Happy Halloween!

We started off the morning with a little pumpkin carving. We went out to get the pumpkins to find that the pumpkin thief had struck again! At least they left us 2 of the pumpkins. That brings the pumpkin theft to 3 pumpkins! What rotten kids to steal our pumpkins before the kids even got to carve them. So the kids ended up sharing pumpkins. Next year I am going to do some stakeouts and try to catch the pumpkin thieves.

Hunter and Michela got the big one and decided to each carve one side of the face of their pumpkin. They had a lot of fun taking turns scraping out the guts and coming up with a funny face.

Chase and Aria got the baby pumpkin. Aria scooped out one seed at a time. Chase drew out his own face and cut it out all by himself. I was so proud of him. I love his concentration in this picture. Aria was happy to poke little holes all over the back of the pumpkin.

After Aria's nap we headed out to Mike's parents' house for dinner and a little fun time with the cousins. Here are the 3 ninjas- Kaden, Trevan and Hunter. Grandpa Staker even got into it. I'm not quite sure what he was but he looked pretty funny. Aria kept staring at him looking a bit worried.

It was crazy trying to get everyone to smile and look at the camera. We have starting from the top left. Kaden- Ninja, Chase- Ben 10, Hunter- Ninja, Alyssa- Minnie Mouse, Michela- Soldier, and Trevan- Ninja. On the bottom row we have: Bronson- Humpty Dumpty, Daynen- Chicken, Gage- Optimus Prime, Weston- Bumblebee and Aria- Ballerina.

We even got a picture of our family.

We hurried home to go trick or treating. Mike took the kids out around the neighborhood. Chase and Aria lasted for quite a while but Mike brought them home and we let Michela and Hunter go by themselves for the rest of the night. I was not in the mood for a bunch of candy to be floating around the house so I gave out little Halloween prizes this year instead of candy. They actually went over pretty well. Halloween Rubber Duckies for the little ones. Kaleidoscopes, Tattoos and Sticky Hands for the Older Kids. I kind of had to chuckle at the teenagers who came to our door and went away with Sticky Hands. :)

Beauty Is ...

The theme for Reflections this year is "Beauty Is ...". Reflections is a PTA sponsered competition for elementary age kids. There are categories like Music, Visual Arts, Dance Choreography, Literature and Photography. This is a voluntary program, but Hunter's teacher decided it would be a good opportunity for the kids in her class to all participate. In other words, it was mandatory. This is a great program for the "artistic" kids. Hunter would rather ride his bike and build stuff out of legos than write a story or make up a song. It's just not really his kind of thing. I have tried to get Michela to participate, because this is right up her alley, but she doesn't want to be bothered.

Well the due date came out of nowhere. I was talking to my neighbor and she was telling me about her son's project and it hit me, they were due tomorrow! Of course we had orthodontist appointments that day so we didn't get home until 5:00. I told Hunter to get in the car, I grabbed my camera and we were off. After a short lesson in photography I handed the camera over to him. We drove around looking for what he found to be beautiful in his eyes. The mountains, Bridal Veil Falls and gorgeous fall leaves. He had just made a leaf collection for scouts so I think he was really drawn to the leaves. In the end, this is what he came up with.

I was totally amazed at this picture. It was so beautiful! I love the focus on the leaves on the right and the brilliant orange in the background. He was so cute and so proud of himself. We had so much fun that day riding around and jumping out of the car into the cold wind whenever we saw a good photo opportunity. I love how Hunter and I can have so much fun when it is just the two of us hanging out. He is the sweetest kid.

One night we laid out in the backyard on a blanket, in our pajamas, as we stargazed for a school assignment. We couldn't see hardly anything but we had so much fun snuggled up together, laughing and talking about random things. He keeps asking when we are going to stargaze again.

The other day after our primary program practice he said to me, "Mom, when we were singing that last song (I Know that My Redeemer Lives) I kind of started to cry." And then he shrugs his shoulders. He is such his Daddy's boy; so tender hearted, so sweet and so sensitive to spiritual things. That kid just melts my heart. He is so beautiful to me.

Signs of the Season- Fall

The photo challenge a couple of weeks ago was Signs of Fall. I actually took photos for the challenge but I am just getting around to posting them.

Fall Decorations
I love fall colors. Alot of the rooms in my house are decorated in those colors. My family pictures are perfect decor for the fall season.

