I've Trained Him Well

Rix was playing Xbox today. The game he was playing is a Spiderman game, and he kept going to the "map" to find out where his enemies were so he could find them and destroy them. So anyway, after going to the map several times he saw a different sign - a dollar sign was showing on the map. He jumped up really fast and said, "Mom! How do I get to the sale? Spiderman is supposed to get to the sale!"

I guess in our warped world a dollar sign in a superhero video game doesn't mean earn more money or anything, it means Spiderman can get a Spidey-suit at half-price. I was so proud!

In His Genes

Cole is in love with anything Bob the Builder, and carries some type of toy tool around almost all day. Hammers, drills, saws, it doesn't matter. If it's a tool, he's attached himself to it. And if he sees you with a tool, he will take it away from you. And he will not go to bed unless there is a Bob the Builder book with him. He would like to play with Bryan's real tools, but he knows he will be in huge trouble for that (can you imagine a two year old smashing a framing hammer on my wall? Not a pretty sight!). Old Bob the Builder is waaay better than new Bob the Builder. The new stuff has the most obnoxious voices!! But he still loves it, and you can tell by this video that he sings the theme song all day long! My little Toad is so cute!

Go Hawks!

About three months ago Bryan and I celebrated our anniversary in Seattle, and that same weekend was a Seahawks game (against the Bears) and I wanted tickets soooo bad! It would have been such a surprise for Bryan! But my inner-cheapness came out (or maybe it's just down right common sense) because tickets were at least $100 a piece, and that was for the nosebleed section! $200!!! That is how much I spend a month on food for my ENTIRE FAMILY OF FIVE! There was no way I was going to spend that much on lousy football!

Then, about a week before our anniversary, I got a call from our good friend Rick Yorkk, who owns a business that often works with Phase II. He had a pair of Club Level tickets for a future Seahawks game and wanted to know if I was interested in them. Was I ever! The tickets even came with a free parking voucher! So I surprised Bryan with these tickets at the hotel on our anniversary.

The game itself was awesome. Freezing, but awesome. We went last Sunday (I know!! Sunday!) where we played the 49ers. I found it way more interesting to watch than baseball, and I like going to baseball games. The crowd was fun and loud and the Seahawks won! It was a close game and tied until the last minute or so when the Seahawks made a field goal with just seconds before going into overtime. It was a blast and so fun to spend time with Bryan! And thanks (again!) to my parents for watching the boys and surviving church without us to help. We owe you big time!The chilly couple. We were in the club level (woot!) so our chairs were covered with a squishy cloth and we had access to the club room, where it was inside and warm. We had restaurant options and tables and chairs to eat at. And the whole think was surrounded by glass so you could watch the game from inside - without frostbite!

Bryan and the field. People are rushing the field because WE WON! All the drunk people around us were high-fiving us like we were best friends!You can see the Seattle skyline behind me. Do you see how freezing I am? I am wearing thermals with a pair of thin ski underpants and my jeans, three shirts, a hoodie, my ski coat, two scarves, gloves, a beanie, and handwarmers and toastie toes. Brrr!

Laid to Rest

I'm kind of an emotional person anyway, but there are certain things that make me overly emotional. Bagpipes for sure always get me. 9/11 stories and footage is too much, so I steer clear. And "How Great Thou Art" or "Families Can Be Together Forever" can make me weepy almost every time. But for the past couple of weeks I haven't been able to look at a Lakewood Police car without getting super emotional. Not because they are pulling me over or anything, but because of the four murdered Lakewood police officers that were shot to death on Sunday, November 29th at a coffee shop just right outside Lakewood. I didn't know them and I don't even know if I ever saw them before, but this tragedy his so close to home. I've lived in Lakewood my entire life (except college) and to think something this terrible could happen here saddens me.

I guess it's the senselessness of it all, that they were killed while filling out paperwork, not knowing what the day would eventually bring. And they left behind families, some with babies, and it breaks my heart. And I love Lakewood! I am raising my family here and like to think we are safe, but when something like this happens it shatters my sense of security and makes me a little more paranoid that I normally am. I can't help but think, "What kind of world are my children going to grow up in?"

