Full Force

Last night we decided it was about time for our first pumpkin carving party as a family.  It has been a LONG time since Dan and I carved pumpkins(we've never done it since we've known each other) so thankfully my mom had a bunch of awesome tools for us to use.

Camden tried convincing Dan to carve him a BYU or Iron Man pumpkin, but Dan quickly convinced him otherwise.

Jace could have cared less about carving.  He was purely entertained with the pumpkin guts and....

a razor blade.

Once we showed them "their" final product, they were pleased as punch.

Camden's is the scary tree from Monster House and Jace's is a "nice pirate".

And every one's favorite part {as always}, yummy roasted pumpkin seeds.

Bring on Halloween, the spirit is in full force around these parts!

Costume Saga

"I wish to be Iron Man for Halloween"

Ladies and Gentleman, wishes come true at our house.  Iron Man it is!

Camden and Jace are beyond thrilled every time they talk about and/or put on their costumes.

And Jace will have it be known that he is a "nice skeleton not a scary one, huh".

Camden asked that I "be sure to show this blue fhing in a picture, k".  I'm not really sure what this blue "fhing" does, but I know it looks pretty awesome.

Although I'm new to this superhero business, it has sure brought some interesting conversation up in our home and lots of smiles and magic.

I am Iron Man, na na na na na na na na Iron Man.

I am a skeleton, na na na na na na na na a skeleton.

Spooky

For the most part, our weather has been beautiful this past month.  I have found myself on many walks with the boys for entertainment and exercise.  Camden's frequent stops to pick up dandelions started to get to me until I paid better attention.  He was literally picking up every dandelion he saw to make a wish. The same wish.  One single wish that started to nibble on my emotions.

You see, I already had our cute and creative family costumes planned out.  My vision even included tricking Dan into dressing up with us.  But the one thing he kept wishing for started to eat me.  He was not talking about it in passing.  Not bringing it up one time.  But honestly wishing for it on every dang dandelion from our house to the park for the last month.

How could I not let his wildest dreams come true?  Even if it meant being mortified to admit I bought a trendy costume from Target.

I did it, I let his "wish come true" cause I knew it would make him "so so happy".  He picked "the most awesomest costume ever", and Jace too.

Can I just tell you how happy this made my kids.  They have been beaming from ear to ear.  Begging to wear their costume everyday.  So you better believe we have already worn it several times.  And because we are the awesomest, we have been two times to random corn field's nearby for a photo ops.

I bet you are dying to see the most anticipated and wished for costume of the year, aren't you?

Shoulda Woulda Coulda

Sometimes ideas seem a lot better in my head than when I actually put them into action.

Last night's dinner was one of those ideas I should have left in my head.

Mummy dogs dipped in blood and served with a cup of spider soup.

Even the name was rather un appealing to my poor victims.  I'll know better next year!

Festivities

Halloween festivities are in full bloom around these parts.

Yummy monster mouths.

Creepy monster eyeballs.

Good ol' Jack's rotten teeth.

And the world's greatest neighborhood harvest party.

Complete with skydiving superheros and a witch on her broom(aka dust cropper) dropping candy for the kids.

 And no holiday is complete without a story time costume party with our best library pal Caleb.

Fall

It is here in full bloom.

Welcome back to my life.

I have missed your beauty.

And forgotten about your bitter cold mornings.

But I'll take it if it means enjoying this each night!

Cell Phone Proof

Lest my children try telling me we never do anything fun...I have proof!

We have done several blog worthy things this month.  While I have been busy enjoying those things with my boys, I have fallen behind in documenting them.  So here is a small recap of our fun.

The local fire department had an open house and we were sure to attend.  My boys soaked it all up; the hats, trucks, motorcycles, dogs, treats, whistles, sirens, horns, and balloons.

Nothing more exciting than a package in the mail from Aunt Charlie and Uncle Kelby.

A late night Steelhead's hockey game.

Harvesting our own pumpkins.

And a small town circus.

