Trick-or-Treat

Hyrum (game boy), Jacob(ninja), Sophie (butterfly fairy princess),

Derek (Frankenstein), Rachel (Raggedy-Anne), and Peter (Power Ranger).

They are all set to trick or treat. And this year they actually ran by themselves from house to house, we didn't need to carry them and stroller them the whole way. It was really fun!

Max got pushed around for trick-or-treating, but he stayed in the stroller and didn't get any candy in his bucket. Sophie pushed her way through crowded door steps to make sure she was collecting her candy, one piece at a time. And Rich had her trained pretty good: If they let you choose the candy, go for the chocolate! She let him down twice. Once for bubble gum, and once for a pencil. The other times she came back to us and proudly declared that she chose the chocolate!!! Good job Sophie, you make us so happy!!!

Trick-or-treating is not just for the kids around here!! There is a house in the next neighborhood that decorates their back yard up all fancy with a lighted path from the front of the house to the back, and great they have Halloween decorations. When the path ends you find yourself at a serving table with hot chocolate and fresh hot scones with honey butter to put on them. It is such a great treat, and a good resting spot for the kids. This family does this every year and I look forward to it!!! Even Max enjoyed the scones, once they had cooled down.

So, we made it through another year of Halloween. But I'm afraid this just marks the beginning of the season of hustle and bustle. I'm hoping to be able to enjoy the holidays (that are coming so quickly) before they are gone again for another year. The only way we can do that is through planning and preparation. We're already almost done Christmas shopping for the kids. And we are going to Colorado to visit Rich's parents for Thanksgiving. I'm excited for, and love this time of year and am trying to find a way to keep it around a little longer this year. I don't want to blink my eyes and have it be the new year. Not yet.

Halloween Traditions

We wanted to start some fun Halloween Traditions this year besides and including carving pumpkins, which we finally did last night, the day before Halloween.. Rich stated us off this morning by making pumpkin pancakes. He put little bowls of "parts" on the table so we could decorate and create our own jack-o-lantern pumpkin pancakes. We had walnuts, bananas, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and cool-whip. It was awesome. The kids loved it. Then for dinner tonight we had dinner in a pumpkin. I had so many questions about it but couldn't really answer them because I had never tried it before, but in the name of holiday tradition I was willing to try. Rich said he had had it before and didn't want me to make it, but his sister Kim said she loved it and had a really good recipe, so we tried it. I thought it was really good, and Rich said it was good enough to have once a year for Halloween. So after our hearty dinner we were off to trick-or-treat the neighborhood for candy, the best Halloween tradition. It's not about the candy because he got more than enough at our ward trunk-or-treat (another loved tradition) and Rich pointed out, after I realized we didn't get any skittles, that we can always buy some candy at the store. Trick-or-treating is about dressing up in your fun costume and running around the neighborhood with all the other kids ringing doorbells and yelling TRICK-OR-TREAT!!!!!!! as loud as you can! It is so fun! We were supposed to make our delicous and rich carmel apples, but got home too late from trick-or-treating. We were sad, but we'll do it tomorrow night instead.

For any of you wanting the yummy recipe for dinner in a pumpkin or pumpkin pancakes:

Dinner in a Pumpkin

-Take one small pumpkin / or spagetti squash and hallow it out the way you would to carve it for a jack-o-lantern, and keep the top.

-Brown 1 pound ground beef.

-chop 1 onion and add to the ground beef while browning.

When bowned add:

-1 can of cream of chicken soup

-2 TBSP soy sauce

-2 TBSP brown sugar

-1 can sliced mushrooms

-1/2 of a green pepper, cubed or chopped

Simmer together for a few minutes.

Take your pumpkin and put inside:

-1 1/2 cups of COOKED rice (1 cup dry rice, cooked)

-meat mixture

Put the pumpkin lid back on and bake in a 350' oven for 1 hour, or until pumpkin meat is tender.

Scoop everything out, including the pumpkin, eat and enjoy!!

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups flour

3 TBSP brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 TBSP veg. oil
2 TBSP vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients seperate from the wet and then combine. Pour onto hot griddle, just like regular pancakes. Yummy!!

Serve with coolwhip and maple syrup and jack-o-lantern toppings like stated above!!

