Halloween

Gabe got a head start on Halloween by trying on Chloe's costume from last year.  One of the fun things about having older sisters is all of the dresses to choose from.  They're also more than willing to help you try them on.

This year everybody got to dress up twice.  Once for the ward Halloween party and again on Halloween. It's nice that they get to use their costumes more than once, but I'm not too excited to do face paint more than once. I'm definitely not a skilled artist. 

 

Chloe decided to be a skateboarder this year.  She's really been wanting a skateboard.  She figured out if she was a skateboarder, she'd need a skateboard.  That skateboard was a big pain though.  I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg so I looked for one online about 4 weeks before Halloween.  Wal Mart had one on clearance for less than $15 so I ordered it.  It was supposed to be shipped to the store a week before Halloween.  It never came.  I kept tracking it and it left the warehouse to go to the store, but never showed up.  Three days before Halloween, the day before the ward Halloween party, I got an email saying the skateboard was lost!  Arrgh. So I had to go buy one after all.  I ended up spending twice as much for a skateboard I didn't like as much.  I was pretty irritated.  She was happy to get her skateboard though.  She looked pretty cute.

Tyler decided to be Zurg.  There is no reasonably priced kids Zurg costume, in case you're wondering.  I was really hoping to not have to make any costumes since Seth demands so much attention.  After checking pinterest for ideas, I dove in and kind of made up his costume as I went along.  I tried to discourage him by making sure he realized it's mostly just a purple dress.  That didn't deter him at all though.  I think it turned out pretty good.  Tyler was happy with it and I'm pretty sure you could tell who he was if you knew the movie.

Mia wanted to be Heath Ledger's Joker.  It's pretty creepy, but she was happy.

Isaac wanted to be a dragon.  Not just any dragon, an orange dragon.  Orange is his favorite color.  Most dragon costumes out there are green, not orange.  I wasn't sure how I was going to work that out.  Then I found a dragon costume that was from How to Train Your Dragon.  Of course that costume was no longer being sold in stores.  I found one on ebay but I didn't want to pay what they were asking.  I checked KSL kind of on a whim so I was pretty shocked when there was actually a listing for the costume I wanted, in his size, for only $5.  It was in Salt Lake, so I asked Lance if he could pick it up on his way home from the airport after he got back from a business trip.  His flight got delayed though, so I ended up going to get it.  It's a good thing I did.  She had two dragon costumes.  The other one was Night Fury.  She tried to give me that one first.  Had it been Lance, he wouldn't have known it wasn't the right one.  Isaac was thrilled with it.  The wings were a bit annoying though.  They were supposed to fit into some pockets in the back, but they just didn't stay in very well.

Gabe got to wear the lion costume that I got from The Gap on an after season clearance for less than $10.  All of my kids have worn it at one time or another.  It has been a favorite dress up costume at different times. He never holds still, so he's always blurry in pictures.  

On Friday, the school had their annual costume parade.  It's kind of fun to go see all of the kids in their costumes.  They go by pretty quickly though. 

I usually help out at one party per kid per year.  Their parties are all at the same time, so I can only be in one place at a time.  Tyler chose the Halloween party for him. They made little tombstone/graveyard pudding cups.  A lot of the kids didn't even eat them.  Tyler only ate a couple of bites.  They must have been all sugared out already.

Later that night we went trick-or-treating with my brother's family.  I wasn't sure how Gabe was going to do.  Once he got it figured out, he loved it!  I think he would have gone for another hour.

Isaac, on the other hand, wasn't too into it.  He wanted me to go to the doors and get him candy.  I told him no way.  He had to go get his own candy.  So he just sat in the stroller a lot of the time.

Tyler's costume was a bit too restrictive for all of the walking, so he ended up taking the "dress" part off.  It was a little harder to tell who he was supposed to be without it, but he didn't care.

Chloe never really carried her skateboard while trick-or-treating either.  They were all sufficiently exhausted by the time we were done.  They had lots of candy too.  I got smart this year and tied ribbons on the handles of their bags so we knew who's bag was who's instead of the constant "Is this my bag?  This isn't my bag," game we usually play. 

 

Brady didn't dress up at all.  He said I could just buy him some candy and he'd be fine.

Here's everybody's haul of candy. It's amazing how much a little tiny screen hides how out of focus a picture is.

