Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays of the year.  We love dressing up, carving pumpkins, making pumpkin flavored anything, and just having a good time.

The first thing we did was carve our pumpkins.

The kids are getting old enough now to do their own pumpkins.  Russell still does all of the cutting but they can scrap all of the guts out and draw their own designs.  Charlotte did not like the guts so I think I scraped out her pumpkin's guts.  The fun part was letting each kid find and pick their own pumpkin out at the Bear Bottoms pumpkin patch.  Because of the cold snap, a lot of the pumpkins had a little frost bite on them so they were a little mushy.  They did not last as long as they usually do on our front porch.  Because of this, we had to carve them on certain sides away from the mushy parts.  I love all of the designs the kids came up with.  Emily's is really funny because her pumpkin is eating another little pumpkin.  Logan had been planning his pumpkin face for a while and kept telling us he wanted moon-shaped eyes and triangle jagged teeth.  Charlotte's pumpkin is smiling just like she does.  Colby's design definitely looks like his costume this year with its angry eyes and vampire teeth.

Colby and Emily's piano teacher always does a Halloween recital before Halloween.

During this recital they get to wear their costumes and play the spooky song they have been learning.  Emily played "Casper the Friendly Ghost" and Colby played a song called "Trick or Treat."  The both did a great job!

While we were down in St. George for the Marathon, Grandma Morwood had her annual Halloween party for the grandkids.

It has been a few years since we have been able to go to this party so I was glad we were able to be there this year.  The kids costumes were not quite finished but they were good enough.  Colby is a vampire, Logan is a mummy (his costume still needs work), Charlotte is a cute little witch, and Emily is Raggedy Ann.

During the party we played some fun games like doughnut eating contest:

And bobbing for apples.  The doughnut on a string was a little hard for Jack in his giraffe costume.  His blown up head kept getting in the way.  The costumes were stripped for the bobbing for apples so that they wouldn't get wet.  Oh thing about it, bobbing for apples does take skill and the ability to breath under water.  Our kids had a little bit of a hard time until they realized they could bite the stem easier than the apple.  It was really hard for Logan because he doesn't have any front teeth!  Charlotte was the smart one and just grabbed an apple with her hand.  She was not about to stick her head in the water. Bobbing for apples is also not a very sanitary game.  Who knows how much spit, snot, and germs were floating around in that water after all of the kid had had a turn...  It was so fun to watch though.  We also had a cake walk, a goldfish treat, lots of candy, and Sloppy Joe's.  A good time was definitely had by all.

Finally Halloween Day arrived.  The kids were all able to wear their costumes to school for the Halloween parties and parade.  Before they left for school, we had to take pictures:

I love how all of their costumes turned out.  I let them choose what they wanted to be and then found things we already had to make them.  This was probably one of the easier years for costumes.  Emily wanted to be Raggedy Ann after seeing Taylor be it a few years ago.  We were able to borrow the costume from Lacie while we were in St. George.  Colby wanted to be a vampire.  His costume consisted of his church clothes with a vest and a cape.  I found the cape online for about $7 and figured I couldn't make it for any cheaper.  Add some vampire teeth and slicked back hair and he was set.  Logan wanted to be a Mummy.  This costume probably took the most work.  I got him some white sweats and them sewed ripped strips of fabric all over them.  It took a while to sew them all on but it turned out great.  Finally Charlotte was a witch.  She really wanted to be Frozen but our Elsa costume was still a little too big for her so we told her she could be it next year instead.  Her little witch costume this year was one that Emily wore in second grade and the one I wore when I was a kid.  It was a little big on Charlotte but turned out so cute on her once we rolled the sleeves a bit.  Instead of being knee length the dress was floor length and went perfectly with her purple hooker boots.  

I decided to dress up as a witch as well in order to match Charlotte. We were Big Witch and Littlest Witch. 

Charlotte and I were so busy with things at school on Halloween.  First we helped with the Red Ribbon week activities during lunch.  Then we had school lunch with Colby and Logan because we forgot to make our own lunch.  It was fun to eat with them and hang out with them at lunch.  Charlotte thought she was so big eating school lunch.  I don't know if the lunch people will let us eat together again though.  First Logan spilled his milk all over him and the floor.  So the lunch helper mopped it up as I cleaned the table and Logan.  Then as soon as we cleaned that up, Charlotte spilled her milk all over the place too.  Once again we mopped and cleaned it up.  Then when Colby came over with his plate, he accidentally spilled his black beans on the floor.  He felt so bad I thought he was going to cry.  I told him not to worry and to go see if he could get another bowl of beans.  So then I had to sweep up beans before the other kids stepped on them and smashed them.  All the while I am in this witch costume looking very strange.  Finally we got all the messes cleaned up and sat down and enjoyed our lunch.  When lunch got over, Charlotte played with Logan during his PE and felt like one of the students.

It was then time for the class Halloween Parties.  First up was Colby's class.  The room moms that helped me played a lot of fun games, helped the kids make bats, and passed out a lot of treats.  The kids loved it.

