Halloween Fun!

We had so much fun this year for Halloween (Well at least I did! I think everyone else did. Josh is kind of a Halloween grinch but whatever...) Caleb had originally said he wanted to do some sort of Star Wars costumes this year. But then he saw Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 and thought it was the best movie ever and the whole plan changed. We also found him a Rocket Raccoon costume at Target one day for like $17 so I figured I should support this decision.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of doing group Halloween costumes that match. I think the first time I did this was in college when me and my room mates went to a Halloween party as the cast of Beauty and the Beast. (In case you were wondering, I was the Beast.) Then there was the year that our family and my mom and Jesse and Rachel and Jasmine did the Wizard of Oz thing (I was the wicked witch and my mom was Glenda the good witch... wearing my prom dress... let's not talk about it. lol)

But anyways, in the past few years Avery has kind of run the show when it comes to the costumes. She wanted to be Princess Peach one year... therefore Gabe and Caleb were Mario and Luigi. She wanted to be Tinkerbell one year. Therefore Gabe was a pirate and Caleb was Peter Pan (he wasn't super happy.) So this yea, Caleb said "Mom, it should be MY turn to pick the costumes." Gabe is kind of getting to that age where he's not sure if it's cool to still dress up or not. A few of his friends said they weren't dressing up (and then later did so... haha) but Gabe was going through this kind of inner debate about what to do. So I think when Caleb wanted to take the reigns on costumes, it made it easy for Gabe to say "Okay... I guess I will... for Caleb... you know, not cause I want to... but cause Caleb and my mom are making me" (but secretly he wanted to dress up anyways.) So Gabe ended up being StarLord and I ended up being Gamora. Caleb of course was Rocket Racoon. We wanted Avery to be baby Groot but there was no way she was agreeing to be a little brown ugly tree person. She instead just went her own way and was "Shimmer" from the show "Shimmer and Shine" (a pink haired genie girl.) Her next door neighbor friend, Kendalin, was "Shine" (the other genie.) I wanted Josh to be Drax so bad (and everyone knew he would've been perfect) but he didn't want to because, like I said earlier, he is the Halloween grinch.

So my costume was actually super easy. I had the black leather pants (this surprises anyone? lol) and I found a cheap black tank top at Walmart and a long sleeved green shirt in the boys department. Then it was just a matter of painting my face green and putting on a wig from Amazon! I think we turned out pretty amazing. See comparison below:

We even ended up winning second place at the school carnival! We wore our costumes that Friday before Halloween for the carnival, then again on Monday night for a church party, then again Tuesday (actual Halloween) for school parties and trick or treating. This year we just stayed in our neighborhood for trick or treating. By the time it got dark it was so cold we just wanted to come home and relax. I also helped out with Caleb's class party this year and so I was in charge of some minute-to-win it type games. We did a eyeball ping pong type game (basically beer pong... thanks Wisconsin upbringing), throwing spiders into a web on the wall, tossing a ring around a pumpkin stem, and assembling a skeleton. So it was pretty fast-paced and fun! I had to wear my pirate costume from a few years ago to school though because heavy makeup at school was not allowed (and I am not a rule breaker.)

So what else...? Oh, we went to a fun pumpkin patch (another one) where we did a hay ride and they have this pumpkin cannon that they launch pumpkins and try to hit these old cars in the field! (Idaho redneck fun) And Gabe had a field trip one day to the straw maze in town so me and Avery tagged along to that. It just happened to be on a day when Avery didn't have school due to parent teacher conferences. That was really fun. They had this big slide that we went down at the very end. I'm glad Gabe doesn't seem to mind us showing up. Maybe he realizes that all the girls in his class think it's so cute that he's nice to his little sister. 

I think that's about all for now! It seems like winter is officially knocking at our door. The leaves are now all fallen and raked up. We put all our outdoor patio furniture away, vacuumed and washed the 4 Runner and put it in the garage (it's usually usually on the street for Summer and all our bikes are down in the garage), cleaned up all our rotting pumpkins and threw them away, and some people are even putting up Christmas lights already! (gasp) We haven't done that yet, but probably soon! We even had a tiny snowfall this morning that had the ground dusted in white. Avery insisted on putting all her snow clothes on and playing in it! Time keeps on ticking by! I wish we could fast forward to Spring again. Maybe someday I will be able to get on a plane and fly away when the first snow falls and come back in April! 

Here are some more pictures of the last of Fall 2017!

Jackson Trip, End of Football Season for Caleb, Fall Fun at the Corn Maze, Josh's New Calling

Just a few things to report on here so far for October! I expect the next post will be full of Halloween pictures in a couple of weeks, so before I get into that here are a few things we have been up to.

