Pumpkin Carving FHE

We invited a few friends over for pumpkin carving on FHE night. Since we were in the garage, the kids thought it was more fun to go out front and run around. They were crazy! We had to rein them in a couple of times, but they were having a great time playing 'Ghost in the Graveyard'. This picture is of our biggest pumpkin we grew this year. Mike got to carve the Big Daddy and Amanda scooped the guts (she likes it!)

Below is Syd's pumpkin with our scary coffin guy. This thing scares Brandon so bad that we can't turn it on anymore.
This is mine. It started as a ghost, but looks more like a bat. Hopefully it will look better with a candle in it! At one time, I thought I'd get dry ice and it would look great, but it's not gonna happen. So, visualize people!

I did the one on the left for Brandon and the other is Amanda's creation!

The Harwood's were pretty serious pumpkin carving folks.
So were the Francis'
Here are our fun Jensen friends!

I think this is the only way to carve pumpkins! With fun friends and in the garage!

Ari's Blessing and visit to Grandma-Great

Sunday was Danny's birthday and he celebrated by blessing his baby girl! It was a fun day and he did a great job on the blessing. We had Kate with us since she slept over after the H.M. concert and we still made it on time! Yea for us (at 9am after a 30 minute drive...that's pretty good!). After the meeting, we went to Dan & Stacie's for brunch. They kids opted to play in the leaves and were so cute! I had to take this picture so Zach could see himself! Now, Zach can see himself on my blog! Hi cute boy! And Makayla, that is a lovely dress! It looks darling on you! Ok, D&Kat, you two are cute, also!

Let's get out the yard and leaf equipment

One, two, three... jump!

Good job, Aidan and Elyse! (Two of the 5 babies all born within one year)

Issac and Sydney join the crowd

Now everyone in!

Enough jumping in the leaves, now let's throw the leaves!

Since we were in SL, we decided to visit Grandma-Great (Mike's 92 year old Grandma). She didn't want pictures, so I took a picture of B & Sydney in front of the birds! These birds keep us busy when the kids get too rowdy in Grandma's apartment. The other attraction is the elevator and since it's only a 2 story building, I let them ride all by themselves!

Back home, the kids decided to make out their Santa lists and here is Brandon scoping out the Toys R Us Thomas section. He stared at these train sets for a good half hour! And then, he carried the pages around for days!

HANNAH MONTANA!

To say there is a Hannah Montana obession at our house is a major understatement! Our cute Amanda made sure that she knew if the 'Best of Both Worlds Tour' was coming to SLC. Mike and I knew that we just had to get tickets for her and if we took Amanda, we had to take Sydney for sure.

We went to the Dodo for lunch beforehand. Cozette came to bring Kate to us...we had only one ticket left and told Coze we'd take Kate for her...since Cozette just had Garrett 5 weeks ago!

Kellie and Maddie, Tracy who is Holly's sister, Ellie, Hanalee and my girls. (We also had Syd's friend Hannah and her dad meet us at the concert).

The concert was really fun! The Jonas Brothers opened and they were really loud. That sent Sydney crying and wanting to go home. We got some earplugs and covered her ears. That seemed to do the trick. Then came Hannah Montana! Very cute show. Very fun outfits. Amanda, Kate and Maddie danced a ton and I was impressed that Amanda knew all the words, even to the Miley Cyrus songs.

Gotta have T-shirts! And they got necklaces, too...Maddie also got a bag.

It was soooo fun to see the utter joy and excitement in our girl's eyes. They were in HEAVEN!

I didn't get a very good picture of Hannah/Miley, but here's a shot. You can at least see the clothes! She was really cute with the audience and seemed very grateful to have such awesome fans! I heard quite a few Moms wishing that she would have done a duet with her daddy!

Happy Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Since the Arvy grandparents are world travelers as of late, they are ditching us for Thanksgiving. However, not wanting to get out of the cooking (that's a good one, huh Renae!), they invited the family up for Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. Now, we also have a traditional Halloween party where costumes are encouraged. So, as we came up to the door, here are the Pilgrims: Jim & Renae welcoming us to their abode. They looked great!

We had a DELICIOUS Thanksgiving meal and were STUFFED like turkeys! After things were cleaned up and put away, Grandma brought out the chimes and we all played Christmas music! (We think the grandparents were just covering all the bases for when they are gone.) The chimes were a BIG hit and the songs sounded lovely when everyone was playing correctly. (There was a lot of improvisation!) Our night ended with all of us telling what we are grateful for and then Grandma gave us all a Halloween treat bag! Not a bad idea to celebrate all the holidays in one evening! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa, we had a great time!

Amanda and Kaili getting ready for the songs above, as the whole ensemble plays below:

More Birthday Fun

We got together at Mom's house last Sunday to celebrate October birthdays! Happy Birthday to Danny and Amanda! The kids go crazy over birthday cupcakes!

I've Been Tagged!

And the sad thing is....there isn't much interesting to tell. But, I'll give it a try. First, the rules:

1. Each person list 6 facts/habits about themselves.
2. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, and then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog for the rules.

