Smashing Pumpkins

It is Halloween time and so we started off the month with our Halloween PJ's. This year's jammies glow in the dark...not that that feature gets used very often because I have passed along my fear of the dark to my children. Soooo...we tried it out once and that was enough for them. This is the first year that the kids helped me dig out the Halloween decorations from the garage and designed our house the way that they wanted. Chloe couldn't stop and actually went into the Easter box and decided that we should combine Easter and Halloween together. (We still have a few bunny wreaths hanging here and there...)

We picked up some pumpkins and decided this was the year we would attempt to actually carve them. It was funny. It took about .32 seconds after Jon cut open the pumpkins for the kids to be completely grossed out with the idea of scooping out the guts and seeds. They insisted on gloves. Pansies.

After the scooping, the kids drew the faces that they wanted and Jon obliged.

We added some candles and placed them on the porch. They lasted for about 10 days and then they were so rotten that they had to be thrown away.

We were disappointed. It's like when a fresh Christmas tree is all decked out and then dies and is so dry that you have to take it down even before Christmas has come.

I think next year I may just have to find artificial pumpkins.

I love Halloween.

Beck wondering if he really has to dig out the insides

Chloe surveying the guts. Gotta be honest...there was a little bit of dry heaving involved.

Chloe has figured out that every face looks better with eyelashes

Practicing for Thanksgiving

Ava was sad that her pumpkin didn't get carved.

She changed her mind when she realized her pumpkin was the only one that didn't rot.

Teeth

Ava turned 8 months old last week. Do you know what she got?

Her first tooth!

So cute.

That same day, her Aunt Elizabeth spent the night at our house and just before bed, she lost a tooth.

So gross.

My parents were out of town and so I tried to nonchalantly ask her how much the tooth fairy left her for her last tooth...not that I really needed to know...I was just curious, of course.

She told me that the fairy left her $8 for her last tooth.

Ummmm...$8???

Is that really the going rate?

When she woke up in the morning, she did not find $8 under her pillow. Much less.

I may need to have a talk with this said fairy before my kids start loosing their teeth.

Paying for their education? Yes.

Dance lessons? Yes.

Sports? Yes.

A mouth full of $8 teeth?

No.

First Day of Preschool

Chloe and Beckham started preschool yesterday.

Chloe spent the morning giving Beckham advice...because, you know, she is a veteran at this whole preschool thing.

She reminded him:

Not to cry

Tell the teacher if he needed to go to the bathroom

Say please and thank you

Be nice to the other kids

She even tried to teach him the pledge of allegiance.

I dropped Beckham off first, and when I picked him up, I saw this:

Then it was Chloe's turn. She walked in like she owned the place.

When I picked Chloe up, this is what I saw:

Smiles all around.

It was a fun day and we are all excited for the year ahead!

Miss Julene made all of the students one of these cute tote bags. Yes, she is awesome.

Summer 2010 Wrap Up in Pictures

Chloe and Beckham start school tomorrow and so I feel like our summer is officially over.

So...

Here are some random pictures from our summer that I wanted to make sure I had captured on the family blog.

A Day at Spring Mountain Ranch...

Dinner on the patio

We spent many nights eating dinner on the back patio. The kids love sitting and eating dinner together as a family. Chloe usually sets the table and rehearses which jokes she is going to tell.

Every One Loves An Ava

No one can resist Miss Ava. She is a staple to our diet. We eat her up every day...

how could we not??? Look at those cheeks!!!

More Fireworks

We went to St. George for a cousin's mission farewell the weekend of Pioneer Day. The kids went up early and spent the day with Aunt Amber and Uncles Kyle and Weston and went to a fair. We met up for dinner and a movie and then finished the night with more fireworks. Beckham now includes in his prayers, "Please bless we can do more fireworks..." almost every night. Should I be worried?

Like Father, Like Son.

These two are alike in so many aspects. Sometimes when I watch Beckham, I feel like I am watching Jon as a kid. If Beckham grows up to be like Jon, I will be a happy woman.

Cousin Time

Some of my most fond memories from childhood were times that I spent with my cousins. I feel blessed that my children have been blessed to have such sweet, fun cousins. They are some of their best friends.

This is from Oma's birthday party. Oma sent out invitations to each of the grandkids to invite them to her birthday party. They played games, swam and had happy meals. What a fun grandma!

The kids and Jon spent alot of time on the lake. Because it was so hot, Miss Ava and I stayed home and enjoyed the air conditioning. The kids tubed, surfed and watched Daddy wakeboard. We love the lake.

Weston came home for 3 weeks and we ate up our time with him. He was able to meet Ava for the first time. We had lots of family dinners, played games and watched movies. Good times.

My niece, Sadie, came to visit for a few days in July. We had a girls day filled with swimming, making cupcakes, makeovers and a fashion show.

Dog Days of Summer

I love this picture of Beckham. It represents a big part of the summer: Exhaustion. The pool provided so much physical activity that the kids would literally be in the middle of doing simple activities and would collapse from being so tired.

Chloe loves reading and writing. She and Beckham watch The Letter and Word Factory videos all of the time. The videos have really helped with their phonetics and the other day, Chloe showed me one of her masterpieces. Can you sound it out???

Old Navy. A little free entertainment.

Goodbye summer. It was fun.