Escape Artist

Gabe learned a really great trick.  Our screen on the front window ended up with a cut in it.  (Weirdly enough, nobody seems to know how it happened.) The kids can't seem to leave it alone, so they've pushed on it enough that about 8 inches from the bottom of the window, the screen is all loose.  Gabe climbs up on the windowsill, unlocks the window, gets down, opens the window, then crawls out.  As you can tell, he's usually pretty proud of himself when he gets out there.  

I finally got my first smart phone.  Lance and Brady were quite proud of me.  I've been dragging me feet because I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for a data plan.  My brother-in-law started using Ting Wireless and has been really happy with it, so I decided to take the plunge.  It's worked out really well.  Brady and I are on the same plan and our bill is actually less than what I paid before without any data and only 250 texts.  I mostly just use the wifi at our house, but it's nice to have it when I need to look something up when I'm not home.  It's also super convenient to take pictures.  These are the first two pictures I took.  

In October my sister and I made a quick trip up to Washington to see my Granny during fall break..  She's just turned 93 and is doing amazing.  She has Parkinson's but her mind is sharp as can be.  She can name all of her grandkids and great-grandkids as well as tell you what each one is currently doing. 

 Brady decided driving for 14 hours with all of his younger siblings didn't sound very fun, so he stayed home. As much as I hated leaving him, it was kind of nice because that meant I had room for my sister to come in my car after I picked her up in Boise. Her kids didShe'd prefers to drive, so I let her.  For the most part, the kids did good.  Seth was a trooper.  We got to know a few new rest stops along the way. My sister felt like it was too many, so she rationed drinks on the way home.

One of the stops was at Burger King where everybody got a crown.

We also stopped at Multnomah Falls in Oregon.  I really don't even remember seeing it before but apparently it's a big deal.

My kids were just as amazed at the caterpillars and giant leaves!

 One night we drove up to Stanwood, where I grew up, from Olympia, where my Granny lives, to see some friends. As we went through Seattle they insisted I take a picture of the "Darth Vadar" building. It's the one on the right.  (I have no idea why they called it that.)

You can't take pictures of Seattle without a picture of the Space Needle, even if it is dark and blurry. It still looks pretty cool. My dad worked at the restaurant at the top when he was younger. He was a bus boy.

 My sister and I had a great time talking to our friends, but my kids were ready to go way before us. I guess driving 2 hours one way, to sit and listen to your mom and aunt talk to people you don't know, when you've already spent two days in the car, was not their idea of fun.

Next to my where my Granny lives, there is a "secret forest" that my kids enjoy exploring every time we go there. The kids really like to see Granny, but staying in a small room for long periods of time isn't their idea of fun. My uncle is really good at finding things to do to keep them occupied though.  This time, he took them down to a nearby lake for a little bit. Because it had been raining, it was muddy, so they didn't get to play too much.  It was a nice distraction though.

Leaving Granny is always the hardest.  I've felt like it could be the last time I see her, the last three times I've been there. She's a trooper, but she's really just done with it all.  The Parkinson's has led to dry mouth, which caused some of her teeth to fall out.  She just hates it!  She was so proud to have all of her teeth for so long. Now she's afraid that the kids will be afraid of her when she smiles because of the gaps in her teeth. She still has her hair, so that helps her feel a little better. We love her no matter what!  She's such an amazing person who has overcome many struggles and challenges.  She's been a great example to so many people.  I feel like my life has been so greatly enriched because of her influence and the experiences I have had with her..

On the way back to Utah, we stopped at my sister's house overnight.  Her house has been a great stopover to break up the 14 hour drive into two days.  Gabe was outside running around without pants on, when my 15 year old nephew brought him over to the trampoline and jumped with him and sat and talked with him for a few minutes.  It was so sweet, so I took a picture through the window.

Before we went to bed one night, we all gathered around to listen to Mark read from the scriptures. I really should have been more respectful, but it was another sweet moment, even if Mia caught me. 

  Back at home, Seth keeps growing. Look at this six month old chunk!  

His hair is getting longer and there's a little bit of curl to it sometimes.

He's sitting up pretty well, which is so nice.  His eyes are definitely brown.  For a while, I hoped they might stay blue, but no luck.  Seven kids, all with brown eyes.  It's crazy since I have green eyes, Lance has green with a touch of light brown, my mom has green eyes, my dad had blue eyes, Lance's mom has green and his dad has green eyes.  I didn't think I'd even get one brown-eyed child, much less all of them!

 

And Isaac found some eyeliner.  I guess he felt like his eyebrows needed more definition.