1. I have worn glasses or contacts since Kindergarten. I'm blind as a bat! It's really sad for me. I had my eye doc do a little test to see if I could get laser corrective surgery and he said my cornea is too thin, so no. (Mike still wants me to go to where his was done for an exam). It would fulfill a lifelong dream to be able to see without assistance. One of my big fears is that one of our kids will have my eye issues. I don't like to read much because it's hard to see. And, now that I'm a little older, I can't see things too close! (Don't EVEN say bifocals!)

2. I don't like cupboards left open. I did reveal this on my 50 list, so it's not really new, but it's still true.

3. I love to vacation. Not all that interesting, but it really doesn't matter where I go....just as long as I'm on vacation. Sometimes when I was working, I would take a 'day' vacation....ok, more than sometimes. I would take a 'sick & tired' day and just chill by myself. It would be nice to be able to take a 'sick & tired' today once in awhile now. I'm glad I took advantage of it then.

4. My friend, Daneise, once got me hooked on QVC and I was addicted! Seriously, they have 'solutions' to problems you never knew you had! I have weaned myself from QVC now (haven't ordered from them since we moved to Kville), but I find myself watching their Christmas product shows a lot right now. I almost broke down and ordered some lighted porch trees (battery operated-BRILLIANT!) the other day, but I held strong.
'I (used to) Q, do you?' (Hopefully, you've seen their commerical and aren't thinking I've lost it).

5. I prefer to watch movies that are comedies or romantic comedies. I don't like horror, drama, sci-fi or anything too deep. I think you watch a movie to escape everyday reality and there is too much drama and scary stuff out there in real life. One exception is 'Lord of the Rings,' which I didn't think I would like, but I really do! And 'Pirates'...but I'm not sure what category they would fit into. However, I will totally be into 'Twilight' when it becomes a movie.

6. I love my family! I love to spend time with Mike and the kids and it doesn't matter what we do. It could be going to Home Depot, boating or watching tv. I just love to be with them. I also think that my brothers are super-funny. No one gets me giggling like they do when they get on a roll. Everyone else probably thinks we're stupid, but maybe that's what's so funny!

NOW-I tag Staci, Stacie, Kellie O, Phil O, Makell, and Gaylord!

Just a little thought...or two

My friend, Makell, sent this to me the other day. I'm feeling like it's a good day/week for this quote! Enjoy
Many homemakers find (Martha) Stewart "scary" because they know they can never measure up to her standards, says Elaine Bloom of A Place For Everything, an organizing company that offers people advice on how to get more order in their home lives. Instead, homemakers are giving up the ideal of having "the perfectly decorated home and the most beautiful cupcakes" in exchange for more time to spend with families or on other pursuits that bring them satisfaction, Bloom says.

Also, my visiting teachers were by yesterday and gave a great lesson with the focus being on the quote: "To be a righteous woman during the winding up scenes on this earth, before the second coming of our Savior, is an especially noble calling. The righteous woman's strength and influence today can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times. She has been placed here to help to enrich, to protect,

and to guard the home

-which is society's basic and most noble institution. Other institutions in society may falter and even fail, but the righteous woman can help to save the home, which may be the last and only sanctuary some mortals know in the midst of storm and strife." Pres. Kimball

Pandora's Box is in my garage

Before!

When Mike was out of town last week, I thought it would be a great time to start painting our 90's bedroom furniture that will need to be lasting a little while longer. It's "beautiful" hunter green shaker style and is getting on my nerves. I want to paint it black and headed to our local paint store to pick up some BLACK paint. Now, I don't know what is so hard about getting paint BLACK, but even after 3 more tries trying to get this paint BLACK, it still came out

DARK BLUE.

It's an ok color and I asked Mike what he thought....and he said BYU and NEVER.

I also had painted the tops and decided that was a bad idea, so I had a sanding party.

I told Mike I was done going to the local store. While we were out for a fun FHE (dinner and shopping... Mike had gotten a Chili's GC from someone he did taxes for and Sydney had won a Barnes & Noble GC at a contest for school), we decided to go to Lowe's and see what they could do for us.

Low and behold...BLACK!

It was a lovely experience: I asked for BLACK, the girl listened and gave me BLACK!

We also found these new knobs that were on clearance for 50 cents (others were $2+ a piece)! I stayed up late last night painting Mike's dresser since he's feeling out of sorts with no place for his socks. Today, I ran to Home Depot and bought some stain for the top.

I'm loving the color of this stain and also the color of the BLACK!

So, Mikey should be back in business tomorrow. And tomorrow I tackle the sanding, staining and repainting of the nightstands. I hope to have those back in place in 2 days. Then, my dresser and finally next week, the bed. This little project that I gave myself 2 days to complete turned into a huge disaster! And it all started with trying to buy BLACK paint.....

Sing your way to a Halloween Party!

Brandon was all about the candy! Sydney the sweet witch!

