Jon as one of the wise men along with my hunky Zeus.



Noah hanging out with the teenagers, as usual.


It's always such a fun night!

The Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Ahhhh, yes, the Pumpkin Patch Field Trip. This was my seventh time going on this one...yes, seventh time! But it was also my last so that made it a touch bittersweet but only a touch. Noah and I did the exact same things that all my kids have done on this field trip. First, we showed up with plenty of time for Noah to run around the hay maze with all his friends.
We then rode the wagons out to the pumpkin patch where the kids received a lesson on the many jobs a farmer has.

After that the kids were set free in the pumpkin patch to select their very own special pumpkin. The adults always get to pick one as well.


Last, we headed back to the main area for treats and more hay maze fun!

Savannah's Award

What a great way to start off the school year - Savannah was nominated by her teacher to be the ABBY student of the month for September. Bascially this means that Savannah is well-behaved and doing all the right things in her classroom.

Way to go, Savannah! We are always so proud of the kids when they receive this special award.

Her wonderful teacher, Ms. Patek.

Go Utes!

This past weekend we headed up to Pittsburgh to cheer on our Utah football team as they faced the University of Pittsburgh. What a great time we had! Although it was extremely windy and a tad cold we cheered loudly and enjoyed the great game. The Utes had a tough start but came back to win it.

Xander seemed to enjoy most of the game but grew a little restless by the fourth quarter.

And Noah? Well, he was done with the game after about the first minute. Of course we had forgotten the gameboy in the car so for about the first half of the game he sulked.

Thank goodness the Walker boys (the family that joined us on our fun little weekend adventure) entertained him and kept him busy. Noah can be so cute when he wants to be and even endeared himself to some of the Pitt fans that were sitting next to us. One of the Pitt guys kept offering him licorice and patted Noah's head any time Noah got near him.

By the fourth quarter Xander, Noah, and AJ kept themselves busy with games on the parents' phones. Whatever works!

Savannah stayed true the whole game and really seemed to enjoy the game.

When the Utes win on the road they come sing the Utah fight song with the Utah fans.

Despite the cold wind, the lack of a band or cheerleaders, and the Mormon bashing going on by some of the Pitt students, we had a fabulous time!

While driving home Sunday we decided to take a slight detour and see the memorial to Flight 93. It was definitely a sobering experience to see the memorial, the crash site, and the pictures of all the men and women who fought back the morning of September 11, 2001.


The memorial that contains the names of the people on the flight follows the flight pattern of the plane just before it crashed. We explained the significance of this event to the kids but I think Xander and Noah still a little young to truly appreciate that they were wallking where heroes had sacrificed their own lives to save others.


The crash site.

A Night of Planning

Savannah and I truly look forward to the first Friday of each month when we meet together as a Keepers group , learn new things, and have fun. The culminting event for this year is a special dinner for the girls' dads so each meeting that we have before then has an activity or two in preparation for this event. At this October meeting the girls decided what they would serve at the dinner (working on their Menu Planning award) but we'll keep that secret since David reads the blog and I know Savannah wants him to be surprised. It's definitely going to be yummy!
The girls also spent some time on napkin folding, a nifty little skill that will enhance the beauty of the table at "the daddy dinner".