Better Late Than Never....

We had a nice little 5 inch snow storm last week. The kids loved it--especially Jenna. She had me help her get all her snow gear on--hat, boots, gloves, and coat--and walked around and around. She came in and a little while later, I heard the door open--she was outside again. She'd put on one of Jarren's boots and one of Kristen's boots, her gloves, and a hat (no coat). She gathered up a big chunk of snow and brought it inside. She put it in a bowl and ate a few bites. She kept doing that off and on all day long. Cutie! The last time she went out, one of those too big boots fell off and she stepped in the snow. Brrr...that ended that---for the day.

It's Autumn Time

I'm mad at myself! The other day, I turned onto my street and was struck by how beautiful my street looked. You could see the snow-capped mountains in the background. And the street was lined with beautiful trees, in shades of green, yellow, orange, and red. I wanted to take a picture and forgot to. Two days ago, we were hit with a storm and yesterday we had a hard freeze. When that happens, half the trees on the street (fruitless mulberries) drop their leaves in a snap. We have 13 trees on our 1/4 acre property. Anyway...now the street isn't nearly as pretty and I never got my picture.

The kids are still enjoying the leaf raking. Grandma Watkins taught them how to build leaf forts and Jarren has made obstacle courses out of them for his Indiana Jones role playing. Yes, he's back into Indiana Jones again. That storm (as previously mentioned) dumped a lot of the leaves off the trees, but we were having trouble figuring out how to rake leaves off of the snow, so we saved it for today, when most of the snow is melted. Too bad the leaves didn't melt along with the snow--there are STILL lots of trees with leaves and I'm getting tired of the raking.

Cat Face Spider

I believe it was around the end of August sometime, we noticed a small cat face spider that had built a web just outside of the family room window. It got to be quite big! We saw it a few days ago, but on Saturday, it was gone. It was the neatest thing because #1 they aren't dangerous to humans and #2 we were able to observe it through the window. The kids would catch bugs and throw them into the web and we'd watch the spider wrap them up. It was just fascinating and as much as I hate spiders, I'm going to miss this one. We even named it Charlotte, in honor of the spider from the book "Charlotte's Web." Maybe it will come back next year....

Halloween Part II

The kids all made it out trick-or-treating. Kristen went with her friend Hannah and her cousin, Kendall went with a friend, and I took Jarren and Jenna around. They all got TONS of candy and had a lot of fun organizing it when we got back. It kept sprinkling on us, but it was one of the warmer Halloweens.

Charisse...I don't sew well at all, but thank you for thinking that.

Halloween Part I

Happy Halloween!! Our school does a Halloween parade about 15 minutes after school starts in the morning. They set chairs out in the lunch room/gym and the teachers lead their class, snaking through the maze. They start from youngest grades to oldest. The kids go through so fast that it's hard to take pictures, so I took video instead. I did get some pictures taken before school though. Each class will have a Halloween party at school. I'm Kendall's class room mother, so I'll be in charge of his party today. Fridays are early out day, so there will be plenty of time to get excited (and ready) for trick-or-treating this evening. The kids are all soooo excited!! It's been fun "practicing" with Jenna on what to say. Basically she'll say, "Trick or treat" and "Thank you."

Jarren decided he wanted to be either Jango Fett or Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars characters). He has a full Indiana Jones costume and we also have a fireman outfit and a few other Star Wars characters. I guess I thought I could convince him to be something we already had, but yesterday discovered that it wasn't going to happen. I had to run to the store to get some material and I made a very simple vest to go over some brown clothes and he is in heaven!

Jenna goes back and forth between a witch and a dog. We'll see what she does for tonight.

Kristen is a dead bride. She hated her hair the way it turned out, but I thought it really fit the costume.

Kendall is an army man. It's too bad we don't have some of his uncle Matt's accessories.

And I'm a witch, in case anyone couldn't tell. :)

I had anxiety nightmares all night--forgetting to wake the kids up early enough to get ready; forgetting part of the game for the party; forgetting the spooky music; etc. I'm already tired--but it WILL be a great day!

Big Helper

I was looking some stuff up on the computer a little while ago--I have to teach a lesson on Sunday for church--when Jenna started calling me. I told her I'd be there in just a minute. She kept saying she needed help with her diaper. Boy was I in for a big surprise when I finally got around to going into her room! She had decided to change her own poopy diaper. She did a pretty good job, containing the mess to a changing mat and herself! I know....I really need to just set aside a few days to just potty train her, but I've honestly been so bus lately--I don't have a few hours, let alone days. Maybe she'll just do it herself. :) Yeah, right...wishful thinking.

Pumpkin Carving

Last night, Jon and the kids carved the pumpkins. They had a blast scooping out the guts. It almost looks like Jarren could crawl right into his pumpkin. Kendall was a big help in carving them--he immediately outlined the face when we bought them. The kids couldn't wait to get the candles in them--Jenna thought it was great fun to blow the flames out, which made Jarren mad. Just a few more days until the school parade, class parties, and the trick-or-treating.... I love this time of year!