Jackson trip - So for Spud Harvest break (the first week of October) we didn't do any big trips this year. In past years that has been our time to visit Wisconsin, since the kids have off school for that week. And most families around here do tend to either go to General Conference in Utah or travel someplace warmer, such as Disneyland (in California, which people here just drive to.) But since we went to Wisconsin in August and are going to Disney World in January, we just kind of stayed home all week like bums! Caleb was dog sitting for our new neighbors, the Dennis', who moved in about a month ago. They are empty nesters and she is a teacher's aid at the elementary school so Caleb already knew her, but they had to go out of town to visit a daughter and her new baby, so they asked Caleb to dog-sit for their little shitzu, Mesa. Everyone in our family had fun babysitting her. She stayed at their house but came over to ours sometimes to play during the day. But anyways! We decided towards the end of Spud Harvest week on Friday to drive to Jackson and go swimming at their indoor rec center pool. It's a really pretty drive this time of year and Avery, who has been anxiously awaiting snow, was super excited to see snow at the very top of the mountain during our drive. We even had to get out and throw a couple of snow balls! So that was our first taste of snow this season... but a little more was to come about a week later for us in Rexburg!

Caleb's last official game for football really was last Saturday. But they they decided they needed to also do play offs, etc. and since his team had done pretty well they had to play in one more game. The played on Saturday the 14th against Saint Anthony and won 18-6. So it was a good note to end on for them. But it was pretty funny that morning because we woke up to about an inch of snow on the group! As they were playing their game it was slowly melting and I think by the end of their game it was about gone. But it was time to be done in my opinion because snow means no more standing outside to watch football. Caleb had a lot of fun and plans to play next year but I think he was ready to be done for now and have a break.

Fall Fun at the corn maze - One night while Gabe and Josh were at a scout camp out, I took Caleb and Avery to this corn maze just outside of town. They had so much fun that Gabe and Josh had to come back with us again the next week. So here are some pictures of that! The kids always love going down this big slide. We went there for the first time last year and it's become our favorite Fall fun place here (since we can't very well go to the Little Farmer in Wisconsin). It usually takes us about 45 minutes to find our way out of the corn maze. It's really pretty big! They even give us a map and we still get lost. They also have this little train that Avery loves to ride. I also had to post this picture of the moon. It looked so spooky as we were leaving the corn maze that I had to text my photographer friend and tell her to get her camera out and climb out on her roof (she lives by us and does this often to capture the moon haha) So this was the picture she took for me that night of the October moon! ;)

Pumpkin contest - The kids at the elementary school always decorate pumpkins for this little display in the library. Caleb insisted I paint him a rocket raccoon pumpkin (from "Guardians of the Galaxy", which he is also being for Halloween) and for Avery we did Cinderella's pumpkin carriage. They each got a book and a certificate for participating (what everyone gets. lol)

Josh's new calling - And finally, just when I got released from Cub Scouts and called as the Bulletin Board specialist and was thinking we would get a break... Josh gets called to be the Ward clerk in a student ward on campus. So basically we will be attending church Josh-less for the next three years in our ward. That sounds fun with three kids, right??? No. Not really. But hopefully we will figure it out!
That's all for now!

Fall is here! Trips to Montana and Utah, Badger Game, Boy's Bedroom Update, and more!

Well school has been in session for almost a month now and suddenly this week the temperature seems to have gone from Summer to Winter. I hate how Rexburg does this some years. It will be so hot it's melting your face off one day and then the next day you're wearing your winter coat and drinking hot chocolate! Can't there just be like a month of beautiful 60-65 degree Fall weather?! Is that too much to ask!? But I guess considering the weather that some other areas of the world are getting lately (hurricanes in Texas, Florida, the Caribbean islands) and fires in Canada, California and Montana (and Idaho!) I guess I shouldn't complain about 50 degree weather. But dang it seems cold this week. I'm hoping it gets warmer again for a few weeks before Winter hits us!

The kids are all getting into the swing of school. Gabe is liking sixth grade and his teachers. There was some locker drama on the first day about him getting a crappy low locker next to some annoying kid, but he handled that himself and talked to the teacher and got a new one that met his standards. haha Sometimes he complains about gym class and kids that cheat at sports, but if that's his biggest complaint that isn't too bad. lol He always is a pretty responsible kid about his schoolwork so I don't really have to worry about him getting things done and getting good grades. So that's nice! He got a ukelele about a month ago, I can't remember if I mentioned this, so he has been working on learning some easy beginner songs on that! I also steal it sometimes and try to teach myself things.

Caleb is a smart kid and seems to always get good grades on his tests. (He says, "I am the second smartest in my class." Not sure how he came to these conclusive results but ok, that's fine. ;) However, getting him to do his daily reading and do more than just the basic requirements on his homework assignments is a struggle. He just doesn't see why he would ever do even a smidge more than is required. That just doesn't make sense to Caleb. If he's doing what is required then that's good enough for him and that means he can move onto socializing with his friends, which is way more important that going the extra mile on his homework. (Eye roll.) But at least Heavenly Father gave him a strong brain and he learns things quickly and easily. Which is good because if he actually had to work hard to learn things we would all be in trouble. He just doesn't care about schoolwork as much as he does about being with his friends and being the life of the party.

