Halloween Festivities 2009

We started our weekend on Friday night with a ward Trick-or-Trunk, chili cook-off, Carnival! The kids picked out their costumes about a month in advance. I'd been tempted to buy $20 costumes, but the more we talked about it, we decided they could put something together for next to nothing. Sarah started out wanting to be a wicked witch, then switched to a ballerina. Hers was the cheapest costume since we already had the stuff. We'd bought this outfit for her to take lessons, then decided we couldn't afford it yet. She wears it quite often to play around the house. Ben saw a costume in a magazine and got the idea to be a magician. We were given the cape, I found the hat at Savers for $3, painted a dowel ($3) and the blue ribbon and bow were in my box of hair accessories!

Kannon borrowed this pirate costume from my parents stash. And the bunny costume I found at a thrift store - he was to be Benjamin's rabbit, but Ben said he could just be a bunny, not his bunny!

At the party, Sarah found her friend Kathryn.

We ate chili, cornbread, and even dessert! They had a cake-walk, fishing pond, face painting, etc. Then we headed outside for the trick-or-trunk.

(Okay, he's stinkin' handsome! He wore his suit coat yesterday to church

and Sarah said he looked very pretty!)

It was at this point that I started questioning the whole purpose behind Halloween. How stupid is it that we put on a costume and demand that people give us candy!? And what makes that fun, anyway? Especially when the mom's take most of the candy away from their kids? I don't know that we'll "quit" Halloween, but I might have to figure something out to ease my conscience.

So, I was Fancy Nancy. She's a great story character that I love. I would have been her as a child if I could have been, or been brave enough to be!

I liked my pink hair the best out of this costume.

On Saturday, we emptied out our storage unit. We get to use that $40 a month to sign me up at the gym! woo hoo!

We hauled a load of bricks from Grandma Youngs old chimney out to my mom's yard. My brother is building an outdoor bbq place for them.

Then we came in for a party. A church friend was a having a birthday party for her 1-year-old. They had a bounce house, music, strobe lights. The kids were in that bounce house forever!

Afternoon nap!

Sarah - I don't have any friends in there! Nobody will play with me.

Musical chairs. Sarah is still talking about how she and the girl in the spiderman dress got out. Ben was one of the last 3 players.

You have to have a pinata - but we could have done without the candy - again!

We had plenty to eat at the party, so we didn't have to worry about dinner. We headed out to the Maine Street Halloween. The stores were handing out candy. We went with our neighbor-friends, the Mortensen's. I don't think we'd go again if they do that again. It was too crowded and people were smoking everywhere, so that was kind of stinky!

Sarah was quite the trooper, there was a lot of walking and she only took a "ride" for a little while.

Robbie, Sarah, Lily, Ben, and Reed!

After the downtown stuff, we trick-or-treated around the neighborhood. There weren't as many people home as usual - I'm guessing because of the downtown stuff. I was ready to go home when the baby started to cry. No sooner did I get home, though, than Kannon called to have me come pick them up. He wanted to take the kids out to my aunt and uncles house and then to my parents. Sarah fell asleep right away and we had a really hard time getting her even half awake to see my mom all dressed up for them!

So, we ended up with a ton of candy! The kids were allowed to pick out 10 pieces and the rest went into a big bowl. But, I don't want it here. I keep eating it and the chocolate is starting to bug the baby. Plus, how can I lose weight if I'm eating all that! I don't know if I can physically throw it away! I think we'll bag up a bunch of it for the Bishop's candy jar. Maybe the Food Pantry would want some?

the Second half of October!

Ben's school had a Night of Books. He went dressed as a character from his favorite books - Shaggy. They got a bucket of treats, costume contest, and then we joined his teacher for a story. It was a cute one about a fat cat that ate everyone. Kids and adults dressed up as the characters. Ben got to be the woodcutter who saved the day! He got a kick out of wearing Brother Dalluge's boots.

We went with Ben's class to the pumpkin patch. It was complete with a hayride, pumpkin picking, stories and songs, petting rabbits and feeding goats, and a snack.

