Halloween Party!

My good friend Monica invited our family to a Halloween party at the family center. The kids were so excited! They couldn't wait to put on their costumes and show them off!

Kevin has a lot of pirate gear, so we decided why not just use what we have a and add a little to it to make him a Pirate for Halloween. The only thing he needed was a shirt. I was just going to go to the DI and find him a long sleeved white shirt and call it good, but I decided to look at their cotume section and, no joke, this shirt was the only Pirate item they had and it was perfect. I found some red material to make the sash and cut up some old church pants and he was good to go!

Claire, like Kevin with his Pirate stuff, has a lot of Fairy stuff. The only items she did not have was a wand, because she broke her last one doing to much fairy magic, and some sparkly fairy make-up. She loved playing the part of the fairy princess and can't wait to do it again on Halloween!

There were all sorts of fun activities for the kids to do at the Party. They had a table set up for decorating cookies. This, of course, is where my kids spent a lot of their time.

Instead of a cake walk they had a book walk. The kids all got a chance to walk around and when they landed on the right number they won a book!

Here is Claire with her book. She was very excited to win one. Kevin didn't land on any winning numbers, but they let him pick out a book anyway. It was a fun night! Thanks Monica for inviting us!

First day of Second Grade!

Kevin started school this past week. He was so excited to enter second grade. He looks so cute in his school uniform! My little man is growing up! A few weeks a go he decided that it was time for him to start reading chapter books. I thought he would start and then just move on, but he proved me wrong. He reads every night before bed and updates me nightly on what chapter he is on!

Claire had to get herself some attention too! She wouldn't let me put the camera down without getting a picture of her with Kevin! Here she is in her Jammies that she never wants to take off, because they are her special Dora Jammies that Grandma Barlow gave her!

anyone about to look at these next post's will want to scroll down and start with the post titled Oregon Part 1 then scroll up one post at a time from there!

Oregon Part 4 (shopping)

You will notice that here are no pictures to go along with this post. That is because I forgot to take some, but I wanted to write about it anyway, because it was so fun! Janet had this great idea that the girls should stay behind a few extra hours and go to the outlet shops near Newport. The boys took one car and went back to Silver Lake. Janet, Raven, Claire, and I took our car. We had a girls shopping day. It was so fun! I would have to say the trip home was the most fun. We listened to music and sang our hearts out most of the way back! It was a great end to our vacation in Oregon. Thanks Nat And Jan so much for everything! Next time...VEGAS BABY!

Oregon Part 4 (the lighthouse)

Anyone who know's my Husband well, know's that he loves lighthouses! When he found out here was a light house in Newport there was no way he was going to pass it up!

Here is a Picture of Kevin near the top of the lighthouse.

Here are the stairs from the top. There were a lot of staires to climb.

Claire was too young to go up so here is a pic of her and I waiting at the bottom while Pat and Kev went up. (I went up alone after they came back down)

Oregon Part 3 1/2 (Claires fit)

Having technical difficulties. Will post video clip as soon as I can!

Oregon Part 3 (the beach)

The beach was a good and bad experience depending on who and where you were. Kevin loved every part of it!

Janet, Raven, and I had fun playing with the anemone's (is that how you spell it?). They were sticky to the touch and would close in around your finger. They were cool!

Claire hated every minute of it! The closer we got to the water the colder and more windy it got. She didn't like the cold, but she really didn't like the wind. (watch the video above this post to see just how much she hated it!)

There was this grogeous waterfall right on the beach. I made Jan and Nat pose for a picture by it!

Oregon Part 2 (crabbing)

Here is a picture of Nat, Patrick, and the boys on the crabbing docks getting ready to crab.

Here is a crab we caught.

While we were crabbing there was another guy on the docks with us who caught a starfish. He thought the kids would like to look at it before he threw it back in. Just a fun fact that Raven shared with me, I guess if you cut a starfish in half it won't die. Both halves will regenerate to make two new starfish!

The end result of our crabbing experience! cooking and eating the crab! Yummy!

Oregon Part 1 (Arrival)

We recently took a trip to Oregon to visit Janet and Nat. They really wanted us to experience Oregon, because it's the best, THE BEST! (right Nat?). Here we are when we first arrived at the Awesome place Jan and Nat were kind enough to set up and pay for us! (thanks again guys). As soon as we got there we all got dressed to go swimming, which is why I'm dressed like this. I don't normally strut around dressed like this, but I do strut! Hehe.

