This is Halloween!

In fourth and fifth grade the students have to participate in Historical Halloween. Last year Sydney did a report on and dressed up as Cleopatra. This year she chose Mary Ludwig Hayes McCauly, otherwise known as Molly Pitcher! She had to go on stage and present her information and dress in a costume as her historical figure. She did an excellent job!

Alex wanted to be a singer. I made her a rock star version of Taylor Swift!

She loved her PINK hair and her microphone!

My Chicken costume was a big hit at school. All the kids loved it!

After school we had some friends come over for a BBQ and to go trick or treating. There weren't the HUGE crowds like there usually is in our neighborhood, I'm sure it's because Halloween fell on a school night this year. We trick or treated for an hour or so after we ate. Then we spent the rest of the night visiting and passing out candy.

Alex and I made Graveyard Mash (a.k.a DIRT). We had dessert after trick or treating. It was a really fun Halloween.

Pumpkin carving

We decided since tomorrow is Halloween, we had better get our pumpkins carved. After church today (we also went to Benson ward, so once we got home....) we got out all the supplies and carved our pumpkins.

Cassius loves when were all outside. He kept us all company. He's such an awesome dog!

Clay, the master picture taker, took some family pictures. In order from left to right are mine, Clay's, Alex's, and Sydney's carved pumpkins. I think we all did an excellent job. The chickens loved eating all the pumpkin seeds and innards. They were so happy it was Pumpkin time!

We don't get many pictures of Sydney smiling in the sun. This picture is definitely blog worthy!

Happy Halloween!!

Alex turns 9 years old!

Today after church we celebrated (again!) Alex's Birthday (on her actual birthday this time)! She's 9 today. Uncle Will, Nana, and Papa all came to help her celebrate. I didn't get one picture of Uncle Will this year but Alex will tell you how she knows he was there. She was so excited to get squinkies from him!

Alex has been wanting this Wii game for sometime now. We kept saying later, later. Well NANA made later today and bought the game just dance for her. We played after everyone left. It's super fun. Clay beat us all. Go figure!!

Alex loves this game!!

Then we had cake, brownies, and ice cream. I didn't get a picture of her giant cupcake birthday cake or her blowing out the candles, but I did get video!

I wonder how many times we're going to celebrate Sydney's birthday next month. She's already got big plans!

Do Squirrels charge?

While we were at the cave for Alex's birthday, we met a friendly little squirrel. He was plenty fat and not at all shy around humans. He had the perfect spot to scavenge for food. It was right by the entrance of the cave. Everyone stops to snack after the hike up or after exploring the cave. We had no snacks with us but that didn't stop him from asking for some.

Then out of nowhere Alex asks"Do squirrels charge"?? (as she's saying this she's moving further and further behind me). We just laughed. No not unless they're foaming at the mouth Alex. The squirrel kept us entertained for close to twenty minutes. He was still there when we left, still begging for food!

Now every time I see a squirrel I'm going to ask myself, Do squirrels charge?

I hope not!!

Coronado Cave to Celebrate!

Alex turns nine tomorrow. Since it falls on a Sunday, we went out and celebrated today. We asked her what she wanted to do. We threw out a few suggestions, she ended up picking hiking to the Coronado Cave and a picnic.

A guy was out for a nice leisurely bike ride on a Saturday morning and asked if we would like him to take our picture. He may have just needed a rest but it was nice of him. Thanks to him we got a family picture!

Mom didn't have a breakdown this time but I was slow. The girls got plenty of rest waiting for me. Clay stayed behind with me, I think he was afraid I might have a heart attack and fall over the edge!

Dad set the timer on the camera and we got some pretty good pictures of the family at the entrance of the cave.

Once inside we HAD to pose for pictures on the couch. Alex demanded it!

The girls climbed way up high to be next to the rocks that look like a dragon. In the past we've gone in the rainy season so all the rocks are slippery and wet. This time the girls were able to crawl around and explore without slipping too much.

The formations in the Cave are really neat. Some have been destroyed by people who are disrespectful, there was also a lot more graffiti then we've ever seen. It was still a lot of fun!

In the rainy season everything inside looks so different. Sydney was covered in dust and dirt instead of mud and water. The formations look completely different when their dry and dusty.

Alex had a fun time. Both girls got dirty but they loved every minute of it!