Carving Pumpikins

We left it until the last minute this year to carve our pumpkins. We started Monday night for family home evening, but we did not finish. We were so tired, that we left it until the next night to finish. Well, when I was visiting teaching Tuesday morning my friend Janalynn invited us over to carve pumpkins with their family. Our kids are the same age and have so much fun together and they were thrilled to hear we could go over that night. Rich came a little late and we were already well under way with pumpkin carving when he finally came. Sophie designed her own pumpkin this year and cut it out mostly by herself. (Peter is holding Sophie's pumpkin in the picture.) Peter's pumpkin had thumb tack eyes, and then he declared it was done, so we left it at that. Jared made this crazy cool pumpkin with a baby pumpkin in his mouth!! I told the Fawson's how Rich taught Peter to take the "crap" out of the pumpkin, and how that became the COOL WORD for the night. When we were starting to wind things up Peter, Porter, Sophie and Natalie were running circles around the room hollering and having a great time. Thank you Jared and Janalynn! WE HAD THE BEST TIME!!!

PS-Thank you Fawson's for the pictures, I stole them from your blog!!! Hope you don't mind...

Baby Shelby's Blessing

This Sunday we went up to Logan for the baby blessing of baby Shelby. She looked so adorable in her tiny tiny real Scottish Kilt! And Steven had a matching tie out of the same tarten. Then tarten is important on Cyndi's side of the family, it is their family clan. It was nice to visit with Cyndi's family for a minute this afternoon too. When the blessing was over Rich, Aaron, Matt and me and the kids all went to a park in Logan and ate our packed picinic in the beautiful sun. Of course the kids wanted to play at the adjoining park after lunch, so we relented and let them. We were amazed to see Peter climb the tallest ladder that led to the tallest red slide and then plunge down without hesitation, and then do it all over again!! I was so proud of my cautious son! But then as he climeb up the jungle gym he was very nervous to cross the stationary, non-wiggley, very safe bridge. You can't win them all I guess. I think Peter is playing the baby step game when it comes to adventure. It was a nice afternoon.

The Corn Maze

WE HAD SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN TONIGHT AT THE CORN MAZE.

I'LL TELL YOU MORE ABOUT IT LATER, BUT I WAS REALLY EXCITED TO SHARE THE PICTURES WITH YOU NOW!!!!!!!

Rich got tickets for all of us, even grandma and grandpa, to go to the local corn maze on trade! We even got $5 concession each, so we were ready and set to have fun at the corn maze. We walked in, past the ticket booth, and didn't know where to start, there was just so much to see and do. So we started off walking past the animals. We saw peacocks, turkeys, and goats. The kids loved them! The kids walked through a hale bale maze. And then we hit the ducky race, where you pump the water to make the ducks go faster. Sophie then ran for the giant slide built on haybales!! Next to that was a little slide playground, with medium slide, more Peters speed. He even climbed up the rope ladder alone. We all went on the little train, Sophie was in heaven!! That was her favorite part and went again and again. Peter only wanted to go once and then headed for the Pumpkin Bounce. Grandpa and Rich did a corn shoot. Peter helped Rich line up the target and hit the target. Rich missed on his own... So did grandpa... We all enjoyed eating our treats around the campfire. Kettle Corn popcorn and apple blossoms (cut up apples drenched in carmel, whipcream and nuts!!) and nachos.

Sophie thought up this pose on her own for the kids, turned out pretty good!

I thought this picture turned out nice.

I was so proud of Peter, climbing without hesitation!

Even Max loved the slides, with Rich.

Here's all the ducky racing...

Love Sophie's face in this one!!

Peter could have spent the day in the Pumpkin Bounce!

THE TRAIN!!

It rode through a path in the corn field, and then around in circles and turns.

A very bumpy and entertaining ride!!

Sophie's favorite, she went a dozen times, mostly by herself!

Love the 'corn' box!

It was so much fun to share the day with Grandma and Grandpa!!

And of course, the reason for the event, the Corn Maze itself! We did find ourselves going in circles once! When we left we could hear the haunted corn maze in the area next to our regular corn maze. By then, both kids were crying and Max was asleep. Peter was crying because he could hear all the haunting and screaming going on, and he was too close. Sophie was crying because she could hear the haunting and screaming, and she wasn't close enough! She was dying to go to the haunted corn maze!!! She is so adventurous! Maybe next year...

Attending a corn maze, with all the bells and whistles WILL become a new Halloween Tradition!

Natalee's Baptism

Natalee got baptised today! Sophie was so excited to go and see her, she even made her a present! It was a bag of candy and the cutest hand drawn card ever! I can't believe how grown up Natalee is!! She wasn't even 2 years old when Rich and I got married, now she is 8, and is baptised!! Sophie really looks up to her and wants to be like her. I love living close to (half) of our family. It is neat to be able to get together for events like this. Congratulations Natalee, we are so proud of you for taking this big and important step in your life!!

