Our Night of Ghost and Ghoblins....

We had a wonderful Halloween this year.  I think that the nice weather really helped and that our children can now go a bit longer trick or treating.

We started our Halloween off by decorating a spooky house, then later in the week we made some finger puppets with a Halloween theme of course. 

(Sorry for the sideways picture but here is the finished product)

Our tradition is to always carve our pumpkins for FHE before Halloween.  Which is what we did.  I bought our pumpkins earlier in the week and made Spencer proud when I found the biggest and best ones I could.  In our family we each get to carve a pumpkin....it just cuts down on the arguements and we love to have a nice selection to show off come Halloween night.   I am a master carver and helped Evan carve his pumpkin in no time.  We left Megan to go-it-alone and she had a lot to do by herself so she actually just got the top cut off and decided on a design that night.  I helped her by scooping out the insides and tracing her pattern on the pumpkin.  The next day she carved most of the pumpkin by herself.  Spencer helped Aaron...it took awhile but the results were worth the wait.  I actually didn't carve our (adult) pumpkin until Sunday of the following week.  Just too busy. But it only took about 1/2 an hour start to finish.  I love the smell of a lit pumpkin.  Megan suggested that I add cinnamon to the pumpkin and it will smell like a pumpkin pie with the candle going....yummy...next year we'll give that one a try. 

Our carving results...

A mummy, two different faces, and a cat.
Here are our costumes....

Here is my Megan dressed as her ipod nano standing beside Hermonie from Harry Potter (her school friend).  I even sprayed her hair purple, what you can't see is the play/menu button behind her bag and on the back the apple symbol with the word iPod.  She loved it.

Here is Evan as a firefighter minus the hat (it kinda gets annoying he says) we used this costume last year too.   Next year I'm pretty sure that he'll be harder to please.  When I saw costumes come on sale at costco I asked him if he wanted to be one of those ones this year.  But in the middle of August who is thinking about halloween.  Not him.  Aaron of all things....we miss placed his costume when it came time to trick or treat.  I couldn't find his tigger outfit anywhere?...how do you lose a halloween costume?  So I was ready to go out while the sun was still up and so were the boys, so thank goodness we had this pumpkin hat and an orange coat and a bag with a pumpkin face on it.  So that worked out ok.  In the end he didn't care what he was he just wanted to go trick or treating.

Our ward held a trunk or treat at the church.  There were lots of fun games and activities then the trunk or treating.  This year we handed out bags of chips.  The kids got a nice little haul...enough to get started with anyways. 

Megan went out trick or treating with a school friend and had a good time.  She got quite the haul and five bucks to boot!

I went out with Evan and Aaron around 5:45pm just around our complex.  It takes so long for Aaron to walk to each house....he was so excited to use his flashing lights bag and he loves to see what kind of candy was given.  With just the three of us going around to houses we had to say "trick-or-treat" a few times and loudly so people could hear us.  We went back to our house with the boys bags full.  Then Spencer took them out again to some houses that are close by.  By this time Evan was being pushed in our stroller and Aaron was the trooper and walked the whole way.  He is definately our big boy.

This is Evan's candy.  Imagine Aaron's added to this.  Yikes!  We let our kids enjoy some of their candy that night, then we let them select about 10 pieces that they can eat and the rest goes into our movie night bucket.  As our children love not only popcorn but a little candy as well when they watch a movie. 

Thanksgiving and Birthday Celebrations!

We had a wonderful and full thanksgiving.  My parents came up to share in our festivities along with my sister and her little brood and my brother and his family from the city joined in as well.   We loved having everyone over and are glad that they all put up with our small space. 

I cooked a turkey and ham and some veggies and everyone else brought the rest to fill out our thanksgiving dinner. 

The weather was so nice that after our dinner we decided to go for a walk around gold park park.  Then we came home and enjoyed some yummy pumpkin muffins and some slightly undercooked apple pie. 


On Sunday we celebrated my birthday.  I turned the big 33 this year.

My sister made a surprise cake....yup, she made me a rainbow cake!  I've seen this done before and I've wanted to make one, I will someday.  My sister put alot of time and prep into this cake and it turned out great and tasted fantastic.  One thing to note...Duncan Hines is the preferred icing over Betty crocker. 

I received some great gifts.  Megan did this drawing for me.  Later I asked her to color it which she did and it really makes it stand out even more.  I think she looks like me don't you?  Maybe it's me in Japanimation....

