Halloween-

Like I said-I am working Halloween night, so I have to grab any taste of Halloween I can before the main event. Last night was the church chili contest/trunk or treat. I brought some chili...I did not even want to be in the contest...I just wanted to bring some chili. It was fun to see all the different kinds of chili. I thought all were yummy. Contest schmontest.

Unfortunately, I could not find Ryan, Emily and Andrew to bring to the party.

I was able to bring Luigi
Mario
and a creepy vampire (seen in the top picture).
They all had a great time.

Band Begins...a few weeks ago

I finally got myself over to band with Ryan this morning. We had to be at school at 7:15 am. That was early for us! The car was frosted over. The sun still had not started the day. It was COLD. I was not sure if band was worth it. But guess what...it was!I am excited to be a band parent volunteer. It is fun to help the band kids find their spots in the music. I got to help pick up dropped music (a few times...and surprisingly Ryan was not one of the kids to drop the music) and stack chairs. Also, now I know where Ryan is supposed to be in his band music and I can be a better help to him. I bet he is so excited about that!
It was fun to be back in the presence of a fifth grade band. Things have not changed much since my days in fifth grade band...girl flutes...boy saxes and trumpets...etc.

The songs the band plays are cute and fun. They even are starting a Jolly Old St. Nick Salsa.

It is exciting to have Ryan be a part of the band.

Fall Festival at school

It was time for the school parties. This year was special because I had all three kids in one school. Our school still gets to wear costumes and have a parade. They all march to music like Monster Mash and Ghostbusters. I loved seeing Andrew march by... The Kindergartners are my favorite. They walk around the school in such a daze and they are SO cute.
Emily was a baby this year. She walked around the whole school on her knees. Ouch!What a cute baby. To some there is nothing scarier than a baby...no matter what time of year it is!

Funny story...we bought her these PJs a few weeks ago and the zipper broke. We tried to take them back but we could NOT find any of that same style in her size near our house. Last night, Erik had to drive to a further Target to get them. I now know why. There was a big group of girls in these same PJs for the wax museum...and a few other random babies in the same PJs. Popular choice.

That brings us to the Fifth Grade Wax Museum. The fifth graders at our school do not march in the parade. They get to watch the parade and then put on a Wax Museum for the rest of the school to go through during their parties. The museum is in the cafeteria. The lights are out. There is a pathway made out of those rope Christmas lights. The fifth graders are set up along the path. The students get to pick a thing/scene to be...Ry picked a construction worker.

Do you like the vest, safety glasses and hard hat? He stood very still the entire time. That is difficult to do..the students do get to take quick breaks and change poses between groups that enter the museum. While people are walking through the fifth graders are still and silent. Perfect wax statues. It is a way cool experience for them.Here is Ry's whole set-up. I think it worked out pretty well. Luckily, Erik is still working on our dining room so all the construction stuff is laying around...I guess we have construction on the mind.

Call me crazy..

I want one of these!! Ashley would be so jealous though...

Grand Rios

We are in the middle of MEA weekend. This means the kids have Thursday and Friday off and the teachers go to in-service meetings. I loved this weekend growing up! We decided it would be fun to take the kids to Grand Rios. This is a hotel that has a fun indoor water park and it is not far away.
We really loved the lazy river, the water slides and of course the hot tub. It was wonderful to get away for a short time. I even went down some tube slides (which now I thinking was not a great idea-ouch)!
At night, we got some pizza, bread sticks and pop. Of course we brought chips and candy too. We played Mastermind about a million times. I loved spending time together with no distractions.

Unfortunately, I really hurt my back right before we were scheduled to leave. I decided to go any way. I thought the hot tub would feel good. I hobbled around and had fun with the kids.
We had to cut our Friday water fun short because of my back. I went to the chiropractor because my back was getting worse instead of better. He let me know the hot tub was bad for the back. Who knew? He also let me know I would be in pain for a while. How lucky am I?

This was a wonderful trip-back and all! Next week, they have Friday off. After that, they have Thursday and Friday off again. October school schedule is weird!

Boo'ed

I was at my neighbor Kristen's house and she showed me this cute idea. "I got Boo'ed." Basically you leave Halloween treats on someone's doorstep, ring the bell and run. It is a really cute way to spread Halloween cheer! Kristen was thinking of starting it in our neighborhood. Right away I thought it would be fun to start one in our ward (church group). As usual the thought was as far as I got with it.
Within the week we found this fun pumpkin on our doorstep. It was filled with yummy candy, "We've been Boo'ed" signs and the cute poem that explains the whole idea. We got boo'ed. It was signed from someone in the Apple Valley ward. I am so glad some cute and fun person or family had the idea and actually did it! We loved the candy inside and added some more for the people we decided to boo. I hurt my back..so I can barely walk right now..so no running for me. I can drive the get away car though. The kids had so much fun sneaking up to a house. They left the treat and then ran like mad (We choose someone who most definitely will not be reading this blog too). Of course we had to double back and make sure they got the pumpkin. The mission was a success. The Boo'ed chain lives on in the Apple Valley Ward!

