Halloween

We had a lot of fun festivities for Halloween this year.  From school and church parties to pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating, I was wiped out at the end of October!

Allison had many costume changes.  She wanted to be something different at each event.  Luckily these were all costumes we already had.

Allison as a black cat for her preschool party:

Church "Trunk or Treat" and chili cook-off (which I didn't win and I am still a little bitter.) 

 Allison and Corinne went as '80's punk rockers, Matthew was a soccer player, and Shane was a clown:

Pumpkin Carving 

(Corinne wanted a cute one, Allison wanted a scary guy, and Matthew wanted something creepy and cool):

Allison had a preschool field trip to Cornbelly's and I got to go help out:

And finally, Trick or Treating!! (Allison was Cinderella this time.)

 

I took Allison back to Cornbelly's with Corinne and Matthew right after Halloween. 

It was a beautiful warm day and not too crowded.  We had a lot of fun.

I am also the room mother for Corinne's class and I had to plan her class party too. Whew! It was a busy month! (And the day after Halloween, Shane got the stomach flu which we passed around for the next two weeks.  Fun times!) 

Fall Break

The kids had fall break for three days in October.  Tyson took those days off work so we could have "family fun days".  I can't even remember everything we did, but I did get pictures at Scheel's.  This is a new sporting goods store that has a ferris wheel, aquarium, and some pretty cool photo ops, among other things.  The kids loved it!

I wish I had blogged about this sooner, and maybe I could remember what else we did over the break!  I am glad we were able to spend some time as a family, though.

I have a 12 year old

Corinne is 12.  You would think that I would be sad that she is growing up.  Actually, I am thrilled to have a babysitter!  In fact, Tyson and I took advantage of that today and went on a lunch date for my birthday.

Corinne had a party with a bunch of friends at our house on a Friday night.  They played some Wii, had cupcakes, and then watched a movie.  We had lots of snacks and treats, and boy did they eat!  I am glad Corinne has a nice group of friends who are sweet and polite.  They all had a good time together.  And, Corinne's "best cousin" Sydney came early for dinner and spent the night too.  It was a good weekend.

And now for pictures:

Some fun facts about Corinne at age 12:

grade: 6th

hobbies: gymnastics, reading, writing stories, gymnastics, soccer, accessorizing, and gymnastics!

favorite color: TEAL!

other favorite colors: lime green and purple

favorite subject: science

least favorite subject: math

best friends: Sydney, Izzy, Macie, Scotlynn, Mary, Maia

Tomorrow will be her first Sunday in Young Women.  She is excited.  Her youth leaders have been very sweet and welcoming.  I will miss her in Primary though!

Happy Birthday to my first born!

nine

Matthew loves birthdays as much as he loves Christmas.  He counts down the days to his birthday all month long.  He makes a birthday wish list and puts it on the fridge.  He talks about his upcoming party constantly and wants to make sure all the details are in place.  He had been wanting a laser tag party, and we were able to pull it off!  The kids got pizza, drinks, 2 games of laser tag, and cake (or in this case, donuts because Matthew doesn't like cake).  I think everyone had a great time, especially Matthew.  He got several great gifts, and a good variety too.

The next morning (Sunday), was his actual birthday.  I made him a pancake and sausage breakfast (Allison insisted that we color the pancakes green for Matt's favorite color), and we sang Happy Birthday to him.  We also gave him a gift from us:

He had an awesome birthday weekend!

(Side note:  After his birthday party on Saturday, he had a soccer game.  He finally got to play offense and he scored two goals!!  What a great way to end such an eventful day!)