Snow Day!

We woke up to snow yesterday morning. Well, only about 1/2 inch of white powder, but by definition it was snow.

School was cancelled, which made me laugh. We didn't waste a minute, the kids were outside by 7:30am.

The first words out of Reagan's mouth when she saw the snow were, "yeah, now we can lick the car!" okay... whatever that means. Sure enough, she went straight for the car and started licking. What a goof.

 

 The boys had fun throwing snow at each other and sliding on the ice. It was great to see the kids enjoying themselves, I guess it doesn't take much snow to have a ton of fun. The snow clothes came on and off a dozen times and my kitchen floor was puddled in melted snow. We had several cups of hot cocoa and listened to Christmas music. We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, but I think the 'first snow' officially starts the Christmas season! This is officially the 'most wonderful time of the year'!

Clamming

Yes, this is my son... standing in the Pacific Ocean.... in a snow suit!

You can't be too over-dressed, right?

We were invited to go clamming at the beach this last week. We went the very day an Artic storm was hitting. We were driving to the beach through a major rain storm and it was frigid cold!!

Whatever… I’m up for anything. Sure, I’ll go to the beach in freezing, rainy weather.

But I knew the kids might not be so excited. So I bundled them…. in snow clothes. Boots, snow pants, coats, gloves, ear muffs, hats, the works! It went surprisingly well. Jefferson actually said he was 'hot', and Shawn had the boys out on the beach for an hour.

oh, and I forgot to mention how WINDY it was. I lost control of Reagan’s stroller a few times. And I almost blew over myself!

But these aren’t complaints, I promise. I had fun and the kids had a blast!

The clamming? Well, that was unsuccessful. The guys caught 3. Sadly we didn’t have clam chowder for dinner. But, our friend Eric pulled up a live crab. The kids thought this was fascinating!

Shawn wore shorts and water shoes… brrrrrr!

Doesn't that look cold?

We finished off the night with a ride on the carousel, some arcade games, and pizza. There was hardly anyone there, and other adults kept giving my kids their winning tickets from the arcade games. We totalled with 940 tickets! In case you didn't know... that is A LOT. We usually get about 100 ourselves. The kids made out with tons of candy, toys, trinkets, and stickers galore... you know, all those things that get lost or broken on the drive home.

People have mentioned that I haven't posted anything lately.

Okay.... just my mom.

To be honest, I don't have much to share, so I don't.

Shawn has a little break from school for the next few days.... which means "I" have a little break from things. Things like driving the boys back and forth to school a million times a day. I've been happily sitting on the couch, smiling, waving to Shawn as he goes out the door to do the several pick-up/drop-offs.

It's the small things that bring me the greatest joy in my life!

And this....

The Halloween Festivities

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Really, my kids don’t need to know that Halloween is today. It’s Sunday…. for all they know, Halloween was yesterday…. and all of last week. This year, things dragged on for days (this is a GOOD thing, not bad). With the PAVA Halloween party, to school parties, to Trunk or Treat…. my kids really got their fair share of candy and fun…. so, they won’t even notice if they miss the ‘real’ Halloween. Okay, except for all the door knocking we’ll be having. Do you think it’s rude to turn off your lights and not answer the door? Well, that’s what we’ll be doing. Mainly because we gave all of our candy away last night. Oh, but now I’m getting ahead of myself. Lets start at the beginning….

Last year I swore, “I am never making costumes again, we’ll just buy them!” Nope, I couldn’t resist. I have a mild sewing addiction and I just HAD to make their costumes. Who cares if it took up a couple weeks of my free time! I think they turned out well.

Jefferson was Captain Hook, Grant was Peter Pan.

and, Reagan was Tinkerbelle…. who wanted nothing to do with having her picture taken!

Peter Pan flying. “Think of a wonderful thought… any happy little thought”

I never knew Captain Hook and Peter Pan to be such good friends…. although, Peter is keeping he eyes on that hook!