He is also doing football right now, which seems to be taking over our lives. It wouldn't be so bad except that Josh somehow got roped into being a coach. So basically almost every week night, Josh gets home from work at 4, showers and changes, he and Caleb quick eat something, and then they are both gone until 7:30 for football practice. It makes it pretty pointless for me to try and make dinner. Gabe, Avery, and I eat a lot of grilled cheese and sandwiches lately. Here is a picture of him with his best buddy and friend from his class, Kayson (note the size difference. lol)

Avery is enjoying kindergarten every day in the afternoons. She also is taking a dance class every Thursday from 4-5 at Fuzion. She so far says she really likes this dance class (she says even better than her other one!) I hope she sticks with dance and always wants to do it.

Some other things we have done this past month include going to Montana, where we visited Aaron's family and my dad and Melissa, who had flown out for a visit. Avery was totally enthralled with Melissa's dog, Arissa. She pulled it around in a little wagon and held it on her lap every chance she could get. The smoke was in the air as we drove from Rexburg to Montana on Saturday evening and I caught this shot of the sunset between the mountains. Luckily Aaron's house was never right in harm's way of the fires!

Then we went to Utah for Labor Day weekend to visit with Stacey and Kamrie. There was this event called "Swiss Days" that I had always wanted to go to (it's like a giant craft fair/vendor fair). So me and Stacey and Kamrie and one other girl went to that while Josh took the three kids swimming at a local pool with a couple of water slides. It was the last swimming outdoors of the year! One last water day! They probably had a LOT more fun than I had. It was HOOOTTT at Swiss days and we left early we were so miserable. Then we stopped at Ikea, which led me into a giant brainstorm of how I wanted to redo the boys' bedroom. (More to come on that) Then that night Stacey took Avery to a movie (a cartoon about ballet called "Leap" and Kamrie took the boys to "Spiderman" (who knows which number), and me and Josh went out to dinner with some old friends, Kyle and Jamie Fransen. On Sunday we let Stacey take us on a hike up past Sundance. It probably would've seemed a lot easier (maybe) if it hadn't been hotter than the blazes outside. We were so sweaty and tired. Caleb took off his shirt for the whole walk home and walked in just his basketball shorts haha. But it was very pretty! We went to this waterfall called Stewart Falls. It gave me flashbacks to our hike in Hawaii. I always like the IDEA of going on a hike and then i get about halfway through and I'm like, "Why did I think this would be fun?" haha But then I look at the pictures and think "That was so pretty, it was so worth it!" So here are some pictures of the hike and us with Stacey and Kamrie at the pizza parlor and the Nickel Arcade:

THEN! About two weeks later, I went down to Utah AGAIN (this time by myself) and did the giant Ikea shopping trip. I had decided it was time for a redo on their room, since the loft beds that Josh built almost four years ago have become kind go outgrown. They had little desks underneath them that the boys could sit at. but those boys have gotten so tall that their heads are practically scraping the top of the beds! So I repainted the whole room in tones of blue, with some mountain silhouettes on the wall. Then I bought new white and navy striped bedding and some drawer units to make captains beds (mattresses on top of the drawers). It was quite the redo! I'm waiting on some throw pillows I designed and some wall decor but here's the current picture. My friend, Shalee, helped me with those awesome signs with their names on them! Here is the before and after. I think it makes the room seem a lot bigger and more open.

Also while I was in Utah that weekend, I got to attend my first session at the Salt Lake City Temple. I've been to visit that temple many times but never gone inside, so it was a cool experience! Then that night we had dinner at the cheesecake Factory, which is also a cool experience lol. The next day was the Badger vs. BYU game. I wore my Badger shirt and Stacey wore her BYU shirt. We had gotten tickets from a friend of hers for only $30. My mom, Jesse, Norb, Heidi, and more from Fond du lac had flown out just for the weekend to see the game so we met up with them to tailgate on Saturday at about noon and then walked to the game together. Then that night we went out to dinner at Tucano's. It was fun to see my mom, even if it was just for a brief time! Also, in case you missed it… the Badgers stomped BYU like 40 to 7 or something like that. The BYU fans were not happy.

And last but not least, somewhere in between all this we went to the Southeast Idaho Fair in blackfoot (pretty much what you would expect from a fair… lots of ghetto rides and overpriced fair food, which we skipped and went to Chick Fil A afterwards..) but the kids had fun on the rides!

And Josh had a day where he had taken the day off to go fishing and then his friends bailed on him and I had TONS of Etsy work that day (I think it was a Monday which are always the worst) so he and Avery went to Mesa Falls together in the morning. (Some stranger took that picture for them haha)

So I think that about covers it all! It feels like Summer is officially over and we are headed towards cold weather soon. So in honor of the end of Summer, here were a few last pictures of the beginning of September when we had our last hot days.

Last ride on the Carousel for 2017:

Last cotton candy at the Carousel:

Last sit in the tub outside in the backyard (mom had already deflated to kiddie pool… haha)

And a cat picture just because it's cute… who doesn't like a good cat picture??

Next post, there are bound to be some Fall Fun pictures of pumpkin patches, jumping in leaves, and maybe even trick-or-treating depending on how long it takes for me to post again! ;)