Halloween 2010

Eek! It's finally Halloween!


We started the day off right by going to church in the morning.

Mike is modeling the tres festive orange tie.


My camera was wigging out last night at the trunk-or-treat, so I didn't get any decent pictures of the kids in their costumes. SO, after church I had them dress up and go outside so I could get some pictures.

My super-scary (and adorable, but don't tell him I said that) Ninja. Doing a Ninja (or cheerleading?) pose.


Dora and her not-so-thrilled-to-be-wearing-monkey-ears monkey, Boots.


Backpack and Map.


And a headshot of my cute Dora the Explorer:


And Boots the Monkey. Being bribed to keep the ears on with a sucker.


Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, you know?

And the only kinda-sorta-but not really decent shot of the three of them:


After this shot Josh took off.

And Adam and Grace followed.


They were done with pictures, I guess.

So, I moved on to snap a photo of Chuck himself, in his ever so classic, "I got a rock" pose.


Mike only allowed one corny photo. So we went home and began our family Halloween party!

We had tombstone meatloaf and ghostly mashed potatoes for dinner.


Played the "Trick or Treat" game from Grandma W*.


Josh was in charge of handing out candy during the game.


He was pretty stingy with the goods.

We then played "Find the Ghost."


And had Frankenstein pudding while watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!


(To be honest, that may not be the exact title of the movie. I'm not sure. And I'm not looking it up).

We opted against trick-or-treating because it was the Sabbath. I don't know that watching a movie and playing Halloween games was technically keeping the Sabbath day holy, but we had some fun family time anyways.

We finished our very last countdown activity on Monday after FHE. We did our Monster Houses and had a BLAST making them! It was fun using the candy from the trunk-or-treat to decorate with!

Josh wasn't as much into decorating...


... as he was into eating.

Grace's goal was to put as much candy as possible onto hers.


Adam got super creative and made Frankenstein monsters out of lime Tootsie rolls. I was so impressed!


Unfortunately, when he went to carry his creation over to the counter, it collapsed.

We then sang the song, "The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock" to tie our FHE altogether.

Or something like that...

;)

We had a FANTASTIC Halloween! I loved the way it was this year... doing the trunk-or-treat a day early and having a fun party on Halloween!

I am so glad that I did the 31 Days of Halloween. Normally after holidays, I think, "I wish we would have done this or that..." This time, though, I felt pretty good about what we did. No regrets and we had a fun month doing it!

Onto Thanksgiving!

I LOVE the holiday season!

Countdown to Halloween: Week 4/5

So, with Adam's project and the Primary program, we got a little off-track from our 31 Days of Halloween.

We played catch-up as best as we could, and then are saving the remaining activities for our family Halloween party (which works out perfectly).

Day 25: Made Halloween Shirts


Day 27: Sewed Trick-or-Treat Bags


Day 28: Had a Special Halloween Lunch


Day 29: Carved Pumpkins


Day 30: Went to our Ward Trunk-or-Treat

Second Project: Community Helpers

Adam's second school project of the year was on the topic of "Community Helpers."

He was assigned "Bus Driver."

He researched it, interviewed a bus driver, and decided to do a puppet show for his project presentation.

We made this cute school bus as our "stage" and then he designed 5 puppets (4 kids and the bus driver). We wrote out the script together, using a lot of the information he had gathered, and tried to make it as fun as possible.

Getting across all of the information that his teacher required in a fun, puppet-y way was a little difficult, but we had fun working on it together.

He did his presentation on Wednesday, and we went down to help him (I played the roles of 2 of the puppets, thank you) and watch him ask and answer questions. He did a great job!

I always grumble a little about the projects, because they DO take a lot of time. However, I LOVE the good experiences he has in researching, preparing, and presenting them each month!

Next month the topic is the "Wild West." Should be fun!

Halloween at the Library

We went with our friends to the Halloween storytime/puppet show at the library! We had sooo much fun... they did 3 puppet shows, sang Halloween songs, read a book, and at the end the kids got to go trick-or-treating throughout the library!





Grace had so much fun!

I think Josh even had a pretty good time, too.

Though he's definitely more interested in eating books than reading them right now. ;)

Primary Program

We had our Primary Sacrament meeting presentation (Primary program) on Sunday.

