Halloween

We went trick or treating around our neighborhood. Some homes were decorated a lot more than others.

The boys only did masks this year, which was great. I love easy and they were happy.

Is this picture not the most precious?

She's watching tv waiting for us to leave to go to the eye dr. Her school party was that day so she went to the appt. all dressed up.

Mason

George

MJ

She kept changing her costume. One day she was a "Queen" and the next she was a vampire and then she was a queen again. She got to dress up 3 times, Fri for school, Sat for the party, then Sun for trick or treating.  Her teeth really looked like vampire teeth since she's missing both her front ones.

We sure had a fun Halloween weekend. Lots of celebrations all weekend long.

Usually it's a weekend I stress about, but this year we just had fun. I have to say it's one of the best Halloweens we've had in a long time.

George turns 11

When he woke up he new since it was his birthday he could pretty much get what ever he wanted for breakfast so he chose McD's. The cinnamelts are yum.

He wanted to pick out a mask for Halloween so we went to the Spirit store to look around. They sure do have pretty creepy stuff there.

With some of his birthday money he bought beyblades. He used to have them when Mason was little, but the stadium broke and he eventually stopped playing with them, but they're back and even cooler this time round, of course. We didn't have a party planned, so George invited a couple friends over to hang out and play the beyblades with him.

11 candles and 11 wishes.

Mason, Blake, Justin, George and CJ. These boys are friends from church and school. He plays football with Justin and CJ also.

Saturday night we went to a big Halloween party. One of the reasons we didn't plan a party was because we were going to this one and all his friends would be there too.  There are advantages to having your birthday one day before Halloween.

These are most of the friends at the party.

A family in our ward has a couple of barns on their property and they put on a huge party. Multiple wards were invited, so lots and lots of people were there. They had games for the kids, a bouncy house, bon fires, a live band, a mildly haunted forest that we rode thru on a hay ride, lots of yummy food and a haunted barn, which was so fun. Just the right amount of scary, perfect for families, unless you have extra sensitive kids. For a homemade haunted barn it was awesome, very impressed. We went through it twice.

George and his friends on the hay ride.

After the party George had wanted to go to IHOP to finish off his birthday, so we invited a couple of families to go with us. 17 of us in all. It was a great ending to a great day. I think George had one of the best birthdays. We just celebrated all day long.

12th Anniversary

We celebrated 12 years of marraige on Oct. 29th.

We went out to dinner of course.

You're Amazing, Just the way you are

My cutie pie.

Got new glasses.

Loves to paint her nails.

Learned how to put her hair up in a ponytail all by herself.

(title - song lyrics by Bruno Mars)



Cougar Pride

So far George's team is undefeated. They are playing really well. The scores have been: 36-6, 28-0, 32-0, 25-6, and 28-0 with 3 more games to go. It's almost unfair to the other teams that they are winning by so much. It sure has built our teams' confidence though. Last week George caught his first pass. The QB  had never thrown to him during a game before. They changed things up and he got a chance to receive. It was so fun to watch. Jeremy was even able to make it to the first part of the game and see it before he had to leave for work.

This was a home game. We play behind the HS, they won't let us play on the HS field 'cause they think it will run down the grass too much. Notice all the trees and the barn :) There a barns everywhere around us. I love it, one of my favorite things about living here. One of these days I want to go out and take pictures of just the barns.

At the end of every practice and every game all the players get in a huddle and the coaches talk to them, but when they are done they yell, at the top of their lungs I might add, the Cougar Pledge. I think it's pretty cool.

I came today,

To play the game,

The game I'll always remember.

I believe in myself,

I believe in my teammates,

I'll play fair and strive to win,

But win or lose I'll always do my best.

For I am a Cougar and I am a Champion.

WHAT ARE YOU???

I'M A CHAMPION

WHAT ARE YOU???

I'M A CHAMPION

WHAT ARE YOU???

I'M A CHAMPION

1-2-3 COUGARS!!!!

The kids each take turns leading the team in yelling it and the rest of the team repeats what they say, line by line. Even George has led the pledge, which I'm proud of him for doing. I love watching him take a lead and not being afraid to do things in front of people, especially his peers.

