Halloween

Sadly, I feel like I'm kinda over Halloween.  Nathan has always thought it silly and a waste that I spend money on costumes- he fondly remembers coming up with his own costumes as a kid.  Not that I'm opposed to that, but if my kids want to be something in particular...

Anyway, this year, Hailee wanted to be either a queen or Cleopatra.  It changed daily.  I was just thrilled she wanted to be either!  Last Saturday, our ward had our trunk or treat- but I was at work... seeing as how Nathan always 'came up with something brilliant' as a kid, I figured he could manage for that one night.  Hailee ended up wearing a church dress and telling people she was a queen.

Seriously.

No crown, no jewels, no ermine.  

It's no wonder she had to TELL people what she was dressed as 😖

So Sunday afternoon, Hailee and I came up with a costume with odds and ends from my craft stuff.

Presenting, Cleopatra:

She LOVED it.  When it was her turn to show her costume at the front of the class, she 'walked like an Egyptian' all the way to the front of the class *grin* At the kids' school they do a 'costume parade' where each class takes turns walking through all of the other classrooms- she 'walked like and Egyptian' the entire parade also 😊

I had to snap a pic of a kid in her class dressed as Steve (from Minecraft):

  Our 5 in their 'whatever we've got at home' costumes:

 Bryson was a nuclear engineer/scientist, Dallin was a gangster, Jace a cowboy, Hailee-Cleopatra and Eli an orangutan.  Adorbs.

Harvest Hoe Down

Yee Haw!

One thing I love about Freeman is the small town, country feel.  Last night was the annual hoe down, a fun family carnival and fundraiser.  It's by no means cheap, and I only partially resented the fact that I donated most of what we ate for dinner AND got to purchase it again that night... oh, well, it's all for a good cause *wink* 

Jace was the only participant in my brood willing to dress the part for the shin-dig:

I brought more cowboy costumes, but surprisingly Hailee wouldn't wear any of it- I really was baffled!  She put on her cowboy boots (which, just a few months ago, she l.o.v.e.d!) and halfway in from the car, she had a near meltdown because she didn't want to wear them after all =/  Well, that was too bad for her... I assured her that she would in fact wear them or not participate.  I'm unreasonable like that.  She complied.

Jace saw one of his friends from preschool:

 Adorbs!

He won in the cake walk on the first try!!

Hailee danced her heart out in the cake walk again and again, but her moves just weren't lucky enough...

Jace reassured her that he would share though *grin* 

Bobbing for donuts:

Face painting:

She chose a butterfly(!!)  A blue and white butterfly, but still... a butterfly!! 

He really wanted an Easter egg, but settled for a pumpkin *snort* 

The three older boys were pretty much on their own with friends all night, they got their punch cards (ie: spending money) and were OFF!  I did manage to grab a picture of these happy two:

 Gosh they're so big!

And as we were waiting for Eli to play one last game, Jace found this gem:

Not to undermine the fun he had the whole evening, but I really think this was the highlight of his night!!

Young Love

Hailee drew a picture last night...

Hailee: This is me kissing Cooper *giggle*giggle*
Me: Who's Cooper?
Hailee: My friend, I love him.
Me{thinking}: And so it begins...
Hailee{continuing to draw}: and look, we're saying, "muh" {she phonetically spells the kissing sound}, and, look, Eli is standing on the side saying "ew".
Me: What do you like about Cooper?
Hailee: We both have 'Angry Birds' lunch boxes.  Except his has a dark blue sky.
Me: So it's pretty much fate...
Hailee {drawing}: And this is Cooper dead.  I killed him with my king sword.

Hmmmm.  Sorry Cooper.  *snort*

The Last Place on Earth

If you were to ask me the last place on earth I'd want to visit, Las Vegas would be in my top three for sure.  Along with the Arctic and, well, Vegas would be in my top two...

But Nathan has been wanting to do a CE course that is only offered in Vegas because that's where the headquarters for this particular company are located.  Since he refused to go Vegas alone {good man}, I begrudgingly agreed to go.  I had no desire to stay on, or even visit the strip, so we booked a place closer to where his course was.  The weather forecast was mid-80's, which would be a welcome break from cold and dreary.