And yet, this whole experience has made me proud of my community. The outpouring of support and love from Lakewood to our police officers has been massive. Everywhere I go I see signs and billboards in front of homes and businesses that let the LPD know how much we care. There are blue ribbons on door fronts and collection jars to donate money for the families of the officers, who left behind nine children all together. Hipkins Drive, the road I take to work every day, has blue star balloons tied to all their mailboxes in a show of support. Papa John's donated all of their proceeds from this last Tuesday and Wednesday to the fallen officer's families, and the wait for pizza was up to three hours long because so many people came to help. And the memorial in front of the LPD precinct is so huge with flowers and signs and momentos that just the memorial alone has made national news. Even at the Seahawks game on Sunday they held a moment of silence for the officers, and then rang a bell four times, and as I looked around I saw so many people with tears in their eyes, including me.

Normally I love watching the news, but I haven't been able to watch it lately because I get to weepy (no, I'm not pregnant!). But I felt the need to take the boys to the funeral procession on Tuesday morning to show them that there are good people out there and that we need to support our local police departments. The procession started at McChord AFB and weaved through Lakewood to the Tacoma Dome. There were thousands of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks from so many different cities and states that I lost count. I began by writing all the different precincts down on a piece of paper, but ran out of room completely on the paper. There were officers there from Border Patrol, Idaho, Oregon, Massachusetts, Utah, Arizona, and Montana. The Mounties from Canada even came to show their support. The entire procession lasted almost four hours. And even though Carissa and I got trapped inside the Lowes parking lot for that entire time (we weren't prepared for how long it would take!) it was worth it for me to see how many people came to show support for our community and our police department.

Cole and Bryce don't understand the significance of the whole thing. They just thought it was cool to see lots of police cars.

When the procession started it was emotional and somber. You could just see an endless line of police cars with their lights on, sirens off. The officers inside looked serious, but appreciative. And except for our crazy kids, the crowd gathered on the street to watch was silent. Some put their hands over their heart (and kept it there the whole four hours in the freezing temps) and some held signs. We eventually moved the kids to our cars to warm them up since we had a street view from our car. I told Rix that he may never again see a police funeral procession like this again. And I hope we never have to see one again.

Just down the road from here in LPD precinct. That was where they picked up the officers' families and had the hearses. I'm glad I wasn't there. It would have been emotional overload! And you can see here how many people came out. It was like this for the whole route.

The motorcycles were so cool. There were so many, and it was very cool to see.

Click on the following links to read more about the Lakewood Police Officer shootings (or just Google it, a ton comes up):

The Memorial: http://www.thenewstribune.com/lakewoodshooting/story/983539.html

The Suspect: http://www.thenewstribune.com/lakewoodshooting/story/982723.html

GIVEAWAY ALERT!

My sister-in-law Ana Lee is a Mary Kay consultant (how did our family get so lucky!!). And she is currently doing an awesome giveaway! Anyone who visits her Mary Kay site and signs up as a new user (top right) between now and Saturday December 12th will be entered into a drawing to win....it's so good....$50 in FREE MARY KAY PRODUCTS! I know! Awesome, right?? Register and then send Ana Lee a message telling her what products you want.

You can earn additional entries into the drawing by doing one or all of the following three (just be sure to tell Ana Lee that you have done them):

Post about this giveaway on your own blog (like I'm doing!) - 1 entry per post
Tell a friend who then registers (1 extra per friend)
Tweet/Facebook about the giveaway (1 extra per day)

Good luck! I think you'll need the most luck deciding on what you want - there is so much great stuff to choose from!

Here is her Mary Kay website: www.marykay.com/analeehjelm/default.aspx

You can also click over to her blog. It's on my rightside tool bar.

Tomorrow is a Holiday

Who knew? But Rix has informed me that tomorrow, December 3, is Boy's Day. In his words, it's like Mother's Day and Father's Day, but for boys. When prodded further, he explained this holiday to me.

Me: So Rix, what exactly is Boy's Day?
Rix: Boy's Day is a day that we celebrate boys (look of annoyance here).