The whole singing group

B & Thomas

Lucy, Indiana, Abby and Sydney

We have been fortunate to attend a little Mom and me singing group with our friends, the Orisons. Today was their Halloween party and was a good chance for us to test drive B & Syd's costumes. I have to say, I love how Sydney's witch costume looks, especially with her cute, blonde short hair! Brandon was all over the Thomas costume for awhile, but it eventually came off. This group is held at the Apple Tree Assisted Living Center which is also a great opportunity for our kids to interact with the elderly folks that live there. For Sydney, she has had to work to come out of her shell around these folks and it can be intimidating if you aren't around cute elderly people much.

One of the mom's made cute treat bags and thought it would be cute for the residents to hand the bags to the kids...sort of like trick-or-treat. Well, I was just giggling because some of the residents didn't give the bags to the kids and kind of hid them so they could keep them! It made me want to go buy some chocolate for all the little old ladies!

Brandon's favorite is when we sing with the parachute! We also sing a hello song that goes 'Where is Brandon, where is Brandon?' and then the child would sing back, 'Here I am, here I am!' and Brandon did it today! It was so cute! Sydney has done it for a couple of weeks and sings so sweetly. And, the best part is that it's an activity that is FREE and FUN!

It's been one of those days, weeks, months....

Don't you just love two-year-olds? I was running EXTREMELY far behind today (as usual~side note: I laughed in my friend's face yesterday when she asked me how I do everything and do it so well....I asked if she remembered who she was talking to!) and just had a couple of seconds to fold the 2 batches of laundry I didn't get to yesterday. The now folded laundry sat in my green laundry basket waiting for me to take it to the bedrooms and put it away, when something else more pressing came up and I attended to it. When I returned, I saw that Brandon, wanting to play with said green laundry basket and took all my nicely folded clothes and put them all over the family room floor.....Is it any wonder I can't get anything done? Note to self: Don't leave green laundry basket full of clothes and Brandon alone in the same room.

While the Dad's away, the fam will play

My little witchy-poos. Brandon was scared of the witches at first.

But, the girls loved it!

Mike went on a golf trip with Reed and Kerry for 4 days, so after the usual day~to~day craziness, we needed something fun! I haven't seen my cute cousin, Staci, for quite awhile...It really is sad! So, we planned a trip to Gardner Village to see the witches! I also invited my friend, Holly, along since her hubby is out of town, too.

This witch really can hula-hoop~her hips move! Brandon, Ruby Jane, Sydney & Ellie
The crew: Amanda, Brandon, Ruby, Sydney, Ellie, Hanalee & Jake

Little did we know that we picked the 'Witches Nite Out' day to show up! This is when a whole bunch of crazy gals (and some guys) dress up as witches and par-tay. There is a witch parade at 10pm and the place was PACKED! Now we lived just 5 minutes from G.V. for 8 years and I don't remember this going on at all....I wonder if it's new, or I'm just out of touch with my witchy-side (my hubby and kids would argue that point).

Holly and I were the first to arrive and we took the kids around the cute village. So fun to see all the different witches and really neat animated ones. People are so creative! Then, off to Naborhood Bakery for a kid snack.

Brandon and Ruby Jane petting a cow! Amazing how they weren't even nervous about these animals.
Watching the geese
Amanda loved the little piggies and spent a lot of time watching and petting them
Hi, Mom!

They have this cute petting zoo that the kids LOVED and spent a good half hour in. About the time we were done, Staci and her cute, cute family got there! Since the zoo was so fun, she took her kids there while we went back to the 'dance' area. Holly and I had a great time people-watching (oh, and the people we could watch!). Our favorite was the gal who looked like she was in her late 60's, her face painted like a tiger and her dance moves...cat-like arms as she stole across the dance floor (or asphalt, but floor sounds better). She was a kick and we couldn't get enough of her. The kids danced like crazy!

Anyway, after a few cute pictures with Staci, finding Tate after he got lost, and packing up all the kids in the cars, we headed to Cafe Rio for dinner. Holly had to get back home, and so Staci and I took our kids over to Target. I could buy some more jammies for B, for the ride home. He was going to be out cold after having so much fun this day. I was right! The kids loved Target, of course. They were all doing cartwheels in the aisles and showing off for the cousins.

We miss seeing these guys so much! Luckily, we'll all be in St. Gorgeous over Thanksgiving and can hook up! All of our pumpkins together! Amanda, Syd, Brandon, Mitchell, Rachel & Tate!The littlest of our pumpkins: Brandon and Tate!
Mikey should be home tonight. So, I decided to start painting our bedroom furniture in hopes that it can last a few more years. Crazy idea! First, I didn't figure out until I had started, that I would need his muscles to get all the furniture out. I got the nightstands (of course) and his dresser (very creatively) out to the garage. Second, the paint doesn't look BLACK to me, but GRAY! It's also going to need 2 coats and I'm out of rubber gloves. So, look for the pictures and tell me what you think! I'm not going for more paint, so they better look good gray! Sometime today, the girls and I will get out of our jammies and get primped up ready for Daddy's return! Ciao!