"Catch Up" on Our Halloween Fun

I've gotten a little behind on my posts lately and finally had some time to "ketchup" today. The next 7 posts are all about our Halloween fun we've been having lately!

Halloween Cookies

Of course we had to make a few Halloween sugar cookies! This was our project yesterday. Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies...delish!


Coen and Dallin helping out.

Austin getting ready to sample the finished product.

Claire watching from her swing.

Haunted Trails

Last weekend, October 25, we decided to hit the "Haunted Trails" for a scary evening! The city blocks off a section of the park trails (the ones we always bike and stroll along) and turns it into a scary haunted trail where spooks are sure to come out! There are lots of trees so it feels like you're in a haunted forest. Every year I have seen this and always wanted to go but we've usually had something else going on or we forget. So this year we finally made it. There were a couple things we weren't prepared for:

1) It was freezing cold! I think Claire and I were the only warm ones. She was toasty warm in her little lamb costume and I had a fleece jacket. The poor boys...and Tory...were so cold but don't worry they had plenty of time to run around and warm up. Which brings me to...

2) It was the longest wait EVER! We waited for about an hour and a half! Outside. In a line. With 4 kids. Freezing. And it was way past bed time. Next time we will either be there early and be the first ones in or go right before it closes so that we don't have to wait in line so long. At least all of the people around us had a good show to watch. Coen was a little trooper and never complained. And once he heard that music on the big speakers he just couldn't help himself! Dance, dance, dance! I was even laughing and I'm used to seeing him dance! He was getting into it! So cute. Oh...did I mention that he was dressed up as a clown? What could be cuter than a little dancing clown?

But even with the chill in the air and the long wait it was still fun. It was perfect for the boys. I think the people who were scaring everyone saw that we had a bunch of kids so they took it easy on us. Scary enough that the boys wanted to keep close to us but didn't make them scream or cause nightmares! It ended with a hayride back to the parking lot.


The boys decided to wear their costumes. Once we got there Austin decided to take his off because not ALL of the people had a costume on. But this is what he started out as. A scary skeleton man. Notice the scary look on his face:

And Dallin was a mean pirate...well trying to be mean:

And of course Coen the clown. He didn't wear the wig out of the car but it sure was cute! You've got to take advantage of the clown costume when kids are little and don't mind what they are for Halloween. It's a very small window of opportunity.

This is right as we were FINALLY going in:

After the LONG wait we had:
1 broken sword ditched in a trashcan
2 bathroom breaks
1 pirate without a wig (stuffed in Tory's back pocket)
2 tired big boys
1 dancing clown still going and going and going....

The Pumpkin Patch

On Columbus Day we took advantage of Austin's day off school and headed to the pumpkins. This was our 4th year going to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. Each year we take our family picture in front of the green wagon. It's fun to see how our little family has grown over the years from a family of 4 to a family of 6! We always have lots of fun at the patch. They have bounce houses, hayrides, a hay maze, and lots of room to run in the pumpkins all for free! This time we had the most perfect weather. It was nice and overcast which made it a little cooler. The only thing missing...Claire's flower for her hair. I made it special for that day and Tory forgot it. Sad. Oh, well! She still looked cute. We did get some more of the comments we used to hear a lot when we just had the three boys. On the hayride someone said, "Oh wow! All boys! So are you going to try for a girl?" (I can't even tell you how many times I've heard that!) Then her friend said, "No they have a girl! See she's wearing purple." See...I need a bow for her!

Here are a "few" shots from the day:


THE FAMILY


AUSTIN



DALLIN



COEN



CLAIRE



THE KIDS



ON THE HAYRIDE


JUMPING OFF THE HAYSTACK

The Purple Flower

And here is what Claire was supposed to have on her head at the pumpkin patch. Can't mistake her for a little boy now! Not with wearing purple AND a flower! Cute baby!

Harvest Stew

On October 17th our public library held an activity for families. It was the "Harvest Stew Festival". Each person brought one can of vegetables for the stew or other canned food for the community storehouse. They had big pots of stew for everyone and lots of activities. We got there late and missed the hayrides but still got to eat stew, decorate cookies, see the jugglers, and learn how to put out fires with a fire extinguisher by the fire department. They also had karaoke, a paint craft, bounce houses, and of course the hay rides. We'll have to try it again a little earlier next year.

Tory and the boys decorating cookies.

Austin hard at work.

Coen's masterpiece

Austin listening to the fire department tell him how to put out a fire with a fire extinguisher.

Dallin's turn at the fire extinguisher

Halloween Crafts

We have been doing a few Halloween crafts during the month.

Austin had to make a scarecrow for school so Dallin made one, too. (Austin brought his back to school before I took a picture.) They chose the fabric and had a blast. For Austin's project he had to follow certain directions to make his. Like if he was a boy he had to make the shirt red and if he was the oldest child in his family his scarecrow had to have green pants, middle child red pants, youngest blue pants or if he had a pet an orange hat, if no pet a red had, etc. It was a fun little project.