Me: Oh, so what do we do for boys on this day?
Rix: Well, you can give me lots of treats, and clean my room, and make my bed.

Me: Well, I do that pretty much every day. What else do we do on Boy's Day?
Rix: You buy me things, and you take me to a movie, and bake me cookies.

So get ready with your treats and cookies and stuff. Tomorrow is Boy's Day.

And I have been informed that January 17th is Girl's Day.

Toad is Two!

I can't believe my little baby is TWO! It's gone by so fast! But he is definitely two, and wishing he was sixteen. He wants so bad to be big and all grown up. Unfortunately for Cole, his birthday this year fell on Thanksgiving, so his party got pushed to the side for a couple of days. But fortunately for Cole, he is too young to really care! We got the family together on Monday night for cake and ice cream, and Cole was so excited!

One thing you should know about Cole is that he LOVES Bob the Builder. He takes these books to bed with him every night, and every day at the office he plops himself down on the chair and waits for me to turn on Bob the Builder for him. What can I say? It runs in his genes!

Grandma Karen got this drill set for Cole. He carries it everywhere (literally) and won't share with anyone! He loves it! And you should've heard the tantrum he threw when we told him he couldn't bring the drill into church!

Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Dave got a super cool shirt and jacket for Toad. Dave's just bummed it didn't come in his size!

Next to tools, Cole loves Legos! I got him a TON of Legos off of Craigslist for a great deal. After a Lysol bath, they are good as new! Bryan is even getting in on the action by building the boys a "castle".

Here are the cupcake I made for his birthday! They were a blast to make! And super yummy! Am I tooting my own horn here??

When we first started singing "Happy Birthday" Cole was singing along until he realized we were singing to him. He was so surprised! He's still getting the whole idea of this birthday thing. All last week if you even mentioned the word "birthday" Cole would start yelling "Chuck E. Cheese!!".

Madelynn did not appreciate our rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". We'll have to tone it down for her birthday next month!

In very Cole fashion, he made a mess of his cupcake and ice cream. Would I expect any less? It's his birthday and he can do as he wants!!

Cole wearing his new Bob shirt from Nana. He loves pointing out all the characters (yes, he knows them all).

Playing with the tools from the Poyfairs. He loves to carry things around with him (what two year old doesn't?) and he isn't super good at sharing yet. Meaning: watch out siblings and cousins! You won't get to play with the tools unless Cole is sleeping!

Elmo! Aunt Jodi and Uncle Ron may know our children better than we do!

Cole is such a great addition to our crazy little family. He is so goofy. He loves to jump off of the couch, often resulting in injury, but that doesn't stop him. He loves to be bossy, often telling Bryce to "take a nap" if Bryce starts whining, or telling Rix to "close your eyes" in the middle of prayer. He loves to sing! He knows so many songs, and often sings them so loud that we have to tell him to sing quieter. He also sings to himself before he goes to bed. He is always messy, and he refuses to eat something he doesn't like, no matter what we threaten him with. He is stubborn and independent - if I help him up the steps and he wanted to go up by himself, he will walk all the way back down so that he can go back up alone. He is also super loving, often coming up to give us hugs and saying "I love you!" We love our little Toad and are excited to watch him grow up!

Thankful for So Much!

I know this is the first picture you all wanted to see.
Bryan doesn't look much better in these goggles.

My mom helped the kids make little Oreo turkeys. They weren't the cutest (Kristi's were much cuter) but the kids had such a good time making them, and Bryce would've made them all day long if we would have let him! We are so doing this next year too, and I'll get a better frosting for glue!
The night before Thanksgiving Bryan cut a bunch of wood blocks for some friends. The boys love to go to Lowes! It's better than the park!

This Thanksgiving was a lot of fun for us. The boys were excited about the holiday and I was excited for a few days off of work and to have Bryan home. We spent the day at my mom's house, which the kids were mostly excited about. Carissa, Lindsay, and I went to Old Navy and stood in line forever, but they got some cute stuff, so totally worth it! Dinner wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. We had my kids and Carissa's kids, plus our friends the Ross's two kids, but all the kids were really well behaved! We had two turkeys (yum) and ham (Bryan's favorite), so there was plenty to go around. I also attempted a pumpkin cheesecake that turned out pretty good, but I'll try a different recipe next year.

