Happy Halloween

Halloween started out with some really cold football games and as the day wore on it started to rain. Brynlee ended up with her BFF Sydnee for some trick-or-treating and a sleepover. Trevin ended up at a party with some football friends and McKade ended up at another football friend's house. This left us with Harlee. She was the one who would hate the cold and not want to trick-or-treat for very long in the rain-perfect. Amy, Sydnee and Boston came over as well as Ben, Annie and Wrigley. Harlee had a lot of fun running from house to house with them and none of them lasted long in the cold rain. Happy Halloween!

Football

Today was the last day of football games for this season. Neither of our teams made it to the playoffs so we are done. The picture is of Trevin's team after the game. Brett was very emotional as were most of the parents and the majority of the kids. Trevin was really upset about the season being over. We went to McKade's game after and he seemed okay until I told him to go over and thank each of his coaches. They all gave him a hug and when he came back he was very emotional and was crying. This is really out of character for him. He doesn't usually get emotional like that. I guess devoting 3 months of your life to a sport where you learn life long skills and make some amazing friends is a good reason to get emotional. I am glad they both loved it so much and we are already counting down the days until next August when it starts all over again.

Halloween Parades and Cookies

Today the kids had their Halloween Parades and parties at school. All 4 of them. Wow! It was a little overwhelming but we survived.





This evening the boys headed off to the crazy corn maze with dad and some football friends so us girls decided to decorate cookies. Harlee is so fun to watch. She is so intense and everything has to be so perfect. Brynlee, on the other hand had frosting on her face and on her elbows.

Harlee's Haircut

Here is a picture of Harlee after her most recent haircut. Lisa blew it straight instead of letting it go curly and I can't believe how much she looks like her sister.

Snow

Here it is, a picture of the first official snow fall of the winter. It seems like it gets earlier and earlier every year and goes later and later every year. Trevin took one look at the snow and asked if we could move to Phoenix. A kid after my own heart.

Pumpkins

We decided to tone things down a bit and only carved 3 pumpkins this year instead of the 7 or 8 we usually do. Much easier and less stressful.

Pumpkin Patch

The 1st grade classes at our school were able to take a walking field trip to the pumpkin patch next to the school. The kids had to answer a bunch of questions about the five senses and a pumpkin and then each group read a Halloween story. I wasn't able to volunteer to help but Harlee and I went down and tagged along for a little bit. I love to see Brynlee with all her friends and she is such a good sister, she always make sure Harlee is included in everything.

Thriller

Brynlee was finally old enough to go to "Thriller" with me this year. Thriller is the show that Odyssey Dance Theater puts on for Halloween. My good friend Michele came with us and we made it a girls day out followed by dinner after the show. The show was amazing but some parts were still a little intense for Brynlee. I kept reminding her that they were in costume and only performing like she does. I have 3 years to convince her she loves it so she can tryout!!!

Reading Girl

I took this picture of Brynlee tonight because this is our fight at bedtime every night. This girl is never without a book in her hand and sometimes she has two or three. She crawls into bed and pulls out as many as she can and will usually spend the next hour reading. She is going through a chapter book in about 2 days and is reading on a middle of 2nd grade reading level. She is a sponge right now and just taking it all in!

Messing Around

We were at Walmart tonight picking up some pictures and "How to Train Your Dragon" had just come out on DVD. They had these set up so the kids could pose in them. Harlee was too short and didn't fit right but Brynlee fit perfect.

UEA

This weekend was the annual fall break for all students in Utah. The weather has been so nice so today we headed out. My mom tagged along and we ventured down to The Gateway where today they had free pumpkins for the kids to paint. The place was packed but the kids had a blast and my mom had a blast chasing them around.

Dance, dance, dance

Brynlee spends three nights a week at the dance studio but Wednesday nights are her long nights. She is at the dance studio from 4:30-8:30 with an hour break in there somewhere. During that hour break Harlee is in her tumbling class and I am in charge of feeding one of the dance girls and making sure Brynlee gets her homework done. Thanks to UEA this week none of the girls had homework and they spent their hour break doing none other than tumbling.

Hair

Brett was messing around while cutting McKade's hair and this is what they came up with. Go Copper Hills Grizzlies!

Trevin's Surprise

Because it is Trevin's 12th birthday next month, Denice decided that she wanted to do something big for all the kids on their 12th birthday. She decided that she was going to surprise Trevin with a trip to Arizona to see his New Orleans Saints play the Arizona Cardinals. We were all able to keep the secret from him for 2 months and it was killing me. She surprised him the morning of after his football game. He was speechless and then a little nervous because the last time he had been on an airplane he was 2 1/2 years old.
He had a great time at the game even though the Saints lost. They also got to go on a tour of Chase Field, the home of the Airzona Diamondbacks. Trevin said it was just the two of them and he actually got to go and stand out on the field.
I am pretty sure this is a trip he will never forget. Happy early birthday bud!!!

Wheeler Farm

I completely forgot to post about Harlee's field trip to Wheeler Farm. We went with her preschool class and it was a gorgeous day-almost too warm. It takes Harlee forever to warm up at all but she had a good time looking at the animals but really came alive when it was time to feed the ducks. Her teacher brought a loaf of bread and the kids had a blast watching the ducks attack the food. She didn't want to venture far from me but by the end, of course, she was ready to be with her friends.

Still Here

I have been a total blog slacker lately. I sit at the computer all day on Tuesday and by the time Wednesday rolls around I am done. On top of that, dance, football and homework have completely taken over. The girls are doing amazing in dance. Harlee is loving her tumbling class and is learning so much. Brynlee is thriving in her tumbling classes and in no time she will have her back handspring. Her aerial is getting better everyday. She loves her dance classes and her competition routines are looking better and better. Football is on the downhill now. Unfortunately neither of the boys teams have gotten a win this year. McKade has really learned to love football and Trevin, despite his very competitive nature, still loves football as well. We always tell them that win or lose, we are very proud and as long as they have fun that is all that matters. The kids are doing very well in school. Because Trevin has so many classes this year he received a mid-term progress report and he has 5 A's and 1 B. I am so proud of how far he has come and how hard he has worked this year. The other kids are doing just as well. Brynlee is going through a chapter book every 3 days and I am having a hard time keeping up with her. Fall is here and Halloween is on the horizon. I promise that I will blog very soon about Trevin's suprise birthday trip from his Aunt Denice!