Spookagama

I really love Halloween. I think it is fun to decorate the house. I think it is fun to watch the kids dress up and try to scare each other. I also think it is fun to eat candy. Last year I had to work on Halloween night. I was hugely bummed out. I vowed to never go to a store on a holiday. I evil-eyed each customer that dared walk into Target.When I was filling out my availability for work this month..guess what day I forgot to mention that I could NOT work. Guess what night I got scheduled for AGAIN! So I have to grab any Halloween activity I can, since I am missing the main event. Yesterday was the Girl Scout Spookagama.
We dressed warm (did I mention it was cold) and drove up to a "nearby" girl scout camp site in the middle of the forest. We went with another troop making us 16 girls in all. In case you can't find Em in the group..she is in the red and black plaid coat. There were so many activities for the girls to experience. This is part of a Scooby Doo adventure.

While we were waiting to go into the scary movie scenes building the girls got to dance around. That was fun and a great way to keep warm. We also got to go on a haunted hayride, go into a scary laboratory to feel eyeballs and brains, we got to see a circus go terribly wrong, walk through a dragon, watch some witches capture a hunter and other creative activities. The girls had a great time. It was a fun way to begin Halloween.

Fall Love

Do you know what I love to eat in the fall? In fact I have been seen choosing this treat over chocolate... It's homemade warm apple sauce. I love it so much!!

Yesterday, Tiffany called and invited me to go to an apple orchard. I got off my couch...put on some jeans and we ventured off to the orchards. It was a beautiful day. The kind that you don't want to waste indoors.We had so much fun...I grabbed the kids off the bus and went back. This orchard is not far from our home so it is easy to make a quick run for some apples.

We spent time playing hide-and-go-seek in the shrub maze and then we hit the trees. We decided to pick Honey Gold apples and Honey Crisp.
Emily brought Lauren our neighbor. The girls laughed and giggled the whole time.
This was our first trip out to the orchards this fall. I am ready to go back again. I love being outside with the kids. This is our farming experience for the year....apples right off the trees.

Now back to the applesauce. We made it and we LOVED it : )

Jr. Girl Scouts

Emily has decided to participate in girl scouts this year. The leader is Tami (Emily F's mom). She is fabulous and the girls adore her. This is a fun group of girls. They have high energy, lots of enthusiasm and lots of emotions. We had our first meeting on Thursday. I get to help the troop by being the "scrap booking" mom. I am translating that job to mean: taking lots of pictures of everything they do together and then having copies of the pictures for the girls to make their books. Basically troop popperotzi. EASY!
Here the girls are re-enacting the food chain. At this moment I think the predators are eating the herbivores.
Last week we also had our first outing as a troop. We went to a nature center nearby and earned the wildlife badge.
We got to go on a nature walk and then learn about birds. It was fun to have the girls explore and observe nature. They found a bunch of dead baby mice and a dead bird. Awe... the beauty of nature! We did hear some owls too.
I am excited about the different experiences that Emily will get to have with these girls. I think they will all learn and grow a bunch together this year. Also.. I am excited that I am NOT "cookie mom."

Work in Progress

We really love our yard, our schools, our neighbors and our trees. We actually love our house too, but it is a work in progress. In fact, when I first walked through this home I knew it was the right place for the kiddos to grow up. I also knew that pretty much EVERY room in the house needed help.
Over the years the bigger projects have included:

knocking down walls..

completely overhauling the kitchen

gutting a bathroom and putting in a wall mounted toilet (huge hassle)

building a retaining wall

and finishing the basement
building walls, moving pipes, adding a bathroom downstairs and everything else you need for a finished basement..
(carpet was added too)

Now there is also this strange room off the kitchen. If you have visited my home, I have more than likely asked you what I should do with this room. It is long and narrow and really doesn't have any walls to put furniture against. It is too narrow for a family room and too wide for a hallway.
We have decided to make turn it into a dining room/game room (I love game night)/cubby room. This means replacing the sliding door (it was horrible), redoing floors and building cubbies.

Today is door install day! This means we have a really big hole in the back of our house.
It is a wet and cold day. We started a fire to warm up the place. Any excuse for a fire.

Good luck Erik..Have fun, I am off to the Y.

Ready?

Tonight the recipe group is meeting at my house! We are sampling/exchanging hot dish (casserole) recipes. SO NOT READY! We decided to remodel our family room this week. We are turning it into a dining room..super excited...timing slightly scary. so now my house looks like this... Hot dish is NOT in the oven and I get to go to girl scouts this afternoon..Am I ready? Me thinks NOT.

Of course I have time to blog about it. Structured procrastination hits again : )