So much Halloween and Fall fun!!!

Here are some pictures from our Trunk or Treat party. Sydnie was a fairy princess for Halloween and Peyton went the scarier rout as a vampire. They both picked their own costumes and we had so much fun finding them this year.

We had to have a picture of the little wings on the back. So sweet.....

So scary!!!!!!! Too bad the picture doesn't have the horrible hissing sound she would make. YIKES!!!

Tavarese (aka Batman) with the fairy princess.

Brianna (a pretty pink kitty cat) and the vampire.

Marin the butterfly and the fairy princess. I'm still not sure where they found daggers, but they were fighting off all of the super hero's with them. Sydnie was definitely the leader.

The costume parade. There's the little fairy princess.

Here's the scary vampire.

It was a fun night and it got the candy rush started early this month. Sydnie came home with pink cheeks because it was so hot. Both girls had melted chocolate too. It's very different from Halloween in Utah!

Sydnie's class went on their first filed trip of the year. It was to a farm. Sydnie was very disgusted that there weren't any cows even though it smelled like cow poop. I mean really, what kind of a farm doesn't have cows????

Farmer Laura telling us all about corn and the product that are made with it.

Walking through the corn maze.

Sydnie and Connor T. next to a giant pumpkin.

Sydnie hanging out with the boys trying to keep up on the racing bikes. Her legs were a little short for this one.

This one was a little easier to maneuver, but oops, she's going the wrong direction! Her dad would say she drives like her mom... :-)

So much fun!

Waiting in line for the lady bug train. Are you starting to notice a pattern? Sydnie is always surrounded by boys!!! Here she's waiting with Freddie, Clay, and Max. I finally asked her teacher if she is always with the boys or if she plays with the girls too. Her teacher reassured me that she spends plenty of time with both.

Sydnie and Max going for a ride.

Too cute!

She was a good sport and let Max do the driving.

Sydnie on the slide.

Sydnie in the Melon Hut.

Sydnie loved the baby pigs. The little black one was her favorite. I was sure she was going to end up in the pen head first, but she managed to balance on the side without falling in.

We wanted to take him home with us, but I told her the farmer wouldn't let us.

Holding baby chickens. I was beginning to think she belongs on a farm.....

Finally we found some girls at the baby chickens. This is Morgan, I couldn't get a picture of her where she didn't pose. It was really funny.

Sydnie and Macey with the goats.
Picking out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

This was the highlight of the farm. It was a box that was filled with about 4 inches of corn and was about 10 feet by 5 feet. The kids LOVED it!!! They had so much fun playing in all of these dried corn kernels, really, who knew corn was so much fun.

Everyone took turns trying to bury Max.

Then it was Sydnie and Trevor's turn to be buried alive.

Here was the fresh produce we brought home from the farm. One pumpkin, two cucumbers, two zucchini's and a handful of radishes. Jeff and I ate some of it, Sydnie wouldn't even try it. She did decorate the pumpkin as you'll see farther down. :-)

She came home happy and exhausted. It was so much fun!!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!!! In the middle of all the Halloween and Fall fun, we also got to celebrate Jeff's birthday. Here is his cake.

Blowing out the candles.

Enjoying cake and putting together Halloween houses from Grandma Judy. Yummy cake.....

Mmmmmmm.........

Sydnie's finished Halloween house. I'm not sure why there are giant farm animals, but they had to be part of the picture.

Peyton's semi finished house.

Sydnie had a friend from school who invited her to his birthday party at the park. Of course, Peyton and I had to stay for the fun. There was a face painter on hand and both the girls wanted to be painted like cats. I think Peyton was going for the sweet look like the cat in Shrek.

Sydnie was a more of a scary cat.

Meeeeeoooowww........

At the girls school they only let kids from Kindergarten through 2nd grade dress up for Halloween. Peyton was extremly disgusted by this rule. Her class didn't even have a party this year. They did get to watch a few Halloween cartoons, but that was it. Sydnie, however; had a day of fun and partying and I was able to attend in the morning.

Here is Morgan the witch, Sydnie, Marin the bumble bee, Isabell a pink creature from Yo Gabba Gabba and Bella who was Wonder Woman.

Bowling for ghosts. This was the only game they played inside. The rest of the morning we were outside playing games. Once again, it's so different from how we spent this holiday in Utah!!!

Fishing for stickers.

After a parade through the halls I got to stay and have lunch with Sydnie. This picture is really blurry, but I wanted to show her teacher in the background. She was dressed up as "Lucky" from Lucky Charms. She was really cute, but never held still long enough for me to snap a good picture. I guess when you have 24 five and six year olds, there is no time to sit or stand still.

Decorating pumpkins...... Sort of.

So, I took the easy way out this year. While my mom was visiting we found these push in's at Wal-Mart to decorate pumpkins with. They are similar to Mr. Potato Head except you put them in your pumpkins. It went very quickly and there was no mess. But I'll be honest, I missed grossing the girls out as I scooped out the guts and seeds. It just wasn't the same. Maybe next year will do a couple of each.

Here is Peyton picking out just the right face for this pumpkin. Hmmm, what's up with the purple gloves you ask? She went to the dermatologist earlier that day and saw a box of purple gloves. Of course we couldn't leave without asking to take a pair home. Then she insisted on wearing them the rest of the day. You've got to love her! :-)

Jeff helping Sydnie put the face on one of her pumpkins. It was a little tough to push them in for such little hands, so she recruited help from her daddy.

Here are Sydnie's finished products.

My pumpkin(with the yellow ears) and Jeff's (on the right).