All that crazy work and worrying and stress and preparation and practice for a 45-minute program.

Yay!

;)

I've been in Primary for years, but I never realized how much work goes into the Primary program... I always just showed up and helped the kids in my Primary class. I have a lot of respect for all of those counselors who do the program... it's not easy!

Honestly, I really enjoyed being in charge of the program. I liked writing it, getting everything organized and directed, and working with the children in Primary on their parts. It definitely got a little crazy... we don't have a 1st counselor right now, so I'm filling in for her, and the day of the program, our Primary president was sick. So our secretary and I ran the show. Luckily, she's the best. ;)

We had a few kids not show up and a few kids who randomly showed up and wanted parts. BUT, it all worked out! We were only able to practice the program in the chapel once, and I was really worried about how it would all go. I am convinced, though, that there are special angels who come to Primary programs, because our program went perfectly!

My mom and brother, Doran, and sister-in-law, Danyel, were able to come up for the program, and we had such a fun time with them!

Josh enjoying some leftover program practice pizza

After the program: Grace's cute curls

Adam and Grammy relaxing on Sunday afternoon

Adam and Grace did such a great job! I was so proud of them! Adam has a LONG part and he filled in for a few parts for me and did so great! Grace has been waiting to be in the Primary program for YEARS. She worked so hard to memorize her parts, and was so proud to say them in "the big microphone."

I am so in love with all of the kids in our Primary. Serving in the Primary presidency has been my most favorite calling to date. I have especially loved that I got to serve in Primary this year. What better thing to teach the children than, "I Know My Savior Loves Me"? It's so important for the children (and adults, too) to have a testimony of that... that our Savior knows and loves each of us. I have just loved everything this year... the lessons, the songs, etc. I love being in there with all of the sweet kids who help strengthen my testimony each week! I will be so sad when I'm released.

Countdown to Halloween: Week 3

Can't believe it's almost Halloween! Eek! So. Excited!

Day 15: Glowing Ghosts

Day 16: Made Halloween Costumes

Day 17: Decorated Halloween Cupcakes

Day 18: Visit Pumpkin Patch

The picture got deleted, unfortunately, of our lovely pumpkin patch visit. Which occurred at our local grocery store. ;)


Day 19: Spooky Pancakes (with scrambled egg stems)

Day 20: Played "Don't Eat Frank"

This picture got deleted, too. Grandma W* sent it for us and we had a lot of fun playing it! Thanks!


Day 21: Looked at Halloween Decorations

Which is more scary? The decorations? Or Mike in this picture? :)

Dora & Boots & Ninja

I LOVE Halloween, but costumes can be so crazy-expensive! My goal every year is to spend $5 or less per costume.

Adam wanted to be a Ninja, and Grace wanted her (and Josh) to be Dora the Explorer and Boots the Monkey.

We headed to D.I. at the beginning of the season, and found Adam a Ninja costume for $3. Score!

There were no Dora or Boots' costumes, though, so I decided to get creative.

Pink shirt: Target clearanced for $.50
Orange shorts: Target clearanced for $.50
Yellow bracelet: Already had
Backpack: Already had
Backpack face and Map: Construction paper (already had)
Wig: Brown yarn $2 (with coupon at Joann's) and Nylons $1 (at dollar store)

Total for Dora: $3

Beanie: Made from women's sweater from D.I. $2
Ears/Tail: pink/gray felt Hobby Lobby $1 for 4 pieces
Wire for shaping of tail and ears: Already had
Boots: red socks $1 at Target
Onesie and pants: Already had
Yellow tummy: Backing from stained bib we already had

Total for Boots: $4

Time-wise, the costumes took me about 2 hours total.

They all look SO cute in their costumes, and I had a lot of fun making them!

Grace's First Book!

Grace read her first book yesterday!

It was a BOB book called "Mac."

(I love BOB books. I swear by them).



She was so stinkin' proud of herself, and I don't blame her!

She has been wanting to read for FOREVER and has worked so hard at learning her letter sounds! I love seeing the sense of accomplishment my kids have when they work hard for something and attain it! It's one of the most rewarding parts of motherhood, I think.

My Floor Was Clean This Time!

We were enjoying the nice cool day with the door opened.

