Our Annual Pumpkin Carving Marathon!

Austin avoided my camera all night so I didn't get a picture of his haunted mansion with a spooky full moon- Chad really did most of the pumpkin anyway. Before the last one was done it was close to 9 so me and the kids started getting ready for bed - leaving Chad by himself to finish the pumpkins. Chad informed me that this happens every year. I don't feel bad because I was still doing laundry by myself until 9 last night. So cry me a river about your pumpkins!

More pictures of the Trial of Alice

The Trial of Alice

As promised here are pictures of my card costumes and the trees my mom and Chad made. London and I went to the dress rehearsal this morning and I was in awe of all the colorful costumes. There must be some talented parents at our school because they were all made by either parents or grandparents. For a first performance the kids did GREAT! Austin is smack dab in the middle of the stage- he seemed a little nervous but he did smile when he saw me and London in the audience. The final performance is tomorrow and I am sure all the parents will be entertained.

Austin's Painting for the Reflection Contest

All the 6th graders had to enter reflections. The theme was WOW... At first Austin wanted to paint a picture of Naples, Italy when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and he wanted to show the town at the base of the volcanoe with the lava coming down. He soon decided that might be a little complicated so he painted a volcanoe erupting with a lightning storm. I am constantly amazed that these children came from me and Chad!
This is a painting he did this summer. He did it all by himself - my mom only helped with the edges of the waves. She has been teaching different brush strokes. He loves painting but he tends to be a bit of a perfectionist so he'll tell you what is wrong with it. I don't know who he gets that from. Hummm? Anyway isn't it beautiful!

Braden's Pumpkin for the West Haven Pumpkin Walk

The 3rd graders carve pumpkins for the West Haven pumpkin walk. Chad and Braden decided to do a Hooper pumpkin with the stallion mascot. Braden was pretty proud of himself!

Catching up!

London walks around all day saying what sounds every word starts with. "Mom, Cat starts with C," and on and on. She says her teacher is teaching her to read and that Mrs. Cragun is better at teaching than me. Why are parents always the enemy? London, Taylor (my neice), Cami (my sister), and me are going on a girl day out to see High School Musical tomorrow. She said no boys allowed but Carver (my nephew) wanted to come so London granted him entrance except no other boys- she says. I have had to start raining her in a little because she is getting really sassy and BOSSY. I have to keep telling myself "I am the parent!"

Austin's outdoor season of soccer ended and so now we start indoor which is his favorite! His 6th grade play is Monday and Tuesday so I will get pictures of the costumes and trees we made. Austin is playing the 3 of diamonds card- it is the Trial of Alice from Alice in Wonderland. He also got all his points for the quarter so he gets to go next weekend to the Weber State football game with the rest of the 6th grade and have a tailgate party.

Braden got his Wolf Badge for scouts! He also joined the school choir. Braden is also getting ready for basketball but it won't start until January. He says "he is quite a busy man this year."

I went and voted yesterday! I won't say for who but I hope all of you go out to vote- even if it is for the other guy! Work has slowed down and so now I am back at the gym every morning gaining weight- yes I gain weight every time I start to work out. Everyone wants to make me feel better and say it is muscle weight. BLAH BLAH! I want to be skinnier not bigger! Chad hasn't been able to wake up early enough to take the train and bike to work lately. I think we are both eating and sleeping in because we are so depressed about the state of our country/ world right now!

Family Day!

We decided we needed to spend a day together as a family so we went to the Pack Pumpkin Patch in Farmington. It was a beautiful day to be outside so afterward we went to the park for a picnic. I have a feeling that our nice days are coming to an end! Austin wasn't too excited about spending the whole day with us but I told him we could have a cleaning day instead and scrub the tile floor! Somehow he cheered up but as soon as we got home he ran off to spend the night at a friends and go to the Hooper pumpkin patch. They grow up way way too fast. He says he doesn't want to dress up for Halloween either. We have tried to convince him that he'll be disappointed if he doesn't but he is apparently too cool to dress up! So sad!

A Celebration!

We went out to celebrate-- Chad's Mom had her last chemo treatment Thursday and her pnemonia is gone. She still has to have some tests but we are hopeful that she can now start to recover from all the treatments! Sometimes I think the cure is worse than the disease!

This morning I asked London {she's 5} if she had made her bed, she started whining and saying she didn't know how to make her bed. Let me just say she has made her bed plenty of times and she does know how! Anyway she was whining so I told her if I made her bed she had to pay me a dollar- she started to smile and said okay I'll go get you a dollar! She is such a diva! After about 5 minutes she came back and said she tricked me she didn't need to give me a dollar because she had made her bed.

Braden had his first week off of football and had a little withdrawal.

Austin's 6th grade is doing a play- Alice and Wonderland. So they had parents volunteer to help with costumes and scenery. I don't know what I was thinking I volunteered to make the card costumes because they looked easy, but I have to make 7. Then they needed trees, I was thinking Chad can build trees and my mom can paint them it won't be bad. Chad is going to kill me! We spent all weekend buying stuff to make trees and costumes. I don't know what I was thinking.