Halloween Party

We had a Halloween party to remember tonight. Eleven kiddos, three adults, lots of junk food and fun games made for quite the interesting evening. We played pin the nose on the Jack-o-lantern, candy corn relay, balloon battle, eat the donut off the string, and haunted house hide and seek (with a flashlight).

Nathan was such a trooper but as you can see, by the end of the party he was past ready for bed. Katie was way into the hide and seek in the dark game and gave all the kids some good competition. She and Brad both beat me at the donut game.

The twins came dressed to impress.


My M&M costume kept choking me but I made an effort for the kids. Brad wore a costume to the Trunk or Treat so he took the night off.

I'm Ready Mom!

We are having a Halloween party tonight and the wait is killing Natalie. The boys are at school having their parties and parades, Nathan is oblivious, but all the waiting is getting to Natalie. Actually, it is getting to me as all I have heard today is, "Mommy, I'm ready to have the party!" and "Can I have a doughnut now?" She loves to sit and look at all the pictures on my blog (she is really good at navigating!) so I thought I could post some pictures and buy myself some peace while still keeping her excitement level up. The pumpkin poster below is for "Pin the Nose on the Jack-o-Lantern". Katie made it and Natalie thinks it is "beautiful" and keeps talking to it!

Trunk or Treat! 2009

The Trunk or Treat was last night so the kiddos got all dressed up. They usually decide to do different costumes from the ones they wear to school and on Halloween. They had a great time at the carnival in the the gym where the youth had lots of fun booths and prizes. Natalie's favorite was the blow up bounce house even though she was too little to use the slide. When it came time for the actual Trunk or Treating it was snowing pretty good so they had the kids just make a big loop in the hallways of the church. It was much better for the little kids but the bigger ones would have loved being out in the snow. I guess though if the end result is still a bucket full of candy it is all good.

Crazy Hair Day

The boys were super excited about crazy hair day, the day they were most looking forward to. I have put off their haircuts for a couple weeks in preparation and Hyrum requested the red color. Natalie was asleep when they left for school so I am looking forward to her commentary when they get home.

We also got our first snow of the season last night while we were sleeping. Add that to the crazy hair and the promise of the Trunk or Treat tonight and the boys were past cloud nine as they went to school today.

Red Ribbon Week

Today is pj day at the boys' school. Actually we were misinformed and we initially thought it was last week so this is the second day the boys have gone to school in their pjs. Hyrum was not at school for fifteen minutes last week before we got a call from him pleading for regular clothes before he was traumatized for the rest of his life. Brad took clothes to them and it seemed Harker was put off, he really didn't care and was bummed. I informed Hyrum when he got home that next week he needed to be prepared that surely not everyone would wear their pjs even on the correct day. Sure enough this morning Hyrum did not want to get out of the car. He wanted to observe how many of his fellow elementary goers were participating. He was not pleased with the 50% and said he wanted to go home and change. Not! "Bye Hyrum, love you, have a great day at school, Harker quit tugging on his arm, bye Hyrum and don't even think of calling because I will NOT come." This from the kid who races Harker into the school every morning and wants to have red spikes for crazy hair day tomorrow! By the way, the day after the false alarm, I woke Hyrum up by telling him it was whitie tightie day, he didn't go for it.

Ready 4 Bed

Halloweens Past

The kids are already asking me about Halloween and their costumes. I learned long ago to keep my options open and not commit to anything. I was just looking at Halloween pictures from the past, so many memories. Most of them good except for the Halloween that Natalie was in the hospital for aspirating a rock. I remember leaving her at the hospital with Brad so that I could go home and take the boys trick or treating. That was hard. I remember last Halloween wanting to stay out longer than my kids. They were too excited to get home and eat what they had to get any more. Two of my favorite Halloween memories involve Daniel. I remember after he was hit by the car and in a body cast dad laid him on the porch so he could see the kids and help give out candy. I will never forget some of the kids saying, "hey, cool costume!". And who could forget the year that I convinced him that his king of the flowers costume I made him was the best ever!

Color My World Crayola

I was reading a magazine that explained that if you go to crayola.com/colorme and type in the code PR24QCHT you can upload photos and make customized coloring pages. I had to try! The kids and I had a great time coloring ourselves! This is mine!

Tired.

Between sick kids, ward council, and practicing for the Primary Program, I am wiped out today. Hopefully tonight will bring more sleep and more energy for tomorrow.

Lazy Day

We have spent most of the day at home, Brad and I taking turns running errands. Nathan has been fighting a fever and Natalie and Harker are over the hump but still not 100%. Hyrum and I started the day off by hitting a few garage sales. Sadly the season is ending and I will shortly go into withdrawals. Hyrum carried his own little bag of change and bought his little brother some pjs and a pair of jeans. It was so cute! He said he bought them for Nathan's "next birthday" but I eventually convinced him he needed to gift them sooner than that to ensure a good fit.

No Fair Teacher!

Katie and I both substitute taught at Harker and Hyrum's school today. Well, I taught second grade and Katie had a plush job "helping out" in Special Ed. Yeah, while I was teaching regrouping and how to compose a journal entry she was walking the halls "fetching" students. I had a whole classroom of kiddos and she was one of two adults with small groups. I passed her room once and they only had one kid! And, to top it all off, she came by my room at the end of the day to rub it in that she got to leave a half an hour early!

Mass Immunization

The kids are always bugging me to check them out of school to do something. My guess is Harker would like a little spice added to the school day and that Hyrum is just in it for having his name called over the intercom. The teacher in me is very protective of the school day and thus my kiddos are very rarely checked out. This week their luck changed. The city held a Mass Immunization yesterday at the community center, free flu shots! How fun is that?!! The boys got their wish (even if it was only for an hour, during lunch, and they had to get a shot!). This is a picture of Harker in the waiting area after the shot. Natalie and Nathan had already received their shots at the doctor but were fascinated watching all of the other kids screaming and crying.

And They All Fall Down

Natalie pleaded with me this morning to take pictures of her "falling down." She was too cute to deny so I happy obliged. She is a fun little girl. Nathan had a blast watching her and giggled the whole time. Since I have been on another blogging break I thought it would make a good comeback. Some of you will be happy to know that after a few scoldings I have recommitted myself to my blog. For starters, I will blog everyday for a week. Could prove to be interesting or boring, or both, but it is sure to appease the few. Oh, and a little birdie told me it was Stephanie's Birthday, so Happy Birthday Stephanie, or should I say "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!"