We spent an evening at my parents house. We took a drive to find pictures of "landscapes and landmarks of Churchill County" for the phone book photo contest. Sarah left the house with 2 right feet! She couldn't find both of her shoes so she grabbed a different one, they just both happened to be for the same foot. I didn't notice any of that until we were out there!

We celebrated Kannon's birthday! He "got" to have a few days off. He had that Friday off and again on Monday (his birthday) while they found another job for him to go to. He spent some time at the sauna. We went to Sonic for happy hour slushies, picked out some pants and a candy bar for his present, and had the Edwards family over to play Ticket to Ride and share cake (strawberry with chocolate frosting)and ice cream(Oh, my, blueberry pie!).

Baby Joshua is growing. He's really long, but doesn't weigh as much as my other 2 did at this age. He does talk now, it's so cute, lots of gurgles. He's often found with fingers and hands in his mouth. Therefore, lots of drooling!

We sported Halloween clothes! This is what she wore to Benjamin's class Nevada Day party. And I got to go to Reno with my mom (Sarah and Joshua tagging along!) We stopped at a few Savers and I found this adorable rocking chair! Sarah calls it the princess chair. Someday when I get to decorate a room for her, this will be involved.

My Incredibles

I've felt like I should update what my children have been up to. Joshua is 3 months old now. He's still so sweet and precious - still so new. He smiles quite often and we even get giggles sometimes. He's very ticklish. He still likes to be held a lot, but also lets me put him down sometimes. I can switch him around - we use the swing, the bouncy seat (with toys and a mirror), in his crib with the mobile, on the floor with toys in front of him, in the highchair so mom can eat. Ben is really good about entertaining him, too.
His eyes are mostly brown. They have a little gray-green on the outside edge, still. Not sure if they just haven't changed all the way, or if they are going to be like mine! He still doesn't "talk" much. It's almost rare and exciting to get sounds out of him. He's so different from my other two kids. More cuddly, needy, timid. I don't mind, just takes some getting used to.

People say he looks like his daddy. Then every once in awhile we get that he looks like the Bakes. He's definitely ours and we love him!

He reaches for things - I think his left hand is dominant right now. Once he grabs them, though, he doesn't know what to do with them! He loves to stand up. I can hold him on my lap, standing, for a LONG time!

His brother and sister love him, too. Ben always says, "he's so cute."

In September we celebrated both my mom's and my dad's birthdays. Sarah was excited for both of them and planned for weeks how we would party. We ran out of time to do the pinata for Papa's birthday, but Ben made sure we had it for Grammy's. He had picked one up at a yard sale (50 cents!) and filled it with all the candy in our house (leftovers from parades and even last Halloween!). Sarah helped me make the cake and put the candles on. I made dinner for them and then we played!

It was dark, windy and cold outside and I wasn't about to try and string up a pinata. I told Ben we could do it inside and this is what he thought of. Throwing it and smashing it!

Then tearing it apart! It was hilarious.

Grandma Polish and Marisha stopped by for a few hours one day. They'd been to a nearby town to pick up some insulation. They got to surprise Ben by picking him up from school. Then Grandma took us out for Sonic. We introduced her to the Sonic Chillers a few months ago and she just had to have one! (cherry limeade + soft-serve ice cream = Sonic Chiller, so good!)

She stayed long enough to play a few games with the kids.

Ben is still just so smart. He had midterm reports a few weeks ago and he is excelling in almost everything. He still has issues with paying attention and with talking when he's not supposed to. He has chosen to not spend so much time with the one boy with whom he kept getting in trouble. He is in the highest reading group (and could really be doing more). His teacher also started him in an accelerated math group. He aced the first testing with that and she said he's just going to fly through it. He loves being rewarded and got in trouble for doing the bonus activities before finishing his regular work! (they get stickers or happy grams for the bonus ones.) I think school has just been really good for him. He's doing much better at home. Still teases Sarah, but it seems to be more loving than before. And our issues with him aren't much, he usually cries before he yells. I'm sure that's a result of being tired more, now.

