Halloween Extravaganza...sort of

Well, I wouldn't really call it an extravaganza, but we definitely had a week FULL of extra Halloween events. Monday for preschool I had the kids go on a "treasure hunt" because we were talking about the letter 'X'....X marks the spot, duh! They were hilarious. We also finished up some halloween stuff and even learned a little. ;) Tuesday we had a halloween "party" at the library for storytime. Another reason for the kids to dress up and eat sweets, that's all that really mattered. Wednesday there was a carnival at the community center....more costumes and plenty of candy!! I was already done with Halloween before the day even came. j/k Friday's preschool was a little halloween party that the two other mothers and I put on for the kids. We really are amazing!! ;) The kids (and even we) had a really great time. We read a story, sang some songs, made candy necklaces, decorated cookies, created spooky scenes, bobbed for apples, ate donuts off the string, wrapped each other as "mummies" with toilet paper, played musical chairs and of course had snacks....whew!!

Craft time with all the preschoolers....decorating cookies.
I lost track of how many apples Cali bit into and threw back....gross!!Open wide and say Ahhhh....Austin was a pro and Cali wasn't too bad herself.Both had powder everywhere!The Mummy Returns!!!Halloween Night was short and sweet! The kids had a blast and we were only out trick-or-treating for about 45 minutes. Cali learned how to say "trick-or-treat" and we all had a really great time!!Austin could barely carry his bag anymore but wanted more...please?I don't know who had more fun...Marcus or the kids? ;)

I hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween. We sure did!

Halloween Preview

We had our ward party this past weekend so here are just a couple pictures of the clan. It was our first chance of many to be all dressed up. I love that the kids get more opportunities to dress up other than just trick-or-treating!

Cali wasn't too happy at the beginning of the party...too many scary costumes and tons happening around her I'm sure was a little overwhelming. The balloon really helped. ;)
Fish Kiss!!
Family photo opp...I was a scorceress, Marcus a vampire, Austin is Batman and Cali is Tinkerbell.
Cali ended up downing 2 hotdogs and half a cupcake!! Hungry girl.
Austin really had a great time...he can't smile for the camera anymore, it's all funny faces.
Austin and his buddy Aiden were wearing the same exact costume....they never left each other's side the rest of the night!!
Cali wasn't too sure about Daddy's makeup...she barely even went to him the whole night.

We had a really great time! This morning we went to storytime at the library and it was a really cute halloween party for the kids....another chance to dress up, but I forgot the camera. Tonight we're doing our pumpkins (pics to come), tomorrow a carnival at the community center, friday a halloween party at preschool and the main event. Definitely plenty of pictures ahead. I love halloween and having kids gives me even more excuse to dress up and have fun!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Quality Time

Since the hurricane we haven't really had a weekend together as a family yet, until now. This past weekend, besides my evening at my girlfriend's 30th birthday party (Happy Birthday Mandy!!), we actually got to spend a lot of time together! We hung out together Friday evening eating Pizza and ice cream after a trip to the park, we were introduced to a really great park which we took advantage of on a gorgeous saturday morning (we love the park), we went shopping for halloween costumes, Marcus took a well deserved nap, we got to take the boat out for a relaxing ride and a little fishing (forgot the camera), and we took a family walk around the neighborhood on Sunday, which was also quite gorgeous. What more could a mom ask for than quality time with her whole family? Here are some pictures from our awesome weekend:

Austin found the bbq pit at the park...with his head! Poor Guy. Ice Cream was the only cure.
Even with an ear infection and runny nose she's cheesin'!
Deep Thoughts....
Proof that Daddy was home.
Playing at the park saturday morning.I don't think that's a happy face.My children are deep thinkers, contemplating life....even at the bottom of the slide. ;)This was obviously not part of the weekend. This is my group of little preschoolers that I teach Monday mornings. This week we're talking about the letter "J" so we had to carve a Jack 'O Lantern...not too shabby! Aren't they adorable?

Enough Already

I was just telling a friend last night that I hardly ever do these tags and here I am doing back to back tags!! What a liar I am. But I just couldn't resist this one. What you're supposed to do is open your picture files, open the 6th file and the 6th picture, and blog about what was going on in that picture. Well, I went to the file and this is what it was....

This was taken the day before Halloween in 2006 (as you can tell by the date on the picture, duh). We lived in Oregon at the time, Austin was 2 (soon to be 3), I was pregnant with Cali and we were a little late getting our pumpkin turned into a Jack 'O Lantern. Austin had a GREAT time digging all the gunk out of that big old pumpkin. I remember we even went to pick the pumpkin right from the patch. We rode on a wagon out into the field and let Austin have whichever one he wanted. Of course he chose this one, it was almost as big as he was. I let the boys do the dirty work while I played photographer, as I tend to choose to do....anything to not be in the pictures. ;)

That was a great Halloween!!!

Tagged

I was tagged by a couple different people for this one, so I guess I'll fulfill my assignment.

Here are the rules...

1. Link the person who tagged you. (Like I said, I was tagged by a couple, so I'm not linking)

2. Mention these rules on your blog.

3. Tell about 6 quirks of yours.

4. Tag fellow bloggers to do the same.

5. Leave a comment to let them know they were tagged.

6 Quirks is tough when you're as quirky as I am...I'll try to narrow them down. ;)

1. First and foremost I really dislike being late. I get that horrible knot in my stomach and sweat, like I'm nervous for some reason. Especially for church. I'm usually seated and got the kids settled before anything begins...I just can't handle being rushed.

2. I really can't stand clutter. I'm doing a lot better now, as you can tell from my cluttered house, but I used to be quite psychotic about it. I had a place for everything and everything was in its place. Maybe it was because we lived in a trailer that was the size of a cracker jack box and if something wasn't put away then the whole place was a disaster. I have a MUCH bigger house now (too big if you ask me) and two kids that aren't so crazy about cleaning up their own clutter. (and the messy husband with piles all around doesn't help either) I've become much more relaxed about it, but I still don't like it!

3. Weird, I know, but I can't handle a cupboard, drawer, door, window, etc. being even slightly left open. If it's a cupboard then I have to arrange things so it will close all the way. If it's a drawer, same thing...and I've even passed that one on to Austin!! He'll fix his clothes so his drawers close all the way. What have I done??

4. I can't stand hearing people chew. Maybe I'm just controlling like my father (hahaha) or maybe I was just raised to chew with my mouth closed and I expect others to do the same. Whatever the reason, it's like nails on a chalkboard to me....and Marcus does it ALL THE TIME!

5. I'm a stickler for respect/politeness. My kids are even becoming little politeness freaks themselves. Just the other day we were driving in the car with 3 extra kids in the car for a little trip to the park. The little girl asked Austin for a book to which he replied, "you didn't say please. you don't say please or thank you very much, do you?" My little 4 year old has been nagged a little too much by his mother about saying please, thank you, excuse me, i'm sorry...is that a bad thing?

6. Though I'm doing much better at choosing my battles, I get a little bugged when my kids clothes don't match. Don't judge me!!! When Marcus gets them dressed, he'll let Austin pick out his own clothes (that never match) and pick Cali's to be miss-matched on purpose, just to bust my chops. Most of the time, especially on saturdays and sunday afternoons, I just let it slide. Who cares, right? But when we are actually going into public I change their clothes right before we leave so he can't do anything about it.

I'm not tagging anyone, but if you think you'd like to share your quirks with the blogging world, go for it!!!

Yes, I'm a dork. Whether those are quirks or not I don't care. It's my post and that's what I want to share. Do you really think I'd share my worst quirks....or maybe those are. You'll never know!!! moooaaaaaa!!!!