Trunk or Treat

Tonight was the Trunk or Treat/Chili Cookoff. This was a day of mass stress for me. My mother in law was coming into town this afternoon so I was busily cleaning my house, making my costume and making chili for the Chili cook off that I DIDN'T sign up to do but Ryan did it for me. I just wanted to go easy and bring a bag of Fritos but in the end between Ryan and I we had signed up to bring one of everything. I have never made chili before so I was a little stressed. I decided to use my beans that I get from WIC that I thought I would never use and make my chili from scratch. Boy this was fun.

I was so excited for the trunk or treat at the church because it is where I could justifyable dress up. I found Cassidy's Wonderwoman costume at a consignment sale and that sparked the idea of a Super Hero theme. I thought it turned out great!



So we zoomed down to the airport, picked up my MIL and BIL, and ran home to get ready for the Trunk or Treat. I thought by being a little late that I would avoid the competition part of the chili cookoff but they caught me right as the judging was starting. Bummer. The party was so fun. They had great games, good food, and great costumes. So I was busily taking pictures of Cassidy when I heard my name announced over the microphone. I knew they were giving out awards for the chili cookoff but didn't hear why my name was announced. I asked if they just announced the grossest chili and that is why they called me. Well, to my surprised I won the heartiest chili.

Eva took the kids around for the Trunk or Treat while Cassidy and I passed out candy. Cassidy was lovin' the basket of candy and was trying to get her hands on all that she could. The kids had a great time at the party and filled their bags with candy. Ryan wasn't able to come till the very end because he was in training.

My Pumpkins pickin' pumpkins

We tried out a new place this year to pick out pumpkins. It was no Huber Farms so but fine just the same. They had a corn maze, some tricycles for the kids to ride around, a hay stack the kids could climb and lots of pumpkins but not in a patch. It was really cold so we were fine that there wasn't a lot to do outside. Plus, this place was a lot closer to us. The drive was beautiful. The leaves are changing and it is just gorgeous.

The above picture is my favorite picture of the day. I just think it is so funny!

Ryan and the kids are trying to hide from me in the corn maze so they could scare me!

Every year when we get ready to carve pumpkins we somehow think that are kids can actually carve them themselves. Well, Ryan and I were smarter this year and realized we end up doing it all ourselves and the kids just bug us to get it done faster. So we went with only 2 pumpkins and really easy jackolantern designs. It was quite a success.

From this:

To this:

To this:

New Vocabulary

So today I was doubly shocked by two new words that each of my kids used.

Aidan: While eating saltine crackers Aidan said to me, "Look mom, this cracker is a diamond shape and this cracker is a rhombus." (My thoughts: rhombus? what the heck is a rhombus?)

Lacey: She went to a birthday party that they were able to wear their Halloween costumes to. I decided to put some make up on her to finish off her look. I put mascara on her (she calls that making her eye lashes long), some glittery blush and then some lipstick. I told her she was all done and she immediately said, "Mom you forgot to blot my lipstick." ( My thoughts: Blot? Seriously, you just said blot? She has spent way too much time with Grandma Nana because apparently at her house you ALWAYS blot your lipstick.)

So I say thank you to Aidan's teacher for teaching him what a rhombus is and thank you to Grandma Nana for teaching Lacey to blot her lipstick.

Notes from Aidan

I have been getting these notes from Aidan lately. He will just come and hand them to me. I think he is trying to tell me something. Do you think he is mad at me by chance?

Yeah, that is a picture of me.

Oh how he has tainted them

So before we came back from Utah, Ryan told the kids that he had surprises for them from his trip to SD. On our flight home the kids were so excited for their surprises and as we were talking about our excitement, Lacey said, "I hope our surprises are turkeys in our beds." Reference What is he doing to my children?????

Luckily they were happy with a hunter orange hat with a pheasant on it for Aidan and a pink camo t-shirt for Lacey.

Good Friends

On our trip to Utah I was able to see three friends from days gone by that I hadn't seen for several years. It was so much fun to see their little families and be in their homes. I love friends. It is so hard sometimes to keep up with all the friends in life that you have made in different places at different points in your life. There is a sweetness to the relationship you hold with each friend and what part of your life they experienced with you. I wish I could gather all the friends I have ever had and keep them close to me. I miss each one, SO MUCH. It is hard to let some close relationships change and develop. But I hold a reverence for each one in my heart and though my communication may not be often or our visits infrequent I still love them and will always cherish the unique gift they each are to me in my life. So if you are my friend or ever have been...I LOVE YOU and thank you for being my friend!

In honor of the Hunt

Hunting season started this last weekend and Ryan was able to go to South Dakota to hunt pheasant with his Grandpa and Uncle. It is a tradition that he hasn't been able to participate in for a long time. So I was a hunter's widow. Nothing really different than any other day of the week for me, but this time Ryan was playing instead of working and I get a cool new title for the weekend like, "Hunter's widow". I was happy to have him go for some good male bonding. But in honor of hunting I thought I would share some pics of my hunters in training.

Pretty good wouldn'tcha say?