Halloween 2015

I have had a hard time getting excited for Halloween this year. 

The older kids didn't seem to notice, especially Sam, 

(Sam and I have zero desire to dress up in costume), 

But, Drew really caught the Halloween spirit this year. 

This kid loves spooky stuff & Halloween.

He is especially fascinated by skeletons. 

He kept telling everyone he was going to be a "spooky scary skeleton" for Halloween

(but I already had a pirate costume picked out for him).

 

I caved and found this costume for him.

I'm so glad I did.  He loved being a skeleton.

He wore it every day, and kept asking me to take his picture. 

He was pretty excited to go Trick or Treating. 

 

 

 

 

 Halloween day started with the 1 mile Tiger Trot race at the elementary school. 

Last year, Nate ran in the K-2nd grade race and won 1st place.

When he found out he was going to be racing 5th graders in the 3rd-5th grade race,

he was pretty discouraged and decided he didn't want to race. 

It took a lot of coaxing to get him out there,

but he did well. 

 

3rd place for the boys!!!

 

 

Our Halloween festivities started at the church for some Trunk or Treating.

Then we came home and had our traditional Papa Murphy's pumpkin pizza,

then the kids headed out for Trick or Treating (with umbrellas).

Luckily the heavy rain didn't start until after we got home.

 

The scariest house of the night. 

There was even a giant mummy in the door.

Drew calls it the haunted house now.

Halloween was also the day for Cross Country Regionals,

Sam was in the top ten and went as an alternate.

He didn't race, but his team did very well and will be headed to State next week.

Sam was gone all day and missed Trunk or Treating and most of

Trick or Treating, so he didn't dress up this year. 

He still managed to scrounge up a lot of candy (stolen from his brothers bags)!

 

Photo of the week:

Drew trying to stick his toes in daddy's face while telling him

"Smell my victory"

September Happenings

We had a fun Labor Day weekend with some of our close friends from the ward who had moved away.  Jer wanted to call this photo, "And in the morning, I'm makin' waffles"!  Every waffle needs a little love right?  Bananas, nutella, vanilla ice cream topped off with whipped cream.

And you can't have a waffle bar without our homemade "fancy" syrup.

 

Sam ran Rumble in the Jungle at the Creasy Mahan Nature Reserve in Goshen, KY. 

Hard course, but Sam loves this race.

Liv and the middle school dance team performed in the parade for the Fall Festival. 

As luck would have it, as soon as the parade began, the rain started!

Drew said, "take my picture on this"...and

in front of the elephant...and

on this big guy!

 

What are they talking about? 

Race strategy, lunch plans, did we do our home teaching?

Love these guys.

Cross Country, every.single.weekend.

Go Sam go.

 

Ready for church!

Since we have been attending the new branch, primary has been a different  experience.  Primary now consists of Nate & one other boy.  Technically Drew is in there too, but he is still supposed to be in nursery (since there are no other kids his age, he goes to primary, but he doesn't contribute much yet).  When it came time to do the primary program, the primary president was a little concerned how two boys would pull it off by themselves. They decided to include the branch adult members in the program.  Nate still had a speaking part, and he and Carlos were supposed to sing four duets together.  Now usually there are only about 35 people in attendance on Sunday (including our family), but on the day of the program, we had all of the stake leaders show up too.  The room was packed :)  Nate has always been very resistant to participate in our ward primary program, even with the comfort of a large primary of kids.  So I honestly did not expect Nate to get up there in front of everyone, and I definitely knew he was not going to sing in front of all those people...

but you know what? 

He did!!!  And he sang loud!!!

 

I was so stinking proud of this kid, I cried through the whole thing.  I have prayed that we would know where our kids needed to be to have the experiences they need to grow.  Being called to this branch was not the answer I expected, but even after a few months, these kids have surprised me so much. 

The next Sunday, we had a hard time finding a parking place. 

Apparently, it was Carrollton's annual Tobacco Festival. 

The whole city square was taken up by vendors and tobacco!

It was funny to see it set up in front of the church building like that.

Liv has been enjoying the school dance team.

They have performed at a few half-time shows.  

 

Nate got to be on the soccer team with one of his best friends.

 

Nap time :)

This boy loves his mom.

Ninja Nate

Ninja Nate ready to party.  What a fun birthday party with a house full of ninjas.

Praying Mantis?

Kung Fu fighter?

 

The boys each had to find their "ninja names" by using the ninja translator. 

 

All the boys got a sword and a goody box filled with candy (from the ninja piñata),

fortune cookies, Chinese stars and of course...homemade sushi!

Sushi anyone? (rice crispy treats, rolled around a cut piece of

Swedish fish then wrapped in a fruit rollup).

A little something we called...Fruit Ninja!  Nate loves to mix all the sodas together.

You can't have a ninja party without a little Asian cuisine. 

A make-shift bento box, fish, sushi, fruit/veg and of course...pizza rolls

 

Jer setup a ninja training course in the backyard.  Phase I - Balance Beams.

Phase II - Navigating the Ropes Course. 

This was fun watching the boys try to get through without touching any of the strings. 

Phase III (not shown) - Knife Throw. 

After exiting the ropes course the boys threw their swords at a board

with balloons on it.  They loved it!

Ninja piñata...with a twist.  The boys had to kick the piñata, some hit it.  And others...

missed it completely! (ok, Jer had to make it challenging somehow).

Little Ninja Cupcakes

 

Nate was spoiled by his friends who all gave him really nice gifts.

 

I guess we had to spoil him too! 

Nate and the boys in the neighborhood love to have Nerf battles. 

This ninja is ready to go.  Who needs ninja skills when you have an 

auto firing Nerf gun bigger than you are?

 

August Update

Jer reserved the theatre for a "private" screening with Sam (ok, maybe we've been a little late catching up on movies that have been out for awhile!).

 

An afternoon spent on the Waterfront and walking the Big 4 Bridge.

The Big 4 Bridge

 

 

 

Liv ready for the first day of 7th grade.

Sam the big freshman!

Nate is ready for 3rd grade with his new messenger bag (like Dad).

Apparently no pictures before 9am.

 

Drew in his 'big boy bed'.

Crazy clouds followed by a crazy rainstorm.

Cub Scouts Rain Gutter Regatta.

Liv's West Middle School Car Wash fundraiser.  'Cmon girls, less dancing...more washing!