A few days before our trip, I suddenly thought to check and see if there was anything with our trade group in Vegas... they had quite a bit to choose from, and several shows that even looked like they *might* be clean enough for us to go to!  Suddenly, I was a little more excited for the trip than before...

I had to venture downtown each day to pick up our tickets for that nights show, and well, while there is SO much that is vile and repulsive about Vegas, there is some pretty neat stuff too.  I'd never take my kids there, and it's still not on my wish list to visit, but it really is amazing to wander the hotels... modern marvels.

The Human Nature concert:

Apparently, they were Australia's boy band in the 90's and early 2000's- very entertaining (and clean!)

We weren't allowed to take pic's in the magic show and variety show we saw... they were fun and happily very clean too!

Just because we needed to take a selfie:

I texted my kids the random Star Wars characters we came across:

Darth was on his cell phone... 

And some beauty in the midst of Babylon:

a string quartet performing.

We ended up having a wonderful time... of course we did!  Time alone together?  Yes please!  It was a welcome break away with my love and I'm so glad we went... and I won't be so hesitant to go for the other CE courses he wants to go to...

Carver Farms Field Trip

Starting with Bryson when he was 3, I think this was my 10th trip to Carvers in as many years.  And every year it's cold and drizzly.  C'mon fall!?!  Regardless, we had fun-

 Farmer Carver teaching the kids:

The corn maze:

Picking the best pumpkin "as big as his head"

I dropped the ball and didn't pack a lunch, which he was super disappointed by, but c'mon, I knew we'd be done by 10:45 and we had a busy day!!  Fortunately for me, he was quickly distracted by the treasures he got to bring home *grin*

Last First Tooth

A momentous occasion.  

We've officially lost a first tooth for the last time *sigh* All of these last 'firsts' are so bittersweet.  Except for the last 'first day of never pooping in underwear again'- I'm eagerly awaiting that one with open arms *wink*

 I'm not quite convinced this tooth wiggled loose on it's own accord.  One day all his teeth were secure in the their place, the next day tooth 'O' was super wiggly.  It stayed that way for a couple of weeks, and then today at lunch (we happened to be eating lunch with Hailee at school) he said he couldn't eat because his tooth hurt.  When asked if he wanted me to pull the tooth out, his eyes got really big... he contemplated... and then slowly opened wide.  I think the prospect of a visit from the tooth fairy sweetened the deal.

It took a little finagling, and probably more than a few second-thoughts on his part, but, with a full crowd of first graders watching, he manned up and out came the tooth!

I couldn't get a decent picture initially because his tongue couldn't stop exploring the new found gap...

but a little later:

There's no evidence of his permanent tooth thus far, furthering the suspicion that it was knocked loose somehow.  Oh well, it was too mobile to stay in.

When we got home, I brought out the tooth fairy pillow... after putting his tooth in the pocket, he ran right upstairs and put it on his bed.  Funny that without any real explanation from me, he knew just what to do... certainly not learned from Hailee's anti-climatic experiences loosing teeth!

Random September

Every morning, Jace is upset when we drop off the other kids at school.  Every morning I have to explain to him that he will go to school after lunch.  Every morning he 'HATES' going home.  But home we go and he quickly finds lots of ways to occupy himself.  This particular morning he was washing the dishes...

Hailee had to build something and bring in a picture to tell her class about it- she built a pyramid:

Nathan finished the basement bathroom!

Just in time for the reunion? *wink*

As promised, cousin Kade sent Bryson some info on figuring out square roots for non-perfect square numbers... he was super excited to get it:

 and then try it:

 and his mind.was.blown!

He obviously loved it- thanks Kade for making his day!

 *sigh* my car hit 100,000 miles!?!  

We bought it just before Jace was born with only 32,000 miles, so how can it have 100,000 now?  I will always remember going down to Portland to buy it- we left Dallin and Bryson at Scott's house in Tri-Cities for the day, but I wouldn't leave Eli because he'd just had his awful seizure episode... yuck.  While that seems so long ago, it also seems like it was just yesterday...