My mother gave me a white blanket that the kids have prompted taken over.  I once called them polar bears when they were wearing it.  So now it will be known as "polar bear, polar bear" blanket.

My sister (and brother in law) is so good to me as she listened carefully to things that we often talk about on the phone.  I told her about a cookbook that I was interested in at Costco and she got it for me.  It is the Quinoa cookbook;  She also got me a package of Quinoa to go with it.  I was thinking that I would become like that movie "Julie & Julia" and try every recipe.  If I do that I will post my results and updates.

My hubby is also very good to me.  I told him that I was thinking about cancelling my gym membership and just staying home to exercise since we already have a treadmill.  The gym lifestyle just doesn't fit my lifestyle anymore.  But in order for me to do this I was thinking about getting a small tv for just in front of the treadmill that I would be able to watch effortlessly.  I really enjoy it.(I now run for my 30 minutes without feeling much pain.)   So he jumped right on it and we also ended up getting a new tv for the family as well.  Welcome to the 21st Century!  Now we are living a little higher life.  Spencer enjoys the tv for all the neat things that they can do now.  I just enjoy being able to watch a tv without having to whack it to get the picture back.  It's a much more enjoyable experience. 

Lots of love and celebration this thanksgiving weekend!

Loose tooth...

I don't know why it bugs me so much when my child is about to lose a tooth.   Maybe it is because of this....

She did lose this tooth that she had been wiggling all week.  It is now no big deal when a tooth comes out, thank goodness.  The tooth fairy did eventually find her.  Can I just say that with inflation the tooth fairy might need some other financial backing to continue to do her job for all the other little boys coming up.  

Saint or Sinner....

Don't judge us...

 On Sunday our kids were feeling sick, so I stayed home with them.  It was such a beautiful day that we did need to get out.....can I help it that the city of Edmonton wanted to thank all those who use and enjoy the city recreation facilities/venues.  So we decided to go the the Muttart Conservatory.  It is a nice place to visit.  It was just recently re-done and what they added makes it a nice place to sit and enjoy.  We visited each of the four pyramids and enjoyed each "zone": tropical, moderate, temperate and a show pyramid that was filled with all shades of pink flowers in honor of breast cancer awareness.
 

Here we are in the tropical zone. 

There were a few nice little water features, this one was a little water fall behind us. They had some fish ponds as well. 

In the atrium there was an art display and the calligraphy group from the city that was printing names.  So the kids each had their names done fancy. 

Afterwards we headed outside and the kids loved running up and down the hills and finding the apples that they had on the trees outside.  There were a few more wonderful flower beds outside that I wandered around to enjoy. 

We enjoyed ourselves and all of Heavenly Fathers creations that we don't usually get to see most of all we enjoyed being together as a family...sick or not.

Celebrating 11 years....

That's right 11 years has come and gone since I married my sweetheart.  I always like to look back at all the things that have happened to us from whence we started up until now...we have experienced a lot and we keep going...
Our anniversary falls on a long weekend and it is right around school, so we usually stay close to home.  I was preparing a wonderful evening of enjoying the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra under the Sky concert, when Spencer told me to hold on...he might have other plans for us.  Sure enough he did.  We went to the Josh Groban concert instead.  It was a really good time.  We have actually never gone to a concert like this together before.  Josh puts on a good show.  Spencer bought me 12 roses: 11 red and one white (for good luck).  I love having fresh flowers.  I cooked a steak dinner with baked potatoes and salad and a vegetable along with some sparkling apple juice and a few candles lit.  We shared this fabulous dinner with our little bumpkins.  Then cleaned up and picked up the babysitter and were off. 

Here I am at the entrance of Rexall Place.  This is actually the first time that I've been here.  

Here is Josh singing on a mini stage in the middle of the floor, so we got a really good view of him from this point.  So did all those who have floor seats they were all turned around and out of their seats for this part. 

We checked out some of the souvenirs, but I couldn't bring  myself to spend that kind of money and I don't think that I would actually wear a shirt with a huge picture of Josh Groban on it.  I'll just stick to listening to his music.  I did however buy a book about this tour that is just filled with pictures; this will go in  my memory box along with the newspaper clipping about his concert and our ticket stubs. 

These are the flowers that I got and my keepsake book of this experience. 

Thanks Spencer for a wonderful anniversary celebration and for 11 wonderful years of marriage. 