I also found these fuzzy spider kits that the boys had fun with. I now have three random green spiders hanging around my house!

And here is one of the crafts I made this year. They were very easy. Just three blocks of wood which Tory drilled holes in for a dowel. I painted each block black and then cut out a square of fall scrapbook paper for the front of each one. On top of the dowel is a wooden ball for the head. I cut out 8" fabric squares to cover each head, tied them with raffia, added a bell and black eyes. Voila! Three cute little "BOO" ghosts!

Decorating for Halloween

To kick off the coming of fall and Halloween, we had a Family Home Evening at the beginning of October and decorated our house for Halloween. We did the outside and started on the inside. The boys had a blast pulling everything out. We have a lot...let me repeat...A LOT of Halloween decorations! It's one of our favorite holidays! When we were finished we had a picnic dinner on the floor in the family room with all of the cozy lights glowing. We ate Pumpkin Soup, one of my most favorite soups of all time. It was a fun evening.

This is the mantel Tory built for me in August. It holds some of my most favorite Halloween decorations. The witch at the top is one I bought in Charleroi Belgium on my mission. Over there they often keep their witches up year round as a sign of good luck and hospitality! The pumpkin in the middle with the black hat and candle is the first Halloween decoration I ever bought. I bought it at the BYU bookstore two months before Tory and I were married. I was so excited to buy things for my own home! The "BOO" picture I made last year and just love how it turned out.

Our front porch-Tory made the pumpkin lights a few years ago and I love them! They're one of my favorite decorations.

The view from the front. Unfortunately, by the time I took this picture most of the pretty white and yellow blooms on my mums had disappeared. I planted them last year and they came up again this year about three times the original size! So pretty!

Enjoying our pumpkin soup on the picnic blanket. You can see all of the boxes for our Halloween village in the background. Whew! What a job!

Tory and Coen sipping soup.

Claire having fun with the family. Her job was to keep smiling and be happy and she did a great job!

Belly Fat?

Today Tory's new ad went out in the local papers of the surrounding cities. Very exciting! He's so excited about these seminars and has been working hard to get everything set up. This is what he's been wanting to do for so long! If you're in the area and want to check it out feel free to call or check out his website-HHH4Life.

Health, Healing, and Happiness

Look Mom...Two Wheels!

Dallin and his Dad decided that it was time to learn how to ride his bike without training wheels. Today was the day the wheels came off. After just a few minutes of practice, Dallin was a pro! I am always amazed to see how differently each child approaches different milestones and bike riding has been so different for the two of them. Dallin is cautious and careful. He only crashed once. I guess that's all it took. Austin approached bike riding in a more aggressive way. He crashed and crashed but kept it full speed ahead! This is how they both were when learning to ride their scooters, too. Austin was full speed ahead and had to wear old clothes AND old shoes to protect his school clothes (and himself) from damage. He absolutely had to have a helmet and pads on. Dallin could have worn flip flops and shorts because he never crashed and was more slow and steady. So funny! I guess the important thing is that they both learned...they just have different styles of learning!

Coen hitching a ride with Dada

Warm and Cozy FHE

We had a fun Family Home Evening tonight. It's been cooling off a lot more in the evenings so we decided to cook dinner over the fire. We roasted hot dogs and did foil veggies-potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery drizzled with Italian dressing and garlic salt. It was very tasty. By the time we were finished eating it was dark out and we brought out the blankets and watched Disney's Ichabod Crane cartoon for some Halloween fun! I remember watching this as a kid. It's the greatest! I found it on You Tube so we just watched it off of that. Just the right amount of spookiness for the boys and a fun show for the grownups. I think we just might have to make this an October FHE tradition! It was so fun and cozy! For a movie snack we had a mix of candy corn and salted peanuts. I was at the grocery store the other day and helped a lady reach something off of the top shelf. Turns out she was looking for candy corn. After I helped her out she said, "Our family's new favorite snack around Halloween is candy corn mixed with salted peanuts. It tastes just like a Payday candy bar!" Well, I was curious so I thought I'd give it a try. Tory normally doesn't like candy corn (I do like it) so I usually don't get it. He actually liked this combo! And it tastes EXACTLY like a Payday candy bar! Give it a try if you need a snack mix for some party coming up.

Dallin Enjoying the Fire


Tory and the Boys Getting Ready to Start Cooking Hotdogs


Austin Loading Up His Hotdog (the heatwaves from the fire kind of distorted this picture!)


Coen with the Fixin's

"Ooooo! Pretty Fire!" says Claire


Cozy Watching the Movie Outside by the Fire


Candy Corn and Salted Peanuts


Here are the links for the Ichabod Crane movie on YouTube if you'd like to watch it. It's only 30 minutes long but they broke it up into four parts. If the links don't work just type in Disney's Ichabod Crane in YouTube and you should be able to find it.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4