I love these glass hurricanes I bought about 5 years ago. I use them for every holiday, filling them with fun stuff. I love apples and leaves in them for Fall.
Pumpkins
The mountain tops covered with snow while the trees and bushes on the hills are turning colors. I love the contrast.
Fall leaves, so beautiful!

One cute little pumpkin enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

A Big Sigh of Relief

Did you hear my big sigh of relief yesterday at about 12:15? I was sure it would be heard around the world. :) We had our primary program yesterday and it went so well! The kids sang their little hearts out and everything ran pretty smoothly, except for one small hiccup with the music stands. Let me explain.

Before sacrament meeting started I grabbed one of the music stands and placed it where I would be sitting for the program. For some reason there were three music stands in the chapel. After the sacrament I went and sat in my place and started getting my music out and my flip charts for the kids. The day before I had figured out a great system for the flip charts. I had put them on big rings and used magnets to keep them from falling off the stand while I flipped the pages. Well, our primary president starts introducing our program and I go to put the magnets on my first chart. THEY DIDN'T STICK! There was some weird coating on the stand which made it impossible for the magnets to stick. UH, OH! So I slipped behind the primary president, while she was still talking, and grabbed one of the two remaining stands.

Seated back down I quickly put up my first flip chart. The magnets stuck! But as I tried to raise the stand up it wouldn't budge. I frantically started twisting the bolt and luckily it came loose. When I stood up to lead the first song I pulled the stand up and it promptly went right back down. The bolt was stripped and it wouldn't stay tight. So I lead the first two songs without the flip charts because I couldn't get the stand up high enough for the kids to see it. Luckily the kids knew the first two songs pretty well.

I needed that third stand but I couldn't jump up in the middle of the kids who were standing in line to say their parts. Luckily I got the attention of one of the primary counsellors and she quickly jumped to my aid. She quietly crept over to the remaining stand, grabbed it and headed out the side door of the chapel. She then ran around the church to the other side and carried it up to the stand for me. I swear I must have looked like a 3 Stooges routine or something with all those stands piling up around me. The Bishopric must have either been very confused or very amused.

After we got the music stand situation under control everything went extremely well. The spirit was so strong and by the last song the tears were flowing all around, including a very emotional song leader's. I got so many compliments how well the kids sang. How thankful I am to be working in the primary. I love those kids so much and am so grateful I get to spend time with them every Sunday teaching them inspired songs with the most wonderful messages.

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

The kids had Thursday and Friday off from school so we thought it would be fun to go out to Thanksgiving Point with the Staker Family and check out the activities. There was a huge hay stack with slides coming off of it, some big bouncy trampoline things, a corn maze, go karts, a train and more. The kids had so much fun hanging out with their cousins. And the weather was beautiful!

The kids loved the slides, we spent a while watching them run around and try out all the different slides. Michela and Hunter were so sweet with Aria and took her with them. Here's a cute one of them all sliding down.

Chase was all over the place. This is the only time I could catch him to take a picture.
There was a huge pumpkin tower in the middle of the field. There were some really cool carved pumpkins.
Mike was trying to teach Michela how to lasso a steer.
And he did it!
Hold on tight Aria, don't let him get away!
The highlight of the evening for Aria was the Pumpkin Princess Playland. There were princess dresses to try on and a pumpkin carriage. Aria cracks me up. Her whole attitude changes when she slips on a princess dress. She tiptoes, twirls and holds herself like a real lady. She was in heaven sitting in "Cinderella's" carriage.
All the grandkids looked pretty darn cute sitting on these enormous rocking chair.
After the big kids went through the haunted monster ("It was freaky," they said.) we all went for a ride on the grain train. A tractor pulled these old grain carts around a dirt track.
The big kids also loved the go karts.
For the grand finale we attempted going through the corn maze. Michela had brought a map and had the way all drawn out. The only problem was it was pitch black. I had wanted to do this when it was lighter, but we didn't get around to it until it was late. It didn't help that Mike and Matt aren't the most patient of fellows. :) Plus I think we didn't start where Michela had drawn out her path. Needless to say, we didn't make it too far before we started back, going a bit off road in our attempt to make a beeline to the entrance.

We did have a fun night though. Next year we will make sure we bring flashlights, snacks for the kids and start a little bit earlier. Thanks Stakers for the fun time!