Take that for not doing anything fun!

Remember this!

Several years ago Dan and I were in a position to do something we felt really good about.  Something we did in secret and that made us happy.  Instead of buying Christmas gifts for one another that year, we decided to take a good chunk of cash and leave it on someones porch anonymously.  The very details of that night are still clear to me even though we have never spoke of it since; the dark street, where we parked our car, what we both wore, even who answered the door to find the envelope.  But most importantly I can remember driving away with the distinct thought to "remember this".  That family did not ask for money, nor would they have been disappointed had it not been there.  But we wanted to do because we were in a position where we could.  It felt right.

Fast forward to this past week.  I was mopping the floor in my parents bathroom when I suddenly become rather emotional.  These emotions got the best of me throughout the remainder of my cleaning.  But once I finished my routine, I felt the urge to head out in the garage.  As I opened the door I looked upon all of our "stuff" in one corner and the very thought came to me, "remember this".

Remember what?  I thought to myself as feelings of self pity began to flood my mind.  "Remember this!"

When Dan and I were faced with the opportunity to change employment and move to Idaho, things just seemed to flow.  Although it happened fast, we both felt it was the right move for our future.  I'm convinced it was no coincidence my parents home is so close to Dan's work. We both felt blessed to have been given the chance to move in with them for a short moment while we figured things out.  We wanted to find a place to live that felt comfortable.  We wanted to see the different areas and how far of commute. We needed to figure out what to do with our condo in Arizona.  We wanted to feel good about the elementary schools nearby.  I needed to seek employment.

Although it's never ideal to move back in with your parents, it didn't make sense to do it any other way.  It felt right.  The longer we are here, the more humbling it becomes.  It's sometimes hard to see the big picture when I'm forced to look into a corner.  At times I feel trapped and find myself dwelling on the "what ifs" and "if onlys".  But it is experiences like looking in the garage when I am forced to remember that the Lord is into the very details of my life.  I am forced to recognize that living here is our envelope of cash, if you will, that someone left on our porch.  We didn't ask for it, nor would we have been disappointed if it weren't here.  But we are beyond grateful for it.

So today I choose to remember this.

Shh...

Don't tell anyone but I may or may not have found myself enjoying this during naptime today.

Diet Dr. Pepper, a handful of candy corn, a hot bubble bath, and 2 episodes of Revenge.

It was the perfect getaway!

C. A. M. D. E. N.

I have had mixed feelings about putting Camden in preschool.  So last night instead of beating myself up, I rededicated myself to help him focus on a few things that might make him feel more confident as he enters kindergarten next year.  Of course Jace had to get in on the action too.

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Never Do Anything Fun

Apparently Camden lives a pretty boring life.  I swear I heard him say, "we never do anything fun" about 58 times yesterday.  Even though we jumped on the tramp, took Chewie for a walk, played Frisbee with the neighbor boy, rode our bikes, looked at Halloween decorations outside, threw rocks in the pond, played on the playground, took pictures on my phone, Camden was still bored.

So yesterday after dinner this is what the fly on our wall heard:

Camden: We NEVER do anything fun!

Me: What are you talking about?  We did tons of fun things today!

Camden: No way, we just never do anything fun.  We just sit sit sit.

Me: Ok what would you like to do that sounds fun?

Camden: You have to chose.

Me:(not really wanting to do anything else for the day) We could read a book.

Camden: Not fun.

Me: We could...sing a song.

Camden: Not fun.

Me: You could go in your room and play with Jace Man.

Camden: Not fun.

Me: We could skip baths tonight and just go to bed.

Camden: Try again.

Me: We could take a shower in Uncle Caleb's shower.

Camden: Nope.

Me: We could take a shower in Mom's shower.

Camden: Nope.

Me: Nanny and Papa's shower?

Camden: See we never do anything fun!

Me: Oh I know...how about we take a shower with our flip flops on!

Camden:(jumping up and down screaming)  Yeah, this is gonna be freakin awesome.

And freakin awesome it was!