Halloween

Like my kids were going to need more candy by the end of the day, but I still made these cute bats anyway. 

We weren't too prepared for Halloween this year, it kinda crept up on us.  So we were piecing together last minute costumes this morning before school.  Owen joked that he had a rough year, last year he was a missionary and this year he was a club bouncer.  He looked tough though even a little intimidating.   Davis settled on being a coach.  This was easy, because our house is full of football/Griz stuff.  He's been around football enough, I'm sure he could actually coach a pretty good game.    Gator was the only one that was actually planned.  But it is still just something we had around the house from her birthday party a couple years back.  We took it pretty easy in way of costumes this year, but it was still a fun day!

 The 6th graders party was first.  They started off with a cup of jello that they had to suck through a straw in 3 minutes.  Davis isn't a fan of jello, but he was able to keep his foods down.  There were quite a few kids throwing up in the garbage can with some of these food challenges. Next was "fingers" which were just Vienna sausages.  I was surprised that some kids couldn't even stomach those.  Next up were worms.  They lucked out on this one, because even though a real warm was the deal, a gummy bear was handed out.  But still look at that line of kids that were willing to try the worm!  Not a whole lot of kids took the next challenge though, pigs feet.  Gross, yuck, disgusting. 

 When Davis's party was over, it was lunch time, so we ditched school lunch and made a BK run. 

 We made it back to the school to help in the first grade party.  It wasn't nearly as gross as the 6th graders.  Davis talked me into checking him out so he could help also, I'm such a push over.  But I was actually glad he was there, because then he was able to do my job and I could walk around and look at what the kids were doing and snap some pictures. 

 Trick or Treating.  This was before the boys took off to different places.  Gator did well on her own though, she got quite the haul.  Davis's morph suit is falling apart, but he wanted to use it again for trick or treating, he's lucky it stayed on him.  We went to get crickets last night for Blaze and the dog costumes were 75% off, look at Bella, you can just see how excited she was to be a spider. 

 I got this picture sent to me from Owen.  This is two of the teachers at the Junior High.  Emmett and Lord Business from the Lego Movie.  I go to science class with one of my students where "Lord Business" is the teacher.  Good thing I took the day off of work, because I don't have a costume to even compare to some of these teachers. 

 These are the 2nd grade teachers at Kanesville.  Both the boys had "Sock Hop Barbie" and when Davis had her "Workout Barbie" team taught with her.  "Bride Barbie" is the mom of one of Gator's best friends.  I am so excited for next year at school, because I will have a second grader, and there is not a better team of teachers out there.  Their costumes may just be my favorite ever, so creative. 

 

School Spirit

This week is Red Ribbon Week for both the Elementary and the Junior High Schools.  All the kids are getting in the spirit of it and joining in the activities.  Today was crazy hair/sock day for Gator and Davis and as a Peer Leader Owen is in charge of the week at Rocky.  He was chosen as the student to dress up as the mascot. 

It wasn't Owen's first go around as a mascot.  When I was bookfair chair he dressed up as the scholastic mascot, Clifford the Big Red Dog. 

 

Jazz Game

We have a family friend that gave us some tickets to the Jazz game last night.  We took the train down and had a fun and entertaining (drunks on the late night train) evening together.  Davis got the chance to go down on the court with the players during the anthem, he thought that was pretty cool and he loved making his big brother jealous. 

Halloween spirit

We had to carve pumpkins today, even though it is still a week until Halloween.  With games and practices and school and everything, today was the only time we had a couple hours of free time to dig into the mess.  Here are my cute kiddos and my cute pumpkin that I carved. 

Cheap Entertainment

After Davis's basketball game, we grabbed dinner and there was a nice guy walking around making balloon animals for kids.  Owen and Davis politely declined the offer thinking they were too old for a balloon animal, but he made them hats instead.  Owen was entertained all evening trying to catch his fish at the end of his hat. 

Indoor Soccer

A few weeks ago, a guy approached me after Gator's soccer game and asked if she was interested in playing indoor soccer.  She is the youngest on her team; the coach didn't realize she was only 6 and her team is mostly 8, but she kept up and is doing great. 

This Is The Place

NO SCHOOL today!  And no school means no work for me!  I love my job, I work with great kids and ladies, but my favorite perk is that I'm off whenever my kids are off.  I've been looking forward to UEA since Labor Day. Sheila had coupons to This is the Place Heritage Park.  I've never been so I was a little hesitant, because it was my day off from work, I wanted it to be GREAT and I just didn't know what to expect.  But we had a wonderful time and I hope to make it a fall tradition every year.  Dave and Sheila joined us, so that was lucky. 

The kids had fun trick or treating on the streets that were as they were in the early settlement of Utah.  They did some crafts and Gator rode a pony.  We watched a blacksmith work and took a "train ride" around the park.  We toured old homes and learned more of Utah's history.  Davis loves history, and I think one day he will be a historian; he soaks up this kind of stuff.  

 The Brigham Young Farmhouse.  Although he never lived here, he and his family used it for musical performances, square dances and dinner parties.  We toured the home and learned pink, which was the color of the exterior, was a masculine color and blue, the color of the walls in the womens room, was a feminine color. 

I can't even imagine raising my 3 children in a home this size.  And the early settlers did it with 10-12+ children.  And that is after many of their other children had passed away.  They did so without plumbing or electricity.  No freaking way!  How did they do it? 

Salt Lake City's first pioneer burial site was discovered during construction work in 1986. Not all of the remains could be identified on the basis of existing records. The pioneers were reburied here, overlooking the valley they came to settle. The large grave markers represent the adults. The smaller markers represent the children and infants.

 A replica of the Ship Brooklyn,  on this were pioneers who sailed from New York Harbor over 24,000 miles in search of a new home in the West.  I could never have been a pioneer.  I am honestly amazed and humbled by these amazing people.  Right now in Utah Studies (I'm back in 7th grade, with one of my students) we are learning of the pioneers and the saints coming to the west so it was fun to visit this park today and see some of what we've been talking about. 

This granite structure stands sixty feet high and eighty-six feet long. It memorializes, in bronze sculptures, the Mormon pioneers as well as the traders, trappers, explorers, and others who were instrumental in the development of the West. The figures on top are Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Wilford Woodruff, three prominent leaders in the early church. 

Very fun day, and we are off again tomorrow!  I can't wait to play again. 

A new game

Time to go indoors and play a different game.  The kids all picked up where they left off last basketball season and have played their first games awesome and have had a great time!