Anyways I love their Cougar pride. All the elementary schools (3), middle school and HS in our school district are all Cougars with burgundy and gold as their school colors. It really bring the schools and the community together. I think Jeremy and I are the only parents at the games that don't wear the school colors, a sweatshirt or jersey. Every one else always has something on to show their team spirit. I think we might need to do something about that. But we do have a little excuse for being newbies. Sort of.

Wolf and Weblos

Last week at Pack Meeting Mason got his Wolf and 5 arrows, which means he did 50 extra electives, and George got his Weblos. Yay!! I'm a proud Mama. I love watching them accomplish their scouting goals. Now George just has to work on getting his religious knot and Arrow of Light all in the next month before he turns 11. I think we can do it :)

George's Den did a skit at the end of Pack meeting. We come straight from football, but this time I had him change his shirt to look a little more presentable. This group of boys, loves to be silly. Oh to be 10 again.

You know your baby's not a baby any more when....

they start losing their baby teeth....

Once those big teeth start coming in they just aren't babies anymore. Instantly grown up, no more baby face. They're face changes and smile changes so much. Then you wait and wait for all the rest to fall out and grow in and hope and pray the orthodontist bill won't be too major.

She's always had perfect baby teeth and such a beautiful smile and now she has a huge hole. It's a little hard to get used to. Cute and not so cute at the same time. This is her first tooth that's she's lost actually. Most kids lose their bottom 2 front teeth first, but not MJ. So not sure what that means, hopefully those will come out soon too. She talks with a little lisp now since all that air can escape so easily. Her last dentist appt. the Dr. said she would have plenty of room for her adult teeth to come in. It was good to hear, better than having them be too crowded, right? I wasn't sure how he knew that, but I can see what he means now that she's lost that tooth. Her teeth started to move over and make room even before she lost it.

She's been so excited about losing her teeth and has asked all summer when she would start. Teeth have their own time table unfortunately. She's probably the very last of her friends and classmates that hadn't lost a tooth, until now. I remember being the same way at that age too. Watching all my friends lose their teeth and me being the last one. At least it felt that way. Losing your teeth is just such a big deal when you're 7.

~*~ Krazy Kute Kids ~*~

While in Utah the kids got in front of the computer and took these crazy pictures.

They were having so much fun.

Love 'em.

Pretty funny.
Aren't they all the cutest kids you've ever seen?
Seriously.

{ Randomness }

I signed up for Bountiful Baskets last week for the first time and got all this for $15...

It's a co-op and you can see if it's in your area at http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/. I think I love eating and enjoying all of it more because I didn't even have to shop for it at the store. You just show up and show them your receipt, then fill your own basket or big bag and take it home. You don't get to pick what they give you, but it's always a good mix of veggies and fruits. We have a pick up location just down the road in Arlington, conveniently. And there's enough that I think it'll last for at least 2 weeks. You can buy every week, but my family won't go through it that fast. So cool. I'm trying to be a better about having more healthy options around for snacks and meals and with doing it this way it's cheap and stocks up our fruit bowl and fridge. Yum. Gotta check it out to see if there's one near you.

~♥~    Two of my favorites   ~♥~

Playing with the camera:

Yesterday I was playing with a camera that Dad let me borrow. I was trying to figure out how to make things out of focus that are around what you are focusing on, the aperture setting.  These are the few that turned out out of the 50 pictures I probably took. And as you can see Mj and Mason made a nice mess after church, but made for a great practice session for me as I was sitting around playing with the camera settings.

Not the greatest, but a fun start. I've been wanting a camera that can do this, but making due with what I've got for now.

Happy Labor Day!

First day of school

The first day of school always comes with mixed emotions. But today was just exciting, not sad at all. It helps that we've lived here now for a year and the kids and I are familiar with the schools and teachers.

My 5th grader -

My 3rd grader -

My 2nd grader -

They were all excited this morning. Up right away, dressed, lunches put together and ready with lots of extra time. We'll see how long it lasts.

Here comes the bus...

They changed the way they do the bus pick ups in our neighborhood this year and all the kids K-5 ride on the same bus and go at the same time. You'd think that would be normal, but not around here, until now.

This is what Mason's into right now. The silly bandz. They come in all different shapes. He has the animal and food shapes. He wears them constantly, even to church. What are they going to come up with next? and why can't I think of it so I can make millions.

So excited for the new year. My kids are growing up right before my eyes, and they keep getting cuter and smarter and I love em even more all the time.