We spent last Saturday in Winnemucca. We just thought it would be a good idea to visit Kannon's sister and her family. We went to Stetson's soccer game and Ben had a good time running around playing soccer on his own. We had a picnic lunch at the park and then spent the rest of the time at their house. The kids got to experience the chickens and turkeys running loose. And mom and dad got to enjoy the visit without having to worry about the kids! It's so nice to just let them be, without the worry of cars or weirdos walking by. Sarah mostly played with Kate in her room and Ben was outside the whole time with Stetson.

Playing dress-up.

Sarah is another independent child of mine! She still loves all things girly - dressing up, jewelry, pink, babies. She is getting better at cleaning up when we say it's time to. She is often quietly coloring or cutting paper. She is my little baking helper. Loves to be in the kitchen with me.

Two days ago she put her swim suit on and I found her outside filling up a bucket with water. When I came out later, she was sitting in the bucket, but not for long. It wasn't exactly cold, but this is the middle of October!

She runs everywhere and gets pretty upset if I go to the school for Ben without her. We walk him to the school in the morning and she has always given him a hug and blown him a kiss. After a while, Ben started being embarrassed by that. So, now she gives him his hug on the way to school, before we are there. He just stands there and "bears" it. We only have to cross one street to get there. She runs all the way to the street, stopping a few yards back, where she waits for us. One morning she didn't get dressed in time and we had to go. I told her she'd have to stay home. We went out the door and she came screaming out after us. She didn't have any shoes on and it was pretty cool that day! I was pretty upset with her, picked her up and we let Ben cross the street on his own that day. There have been a few afternoons, when she was napping, that I went on my own to pick up Ben. When she wakes up she is pretty upset with me. She seems so grown-up. I have to remind myself that she's only 3 and still needs lots of love and patience. She's adorable, too!

And lastly, a video of our Joshua, playing with Daddy.

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Walkin', Rockin' and a little P.E.

For those of you who don't know yet, I've started a Biggest Loser Challenge with some of my cousins, aunts and uncles. There are at least 8 of us right now - and an $80 pot on the line. So, after we take Ben to school in the morning, I take the kids and go for a walk. It is 1/2 a mile to the park and the park has to tracks - a 1/4 mile and a 1/2 mile. Depending on how I feel, or how much time I have, I do 1 1/2 - 2 miles each day. I don't know that that will change. I wouldn't mind doing more, but the kids don't tolerate much more. And when the weather changes, or the baby gets too heavy, I'll have to come up with a new strategy. For now, this is working. I've lost 5 lbs!

Last week we were invited to join Benjamin's class for P.E. I thought that was kind of fun. It's nice to be involved in what he's doing. Sarah was a bit shy and definitely hungry. The class was at noon and I hadn't fed her yet.
There was running and throwing and tagging.

They played some really fun games that got their heart rates up. Maybe next time I'll bring the stroller for the baby, and join in.

On Saturday, Kannon and I went our separate ways. I wanted to check out the Candy Dance Faire in Genoa and he wanted to see his buddy riding motorcycles in Fernley. I took the baby - he took the other 2. I think we both had good days. I do have a hard time with the quiet, though. It's almost hard to know what to do with my brain! I only found 2 things I really wanted at the Faire (which was much bigger than I thought it would be!). I bought candied nuts - fresh - and so yum! And I wanted this twirly-in-the-wind thing, but after I bought a sno-cone I didn't have enough money. And I wasn't passing up the sno-cone! I've been wanting one all summer. It was a lot of walking, really hot and crowded. I don't think I'll feel the need to go again.

The kids enjoyed watching the racing motorcycles with their dad and a trip to Wendy's for lunch.

Sunday was restful, peaceful. We got our naps - yeah! Kannon did most of his home teaching. I felt like I needed to do something - I was kind of restless. When the day was almost done, the kids got a little crazy. This was them being rockers! It ended when Sarah bumped the baby.

And a video of my laughing baby. I was SO excited to find a giggle from him on Sunday!