Mom is all smiles now, we get to head downhill!

Pit stop and the scenic view, definitely a Kodak moment.

Next stop, the picnic grounds for a family lunch. We had sandwiches and chips as requested by Alex.

We even fed the blue jays some chips. They were happy birds. After lunch we let the girls go explore for a while, then headed home to watch movies! What a fun day, good pick for an outing Alex. We love you and hope you had a happy birthday!!

I have never had so much fun!!

Our little Punkin Alex turns nine this Sunday. What's the best way to start celebrating early? A monster truck rally, of course!! Dad hurried home from work, we sped through dinner, and we were off. Luckily it was only in Douglas so we only had to travel about a half hour. We got there an hour early and we had a tough time finding a seat. It was packed!


We all had our favorites. I liked the red truck named Half Pint. Alex liked the blue truck, it's name was nasty boy. Clay and Sydney like the black and green one the best, it was named unnamed and untamed.

My camera stinks. Half the pictures we got were of all the dust in the air. I handed it over to Clay and then the good pictures started coming. Sydney takes great pictures! We had so much fun. My throat was so raw and sore the next morning from all the dust and cheering and screaming. I don't think Clay has seen that side of me in a long time. I think I had way more fun than the birthday girl. Clay was probably secretly asking himself who the heck is this woman and where is my wife!

We also got some of the COOLEST video of Raging Inferno (I'll post that later)! It was a big red fire engine with a JET ENGINE in it! The fire engine didn't look like much. It blew our socks off! The heat was intense, the loud booms shook our chests, and it was AMAZING!! I want to go again..... and soon. I have never had so much fun!! Next time we're taking earplugs and lots of friends!

Friends till the end!

The best thing about having an appointment in Mesa.....having lunch with my friends! After a long day of driving and not getting any answers from the infertility doctor, it was nice to sit and visit with a couple of my very best friends. These girls are amazing. We met at a chick-fil-a and ate and visited while the kids played in the play area. It was amazing. I can't even remember the last time I saw the girls, I think it may have been our class reunion. The kids weren't with me then. It was like yesterday we had gotten together. We caught up with each other and our families. I owe a lot to these girls, they honestly kept me going in high school. I wish we could have visited longer. I was late because of the doctor, Linda had to run and pick up her son, Amie lives on the complete opposite side of town and had to make dinner for another family in her ward. I loved every minute of our visit. We had plans to get together again while I was in town but the plans didn't work out. I will definitely be calling them again soon. Thanks girls, I had a blast!!

P.S. I am soooo behind in my blogging, it happens every year around this time. I'm setting a goal of catching up before Halloween (or it may never get done). We'll see how this works out!!

Dad's comic books!

My Dad gave Sydney some comic books (or funny books as my Dad calls them) a few years ago. She's so careful and nice with them. They still look like he just gave them to her yesterday. She was asking me the other night if I could get them out for her. I told her not right then, but maybe later. Enter Dad to save the day.Clay went to the back storage room, dug through a couple boxes, and found his own comic books. They were all wrapped in plastic protectors and some were even unopened. He said they could open them and read them as long as they were careful.

The girls were busy for hours reading Clay's comic books. What a nice Dad to share. Reminds me of when I use to read my Dad's comic books.

Now whenever the girls get bored, we drag out some more comic books. That keeps them entertained for hours!

Surprise!

Clay woke up yesterday and told me to get packed for Phoenix. We were going to go to his Mom's and surprise her for her birthday. I know, this coming from my husband! I had to pick myself up off the floor, after I got over my shock, I jumped in the shower, got packed, and we were off. When we reached Tucson we thought we better call her and make sure she was going to be home before we went any further. She was so excited!It's conference weekend so we got to watch a few sessions with Mama before we had to leave. The girls found the fan so entertaining, we just had to take a picture.

All you could hear was the fan blowing and the girls giggling. Is there any better noise than happy kids? I think not!

Then we took pictures with the birthday girl before we left. Last night, (on her actual birthday) we took Mama out for dinner at Carrabas and to the movie Real Steel. Both were excellent!

I'm so glad Clay decided to surprise his mom or she may have been all alone on her Birthday. That would have been sad!

After a couple family pictures it was time to head home. Only after we ate a yummy Sunday feast of course. It was a quick trip but it was so much fun. Happy Birthday Mama!