Friday morning - early morning - Carissa and I braved the crowds at Target and Walmart. We got some great deals, but the best part is just getting up early and seeing all the wackos! It's the experience of it all that I love, and even though I was only really going for some $3 jammies and a set of Hot Wheels, it was so worth the 4:30 am wake up call (even though I'm still recovering - I've been going to bed at 9pm since Black Friday!).

This year I have a lot to be grateful for. I have a beautiful home that is almost done (finally!). We paid off our Amex card, which feels amazing. I have a beautiful and fun family, with three amazing boys who love me no matter what, even if I haven't put on makeup yet! I have a great husband who works hard to provide for us, and works hard to keep me happy and sane (three boys are tiring!). My family is healthy and I have nothing to complain about. This year has been really great, but I think next year is going to be even better. I've learned a lot this year about life and myself, and I am excited for next year so that I can make it even better!

Silence is the worst sound

Don't get me wrong. I hate whining, screeching, and screaming. But silence is the worst sound of all. Why you ask? If you're a mom you should know this answer. It's when things get quiet that I start to worry - it usually means my children are getting into something they aren't supposed to. It's during these silent periods that I have found my kids coloring on walls, ripping pages out of books, and playing with my camera. Case in point: a few days ago Rix and Bryce were watching a show before naps and I was Christmas shopping online (totally distracted). While browsing walmart.com (see John! A Walmart shout-out!) I thought to myself, Wow, Cole is actually watching this show with the boys! He was being so quiet that I didn't even think to check on him. Needless to say, he was NOT watching the show.

Nope, that's not chocolate (that's what Bryan thought it was). It's lipstick. My poor Mary Kay lipstick! Wasted! It looks like he ate a chunk out of it. But at least he knew where on his face to put it!! And I learned not to leave anything in my purse he can get in to.

Cole's Hole

Cole is always getting into everything. He doesn't seem to have a lot of fear and every since he was a tiny baby, he has loved to be "up" on something. Up on the couch, up on the bed, up on the chair, the table, the ladder. Whatever. So today he was trying to sit in the Lego bucket on the couch. And even though I was sitting right next to him, he lost his balance and face planted on the coffee table (we have more injuries from that darn table!). There was blood everywhere! It was all over the carpet, my coat, my pants, me, and Cole. He was so upset - understandably. Here is what it looks like now! Isn't it the saddest??

Time

FYI: Here is some rambling. This is all in my head - and I need to get it out! Thanks for dealing with it!

For my lesson today for Young Women's I taught them about how we need to use our time wisely. This lesson couldn't have come at a better time for me. A couple posts ago I wrote about how guilty I felt for napping all the time. And while it was written with complete sarcasm, I really did feel guilty for wasting that time! I felt like I was teaching the girls, and yet learning so much for myself. I remember my father-in-law having a Family Home Evening a few years ago where he told us he really wanted us to use our time wisely, because it is something we will never get back. And it's so true! I wish I could go back and change so many things, but thinking that way will only discourage me and frustrate me, so I've decided to stop feeling guilty about the way I've spent my time in the past, and instead use those experiences to make me better at the way I am going to spend my time now and in the future.

Before my father-in-law's lesson, I never really thought much about how I was spending my time, but as my kids are quickly getting older, I am feeling more and more than time is slipping away. Am I doing everything I can to teach them? Am I using my time to grant them experiences and to spend quality time with them? I taught my girls today that we need to prioritize our activities so that we can be less stressed and overwhelmed. These feelings usually make me a "bad mom", so I'd love to feel less of both! And when we prioritize, we can make time not only for physical things (playing games with our kids, making dinner, cleaning, etc) but for spiritual things, like reading scriptures, meditating, and Family Home Evening. If these things are a priority and I organize my time effectively, I can get everything done I need to get done without being stressed out and crazy!

I also told my girls that prioritizing your time doesn't mean having no fun ever. If you can get done the important things, then you should have plenty of time to do fun things without feeling guilty that you should be doing something else. I think a lot of my time is wasted because I don't plan ahead of time what things I need to get done.