Next I rushed over to Logan's class.  Thankfully everything was running smoothly when I got there.  These room moms were playing more games, reading stories, painting, and passing out popcorn.  These kids also had a blast. 

At the end of the day, the whole school participated in the Halloween Costume Parade throughout the school.

It is always fun to see all of the costumes the students come up with.  This is really where we get all of our ideas for costumes for the next year.  Everyone has a blast parading around and waving to their parents.  The halls are always so crowded.  At the end of the parade, all of the kids gather on the blacktop on the playground and do a dance for all of the parents. This year they learned the dance to "Thriller."  The dance was awesome but, needless to say, we had that song stuck in our heads for the rest of the day.

We were finally able to come home from school after being there all day.  

Yes that is snow in the grass behind us.  I knew it would start getting really cold once the sun went down so we decided to go Trick-or-Treating early.  The first thing we did though was bundle up in layers.  I had the kids put at least three layer on under their costumes.  They looked really fat with all of their clothing but I didn't care, they were going to be warm.  Then the Checketts came and picked us up and we were off to Trick or Treat.  We hit all of the houses we could get to and especially the good houses that gave out pop and candy bars.  Unfortunately it got dark sooner than we wanted and then it started to get cold.  We had only hit less than half of the houses but still out bags were full of candy.  We decided to call it a night and head back home because our fingers were frozen.  When we unloaded our loot, we had a whole table full.  It was a good Trick-or-Treating haul.

Happy Halloween!!!

October 2019

October is always a busy month for us.  It seems like there is always something going on every week or weekend.  Here are some of the fun things we have been doing this month.

I was able to go with Logan on his first grade field trip this month.  All the first graders went up to Logan Canyon and went on a short one mile hike.

Charlotte and I joined them and we all had a good time.  It was fun to be with the kids and see their enthusiasm for nature.  We loved looking at the colorful leaves and learning about the different plants and animals that live and grow in this area.

Logan loved having us tag along with his class.  He was such a good brother to Charlotte and helped her along the hike.  The kids in his class were very friendly to her as well.  It was a little chilly on the hike.  By the end the kids were wanting to be done hiking even though it was only a mile.  The trail was beautiful. We need to go back up there as a family soon.  Logan's favorite part was riding the bus.  Charlotte couldn't ride the bus so we drove up there and back.  After the hike, we met back down in Logan at Willow Park.  There we got to go to the zoo and see all of the animals.  We especially loved seeing the big barn owls and hear them hoot.

Another fun thing we did was participate in the Red Ribbon Run.

During this race, we all participated in the one mile.  I ran with the kids while pushing Charlotte in the stroller.  She is getting a little too heavy to push!  Anyway, the kids did great.  They ran their mile and we all pushed each other to go faster.  At the raffle afterward, we won a $25 gift card to Subway so we got to go out to eat too.

I have been doing a lot of canning lately as well.  Our neighbor's apple trees were overflowing again this year so they let us take as many apples as we wanted.  We filled a couple of 5 gallon buckets and a few shopping bags full and then went to town making applesauce.  We canned 40 quarts of applesauce!  Like last year, we decided to make flavored applesauce.  We made strawberry, raspberry, triple berry, and peach mango as well as two batches of regular applesauce.  We love the berry flavored applesauce but the peach mango is not the best.  I think I should have added more sugar and some cinnamon and it would have tasted better.  So now when we use a peach mango, we have to add those ingredients before we eat it.  Oh well you learn.

While I was at it, I also canned some chicken.  I found a really good deal on chicken and bought 40 pounds of it.  After cutting it up and bottling it, I had pressure canned 25 pints of chicken.  We love this chicken and use it all the time for quick meals or salads.

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month so USU always puts on a Tackle Cancer pink game.  The Cancer Center gave me two tickets to this game so Emily and I put on our pink and went.

It was really fun to meet and get a picture with Big Blue.  Then we went out on the field during the opening ceremony and made a high five tunnel for the football players to run through.  It was pretty exciting to be on the field.  

The weather had taken a cold turn so we originally were not going to stay for the game.  We were just going to do the opening tunnel and then go home.  Because of this, we did not bring anything warm like blankets or beanies.  When we got to the stadium though, the football spirit was in the air and we decided to stay and watch the game.  Unfortunately we had to sit on the wet frozen metal benches so our butts froze.  Emily wanted to stay for the whole game but we only made it to half time.  The half time show by the college band was amazing!  After they band was done, we pried our frozen pants off the bench and headed home.  It was 10:30 pm by this time anyway so it was late.  

The next morning or soon after, we woke up to this sight out our windows:

Yep the first snow fall was in October this year.  The kids were so excited but I was not.  We hadn't even gotten out our snow gear yet!  October has really been a cold month with temperatures in the single digits on some days.  If this is an inclination of what winter will be like, I am not looking forward to it.  

