Snapshots of Halloween

[This posting has a lot of photos!!! Beware. . . and enjoy]

It's all over, and so I'm taking this opportunity while all of my little goblins are sleeping to document the day. It began when my eyes popped open, but instead of waking the kids to get ready for school and snuggling back into my warm fluffy flannel sheets to snooze and wait for them to get ready for scriptures like I usually do, I saw visions of Halloween pancakes dance through my head! I jumped out of bed and flipped on the stove. I was cranking out ghosts and goblins and pumpkins (with little chocolate chip eyes and mouths) like a pancake flipping machine, in no time at all. My family wondered who this strange woman was in the kitchen, and what she did with their mother! As you can see, they were HAPPY!

Hunter and Mrs. Brown (hopefully she won't mind having her photo all over the web :)

It is fun living in a small town where you can still celebrate that old pagan holiday (or old religious holiday--you choose)--Halloween--in the schools in a non threatening and fun way. They don't have to make up names like "Fall Frivolities" or "Autumn Awareness" in order to celebrate it. It's just plain old HALLOWEEN. I don't know how long this tradition will continue before some extremest parent complains and sends the school board spinning into a PC downfall, but we shall enjoy it while we can.

The kids were able to pack their costumes in their backpacks and don them at a certain time for the party and parade, sans weapons, masks or heavy make-up. Parents were invited to come and help their child dress if it would take the child longer than 5 minutes. All parents requesting party attendance were invited and put to work! Much more conservative than other schools we've attended ;)

Connor and I headed to the school and had a lot of fun helping kiddos decorate cupcakes. Then we watched a nauseating blur of children parade by in a very short amount of time.

(Hunter is finally getting some teeth in there!)

As soon as the younger kids got home from school, we whisked them off to James' company's trick-or-treating party. Emily saw this Spanish dancer and was in awe of her costume. Of course, we had to snap a photo!

Hannah looked amazingly grown up in her Vampire attire. I had to do a double take when she came home from school. For a second, I thought she was someone else! She looked BEAUTIFUL, yet slightly evil.

Little Link. What a trooper! All day is a long time for a little guy to stomp around in boots that are too large! We went t-or-t-ing in our neighborhood. We actually got twice as far this year compared to last year before the complaints began. At the beginning of block three, the boys dropped down onto some one's yard, and began crawling, saying that they were too tired to continue, and wanted to go home. I forced them to finish block three, then we cut through the school yard and went home.

My cute little goblins.

Spanish Senorita. Thankfully not a dead Spanish Senorita as was previously planned.

This is the first year that Hunter was something scary. He actually could only stand the scary mask for a few houses before he got rid of it. Nothing could be cuter than a Hunter skeleton!

Just look at those baby bat wing ears poking out! He's still cute, even with the mask!

Hannah and her best Idaho friend, Mikaela. They altered their make-up for evening t-or-t-ing. It looks a little too KISSish.

And there it is . . . our 16th Halloween as a family. Life couldn't get much better than that!

Chiefs, and Angels, and Pocket Knives (?) OH MY

I don't know what it is about my family, but we get really "into" making costumes around here. It's a fun thing to pretend you are something that you are not for a brief moment in time. Then it's always good to get back to your old self again.

Master Chief!

Alex came across a pretty cool Master Chief costume idea on the web. It is made using pepekura. He created it in a 3-D program, printed it on regular old computer paper, and painstakingly cut and glued each section together. He then coated it with fiberglass resin (found at Home Depot). I think he enjoys paper crafting as much as I do! What he created really is amazing! He finished the helmet, and has now decided to begin sculpting the body of armor. Eventually, I hope to post his how-to video that he is creating.

James decided that he wanted to be a pocket knife for Halloween. I have no idea how he came up with this idea. He thought he was being original, until he found a commercially made costume on the web. He determined to make his much cooler. I think he accomplished it! It's a pretty nifty knife, if you ask me. It even includes a removable "tooth pick." Thankfully he was able to have a reason to complete it before Halloween. The Buska's had a fab Halloween party. Although we were 30 min late due to knife assembly, he will be on-time for his Halloween work party!

I decided to make my life easy and wear my angel costume from last year to the Buska's party. I used it to be a princess last year, and next year, I think I'll use it to be a fairy! My girls won't do anything "girly" anymore, so I have to do it myself! I spent about an hour on my hair and make-up. I sprinkled on glitter and bling. I thought I looked pretty angelic. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with my eyes very swollen and red and blotchy cheeks. Apparently my skin did not approve of the angel look! I'm not sure if I was allergic to the old eye make-up that Emily got for her birthday 2 1/2 years ago, or the face paint that I just bought this year! Maybe it was all of the scrapbooking glitter and jems I applied to my face. Oh, the cost of looking angelic! I think I'll stick to my earthly look for now!