Trunk-or-Treat

Our ward does the best Trunk-or-Treat every year!! Everyone brings a crock pot of soup or chili and then after eating we enjoy the fun Halloween Carnival and then the long awaited Trunk-or-treating!! It was really fun this year, as always!!

You should see some of the elaborate trunk decorations and spooking!! Ours is not nearly as cool as some of them, but that's fine by us.

The kids favorite way to travel.

Sophie is a butterfly fairy princess.

What did you catch? The orange teeth in the next picture!!

How much candy is really in those buckets? I want some...

The youth in the ward grew pumpkins this year,

enough for each person to take one home from the trunk-or-treat.

Peter didn't knock anything down in the pumkin bowl, but he still got the prize!!

PS- Don't you love his Power Ranger costume that Grandma made for him!!

He does, now he's an official Power Ranger, yea!

I love getting Candy for Me, I mean Max...

Little Shop of Horrors

Last night Rich and I went on a date. We went to see Rich's brother, Aaron, in his recent play. He is starring as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. HE WAS AMAZING!!!!! I was so impressed! He stole the show with his awesome voice and funny moves! He has been involved in theater forever now, and this was his well deserved big break!! We have really enjoyed watching him in all the other shows he's been in, but this is our favorite!! GREAT JOB AARON! WE LOVE YOU!! If there is anyone in the area reading this, you need to go and see this play before it is over (NOV. 10th). I would love to see it again if I could. I really wanted to take Sophie, she is a theater lover too even at her young age, but I didn't think the content of this play was the most appropriate for a 4 year old.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C695218918%2C00.html

PS- I don't know how to add a link to my blog, but this is the address for the news paper article that talks all about Aaron and his show.

Ice cream fun

This afternoon I was upstairs ironing some laundry and I heard the happy little song of the ice cream man driving by. The kids heard it at the same time because instantly I heard the stomping of the little feet down the hall and up the stairs with cries of "the ice cream man is here, the ice cream man is here!!!!!!!!!!!" Of course I knew that their statement really meant "Can we PLEASE go outside and buy some ridiculously high priced ice cream from the strange man driving by in the van with loud and happy music????!!!!" I was up for some fun, so we grabbed our piggy banks filled with change that we were saving for some unknown important thing, such as ice cream, and we ran out the door. We had run all of across the culdisac when I heard this crash... I turned to see Sophie, with no piggy bank in her hand. It had crashed to the ground, and broke into a million pieces. I was afraid there would be a waterfall of tears to follow. But there was only the fear that we would miss the ice cream man. She apparently didn't care about her piggy bank that she has so lovingly protected for over a year now. It's funny how unimportant material things can become in times of crisis. So we picked up every single quarter, dime, nickel and penny. They were all safely inside my bigger change jar and we were off again. We stopped at the corner to try and figure out where the ice cream man had gone to and we found him 2 blocks away!!! The kids were in heaven. So, we looked at all the delicious pictures on the side of the ice cream truck and we made our selection. Peter picked a Road Runner ice cream Popsicle. Sophie chose a very cherry screwball, and I picked Double Lemon Ice. The kids were not impressed with my selection, but that was fine with me. I like lemon ice. The total came to $6.00. We poured our change out onto the sidewalk and counted away. We made sure to pick up the broken piggy bank on the way home, because we had left it on the sidewalk while we ran to find the ice cream man. After that we ran home, opened our frozen treasure and talked about going to the dollar store to buy another piggy bank for Sophie. This was a great mommy time. Too bad Max slept through the whole thing. He really likes ice cream! (PS- You may be thinking that I left him home alone, but Matt was home from school, and he stayed with our sleeping babe while I ran with Sophie and Peter on our ice cream adventure!)

I always thought ice cream was one word, but thanks to spell check I have learned that it is actually 2 words. I had to change it 12 times in this blog!!

Standing Max

Sophie has just discovered that she can make Max stand! She props him up to the couch and holds him till he gets his balance and then lets go!!! She is so proud of herself when she does this! The only problem is that she makes him stand and then she comes to find me to show me, and in the mean time he looses his balance and falls to the ground! Sorry Max...

He actually can stand, in the middle of the room, or about 4 seconds and then looses his balance. I don't think it counts till he can stand alone for 10 full seconds, and I'm sure that's around the corner. He is growing up so fast!!