Spooktacular!

This Halloween season came with many fun happenings. Here are a few highlights:To start the season off, Jake and a few of his friends had a little Halloween get-together.

Breanna and the girls enjoyed a scrumptiously spooky dinner.After dinner we had a friendly competition (you know me) to see if the girls or the boys could make the best mummy....here's what the girls came up with:And now let's check in with the boys:This wasn't remotely close. But I think the boys definitely had more fun with the mummy aftermath. Can you say TP confetti? Boys and girls are SO different!

I do need to mention how incredible the boys were. When they were done shredding every last square inch of TP, I asked them to clean up and they did it right away! Such good kids!!! And they were good sports too seeing how the girls beat them in the Candy Corn Competition as well. We did keep the boys and girls separated for Haunted Twister, Ghosts in the Graveyard and Stick the Wart on the Witch. I'm sure the boys would have dominated in those games though, right?

Next highlight...Pumpkin Carving!!!

The kids dug right in and gutted the pumpkins.

The kids drew the faces and the dads did the carving.And here's the finished product! You can tell from this picture that the kids weren't hyper at all. Mine were like wild animals. I still feel really bad about that. Now wait a second, where could Luke be? Yep, Luke wanted to be by Ava the whole night. She's so cute!

Time for the class parties. I don't mean to complain, but does anyone else lament the fact that the kids don't get to wear their costumes to school? I always enjoyed that so much when I was a kid! Well, they had a great time anyway! Breanna's class made rice crispy jack-o-lanterns, spooky hands and drank a delicious witches brew. And lucky for me, Jake and Breanna's classes are right across the hall from each other, so I got to go back and forth all afternoon! Jake's and his buddies making masks.

The scary part...this is just the beginning of the sugar today!
And finally the moment we've all been waiting for!

Is she not the cutest witch ever? We sprayed her hair black, but it somehow made it's way to her face, which actually gave us the look we were after!

Look out neighborhood...here we come.

Until next year.....

Day At The Museum

Today Luke and I were stowaways on our friends' pre-school field trip to the Children's Museum. The entire ride down, Luke cried in protest for some unknown reason (probably had something to do with the shirt I made him wear). But when we arrived, all that changed. It was so fun! Here are a few pictures of the cute little man.

Is he adorable or what? Future Picasso, taking after Grandpa D. This is his first time ever painting and I must say he loved it! He got paint on his neck in spite of this awesome smock that covered him all the way to his toes.


I was so grateful when Harrison relieved me from my driving duties. Now that was a sight to see.
If this is not the face of complete exhilaration, I don't know what is. Luke needs one of these hanging from his bedroom door.

Now if you're still reading this, below is a clip what this bliss sounds like.

Girlfriends

Michelle was in town this weekend, so a bunch of us got together to see her on Friday at the park. It was so fun to see her again! We have missed their family! Come visit again soon!!

(Now, if you're wondering how I wrote on this picture, you'll have to ask my good friend, Nikki. She is a blogger extraordinaire! Thanks for the cute idea!)

How cool is this?

Just this past weekend, my amazingly talented Dad entered two of his paintings in an art exhibition in San Diego called 'Art Riot'. The painting above won Honorable Mention. Not bad for an amateur, eh? I am hoping to have the walls of my home soon adorned with a masterpiece or two (hint, hint). Way to go Dad!!!

Change

For me, that word always brings one of two things: excitement or dread. This week our family has experienced a few changes. The first we welcomed with complete excitement. Here's a play-by-play:

Saying goodbye to Breanna's pretty yet stinky cast was a fabulous change. (Doesn't her smile say it all?) We hope to never see Dr. McCullah's office again!!

The next change was this:

I know it sounds pathetic, but I have been dreading this day. Nursery day. 18 months. I seriously wish he could stay a baby forever. Not happening. Helloooo toddler!
As my friend so gently put it, I was one of those moms. Following him all over the nursery, snapping pictures of his first day. Luke wouldn't give me the time of day. Too many toys. Too much fun to be had. He ignored me as I sat there trying to coax a smile out of him. I got the feeling I was cramping his style. The other parents in there seemed to silently question my sanity.

So today I'll close the baby chapter of Luke's life (sniff, sniff). But I can't wait for the many years of "little boyhood" that await us!

General Conference Weekend Oct 08

Here are some random pictures of us just hanging out together this weekend. I love Conference Weekend! Breanna brought down the kiddie table to color on during conference. She made an awesome portrait of Pres. Monson as did Jake. Luke had to be part of this. He looks so big and cute coloring with Jake and Bree. Luke is trying to get some bounces out of Jake.
Sunday night is Shake night. So, tonight, Jake and I were making the shakes and out of nowhere Luke hopped up right on the chair to get in the action. This week he started climbing on everything. Last night some friends and I took our kids to McDonald's for dinner. Luke was all over the play area but I thought I was watching him fairly well. Then I looked up to see him standing on top of the table next to ours. What a monkey.
Here's my first baby. Geesh how'd he get so big? Love the bright yellow Starburst that he had to put in his mouth BEFORE I took the picture. Cute, Jake!