My Baby is FIVE! (Oct 20, 2008)

. Now, isn't that the happiest little birthday boy you've ever seen!

I can't believe that my sweet little Connor is 5 years old! I keep trying to hold him on my lap and cuddle with him, but he's just getting SO big! I keep using baby shampoo, though, so he'll at least still smell like my sweet little baby--with a little stinky boy mixed in with it.

We had a fun party for Connor. The pre party was a little stressful. My friend asked me to watch her little boy for a couple of hours, which was fine, but then a million other kids came over, and I really got stressed out. Which is typical for me and pre parties. But once all the kiddies went home, I took a deep breath and did away with about half of what I was planning. I'm learning that it's okay to tone things down a little now and again ;)

We decided to invite two families who have kids who are Connor's friends over for the big birthday. We had a pumpkin carving party. My kitchen is so small! Well, the dining area, anyway, so I felt a little claustrophobic! Thankfully we have the sun room. I decked it out with black balloon bats hanging from the ceiling, and creepy silhouettes in the windows. And, of course, more black balloons in the hot tub! (Had to cut back on spider webs and other decorations due to time and stress) Emily told me I was creative. That made me feel good. It's the small things, ya know. I decided to fuse Batman and Halloween Bats. It kind of worked. As far as Connor knew, it was FANTASTIC!!! James told me I seemed to be having a great time and that I seemed relaxed. Well, if I pulled that off, and everyone had fun, then the party was a success!

Blow, don't spit, Connor. (Oh, how I love cake!) Batman was from our sprinkler that broke. I cleaned it up and slapped it on the cake--PRESTO~! (yes, more cost cutting party tips)

Connor wanted triangle eyes and nose and only TWO teeth!

Connor's favorite gift was from none other, than MOM!

We invited last minute the Kilpatric family to join us in our pumpkin carving. I got to hold baby Seth so I could get out of the carving fun! As I held him, I told Connor that he used to be that tiny. Seems strange to remember that now. It seems like he was born a toddler. His infancy went by SOOOO quickly.

And of course, we LOVE those nutty Buska's. They are so much fun to have over!

Happy Birthday my little amazing five year old!

My Mini Surgery

Today I had a type of "mini" surgery. I went in for a stomach scope. All went well. Going under anesthesia was a very strange experience! I closed my eyes in the O.R. and then opened them--but 30 minutes had somehow slipped by. I have been groggy all day. A balloon was inflated in my esophagus to enable easier swallowing. I highly recommend this procedure. Yeah! I can eat again!

A taste of things to come!

To Share, or Not to Share

I've finally decided start taking care of my physical health. I have put myself on the back burner for far too long. It is time to help myself become the best--and healthiest--person I can be! I will be going in for surgery on November 13th. I will spare all of you the details, but your prayers would be very comforting!

Winter has come to Idaho!

Good Old Idaho Snowballs in October! Now, is it really necessary to pull out the Christmas books?

We went to bed last night with about an inch of snow on the ground! The kids got so excited . . . and a little confused. Connor decided to write a letter to Santa! They put on their Christmas pajamas, and had Emily read a Christmas story to them. Silly kids!

We awoke this morning to about 2 inches! The little boys were so excited and eager to play in the snow after church. They were highly disappointed as we walked out the door and saw only green grass on the ground! This crazy Idaho weather! I'm happy to see it go! We are so happy that we got an extra week of fall this year. Last year, it snowed the weekend of General Conference. Snow is a necessity here in this arid summer region, so snow, please, leave now, but be sure and come back for Christmas!

Fun and Relaxation

The kids were out of school the last half of the week, so we decided to head back down to Lava. It was fun to get away, until everyone started screaming at each other and me and the older two were complaining that they had homework they needed to get back to. So much for making memories with the family. We did find a couple of fun hot spots on the river that we played in. I'm sure someday they'll appreciate all of the work that James and I put into their enjoyment! It will probably be when they are on a trip with their kids and they are telling them how much fun they had with their family when they were kids and their kids are complaining and not getting it! Until then, we won't give up! We'll continue to drag our children to various places across this country and force them to have fun!

I also neglected to take any pictures with the camera! I had to get these off the web.

This was the view from our condo window. Unfortunately it was closed for the season. The kids loved that one.