Some pics of our room!

The coast was amazing!

Patch and I posing by the coast on the balcony in our room.

Clairey the Fairy!

Claire's aunt Tina made her this tutu for christmas this past year. She wore it all the time for a few weeks and then decided she wanted nothing to do with it. I was so happy when she came to me the other day and said she wanted to wear it and wear it she did! She wore it all day. We took the kids to a movie that day and she insisted on wearing it. Patrick thought it was a little weird at first, but she was so adorable! She took her little fairy wand and wanted to wear her pretty purple shoes. She was casting little fairy spells. She was so girly! I'm so glad she isn't all tom boy. She had me worried there for a while when her favorite toy was a motorcycle.

Crazy Hair Day!

So, the day before Kevin's last day of school they have what is called Crazy Hair Day! It's the one day of the year that the kids get to wear what they want and more importantly do their hair as crazy as they can. At first Kevin wanted nothing to do with crazy hair day. He was too embarassed to try something silly and new, but 5 minutes before school he changed his mind. This little mowhawk was what came of that 5 minutes. I just happened to be helping out at his school that day and I saw all the kids with their crazy hair. I was thinking Kevin's was pretty crazy, but oh no! I was wrong. Turns out it's a big thing at his school (he transfered there last October). One girl had put her hair in lots of little braids and then attached a helium filled balloon to each braid and another boy grew his hair out just so he could do a reverse mowhawk where he shaved all the hair down the middle of his head! It was like being in a Dr. Suess movie, Crazy! I guess I have my work cut out for me nexy year!

Bear Lake!

We went to Bear Lake a few weeks ago for Memorial Day weekend. We all needed to get away. It was fun! Here we all are at the beach! It wasn't very sunny, but it was still fun just the same. Kevin and Claire went crazy picking up and collecting shells. We also got to spend some time with Patrick's grandparents who live up in Garden City during the summer. They really enjoyed having Kevin and Claire around to entertain them! It was a great little trip away from home!

Minnie Golf!

Patch and I took the kids to play minnie golf this past saturday. Kevin had been before, but Claire had not. They loved it! We all had so much fun. Kevin got a hole in one and won a free game of minnie golf! He was so excited! Here is Patrick making his move!

Kevin waving to the camera!

Mommy and Claire taking a break on a nearby rock!

My little babes being cute as always!

Little Seeds!

Claire has a new favorite song! It's called "Little Seeds". It's a song she sings in nursery. Enjoy!

The Inspector!

Ok....Now you have seen the pictures, time to explain what they are all about! Aside from old Halloween pictures I have never seen or been able to get Patrick to dress in costume. I've always wanted him to cut loose and have a little fun, but it's just not his thing. I have learned to accept that over the years, so you can imagine my suprise when he told me about a month ago that he had to dress in costume for a young men/young women activity. For those of you who don't know, Patrick is in the young men presidency in our ward. The young men and young women decided to do a combined activity where they put on a live version of the game clue. Patrick was originally supposed to be a character that was more in the background and he had very little lines. Well...When he came home with the script it said he was to be the Inspector! On top of that he noticed that the role of the Inspector had the most lines. You can imagine his stress! Again, those of you who know my husband know that he is not a social person. He likes to keep to himself. Well...Patrick decided to try and make the most of this new development and went full out with the costume! I was so proud of him for stepping out of his shell for the night! He is an amazing, funny, and creative man and I'm glad others got to see
a side of him that only I see! Of course I had to get pictures! Patrick did grumble a little, but ultimately agreed to let me take them. In return I let him get pictures of me with his moustache and hat....and Of course the kids wanted in on the action, so we made it a family affair! I love my husband very much and I know he had way more fun then he'd like to admit! I love you babe!

Sunday Stroll!

Sunday afternoon, after the 10:00 session of Conferance, Patrick and I decided to take the kids out for a walk. It was such a nice day (Finally) and the kids have been itching to go outside all winter. We had so much fun just hanging out and watching the kids play. I love this time of year, because it's not too hot and the bugs haven't quite comeout yet. I hate bugs! I love when my kids are getting along, even if it is for the sake of a picture!

That man with my kids sure is sexy1

What a Nerd!