In my lesson we talked about making a list of the things you NEED to do, like go to school, eat, and do homework. Or for me it would be go to work, make meals, and get Rix to school. Then you make a list of things you SHOULD do, like read scriptures, clean the house, and put in a load of laundry. Then you list the things you would LIKE to do, like play games with the kids, watch Glee, and read a book. Decide which from each of these from the last two lists (SHOULD AND LIKE) is the most important, and DO those things the next day. That way you do all the things you NEED to do, and then get things done from your SHOULD do list and even from your would LIKE to do list. You are accomplishing the most important things from those lists, and you can do different things everyday, although scripture reading and cleaning house, etc, might be a priority everyday.

I just want to make sure that every day I become a better wife, mother, and person. Who knows how long we have on this Earth? If I die tomorrow, I want to know that I will return to my Heavenly Father and be with my family forever. So each day I want to spend time making memories with my family and building my testimony so that I can feel good about the time I spend. And since we will all be accountable to Heavenly Father for the way we spend our time, I don't want to feel guilty and try to explain why I wasted my time playing video games or watching mindless TV or whatever. How are you using your time? Something to think about...

Here is a clip of President Eyering. He is so amazing. He is so quiet in his deliverance, yet so powerful. I loved what he had to say and watched the clip several times. I hope you get something wonderful out of it too!

Hurry Up Christmas!!! I'm (im)patiently waiting!

I think every year my excitement for the holiday season grows exponentially. I remember as a kid being really sick every Christmas Eve, and I guarantee my "sickness" was nerves and excitement for the coming day. I even asked Bryan last week if I could start decorating the house with Christmas stuff (he vetoed that quickly).

Oh my heavens, just thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas right now gets me all giddy. Geez, I'm a grown woman (sort of), you'd think I'd have some control? But not really. I'm as crazy as a little kid waiting for Santa. And speaking of kids, I think having three of my own now makes Thanksgiving and Christmas so much more fun and exciting, especially now that the older two really are understanding the whole holiday concept. I'm excited to start new family traditions (maybe venturing out to cut down our own Christmas tree? possible caroling - probably not) and excited to continue family traditions (decorating cookies for Santa, decorating the tree together). I want to take Rix and Bryce on their own special shopping trip with Bryan and I to pick out something for their brothers from them. I'd take Cole, but he wouldn't get it - maybe next year. I want to do some service too so the boys understand that there are kids out there not as fortunate as them, and heavens knows my boys need to learn a few lessons in gratitude. No really, they do. And every year I say I am NOT going to get up at the crack of dawn and endanger my life and sanity to shop Black Friday deals. But who am I kidding? Now that I have an accomplice in the form of Carissa - and Lindsay and my mom if I can drag them out of bed! - I will for sure be up at 3 am on Black Friday to snatch some great deals.

I have already begun stocking up on baking supplies for making lots of treats. I've dog-eared recipe books and pulled out recipes for cookies and cakes and goodies to make for friends and family (and me) to eat. But I am so overwhelmed with all of it too. Our budget is waaaaay smaller for gifts this year. I channeled my inner Christina and I already got a few presents starting in the fall (shopping early really does pay off!) for the boys, but I'm no where close to being done. So please help me lower my stress and lend me your thoughts!

I am in need of a few things (besides money and a bigger kitchen, both of which I asked Santa for. C'mon! I've been sooo good this year!).

What holiday traditions does your family have? (Only share your traditions if you are willing to possibly let me steal your idea for my cute little family).

What traditions would you like to start?

And most important, what do you get little boys (ages 5, 3, and will be 2) for Christmas??? You'd think I'd know the answer to this one, but seriously. I tried gleaning clues from things they asked for, but while watching TV or reading the Toys 'R Us magazine, they literally ask for everything (unless it's pink, in which case they insist Olivia needs that toy.).

I hope you all are excited for the holidays this year! If not, I'm excited enough for all of us!

