Trunk or Treat - Alice in Wonderland Style

The Young Men and Young Women of our ward put on an Alice in Wonderland themed trunk or treat last night. I was so impressed all the work they put into the games and activities. They all dressed up as characters from the movie, they had flamingo crouquet, jousting, a spook alley and a tea party! Jack spent most of his time in the spook alley where they served up homemade Rootbeer! He Loves pop! Our kids had a great time, and so did we. Angelina Ballerina(Kennedi) & Princess ToadstoolThe Big Bad Wolf and Twin Red Riding Hoods (Baptistas) & Mario Brothers

Fancy Nancy (Liberty) and Mario

Shawn and I werent' going to dress up this year because we couldn't think of anything and didn't want to spend a lot of money: but I just couldn't take it (plus my mom reminded me that Elasti-girl would have done something!) I channeled the my flowergirl vibe and turned my thoughts to Woodstock, hey we live 30 minutes away right? And whallah...Groovy Baby!

Let's a Go!

Do.do.do.dahdo.do....do.do.dado.dahdo.do (okay so picture the music for Mario Brothers in your mind) Presenting:

Mario

Luigi

Princess Peach Toadstool

or Drama Queen - I think that she really was Drama Queen this Halloween! She has become so emotional lately. This was the result of trying to get her to wear her crown. Wow, the fit she can throw. It's like she's already a teenager! I'm not sure that I can handle this drama for 17 more years.

Finally thanks Grandma for the Halloween jammies! They were super warm and cozy.

Jack O' Lanterns

We did our annual pumpkin carving on Monday. I love carving pumpkins, but I have to say with the kids' ages this year it was a little tricky. Sam can do a lot on his own, but Jack and Lyv THINK they can do a lot and mostly it was a competition to see who would cut their finger first! Yikes.

Jack gets into such a mess at every other time of the day, I thought he would be all over gutting the pumpkin. He didn't want anything to do with it. He tried to "pour" the guts out! It was too funny.

I recycled our pumpkin carving tools from last year, and all of them broke within the first 15 minutes. So we were left with our dull kitchen knives and so our ability to make more creative designs went out the window. I actually liked this better because it went quicker. Shawn can spend about two hours just carving the pumpkin. The kids had a great time, and we had a great glow afterward. We might have to use them as lights his weekend if our power goes out!

Jack Talk

The past few weeks Jack has been on a roll with funny comments. I wanted to record some of these before I forget.

Jack's MO for getting in trouble is to try to make it funny. If he can find a way to make Shawn or I laugh he knows that he wins. So he was getting in trouble with Shawn, and he turns to Shawn and starts singing, "You've got blood on your face, you big disgrace,..." (We are the Champions - Queen) Shawn bursted out laughing, and Jack got a way it AGAIN.

He was playing playdough and mixed all the colors together and turned to me and said, "Mom I making diarrhea! Want to try some?"

Toy Story 3 is a favorite and a part on it where Potato Head is using the tortilla as a body, he says to a bird, "What you lookin' at feathers?" Jack finds this to be hilarious and repeats it all of the time, HOWEVER, when he says it is sound more like "What you lookin' at FAT A**!" Needless to say Shawn and I get a HUGE kick out of this.

There are many more times when he gives us a huge laugh, and I love this about Jack. He really loves to entertain those around him.

A visit from the Tooth Fairy

Sam lost his first tooth Saturday! This has been a long awaited event. For over a week he's been pulling on, wiggling, and playing with this tooth (driving me crazy!) and so we are all happy that is finally out. He was thrilled and put it right under his pillow anxiously awaiting the tooth fairy's exchange. He woke me up at 6:30 the next morning showing me the crisp dollar bill that was left under his pillow.

This marks yet another passage out of childhood for him. He's getting too big too fast. He's starting now to question the reality of things like the tooth fairy. He told his class at church about his tooth and the money and some of them believe and others don't. So as we drove back he asked me if I had put the money under his pillow. I honestly responded no - I had fallen asleep and totally forgot about the tooth. Luckily there are two of us and one of may or may not have done something like that! I want him to continue to believe, especially in things that are silly like that.

A parting shot that I couldn't resist posting: Jack ever the dare-devil decided to try out the rollerskates. I put on all possible padding know that the inevitable would happen. He did last longer that I expected and I was laughing so hard at his outfit that I wasn't able to catch him when he did finally bite the dust. He landed right on his bum, hard enough to make him cry for a second. Lyv thought the knee pads were cool and she had to wear them too.

Our life by Numbers

Numbers say a lot about life. We use them to keep track of time, money, age, dates, weight, height, even blood count. This is our week in numbers:

1 - the number of colors that Lyv wore yesterday: She looks like she's been hosed down with peptobismol! (If you can name the movie that quote is from you earn extra kuddos!)
2- the number of things wrong with Jack's attire in this picture. (okay this number is kind of subjective because really the entire ensemble needs some serious reconsideration!) - his shoes are on the wrong feet and his helmet is on backwards!


30 - giggles that came out of my mouth while taking these pictures. He is so funny sometimes.

3 - the number of times I've washed the boys' sheets in that past four days! No more bed wetting!! and also the number of lunches I packed this week thanks to Columbus Day and one hot lunch/week.

9 - the number of little ones we had over to our house on Wednesday for the annual Halloween cookie extravaganza. I don't think I should record the number of cookies I ate and/or sprinkles Jack used to decorate his cookies with.



78 - the average temperature from Fri - Monday!

30 - the number of minutes the boys played on the trampoline with the sprinkler under it. Monday was a beautiful warm day and the took full advantage of any excuse to get wet. 5 - the number of mouths that are feed in this house has dramatically increased my food bill in the last year! Holy Smokes - eating sure costs a lot.

1347 - (an estimate of this) the number of hairs that are literally out of control on Sam's head after jumping on the tramp. I thinks its time for a trim.

24 - at least. The number of times that Jack has made me laugh out loud this week. Captain underpants.
70 - the number of times that I've told Jack to get out of the fridge. This boy is constantly on the search for food.
7 - the number of siblings I have, and also the number of times that thought about how fun it would be to be in Idaho now for spud harvest.
17 - the number of days until Halloween! The boys are soooo excited this year for their costumes and for the candy. Okay just Jack for the candy!
2 - the number of times that Lyv attempted saying the prayer at dinner. She is so funny and can repeat almost any word we say.

What was your favorite number of the week?

The Magic of Moments

Fall brings the blessing of returning to a routine. When I have conversations with my family far from us, and they ask what's new, we don't have a lot of new to report. Our life is routine, mondane, and often unexciting. I seem to only blog on our adventures out and about, and this makes me wonder if I miss those "moments" that occur everyday. My life is full of adventures big and small, ages 6-18 months. I believe in magic, and though they may seem extraordinarily ordinary, I witness these tender, sweet magical moments daily.

The Magic of stories....

The magic of toys...and trying to share them....The magic of cute outfitsthe magic of bubbles...the magic of flowers...the magic of blue eyes (could this face be any more beautiful?)the magic of "cheese"the magic of giggles...the magic of swimsuits (I have a personal attachment to swimsuits)the magic of apples....the magic of smiley face rainboots...(magically no more wet muddy shoes)the magic of a wave goodbye..