Another fun thing Russell did this month was go deer hunting.  Russell's dad and Tyler came up to try their had at hunting in this area rather than in St. George.  I don't think they will do this again.  With it being so cold, the mountains were covered in snow.  It was hard to get around in the snow and it was just plain cold hunting.  They went out about everyday and only saw does.  They saw about a million does they said and not one buck.  They were so disappointed.  Unfortunately this year was a bust for deer hunting and none of them were able to get anything.  It was too bad but I do think they still had fun being out with each other and four-wheeling in the snow and mud.  I guess that is all that matters.

Well there you have it, our fun adventures in October.

Fall Break

The kids were excited for Fall Break because they didn't have to go to school.  While they were out, we had a little stay-cation and did some fun things in the Valley.

First we went to the Fall Harvest Festival at the American West Heritage Center.  I started working there again this month and have been helping with the front desk during the Corn Maze and the Fall Harvest Festival.  I had to work during this weekend so Russell took the kids to all of the activities while I was working.

They had a good time riding the ponies, seeing the animals, and participating in the activities of the festival.

They also got to make masks, climb on rocks, and pet the donkeys.  

When I was on my lunch break the kids came and ate lunch with me.  We ate out by the pioneer encampment.  All the kids wanted to do was run around and throw leaves at each other.  They ate their sandwiches and told me all about their day.  They had done a lot of things and played on everything there was.

Finally I got off work at around 3:00 and together we went through the Corn Maze.

This year everyone wanted to try and do the Maze without a map.  They wanted to try and find their own way through.  It was fun to see them go back and forth through the Maze.  Finally we were able to make it through.  I think I like going without a map better because I enjoy the kids more.  We take our time rather than being so focused on the map and rushing through.

After the Corn Maze we rode on the train for a couple of turns.  This is probably one of the kids favorite things to do on the Farm.

We left the American West Heritage Center and decided to go to North Logan to see the Pumpkin Walk.

We love going here every year.  We like looking at all of the scenes made entirely out of pumpkins.  This year the theme was "Imagine That."  Hidden inside all of the scenes were little white pumpkins with hearts painted on them.  We all liked looking and trying to find them.

These were some of our favorite scenes this year.  A lot of them were Disney themed and they looked so real.  I especially liked the Lion King scenes.  The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory one was pretty awesome too.

We always have to get a picture of us with the Pumpkin Walk Witch at the end.  This is a fun tradition we do every October.  I am glad North Logan puts it together for the Valley.  

We had a great Fall Break!

Flag Football

This fall Colby participated in flag football for the first time.  I think he really like playing football and he really liked that his friends from school were on his team.

They needed some more coaches so Russell volunteered to be the assistant coach on Colby's team.  This was really fun for Russell as well.  He loved coaching the boys and getting back into football.  Their team was the Steelers. The boys on the team were really good.  They were fast, aggressive, and really worked together.  Most of all though, they had a good time playing together.  In the end, Colby's team was undefeated for the whole season!

After the last game, we had a fun team party.  Russell and the other coach handed out special awards to all of the boys.  Colby was given the "Secret Weapon" award.  He was the smallest one on the team but he was also one of the fastest so he was considered the secret weapon because no one went after the small kid.  

This was a fun experience for Colby and Russell.  They are already looking forward to next year.  Russell is planning plays and hoping he can get the same kids on his team again.  Colby loved playing and learning football.

Pinewood Derby

Colby loves Cub Scouts and is learning a lot from the things he does in Scouts.  This week he participated in his first Pinewood Derby.  This was such a fun experience for him and the whole family.

The car was fun to make too.  Colby wanted to make a firetruck but he also wanted it designed like a race car so we built a firetruck race car.  Colby designed the shape and Russell cut it out.  Then the fun sanding began.  Colby sanded the wood until it was smooth.  Russell spray painted it and then it was time for the details.  Colby did all of the painting while I did the Maltese Cross.  To add weight to the car, we shaped fishing weights into cubes for the sirens on top of the car.  We really wanted Colby's car to win so we looked up every Pinewood Derby secret out there.  We learned how to place the weight properly and even how to set the wheels so that only three wheels hit the track for less friction.  We did all of the tricks.

Finally it was time for the Derby.

Russell took Colby to the weigh in and registration and he was all set to race.  Something happened though and he didn't get put into the racing system.  As the races started, we realized that Colby had not raced and some of the other kids were starting to race twice.  Russell and I rushed up to the guy in charge and asked why Colby was not racing.  We found out that he was not included in the system.  It took a while to fix and we actually had to re-enter everyone but we got it set up correctly.  Then the races began!

Each car raced four times, one on each track.  As we watched, we noticed that Colby was winning every race!  Some of them he won by a landslide and another one he won my a millisecond.  It was so fun to watch.  The cool thing was that everyone was having a good time racing no matter if they won or not.  

When the final results were tallied, Colby won first place!!!

He was so happy!  He won just by .005 of a second but that was enough.  We even had a final race of the top four cars and he won that one too.  This was a serious thing for Colby.  After all of the work Colby put into this car and the careful way he took care of it, I was so glad that he won.  

This was such a fun pack meeting!