The First Step

I think the first step towards changing any behavior is admitting that you have a problem in the first place. So okay, here I go. I have a problem. Okay, I have many problems, including addiction to diet soda and a need to watch certain TV programs, but theses are problems that, although I will admit to them, I don't really want to change them. However, I do have one problem that I love to death, but I need to change it for the welfare of my family and to just plain feel less guilty about it. So here it is in plain English. I love to sleep. Way too much. I think about sleeping all day long. When I first wake up in the morning, the first thing that I think about is how long I have to wait until the kids nap time (so I can nap too). When I get up from said nap, I count the hours until I hope to be in bed (usually unnaturally early - I shoot for a 9 pm bed time, but that doesn't happen often). And when I don't get to bed at an early hour, I tend to be grumpy and/or lazy that night. On nights that I know I have to get things done (i.e. laundry night) or nights when I know I will be out late (i.e. canning nights or date night) I have to mentally prepare myself to stay awake. And when I go to bed at night I dread the 7 am hour when I have to be up. And on weekends I always think of excuses, any will do, to convince Bryan that I need to sleep in. Aaahhhh....sleep....how I love you! But here is my problem. Although I looooove to sleep, I feel immensely guilty that I am wasting precious time that I could be spending with my family. If I got up early I could fix a nice breakfast for my kids instead of hustling them out the door with an Eggo waffle and a sippy of milk. I could shower and be ready to go when they get up so I could help them get ready and spend time with them instead of sticking them in front of Playhouse Disney while I shower and dress. If I didn't nap I could help Rix with homework, play games with him, and on days Bryce doesn't nap I could teach him letters and I could play with him. If I stayed up later than my beloved 9 pm I could spend quality time with Bryan. I could pick up my house without three boys running underfoot, I could finish all my half-finished projects. I could work on writing my book, start a new embroidery project, or organize my messy bedroom. Now I understand that sleep is important to our health, but I'm getting like 11 or so hours of day of sleep. So not needed for a 29 year-old healthy woman! I think I get more sleep than Rix! So I'm taking the first step. I am admitting that I'm a sleep junkie, and I need some serious help. What do you do to keep energetic? What do you do to find motivation to conquer tasks and projects? What to you do to keep your patience in the middle of a heated Disney Sorry game when all you really want to do is take a nap? Share your wisdom with me. And just do you know, I will still probably nap every once in a while. I will probably sleep in on occasion. And I will still probably go to bed early once in a while. But I need to make my family and my home a priority and, well, right now, I think sleep is taking that place. And FYI - I am writing this post during nap time, so yeah for me! I'm not currently sleeping (although I am thinking about it...)

Trick-or-Treat! Or should I say, a week of SUGAR!

We had an awesome Halloween this year. Holidays are becoming more and more exciting as my kids really understand what they actually are all about. And Halloween is all about dressing up (they loved that part) and, of course, CANDY (they really loved that part!). We started our Halloween celebrations off with our first ever annual Pumpkin Carving and Cupcake Decorating Family Night. Our poor little family has been so sick the past couple of weeks, so we didn't make it to a pumpkin patch, which we are so doing next year!! (Maybe we'll go twice to make up for this year!) But who needs a pumpkin patch when we have (drums please) Albertsons! They had a huge selection of pumpkins, so we drove there to let the kids each pick out their own pumpkin. Bryce picked out the first pumpkin he saw.Rix carefully selected his pumpkin - and ended up choosing one in the very back.
Cole was just happy to climb.

After we got home from the Albertsons "Pumpkin Patch" we looked online for pumpkin carving templates. Rix really wanted to carve bats and Bryce chose a spider. We chose a goofy face for Cole, and Bryan picked out a skull face. I didn't carve a pumpkin, I was just happy to get my pumpkin seeds out for roasting! I put Bryan in charge of cleaning out the pumpkins and carving, which turned out to be a bad and good idea all wrapped into one. I guess in the Pearson house we carve pumpkins with power tools? Bryan got out his Rotozip to carve the pumpkins, which was really great - it carved the pumpkins to well and even cut out the really detailed parts. BUT, it was a bad idea because pumpkin flew everywhere. I cleaned pumpkin off the floor, table, walls, door, and windows, and anything else in the pumpkins path. The boys loved watching their pumpkin get carved, and when they were done they thought it was so fun to put the candle in and light it (we turned out the lights for full effect). Cole is rolling his pumpkin into the kitchen. So resourceful!