Back to School

We survived our back to school....(notice how we are wearing sweaters and rain boots in these pictures...yes, it was cool)

Megan started on the first of September.  Here she is all decked out and ready to go.  She started grade 4 this year.  This will be a good and challenging school year for her I hope.  Something to keep her busy and occupied and to stretch her mind.  She is starting to learn French this year. 

Here is my Kindergartener.  He was so ready and waiting to go to school.  There was a staggered entry, so half of his class went on the first and the other half including him went on the second.   I walked up to the doors with him, and waited until the bell rang.  Then helped him into his class room and hanging up his coat, getting his indoor shoes on and dropping off all the school supplies.
His class is rather large with approximately 30 kids, they have a teacher and a teacher's aid and have 2 classrooms to work in.  So I think that they often split the class to do various activities.  He loves recess and playing at the park. 

The first full week of classes I stood with Evan outside and Aaron actually started crying when Evan left.  He finally knew that Evan was going to be away for a while.  We have since adjusted more to the routine.  But I never have to walk Evan to the doors anymore.  Megan is a huge help in walking with Evan and then picking him up after school from his room and walking with him to the van.  Secretly I think that she likes having Evan attend her school.  She has been encouraging and helpful for him. 

Only one time last week did Evan cry after I picked him up.  I asked what was wrong and he said that he didn't want to leave cause he would miss his class.  I told him not to worry he would be back tomorrow.  He has been tired at the end of every day, often taking a short nap on the couch while watching some after school tv. 

Two down one to go...

The rest of our summer part 2

So one nice day I decided to take the kids to Jurassic Forest that just opened up a year or so ago just outside of Edmonton.  This was going to be a real fun outing, I packed some snacks and thought that I would buy some lunch there.  I kinda knew where it was but didn't really get directions, I figured that there would be some road signs that would guide me along the way.  I was almost there, but didn't want to be lost on the highways so I phoned Spencer to give  me directions.  Which he did.  In less than 5 minutes I found the place. 

It was fairly busy, which is a good sign. There they have a little indoor part with a few dinosaurs that you can see and learn about.  Then you go outside and go on a little hike.  In amongst the trees and plants you will come across some dinosaurs that are motion sensored and they move a little and make a noise.  It was alright.  I would have loved to see the updated Dinosaur part of the Calgary zoo, since Megan said it was very much like that.  So at Jurassic Forest you can go on two different not terribly long loops to see the dinosaurs, they have a few dinosaurs to play on in the middle of the complex and you can also play in the sand to uncover some dinosaur bones.  We did one loop and then decided to eat some lunch, so I went to the concession stand to order some hot dogs for $4 each (yikes) and it was cash only.  So I went to find a bank machine, but to my dismay the bank machine wasn't working, I was the girl at the cash register if I could use my bank card there and that was a no go and she said sorry the bank machine wasn't working.  I was a little bit miffed that I had no options for lunch.  Luckily I had packed some snacks that we sat down and ate.  Then off to discover the loop.  There were actually a lot of repeat dinosaurs and due the the lack of a real playground and my lunch mishap and poor road way signage and the cost of the experience I give it 2 thumbs down.  We did it once and that was enough. 

Here we are on one of the loops

This is the dinosaur dig part of the playground.  In the back you can see a little dinosaur slide. 

 Here is one of the dinosaurs up close. 

On a happier experience note we also made it to Calaway park this summer and to the zoo.  We made a weekend trip out of our trip down to see our new neices be blessed on Sunday in Calgary.  We love Calaway park.  There are a lot of good rides for all ages to go on.  The big one we made it to this year was the log ride.  We wound our way through the line.  The kids were so bored.  But we finally made it to the front of the line and the gal said that Aaron was too short.  Boy I was mad.  I waited in line holding him for the past 45 minutes.  What a waste of time.  So we left and went on a little boat ride while Spencer, Evan and Megan enjoyed the log ride. 

After that we ate our picnic lunch that we purchased at Safeway.  We was really good.  The food at Calaway park, is all the same, deep fried, hot dogs, hamburgers....and pricey.  This was a good suggestion that we got from my sister in law. 

The day before we visited the Calgary zoo with my brother and some of his kids.  That was fun. The kids enjoyed that and my brother was a good tour guide.  We stayed with my brother and sister in law.  They were great hostesses and our kids love to play with their cousins.  Not to mention being able to play with and walk their dog chip.  Evan was crying when we went to Calaway park because he was going to miss the dog.  He didn't realize that we were staying another night and would see the dog again. 

It was a full weekend that kept us busy and we en