Okay this was technically before Conference weekend, but I thought I'd throw it in anyway. Whitney came and stayed with us for the week and the kids loved having her here. They are guzzling root beer floats.
Deeeelish!!!Luke loved Whitney and followed her around the whole week, begging her to take him outside or play with him. Whitney probably went home exhausted!The miracle of the weekend was that Luke finally kept his eyes open! Way to go big guy!

The Luke 2

Here's a sample of Luke's new dance moves. He decided to go rock star with the microphone (I had no idea it was there until he grabbed it- what a ham). Looks like Luke's got some serious competition as Bree enters the scene and tries to steal the show and more importantly the microphone. Luke sees what's coming and he's not about to trade the Hannah Montana Microphone for some Chuck E. Cheese Medallion. Nice try though, Bree!

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit last weekend. Although their visit was way to short, I was able to take a few pictures. Here's Luke with his famous eyes-closed smile.
Grandpa and Breezy snuggle after playing our new HSM2 DVD game (thanks Polly!). Grandma and Grandpa did exceptionally well seeing how neither of them had ever seen the entire movie. They are good guessers!
Can you tell I have given up on trying to get Luke to keep his eyes open?

He LOVES grandma and insisted that she be his shadow and go wherever he wanted her to go while she was here. She's an amazing grandma - it's no wonder he adores her!

The Luke

This is Luke's signature dance move. He has been doing it since he started walking and anytime there is music playing (and sometimes when there's not), he'll bust out this move. It's kind of the Statue of Liberty/"Stop...in the Name of Love" while spinning.

Busted!

When all is quiet and Luke's nowhere in sight, that can only mean one thing. Someone left the bathroom door unlocked and the seat up.Luke think's he's pretty cute. But catching him smiling for a picture these days is hilarious. When he sees the camera, he closes his eyes (flash anticipation) and then gives a huge smile. I must have taken a dozen shots of him and could not get one with his eyes open. Busted again! Thankfully it's the pantry, not the toilet today. This guy can sniff out sugar even when it's hidden behind closed doors.

Wait, I want to pose for the picture...let me just close my eyes...

Luke, this bench is for toys, not boys! Nikki, recognize the toys under the bench? Looks like something had to get tossed out to make room for Luke!Busted again?? Looks like Luke's off the wagon (or is it on the wagon - I need to get my sayings straight). It's so bad he's digging through the trash to support his habit. Either that or he's taken on Great Grandma J's thriftiness. Hey, there was some still left in the bottom of the can. Despite all the trouble, Luke is a really good boy. He reads volumes everyday.
And even folds his arms to pray. Now if we could only figure out how to teach him to close his eyes during the prayer! We love love love you Luke!!!

Broken!

So, it turns out that little encounter Breanna had with the tree was more than just a bruiser. After the miracle "Slurpee" cure, Breanna watched a movie, relaxed on the couch and said her arm was sore. We gave sympathy, lots of love, then hauled her off to a BBQ at a friend's house. Breanna played dress-up, chased the boys around the backyard and was pretty much her usual self. She was favoring her sore arm though. Maybe a sprain, we thought. That night I decided to give her some Tylenol (how thoughtful of me!). I sent her to school the next day with a note for her teacher to excuse Bree from any strenuous activities. Her teacher e-mailed me later and told me Breanna didn't complain about her arm the whole day.

As Jer and I chatted during the day though, we decided we should probably take her in just to make sure. Ends up she broke the tip of her Ulna, on the inside of the wrist. Right arm, naturally. We couldn't get into the orthopedic surgeon until Wed morning, but thankfully he said the break wasn't on the growth plate and in 6 short weeks, she'll have her arm back, good as new. You should have seen the ear to ear grin on her face when they put the pink cast on. Better than Disneyland. I took this picture before sending her off to school and the cast is now practically purple with all the autographs she got on it.

Whatever you do, don't mess with Bree....she's one tough cookie!

Labor Day

Our very generous, fun friends let us tag along and ride quads with them this morning. We had a really great time. The kids were in heaven. It was beautiful weather and just a great day altogether!Luke and Jake with matching expressions! They must think alike. We tried to get Luke to smile, but he was too busy trying to figure out what was going on.

Dad and Jake get ready to take off. Cute Georgia and Breanna. Let's Go!!
Lukie was makin' the moves on Ava. Can't blame him, she's pretty cute! She was such a good baby, too! She just relaxed and enjoyed the hum of the bikes.
As much as Luke liked looking at Ava, that didn't last long. Even Ava can't compete with dirt. He was eating it by the handfuls and making some rather delicious mud pies. Breanna and I found the coolest hills. We are novice riders, so to us, it felt like we were on a roller coaster ride. When we got back from our ride, Sarah said she could see us going over the hills and we were so high it looked like we were above the trees. We got to watch Sarah and Georgia then Jake and Dad go and it did look really cool to see them up so high!
Here are Breanna, Jake and Luke after a great morning of riding! After we took this picture, Breanna went off for one last ride. She took a little detour though and ended up crashing into a tree. Jake came running, shouting, "Emergency!" Dad was already there helping Breanna and James helped get the quad away from the tree. Breanna was pretty shook up. I guess she was cruising along and looked back for just a second and the next thing she knew - "Hello Tree!" She has a few scratches and a very sore arm, but she is recovering nicely. Slurpees from Circle K do wonders for sore arms.

We had such a great time!! Thanks friends!!!