Halloween night. We had people over for dinner and then they stayed to trick or treat around our neighborhood. Mitchell was a spooky creation on the left, Max was a character from Star Wars, then my fairy princess and the scary vampire. They had so much fun and got SO much candy! They were so worn out and slept so well! It was a wonderful night of spooky fun!

One last picture of my terrifing vampire! I remember the years of her being a pink puppy, a pink kitty, a ladybug. Not this year, it was all about being grown up and a little scary. She sure has gotten big!!!!

October.... Is it really half way over?

It's half way through October and I'm wondering where the month has gone.... October is the beginning of cooler weather, beautiful leaves, snugly sweaters and slippers, for everyone that doesn't live in Arizona. I miss the leaves and the coolness in the air. I miss turtlenecks and big heavy sweaters. I however am the only one that thinks it is still summer at my house. As you can see, those I live with are feeling like 90 degrees is a big dip in the temp outside. On this night I had just walked the dog, I came home and turned the A/C all the way down to 78 and this was the result...... After about 5 minutes, Jeff got up and turned it back up to 80. Who do I live with????

We're FREEEEEEZING..........

October means spooky decorations at our house. Peyton loves to spread the fake spider webs all over her room. She spent about two hours getting it just perfect.

Wait, is that a dead body among the spider webs. YIKES!!!!!

Sydnie chose the bright green webs this year. She wouldn't touch it, so I got to decorate while she told me where to put it. As you'll see, neither of us had as much patience as Peyton.

One day this month, Sydnie was doing her homework and I left the room for a few minutes. I came back to find her sitting in the middle of the table. I had to snap a picture before I insisted she get back on the chair.

Grandma Judy came for a visit in October too. With her came lots of Halloween decorations. She loves any chance to decorate and bring things for the girls. As you can see our dinning room has been transformed into a very scary place, complete with a bat, a crow and spider webs. EEK!

We also had a visit from the Fall Fairy. She left lots of fall leaves and things for the girls to find. There was candy, spiders, skeletons, stickers and lots of other spooky gifts.

Sydnie and Grandma Judy reading fairy stories.

Our visit to the Rainforest Cafe.

This alligator greets you as you enter.

Grandma Judy, Sydnie, Peyton and a giant frog.

Inside there are all sorts of wild animals. Monkeys swing from the vines.

Elephants watch nearby.

We sat next to a huge fish tank and these were some of the fish we were able to watch as we ate.

Everyone had a great time!

Peyton had a project that Grandpa Michael helped her with. She received Flat Stanley at school and we had to mail him out of state for an adventure. Grandpa Michael and Grandma Vickie took him back to Las Vegas. Grandpa Michael showed Stanley all over Vegas and sent him back with a packet full of pictures and info about all the places they visited. He came back with a helmet, so Peyton decided to draw a motorcycle for him to sit on. We had to put it all on a poster board to send it to school. Thanks so much Grandpa for helping (ok pretty much doing) with this project!!!! Peyton was so excited to take Stanley to school and show everyone about his adventures in Las Vegas. Grandpa even included a picture of Chloe's Flat Stanley from another trip in Texas. We had to add that to the poster too.

For some reason Fall brings out the baker in me. I love to have my house smell like bread or cookies. Today we decided to make banana bread. Each of the girls got to make their own loaf. Sydnie got to go first and Peyton was the photographer.

She was very serious about greasing the pan.

Measuring the flour.....

mashing the bananas,

ready for the oven.

She takes baking very seriously...... Look at that masterpiece.

Then it was Peyton's turn mix hers together and Sydnie got to take some pictures. Mashing up the bananas.

Scraping it into the bowl.

And one last "special" ingredient. Anytime she can add chocolate she will. She added just a few chocolate chips. Yummy!!!!

Of course she had to mix the chocolate chips in with her fingers. :-)

That's been our month so far. We are so excited for Halloween and class parties. Sydnie has a field trip next week and of course, Jeff's birthday. Wow, what a busy month this will be!

More random photos and stories....

We LOVE to receive packages in the mail! The anticipation just about kills us every time waiting to see what could possibly be inside the box this time. It is always so much fun to watch the girls open something they've received in the mail. This time it was a package from Grandma Vickie and Grandpa Michael with Halloween shirts in it. They couldn't wait to wear them to school today! THANK YOU!!!

This is our adorable, sweet and sometimes naughty puppy. This is usually the worst trouble she gets into. For the most part she is really pretty mellow. However, this time I caught her in the act.....

She loves socks. If the girls leave them lying around (which they always do) she scoops them up and carries them around in her mouth for hours. She'll put two or three at a time in her mouth and just carry them around. She doesn't chew on them or try to destroy them, she just likes to steal them.

I think she had 3 of Peyton's bright pink ones on this occasion. Silly Zuri.

We've been in our house for six months now. Where has the time gone? We've actually been in Arizona for one year now. We finally gave in and bought a table for the dining room area. It's just been a big open space for six months and it's right as you walk in the door. It's good to have something there now. I thought I'd share with all of you who won't make it down to see it for awhile. :-) Zuri had to be in the picture too.

Most of the time I'm pretty strict about keeping things neat and orderly and jumping on the bed is almost always forbidden. However, on this day, we yanked the mattresses off the beds and the girls put on a "jumping" show. Seriously, where do they come up with these ideas? They dressed up in very bright skirts (over their pajama's) and off they went.

I love it when they play together nicely......

Look at Sydnie, she could jump the highest every time!

Here was Peyton's trick. One......

Two......

Three......

Taa duh......

A very tired Sydnie.