Halloween Parties and Our Halloween Night

Saturday we got invited to a family Halloween party. The girls all picked something different to dress up as...Hallie was Elsa, Em was a bee, and Gracie was Anna.

We had tacos for dinner and then they had some crafts and games for the kids. They made pumpkin smiles and candy bar ghosts. Later the kids watched a movie while the adults played games and visited

Em mostly liked to just play in the ice bin

Halloween morning Hallie went dressed to school as a Pirate again for the school Halloween parade. On the way to the bus I noticed a slight double rainbow and by the time I headed back home from the bus it had turned into an amazingly beautiful and full double rainbow. It is one of the most beautiful things I have even seen. Hallie forgot to tell me about it but luckily Ashley text me to see if I was going that morning so we rushed to get ready and I call Matt and we all got there in time to see the parade

That afternoon we picked Hallie up from the bus and headed home to finish our dinner in a pumpkin and find a movie to watch. The kids were content to watch a movie and we let them pick a few treats from their Halloween candy and have some popcorn. We had a quiet night...not one trick or treater!! I hope the kids always like to stay home on Halloween although I know that will never happen Ill enjoy it while I can.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

What Halloween would be complete without sugar cookies in various "scary" shapes? This year Em got in on the action to. She mostly just ate the dough and used her rolling pin to poke holes in it. This is the non smile face 

verses the say cheese face

Hallie and Grace did a great job once they got started. 

Say cheese faces

I love my kitchen especially for things like this. I think years form now we will have so many memories around this island with these growing girls. Im so grateful for them and how much fun they are

Manor Care Trick or Treat & Sure Steel Halloween Party

Yet another tradition, I didn't realize how many fall traditions we had until this year, was to trick or treat at Manor Care with the residents. The kids looked so cute and were so excited. Hallie went as Captain Hook's Daughter, Em went as Tinkerbell, and Gracie a Scarecrow

Em was new at trick or treating but she picked up on it pretty quickly...although she wanted to eat every treat the minute she got it.

There were quite a few people there and a few traffic jams but the residents love it and I'm so glad my kids love to go as well.

After some cider and a cookie we packed up to head over to Sure Steel for more trick or treating and the company party. This is Em's new face when you ask her to smile

We had yummy catered BBQ for dinner it was yummy. There were fewer people there this year but I guess they have quite a few employees out of town currently

As usual the blow up house and slide were a big hit. Em got so mad when she couldn't climb to go down the slide so I was happy to take her. Although after a dozen times my legs were tired

They also did a couple pinatas...each of the kids lined up to get a turn to hit it

After my legs were tired Matt took Em down one more time before we called it a night

We had an entire grocery bag of candy and good candy at that..mostly chocolate. On the way home with the kids we decided we were done with Halloween and trick or treating.

I love this little family and all the fun we have together. It wouldn't be fun to have traditions by myself.

Gracie's Preschool Halloween Party

For Halloween Gracie's preschool has a Halloween parade in all their costumes and sang a few songs before having spooky snacks

Gracie chose to go as Rapunzel to this party

Ms. Syrina is so great and thinks of such creative things to do with the kids. Im really glad Gracie has the opportunity to go to preschool and learn from her

Black Island Farms

This is something we look forward to all year the kids talk about it all the time and when fall hits they ask about when we are going. Nic organized a field trip so we could get the goo price and we were happy she let us tag along. I decided to let Hallie come along so I pulled her out of school so we could all go. Matt was out of town in Arizona so we missed him this year. We did the tractor rise to the pumpkin patch first. Its pretty much impossible to get a picture with them all looking

Once we got to the pumpkin patch each of the kids found a pumpkin and waited for the farm hand to come and cut it off. The girls also got a carrot at the carrot field and they decided to eat it.

Hallie loves sunflowers and their seeds she wanted to bring it home so we could plant the seeds and have out own flowers.

After we took the pumpkins to the car we headed out into the play field. We fed the remaining carrots to some of the animals. 

Then we got to see the pig races the kids thought it was pretty funny to watch the pigs run in a circle.

Then we hit up the slides and swings. Em loved all of it and Hallie and Grace were so good to help me keep track of her and each other

The animal train is always a favorite. We didn't have any lines so we rode it over and over again.

Then they buried Rigs in the corn pit

And then back to the train again

After a couple hours we decided to call it a day. On the way out we took a few pics

The weather was perfect and as always it didn't disappoint. We love traditions and can't wait to go again next year. Everyone was so tired on the way home we went straight home and everyone but me fell asleep...although I wish I could have had a nap as well. It was such a fun day to hang out with Nic and the kids

Fall Break Weekend...The Good and the Bad

Our first day of fall break was great at Gardner Village but it was the beginning of a very exhausting weekend with lots more bumps than anyone expected although we were still together and did get some cuddle time in. Both families were in town and we didn't our best to split our time and still have time for just our little family. I was supposed to work both Saturday and Sunday.

Friday morning while doing Hallie's hair I found 2 bugs that I immediately had a sinking feeling were lice. I called and emailed a picture to the pediatrician and sure enough thats what they were. I was pissed, discussed, and completely panicked. I called Matt and he said he would come home to help as soon as he could. We ran down to Smiths and bought all the stuff to disinfect all of us. Once home we stripped every item in the house that could be washed. I started the laundry and stripped the girls down one at a time to do their hair and comb it out. It was like one of my worst nightmares coming true. I hate when there are bugs in my house that I can't see and the feeling was all to familiar from when we had cockroaches in the condo.

That afternoon I called Matt in tears asking for him to come home to help me and shortly after he came to my rescue. He helped me get the other 2 girls hair washed and brushed through, laundry rotated, and the house vacuumed before he had to go back to another meeting. A couple hours later I picked up our babysitter and headed to Ogden to get pedicures for the Brower girls weekend. It was a nice break and the first time all day that my skin wasn't crawling.

After pedicures as we were leaving I backed into a lady's car who was parked in the middle of the road waiting for a parking spot. I didn't even see her. Luckily no one was hurt and Matt wasn't far away. We exchanged info and went on our way. I called him and he wasn't even mad just glad I was ok. I really don't understand what I did to be so blessed with this amazing man in my life that loves me so much...even when Im crazy. Then we headed over to dinner

After dinner we headed home for more laundry and to get the kids to bed. I had Matt treat my hair and make sure it was clear..luckily it was. In total Hallie was the only one that had any "bugs" and we only found 2. I hope I never have to deal with the nasty things ever again. Saturday I got called off work which was such a blessing. We got a ton done around the house. Ended up with a total of 17 loads of laundry and 6 leaf bags full of stuff we couldn't or didn't need for a couple weeks in the garage. We played with the girls and had a few puppet shows. One the way to meet my parents and pick up a gift for Hallie's Christmas we saw about 11 deer on the side of the road grazing in a residential yard. I love where we live

My Mom, Dad, and Maddi spent most of their morning in Logan watching Utah State volleyball since they stayed with Nic we didn't see them until dinner. We met up to eat before going to the Weber State Volleyball game. 

We stayed thru 3 of the 4 games before Em got to restless to even function

Luckily we got to see Waldo and once again most of them liked him

I chased her around and we had a dance party on time outs

Em finally warmed up a little and gave him five

It was so fun. I think we will try and go to the game again. Sunday morning I went to work and then we headed to Brit's for one more family dinner before Tiff headed home. It was a crazy busy weekend but we were glad to see both sides of the family. I'm ready for a nap