Bryan using the Rotozip, and Rix not loving the noise.Picking out my pumpkin seeds!This is Bryan's pumpkin.

We put Cole to bed (he was getting into everything, a sure sign he is ready for bed) and I let the other two boys decorate the cupcakes with Halloween decorations. It was so much fun! They each got to pick one out, and of course they picked out the ones with the most decorations on them. In fact, when I told them they got to pick one out, they both immediately started piling the candy on their cupcakes. Sneaky! Bryce stealing cupcake decorations - caught red-handed!
Aren't they awesome decorators? Rix kept wanted to "organize" his decorations, meaning make them symmetrical and pretty. Bryce is, again, just eating the decorations.

Next year we are for sure doing this again. The only difference is I will either get a pizza for dinner or we will go out for a quick bite. It was really crazy trying to take care of dinner while dealing with pumpkins and pumpkin seeds and cupcakes baking and three crazy boys. We are excited for our second annual Pumpkin Carving and Cupcake Decorating Family Night next year!

We also went to Carissa's house to make caramel apples, something I hope to do every year! I love caramel apples! I even had mine for breakfast (it's a fruit!!!). My kids said they didn't like the caramel apples (they don't like to get sticky - so weird) but they enjoyed decorating them and making them anyway. And I totally don't mind eating theirs!
On Halloween, the boys were so excited to get all dressed up. Rix chose to be a vampire. I tried to tell him vampires sparkle (from Twilight, for those, like Bryan, who are living under a rock and don't get the reference), but he insisted they were white with blood running down their faces. I think he got that from Scooby Doo. Or my mom. We borrowed the cape from my mom, and we picked it up Saturday afternoon. Rix asked if he could put the cape on right away so he could practice bringing it across his face and turning into a bat. He was seriously into his costume! He wasn't a huge fan of getting the make up on, but once it was on and dried, it didn't make his face itch. Scary! We waited until we got to the trunk or treat to put on the "blood".

Bryce chose to be a clown, and it was so fun. It is actually the same costume my mom made for me when I was little! I put a little make up on his face, and even though he didn't love having the make up put on, he didn't complain too much and actually didn't even smudge it all night! The wig was a different story. It had gold threads in it, and they hung down in his face all night. At one point he said, "Mom, my wig is getting all...(pause)...hairy." It was really funny. And he referred to his red-painted nose as his beepy nose.

Cole was a cowboy. It was a perfect outfit for him since it didn't have lots of weird parts that he would take off. He was an adorable cowboy! He used a little cowboy hat we've had for a couple years, and it was a little small, but still so adorable.We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat, which we love for many reasons. We know who the candy is coming from, the kids get candy fast since they are going trunk to trunk instead of house to house, and it's safe because the block off the parking lot and no one is allowed to leave until they get the all-clear. Oh, and the real reason we go is Sister Mathison's hot chocolate! Yummy! The boys were so excited to go around. Cole is our pokey-little-puppy, so he was really slow going around. I finally told Rix to go around by himself because the faster you go from car to car the more candy you get! Bryce went around with Papa, and Bryan slowly went around with Cole. I held down the fort of our trunk and handed out candy.
The boys with Nana and Papa at the Trunk-or-Treat.
Missy!
Yeah! Blood! Finally...
Cole did some early trick-or-treating at Nana's car.
Bryce with his Best Costume award. And his favorite candy (well, one of them). How did they know he liked Whoppers so much?
A sugar-sick cowboy.
Rix with his bat pumpkin (the one below it is Cole's).
Bryce with spider pumpkin.

Overall we had a great Halloween. The boys had a blast and loved dressing up, and now I have tons of candy to bribe them with :) Although I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of Almond Joys in their Halloween baskets, I'm excited for next year! We are for sure doing our pumpkin carving night, and I also think next year we will let the kids trick-or-treat door to door a little bit too. I hope you all had a great Halloween! Up next...Thanksgiving. I'm soooo excited!