Happy Halloween!

These are some Halloween pictures I've taken that I' haven't posted. A few weeks ago we frosted cookies with our friends Isaac, Easton, & Ethan. Of course my girls LOVED eating the dough, frosting, and the cookies.

Below are some Halloween crafts that we've done. We got the bat idea from my crafty friend Laura & Madisen just made the house this week- thanks to her friend Mara.
Happy Trick-or-Treating!!

Halloween at Preschool

Madisen's class had their Halloween party yesterday. She had a lot of fun painting pumpkins, making a witch mask, eating cupcakes, and more. I loved hearing the girls sing their "Witch Song" while holding their masks! I was able to record her singing it later at home. She's been singing it all month, it's too cute!

Relief & a funny story

*Yesterday morning I had my first visit to a new doctor- the one who will be delivering baby #3. Some of you know that this has been a very different pregnancy for me. I haven't had the same symptoms that I did when I was pregnant with my girls. Besides being more irriatable, less patient, and a little more tired- I haven't felt pregnant. I was so releived to have an ultrasound yesterday and see the baby- complete with head, spine and legs- moving all over the place! I heard the heartbeat and now it finally feels real to me! I did get an ultrasound picture, but it wasn't very clear so it won't scan too well. The due date is still set for April 30th. My girls are hoping for a boy & I'll be real surprised if it's not... only time will tell.


*This morning my girls were reading books & doing puzzles in their rooms while I was showering. When I got out I realized that it was pretty quiet so I went to find them. I heard the water running in their bathroom & knew there must be trouble. I walked in to find them both with globs of toothpaste in their hair. Caitlyn had so much that she had a huge mohawk! I asked them what they were doing. This is the conversation that ensued.
Madisen:"We were trying an experiment."
Me, "Oh what was that?"
Madisen: "To see if the toothpaste would make our hair change colors."
Me, "And did it?"
Madisen:"Yep. See it's white, green & red."
I sighed, "That was a good experiment. Now we need to wash your hair."

Ah, I love experiments.

Madisen's birthday- part 2

Thursday morning when Madisen woke up Bill had already left for work, but the girls were thrilled to see the gifts & streamers he'd set up. Poor Caitlyn squeeled with delight, "My turn" after Madisen opened her first gift. She was disappointed she didn't get a turn!

Madisen was excited to wear her new dress to school. Caitlyn & I got to attend class for the last 15 minutes to do a spotlight on Madisen & share cupcakes with her school friends.
{Please note: the cupcakes didn't turn out as cute as the ones on the web site, I forgot to buy orange Kool Aid- I ended up with Jell-o- and the sprinkles would've contributed greatly to the look!}

After naps we headed to the park for a birthday party. Madisen & I decided to do a Halloween themed party this year to mix things up from the princess party from last year. The weather was absolutely PERFECT- no wind, just sun! Once the guests arrived we started with a game similar to hot potato. You had to pass the witch had around the circle until I said freeze (forgot the batteries for the CD player). Whoever had the hat when I 'froze' the game, had to ride my broom around the circle.

Next we played a relay game. They each got a turn to carry the pumpkin/bear while they hopped on one foot 3x's then crawled through the tunnel, ran around the tree & repeated the course backwards before passing the pumpkin/bear to the next team member.
The pumpkin ring toss was quick but everyone earned a candy corn. Then Bill had a group huddle going for a few mintues where they raced around the grass before joining me in the pavillion for "Pin the Mouth on the Pumpkin". My first contestant was honest enough to say she could see, which is why she hit the exact location for the mouth. I was more careful with the blindfold after that, but one other girl hit it square on!
Everyone's favorite part... cake! This is actually a bunch of cupcakes frosted together to look like a jack-o'-lantern. I found my inspiration for it here. Sadly, we didn't get a great picture but it really did turn out cute! And it was super easy to serve!
Here is my birthday girl enjoying her 'pupcake' as she likes to call them!
And here she is after she opened her gifts, ready to pass out the goody bags. She was delighted with EACH gift! Her friends are so kind & generous! Madisen helped me load up these black Halloween goody bags with fingernail polish, a pad of paper, a pen, some play-doh & a pack of gum for each friend.

**A big shout out of THANKS to Sarah for being behind the camera!

A Busy Weekend

Friday night we met up with a friend of Bill's from high school who was in town for work. Since she wanted to meet the girls we decided to go to Metro Pizza- the most kid friendly restaurant near the strip. It was great to meet her & hear of the places life has taken her over the last 10 years. Teresa is a scuba diver by trade & she takes her job seriously! Bill & I were getting the travel bug just listening to her stories of traveling around the world. (Speaking of travels, we are T-10 days to our trip to Hawaii!!!)
After dinner I met up with a few friends from my ward (& a friend of Janet's from the north) to make some freezer meals. I did this by myself when I was pregnant with Caitlyn & it was HEAVENLY to open the freezer, defrost a healthy meal, & voila! I'm always looking for time/money saving ideas so I decided to give this a try. Ladies, I'm telling you it was 5 of the most productive hours of my whole month! I came home with 14 meals- most of which will feed my family at least 2x. The price was right, the company was great & I have a freezer full of meals! (Notice I didn't just say of 'food'.) Here we are assembling the last meals of the evening- phew! When I get the picture of how little space they take in the freezer, I'll share- you will be amazed.
Saturday was our every-other-month hair extravaganza. My good friend Lisa comes down from the north to cut & color mine and about 4 other people's hair in my kitchen. It's always so fun to see my old friend and my kids love the revolving play date with the children of her clients.

And last night was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. I was a witch- I received some purple fish net tights as a hand-me-down & I couldn't resist wearing them. Thanks to Natalie & Denett who completed my outfit. Caitlyn was the cutest witch I've ever seen- sadly, as you probably know, she's not very photogenic. She always has such a confused look when we're taking pictures... I can't figure it out. Madisen was the perfect princess & can't wait to wear her costume 4 more times this week! She was most elated when I told her she could finally wear make-up since it was Halloween. Bill pulled out the old disco outfit and even won himself a prize in the costume contest.

I passed out candy from the spider-web covered trunk while Bill took the girls out walking. The immediatley climbed up next to me once they were done to enjoy the fruits of their labors! Caitlyn is especially possessive of her 'special' pumpkin full of candy.

And this is my favorite picture of the night! My girls just love their friends McKinley & Reagan!

The perfect way to complete the weekend was with some homemade caramel apples thanks to a recipe for microwave caramel found here. We LOVED them!

Pumpkin Painting

Last week for FHE we painted pumpkins & I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Happy Birthday Madisen!

Today is Madisen's 4th birthday! She's got a full day, more on that later. Bill & I bought her a bike which we gave her last week. She wants to ride it ALL day, but mom only lets her get in about 2 hours. We love our birthday girl!