Mystery Party

We decided to throw a Mystery Party with some friends from the ward.  Since my house is small, some creativity had to take place to make it all happen.  I kept the couch in the kitchen (that's where it resides when I teach ballet) and we set up tables in the front room.  Then we served food in the kitchen.  Here's the dressed up house photos:  (Ellie was a great advisor on decorating.  That girl has creativity coming out of her ears, and she is happy to share her opinions.  When she left for school that day she told me:  "Mom the living room looks nice, but the kitchen looks horrible."  So, I worked on it while she was gone.)

We had eight couples total, so it was a little squishy.... but we all had a lot of fun. 

My kind, unassuming friend Donna ended up being the murderer.  It's always the quiet ones.

Justin was a serf:

The whole crew:

Grant adopted this "Knight" outfit which he totally fell in love with.  We had to give it back, so we took this photo to send to Santa.  He's hoping for a real sword though - the golf club only goes so far.

(See my whole color versus blurry issue??????)

Phone Photo Dump

Phone Photos:

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:

Trunk or Treat

Our Ward Trunk or Treat was the weekend Justin was in Atlanta, so we were flying solo.  Still, since I threw up at last year's Trunk or Treat (Baby Spencer was causing trouble for his Mama from the inside) this was way better.  Besides, one of the sweet Young Women took Spencer off my hands for awhile.

Batman:

Unicorn:

(I planned on making ears and a "mane" on the head, but totally gave up at the end.  When I was completely finished Meg informed me that "Unicorns are not pink."  So, there you go.)

Superman:

I didn't realize until it was done that Spencer would have an "S" cape.  That was fun.  Grant still puts the cape on him around the house, so that means that we have a cute crawling Superman on our hands.

Ellie was a peacock and I'm not sure why I don't have a photo of her.  She was more independent and wandered around talking to her friends, so maybe that is why.

The whole crew:

Pumpkin Patch

You'll have to forgive fuzziness on these photos.  I have still not figured out my new camera.  When I shoot on AV mode, I get better color - but it doesn't shoot quick enough to catch crisp pictures.  When I shoot on Auto I get bad coloring.  I need to take it to an expert and have them fill me on.  Meanwhile, we get fuzzy, colorful pictures and dark/orange, crisp pictures.

The week before Halloween we finally made it to the Pumpkin Patch.  The kids loved picking their pumpkins.  I love that they still want the little ones that they can carry themselves.

Also, why do young girls insist on wearing their headbands on their foreheads?  It is not just my girls, but I don't really get it.  I don't remember doing it when I was little, but that doesn't mean much.

Ghost photo for Halloween:

Family Photo minus me.... I need to ask people to take pictures of us....

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch!