halloween, part 2

We went to dinner at my mom's house the day before Halloween so everyone dressed up again.

The older boys and I worked hard on creating a haunted house for all the younger ones to go through. Grandma was the witch that guided them through the haunts and spooks. 

We took the kids two at a time and these girls were a little nervous about what was waiting inside to scare them.

I took pictures with the lights on so we could remember our haunted masterpiece, but everyone went through in the dark with just a few candles lighting the room.

When they walked in the room, the witch offered the kids a snack. They put their hands into the bowl and she told them not to worry because it was only worms (cooked pasta).

Then they walked through the "bat cave" and stopped in front of the spider and its web (and the trapped skeleton). While the witch was telling them about it, Kacin popped out from behind with a flashlight casting on eerie glow on his face.

Next the witch told them not to wake the sleeping man and that they should tiptoe to sneak by them. Of course, as they were walking by "sleeping" Eric woke up scaring them half to death and growled at them.

The witch then showed the kids her collection--of heads!

She led them along and told them just to step over the blood on the carpet.

Finally, the witch told the story about the famous man in the picture--who apparently haunts the place.

The little girls were terrified the first time, but it must have been a good terrified because they asked to go again and again. I think they went through four times! They took care of grandpa on his first time through.

Perry and Logan did not love the haunted house like those girls did. They survived once and then they were both done with that scary room.

We attempted to get a cousins picture in costumes before all the adults went into rooms and the kids went door to door trick or treating.

On actual Halloween, the costumes changed once again. We took Gandalf, a Disney World tourist, a pirate, and Optimus Prime through our neighborhood in an attempt to meet some of the new neighbors. Only a few streets have finished houses here so after we went to our neighborhood, we met up with a friend so the older boys could go trick or treating by themselves. 

We came home with a frightening amount of candy. 

I had to laugh at Perry's stash of candy when I found where he was hiding it all.

Happy Halloween 2016!

halloween, part one

Halloween!

The time when the dress up boxes come out and we spend an afternoon trying on all sorts of humorous and strange costume combinations. 

My old Jr. High choir dress...

He took it to the next level here.

This combination was pretty creepy, too.

This year, Perry was the only one who knew for sure what he wanted to be for Halloween. He was 100% Optimus Prime from the start. I bought his costume weeks in advance. The rest of these children rummaged through the dress up boxes and changed their minds a hundred times. In the end, we headed off to the ward trunk or treat like this: 

"Mom, what are you going to be?" Layla asked as we were rushing to get in the car. As we walked out the door, we grabbed the fox tail and ears and viola! I was in the Halloween spirit, too.

The two little ones came home with bags full of sweet loot.

Kyler and Kacin missed most of the candy collecting because they were off playing football, but they got more than enough.

Kyler traded hard with his siblings in order to end up with two of each candy.

While Perry refused to trade anything.

The next day, when Eric was back in town (the pumpkin carving tradition falls on eric's shoulders), we pulled out the pumpkins and they started carving away.

He loved that big ol' pumpkin.

Layla drew the face on and Eric cut it out with the knife.

They worked hard to make Optimus Prime on Perry's pumpkin.

Where was Kyler during all of the pumpkin festivities? He was working hard on writing a talk for sacrament meeting on tithing (and he did a great job presenting his message the next day at church!).

Kyler got to work on his pumpkin the next day.

Avoiding the camera by burying his face into the pumpkin . . . .

I never did get a picture of the final result, but he carved out the "Star Wars" name (like on his shirt).

beautiful weather and sibling friendship

There is something magical about Halloween in the desert. It marks the turning of the weather! November 1st came and suddenly the morning air was crisp. And now it is actually pleasant to be outside. during the day. Like in the afternoon even. I was beginning to think these days would never come down here in the desert! But, thankfully, they came. And I feel like rejoicing. I mean, I wore jeans (jeans!) all day yesterday without wanting to rip my clothes off. Then, today, we rode bikes during the day. And the front door handle did not burn me when we walked into the house after getting Perry off the bus. I'm quite happy about this. I hope we don't see that thermometer climb up into the 90s for a long, long time.

While I'm sitting here rejoicing about the weather, Perry and Layla are being the sweetest siblings to each other. They are playing nicely together. Perry even sang Layla "Lullaby" to get her to pretend sleep. These moments don't seem to last long (because they sure know how to fight with each other), but I just want to soak them up when they do.

 

Because they may fight and argue and tease each other, but they are ultimately each other's best protectors and friends.

these days--October

I love, love, love Arizona sunsets.

I tried to convince Perry and Kyler to dress up in these costumes for Halloween, but they turned me down.

This is what Layla and Kacin thought was perfect for Halloween.

I also listened to as much of the Mom Conference as I could this year. It was tricky because it fell during my kids fall break, but, just like last year, all that I listened to was so helpful and really got me  thinking. I loved it. And I loved sharing things I learned with Eric and our kids. I had to screen shot this one because it was pretty funny (and pretty wise). It is a checklist April uses when she is feeling grumpy/out of sorts to figure out what she needs to get it back together.

I found this classic cousins/sisters photo at my moms house!

My sister called me one day to say that my brother in law was doing some work in our neighborhood. So Kacin ran over and left this on his truck. Apparently the lady he was working for was the one who found it and showed him--he was pretty embarrassed and now he never lets anyone know when he is in our neighborhood. Haha.

Layla's class photo.

My activity days group went to  Feed My Starving Children. I love this calling and getting to know these girls.