Look a Family Photo!

It is so rare we are all in a picture together, so even though we are a little funny looking here.... at least it's all of us!

Halloween

Halloween:

I win some awards for my Chili at the Ward Party.  It's one of my few "meals" that people really like, so I have to be proud and everything.  Of course, I poisoned Justin when he ate it the next day and got a migraine.  So, there you go....

Going Trick or Treating:

Spencer did not want to be pictured in this photo.  He also refused to wear his Puppy costume, and so ended up wearing Grant's Batman pajamas and the Batman cape.  He really got into the whole candy thing once he figured out what was going on though.  Ellie was Cleopatra, Grant was a dinosaur, and Meg was a Frog Princess - her, very specific, request.

The School Parade:

Carving Pumpkins

In past years, our family has skipped the whole carving pumpkins thing.  Neither Justin nor I felt like doing it, and it's not as if the kids could actually do it themselves.  Instead, we've had Mr. Potato Head Man-like face pieces that we have stuck in the pumpkins each October.  This year, Ellie informed me that she had seen in a book that people actually carved pumpkins, and could we please try that out?  So, carving pumpkins it was.  Actually, it turned out okay and we didn't die or anything.  Although Grant was totally grossed out by the guts and Ellie had to help him pull out his.  Spencer got to color a pumpkin and didn't seem to notice that he was left out of the big fun.  Each of the kids drew their own faces, and Ellie and Meg did a little cutting of their own.  

Halloween

And it was finally Halloween!  It was chilly, so Ellie wore her owl hat (I convinced her it would look like a peacock) and Grant wore a coat under his shirt to give him some extra muscles.  Meg was already warm, and Spencer stayed home with me.  I had declared I was not cooking dinner since if we were in Salt Lake we would have gone to Libbi's and eaten there.  So, we went to McDonald's and the kids got really cute Halloween baskets.

Superheroes:

Candy!!!

When your Unicorn horn fails, it's time to go home.  Happy Halloween!

School Halloween Parade

We went to school for Ellie's Halloween Parade.  I love when I can visit her in her classroom.  She won the bingo game that they were playing, which she was very excited about - even if her neighbor Nate had to point it out to her.  I guess that's what Captain America is for: saving the world one bingo game at a time.

These kids were pretty good waiting.  Until Spencer wasn't.  Until he wandered around the class trying to eat the plugs, the CD players, the books, and everyone's dropped goldfish.  In the spirit of survival, I let him eat goldfish off the 1st grade classroom floor.  I am such a good mother, it is amazing.  Still, while he did momentarily have the plug for the CD player in his mouth - I did take that away.  Gold star.  I know.

"Carving" Pumpkins

Neither Justin nor I love the whole pumpkin carving scene.  I am sure my own family has heard me whine enough about sliminess and coldness to not be surprised.  A few years ago, Grandma bought these pumpkin kits to offer our children some hope for the Halloween spirit.  They are great.

Getting ready to begin:

Picking pieces:  (This year we had to take turns.)

Spencer is an outcast in his high-chair:

Working:

Finished products:

(I know, I know, Meg looks SUPER excited.)

"Free at last, Free at last!" - And he even got to play with Grant's broken golf club which serves as a beating stick/sword.

A picture of us:

I have decided I need to be better at taking pictures of Justin and myself after visiting Bekah and Mark's this summer.  They had a board entitled something like "the board of our life doesn't always suck" where they had lots of pictures of them doing fun things together.  (I think it was for those sleepless nights after baby was born where you feel ready to jump off a cliff if it means you could sleep for four hours.)  I decided I would only have enough pictures of me and Justin to make up a very small postcard.  So, I am trying to repent.

All the kiddoes finished with their pumpkins: