My Two Little Creatures

This year for Halloween Megan asked to be a fairy. What she really wanted was Tinkerbell but those costumes are so short and small we were having a difficult time so she settle for Silvermist. She is part of the Tinkerbell family and Megan loved the costume. She was actually very happy and excited when she tried it on was glad to be Silvermist. Andrew is Spiderman part 2. This will be his second year in a row as Spiderman. There is just something exciting about climbing walls and being a super hero that he loves. Maybe next year we'll get to try something new.

The kids got to get all dressed up as a pre-Halloween bash at their school. It is Harvest Carnival time and the kids couldn't wait to see their friends and have some fun. I got them all dressed and ready to go as soon as Jeff got home he changed out of his work clothes and we loaded up to go.

The gym was packed with families and games galore. It was a buzz with kids playing and greeting each other. They played pretty much every game there was. Andrew has a really good aim and was able to knock down almost all 3 targets with one throw at one booth. Megan not so good at the aim but driven to do better on a second try. She studies her targets and tries really hard.

The only rough part we had was when it came time to select toys. After each game they had a little display table to choose from and it would be divided in sections depending on how well you played the game. Andrew didn't much care for this method as he wanted what he liked and didn't care what side of the line the prize was on. With one little melt down for not getting the prize he wanted all else went really well. Both kids had huge grins and loved seeing all and playing. I've been informed that they are ready for the main event coming in a few days. Halloween is just so much fun when you get to dress up and get candy. We've already been enjoying the season so much and still have more to come.

Pumpkin Artists

After our fun filled hours at the pumpkin patch we headed over to Papa and Grandma's house to carve up our pumpkins. Grandma has a stash of pumpkin carving stuff so it made it nice and easy for everyone.

The kids were very excited to get to their pumpkins. Grandma had some books of pictures to choose from that you could put on your pumpkins. This would be the first year that the kids did something other than the traditional faces. Megan knew she wanted a kitty and Andrew looked at the pictures till he found what he wanted.

Both kids picked the hardest pictures they could find of course. Megan picked one cat that was of course difficult and Andrew wanted some jester skull thing. Then MarGene found another book of very simple pictures and we let the kids choose from that book. Megan still got her kitty and Andrew got a spider.

The kids both listened and did a really good job. This was the type of pictures that you tape on the pumpkin and poke in the holes to outline your carving of the picture. Andrew poked about maybe 15 holes and said "your turn" he was all done with that part. Megan and Grandma shared and each poked holes till it was done. Then the pumpkins got turned over the the adult carvers (MarGene and Jeff) to make their pictures come alive.

After the artwork was officially finished and pictures were taken the kids got to add anything else that they wanted to the sides and backs of their pumpkins. Megan added some stars and her name while Andrew just stabbed at his pumpkin making lots of little lines we call hair. The kids had to put their own special touches to their masterpieces. It was like their own signatures to the art.

After all that we lit them up and the kids loved it. There is nothing like seeing your pumpkin for the first time with a candle inside. It was great fun. I'm sure our pumpkins won't last till Halloween but it was still tons of fun and the kids loved it. The simple things are really the best things ever.

Hunting Pumpkins and more...

Another family outing with Ken and MarGene. This one took us to the pumpkin patch by their house. We've been to a few in the last couple of years and really haven't found one we liked so it was nice to check out something new.

This one was all a buzz with activities and people. They had a really nice set up to make a fun outing out of getting a pumpkin. The kids started out wanting to get their pumpkins and we all agreed it was probably the best to get it out of the way.

Megan wanted to pick the largest pumpkin she could find. Any old small one wasn't going to do. We had to have her settle for having a bigger pumpkin than Andrew as you pay by the pound. She wasn't exactly thrilled but went with it. Andrew wanted pretty much the first pumpkin he saw and we had to talk him into looking around first. There were many that had already started to get mold so we had to be careful in our selection.

Once a fair selection was made Jeff headed over the the check out line to purchase our pumpkins and the rest of us headed over the the petting zoo to pet some cute little animals. Megan was all about quality and took her time with the eight different animal pens. Andrew was all about quantity and did the quick one-two pet and was on to the next one.

After a quick hand washing we headed over the hay ride to take us out to a corn maze. I of course took the opportunity to take more pictures. My family "loves" when I take lots of pictures.


At the corn maze they turned it into a little game of clue. Throughout the maze were stations with some answers of who wasn't the killer. We got a map and checklist to find out who done it. We'd cross off places, people, and objects as we found the clues in the maze. To make it fun we decided to split the group Men vs. Women. We set a 25 minute time limit and off we went.

The ladies started off really well and found three right off. We had this map which really didn't help at all and was more like just a piece of paper. We thought for sure we were going to win. MarGene asked how much time we had and as I looked at my watch realized we had 3 minutes and we still needed 2 more clues. We headed for the exit hoping that we still won. It took us a little over 5 minutes to find our way out so we were late. We came to the exit to find Ken waiting for us and they had the answer. The men won!! (We later found out that they cheated and got some help from someone else they found in the maze. It was all in fun anyway.)

After such a brain busting task each child got about a 5 minute pony ride. I think this may have been the highlight for each of them. Both kids were really good on the horses and had smiles the whole time.

We ended our pumpkin patch outing at the corn shooter. You got to blast off a half a piece of corn into a field and if you hit a target in the center you could win a free pumpkin. I think one of the bunch got close but not a win. It was so much fun with all the activities and stuff to do. I'm thinking we may have found the right pumpkin patch.

My little swimmers

My kids love swimming at Papa and Grandma's club house swimming pool. There are certain hours posted for kids to come and enjoy the pool and we have taken advantage of that several times.

We got to enjoy yummy sliders and nails, the second half of Saturday's General Conference, and then a little dip in the pool. The kids were really good for the whole day and really enjoyed every second of the pool.

They are my little swimmers. They get all excited any time we say we are going to see Papa and Grandma and it is a nice bonus to add swimming. We had a really good time and glad for the chance to go.

R E S P E C T

Megan got an award at school on Friday in the area of Respect. She was super excited when she brought me home the notice that she would be getting the award. She was even more excited when I told her that I would be able to come and see her.

It truly made her feel special to be able to look out at the sea of parents and see her Mom standing there. She waived several times and had an eye on me for a chunk of the assembly. It was also really cute that Andrew was in the audience with his class for the first time. As this was the schools first assembly of the year I don't think he really knew what was going on but was really good and sat to watch. Good job to the kiddos!!!