We went to the annual PAVA Halloween party, for the families at Shawn’s school. I think it turned out really well. This year I made the numbers for the cake walk. The kids thought it was fun to run around them before the party started.

I also made these Frankenstein cones, and won for best ‘looking’ (not tasting) dessert. This picture is from 2 years ago when I made them for PAVA and also won best dessert, funny. So, if you ever need to make a Halloween dessert, these have a good chance of winning!

Reagan, eating during the party. We all finished and ran off, leaving her alone. She sat there for quite a while.

Peter watching over Tinker during the Cake Walk.

Last night was our Ward’s Trunk-or-Treat. I have to admit…. I have never, ever, in my life, gone to Trunk-or-Treat. I’m much more a fan of ‘door to door’ trick-or-treating. But I will say, Trunk-or-Treat did NOT disappoint. There were a TON of cars, and kids. I would say we easily passed out 300 pieces of candy (and each child got one each). Look at the mob!

The Captain, Peter, and Tinker ready to fill their bags….

Reagan and her friend Carson. Opps, her wings are on upside-down!

The kid’s friends, Jemma and Carter. I really wanted a picture of ‘my’ kids with these two, but no such luck. This photo will have to do.

When we got home, the kids dug through their loot and started pigging out.

This past week really was fun. But I'm glad it's over for the 'candy' part. I'm not a big fan of my kids eating candy. I'm making them scarf it down ASAP so we don't have it lingering in our house. It's candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner around here!

Carving!

What is Fall and the Halloween season without carving a pumpkin?

This year we had a lot of fun with this pumpkin of ours.

 

First of all, it was a LOT bigger than any other pumpkin we have Shawn has carved. It was a good 4-5 inches thick. He had to use a saw to get through!

Once the top was off, the kids went wild, grabbing out the insides. Reagan wouldn’t touch anything, but she enjoyed watching. There were pumpkin guts everywhere, I should have laid down a floor mat.

Then we got a little crazy. The pumpkin was so big, I thought we should put the kids inside. Reagan DID NOT like the idea (oh, but wouldn’t that have made a cute picture?) Shawn picked the boys up and put their heads in the pumpkin. Of course, it would have been a whole lot easier to just lift the pumpkin up and place it over their heads…. but I guess the upside-down pumpkin head is funnier.

The pumpkin....all lit up, with an eye turn, or Esotropia. (of course, our pumpkin must have an eye problem).

Our family. I think this may be the most perfect picture of all of us we’ve ever ever taken.

Then the kids made some funny pumpkin faces. Look at these goofs….

 

Oh boy, was it a fun night. I think we all had a great time. Family fun at home really is more thrilling than any other attraction or outing.

We finished the night with some deliciously roasted pumpkin seeds. YUM! These are one of my favorite foods, no joke. We love ‘em!

An act of service

Since he saw his first leaf fall from a tree this season, Grant has wanted to "rake leaves into a pile and play with them." And that has been his request for WEEKS! I would say he asks me at least once a day. (and I'm not exaggerating) 

I was at my friends house one day when she commented on the amount of leaves in her yard. "Don't rake up a single one, I'll bring my kids over to do it", I told her.

Grant was hyperventilating in excitement when I asked him if he wanted to rake someone's yard.

EVERYONE one was excited. Who knew service could be so fun. And believe me, I made a big lesson of it too. I think the next time my kids hear the word "service" they'll remember this afternoon and how much stinkin' fun they had.

The kids raked and raked.... and I raked a little more.

Until we had a MASSIVE mound of leaves. Yes, Grant is saluting in this picture... he must still be in character from his preschool Halloween party.

Then the real fun began....

The kids jumped....

And ran...

And tackled...

Buried each other...

Threw leaves....

And were silly as usual...

Here's Tana, and her ADORABLE baby, Austin. She was pretty thrilled to get her yard cleaned up by a bunch of  wild animals. I promise, we left her yard in better shape than when we came.

Jefferson wants to go rake up leaves at her house tomorrow. Maybe they can put their fun new hobby to good use, and earn some money.... oh but wait, it's not service if you get paid.