When a visitor flew in... and my carpet was immaculate this time! There was no rice to be found!

Mike had the day off, and had the fun job of re-locating the bird this time.

But not before it pooped on my couch.

I told Mike that I absolutely needed a new couch.

He told me I was crazy.

But, he did wash all of the cushions for me.

(Isn't he great?)

Pigeons are just so icky.

*Shudder*

Boo-ed!

We came home from school to SUCH a fun surprise today!

We had been boo-ed a fun, orange bucket.

When we looked in it, we were so happy to see that it was filled with treats and Halloween crafts!

It had stuff to make Halloween sock puppets, a candy corn mosaic, a cute candy dish, and treats.



I LOVE the idea of doorbell-ditching a fun craft! I think I'm going to steal if for around Christmas... everyone always gets so many goodies, this would be perfect!

The kids were SO excited to find it on our porch! Thanks so much to our secret friends. ;)

Hair Bows

My sweet friend, Danielle, came over today and taught me how to make hair bows.

Grace has never been a fan of me doing her hair, so I never really bothered figuring out how to make cute stuff for her hair. Lately she's been more into it. She even lets me put stuff in her hair on a daily basis. And occasionally she even ASKS for me to curl her hair.

Without the gum bribe.

Crazy!

I loved making the bows for her hair... talk about addicting!

And as fun as it is, it's even more fun seeing Grace enjoy them!

Thanks Danielle!

Cooking with Josh

I am SUCH a huge fan of cooking with my kids.

There is just so many things to be learned in the kitchen: science, math, hard work, cleaning, measuring, and healthy eating.

And, of course, cooking.

Learning to cook is an invaluable skill. ;)

The things I love the most are doing something fun with my kiddos, the sense of accomplishment and pride they have when they make a dish and sample it, AND the fact that my picky eaters are so much more likely to eat and enjoy it if they made it.

I LOVE cooking with my kids. So many good things about it.

The other night I was making a batch of my freezer baked chimis for the week, when Josh starting whining.

I put him up on the counter and we had our very first cooking lesson.

Put the cheese in...

... take the cheese out (and sample it for freshness).

Deciding if it needed more cheese. He also added an ingredient to the chimis: plastic baggie. Mmmm!

He was so happy the entire time and sat still as we worked. The cutest thing was after watching me stir for a while, he took the spoon and tried to do it, too.

I love cooking with my kiddos, and I'm so happy that with Josh I get one more to cook with!

My Computer Monitor

My sweet Adam thought he would help me out by cleaning all of the mirrors and windows in our home.

I am all for my kids voluntarily cleaning.

So, even though I had recently cleaned them, I consented.

He thought he would go the extra-mile and clean my computer screen.

Unfortunately this is what happens when you spray vinegar cleaner (though I'm sure any cleaner would do it) on a flat screen computer monitor:


It looks kind of eclipse-ish to me.

(By the way, I think adding "-ish" to the end of any word, totally makes it an adjective).

I've never claimed to be an English major.

Anyways, it makes looking at cute craft blogs a little more difficult. However, the big blob fits nicely over the "money" side of our budget spreadsheet in Excel.

When I can't see how much money we really have left at the end of each paycheck, it makes it so easy to be in denial.

Denial over our lack of money usually equals cute shoes being bought.

So, in a way, I'm glad for the blob on my computer screen.

However, Mike won't be.

;)

Countdown to Halloween: Week 2

Day 8: Read Spooky Stores by Candle Christmas Light

Day 9: Made Pipe Cleaner Spiders

Courtesy of Grandma W*... thanks so much for the fun craft, Grandma!

Day 10: Played "Capture the Ghost"

Don't be jealous of my awesome photography skillz. ;) We captured a Target bag decorated like a ghost with sticky hands. We were supposed to make Nutter Butter ghosts. However, they mysteriously disappeared.
Very spooky, I know.

Day 11: Played Wrap the Mummy

Grace and I won. Because we rock.

Day 12: Made Oreo Spiders

Day 13: Played "Pin the Face on the Pumpkin"

Adam won. Though I think there was some cheating involved.

Day 14: Ate Dinner in a Pumpkin

The pumpkin's name (according to Grace) was Percy. Percy was muy delicious.