Pumpkin Harvest

When we planted our garden this year we decided to try our hand at growing some pumpkins. We planted them outside our fence along our back wall. The plant went crazy! Those vines cover everything in their path. It was kind of fun to see pumpkins growing on the rocks of the wall.

This pumpkin even started growing into a space between two rocks.

The kids picked their favorite pumpkins. There were enough good ones for them to each have one.

We put them out on our front porch and Sunday morning we noticed one was missing. On the drive to church we found it smashed in the gutter up the street. Come on, can't the hoodlums wait until after Halloween?!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

The other day as we were eating dinner Mike looked out the window and saw this lovely sight outside.

It's been raining a lot lately (love it!) so we have had plenty of opportunities for beautiful rainbows. I couldn't believe how bright this one was!

A funny story. About a week ago we had a really big thunder and lightning storm in the middle of the night. The thunder was so loud, it sounded like a bomb going off. The one that woke me up sounded like it was right outside our window and caused the house to totally shake. I bolted out of bed and ran out to check on the kids. Michela was peering out her blinds, the boys were sound asleep (they could sleep through a stampede of elephants running through their room) and Aria was laying in her bed with wide eyes. I walked in and she looked at me, totally terrified, and said, "I was scared to the noise Mom!" I laid down with her for 2 hours. The thunder kept up for quite a while. I think maybe 3 or 4 storms passed over us during that time. Poor little Aria kept her hands over her ears the whole time. She wouldn't let me pull them away! Finally we kind of wrapped her blanket around her ears and she was finally able to go back to sleep. Sweet little thing, I'd do anything for my baby girl!

Miss Etch A Sketch

Michela borrowed Grandma and Grandpa's Etch A Sketch the other day after Sunday Dinner. She is getting to be quite an artist, but who knew she was so good drawing on an Etch A Sketch. I used to think I was pretty good when I could do perfect stairs up the screen. Michela's creations on it the other day blew my mind. And she whipped these out pretty fast too. I just had to share them.

A Lady: I love the glasses and the diagonal lines on her skirt.

A Dog

A Man Walking a Dog

She did some other ones too, but the pictures came out a bit blurry. I can't even wrap my mind around how she came up with these. Do you think anyone offers a minor in Etch A Sketch Art?

Crazy Hair Day

Michela and Hunter have had a fun week at school. It's Red Ribbon week so each day has been something fun. Monday was wear red day, Tuesday was Backwards Day and today is Crazy Hair Day. Mike helped out Hunter with his Finger in the Light Socket Hairdo. They were inspired by Albert Einstein. Aria asked, "Is he a Little Einstein?"

Michela said she wanted her hair curly and poofy. Oh how I wish I had Mindy's skills in the art of hair poofing. We curled it all up and I ratted it a bit. I thought she looked super cute, but to Michela this was a bit extreme. Hunter's thoughts on Michela's hair, "You look Freaky."

Hopefully Michela's hair doesn't deflate too fast with the wet weather today.

Skippyjon Jones

If you haven't heard of Skippyjon Jones you need to get yourself to a bookstore. These books are hilarious and are one of our favorite read aloud books. Skippyjon Jones is a siamese cat who likes to pretend he is a chihuahua. He goes on all of these pretend adventures as his alter ego, Skippito Friskito. I love reading these books to the kids and particularly enjoy breaking into a Spanish accent. I think my Spanish accent is 2/3 Cheech and Chong and 1/3 Nacho Libre.

On Friday night we had the opportunity to go up to Salt Lake to attend a reading of the newest Skippyjon Jones book, "Lost in Spice". It was at this cute little bookstore called King's English Bookshop. It is in this little old house and has a great children's book selection.

The author, Judy Schachner, was so much fun. She is a bit all over the place and was quite entertaining. She told us a little bit about herself and how the Skippyjon Jones books came to be. She then read the book and had the kids laughing. After the reading she pulled out a Skippyjon Jones puppet and let the kids interview him. She is pretty quick and had a ready answer for every question. She illustrates the books as well. She said she actually drew and went to art school before she ever started writing.

We had so much fun and even got to meet her and talk to her for a bit while she signed our books. I loved doing something different with the kids, rather than the old standby of a movie. It was also fun to be together as a whole family and show the kids that we love the fact that they enjoy reading so much. Mike was a great sport, he actually likes listening in when I read the books to the kids. He thinks they are pretty funny too. And the best thing was on the way home the kids told me they thought I read the books even better than she did!