Fall Carnival...2013

Last night was the annual fall carnival at Jantzen's school.   I'm still in the PTO this year and, again, I was put in charge of the haunted house.  I really don't enjoy being in charge of the haunted house, but I do like how it all turns out in the end.

This year Jaron decided he wanted to be in the haunted house again because he had so much fun last year scaring all the kids.  He stuck with his "Ghost Face" costume and Kennedy decided to join him this year as a psycho butcher...

   The haunted house "only" took about 11 hours total to put all together...you see why I don't like being in charge of it?!?!  It's a very exhausting project!
Here's how it all turned out...
This was the entrance...the werewolf and witch were only there for a minute to greet everyone.      This was the first hallway and corner you had to walk down (I made it a little more like a maze this year).  When the kids were walking through it, it was almost completely dark...that made it a little scarier than it was last year.     This was the next couple areas.  We had a lot of strobe lights and black lights in there as well...      I think this (the first picture) was my favorite part of the haunted house this year.  It was a life size person that was sitting in an electric chair.  There were lights, sounds, and fog that would come out of it, although we weren't allowed to use the fog part of it.  Last year we tried to use a fog machine in the haunted house and we set off the smoke alarms in the school.     This was the last section of the haunted house...      As a whole, I got a lot of compliments on the haunted house.  I was told it was "cooler" and "scarier" than last year.  There were a few issues though.  Every so often I'd go check on things in it to make sure all was going good.  It turned out that there were several kids causing problems.  Jaron complained that kids were hitting and pushing him and some kids were even tearing things apart inside.  At one point I had to shut the whole thing down so I could fix things that were being ruined.  After I was done with that, I went out and lectured everyone that was waiting in line to get in.  I was really frustrated that some kids had no respect for anyone or anything, especially because Jaron was being mistreated.  I really don't think he'll want to be in the haunted house again next year, which is sad because he was having so much fun.
I had to divide my time between the haunted house and cake walk (I was in charge of both), and I also had to take pictures for the yearbook (I also put that together every year), so I was doing a lot of running around and I didn't get to be with my kids the whole time.  Josh was still at work, so Sadie came and took Jaedyn around to play games, Jantzen went around mostly by himself.
I was surprised when Jantzen found me and showed me the goldfish he won.  He was so happy because he's tried so hard for the last two years to win one of these and he finally got one.          Jaedyn quickly decided that she wanted a goldfish of her own too.  She tried really hard to win, but she wasn't successful...      Then Jaedyn and Jantzen moved on to the cupcake walk...     Jaedyn won on the first try.  She picked out a chocolate cupcake...      Jantzen was jealous, so they both tried it again.  Jaedyn won again, but Jantzen didn't.  She was sooo happy to have two chocolate cupcakes...can't you tell?!?!      The third times the charm I guess because that's when Jantzen finally won!     After some sugar, Jantzen met up with his friend Jose for some more fun...      When I wasn't around, Jaedyn finally won a goldfish...she was super excited!!!      The kids took a break to enjoy some yummy shave ice...I stole a little taste too...it was good!     Then they enjoyed their dinner...nachos and soda!  I'm such a good mom!     Ghost Face totally photo-bombed this picture...kind of creepy, huh?!?!  Seeing that mask really makes my jaw tired!     Josh finally got there to help take Jaedyn around to play games, so I took a little bit of a break so I could watch my kids play some games too...      Jantzen and his friends were loving the prizes they were winning...      ...while Jaedyn enjoyed getting her face painted with Sadie and Haley...             Such cute girls!!
My friend, and fellow PTO board member, Angie was kind enough to take a picture of our family plus one (Sadie).  I was happy to have at least one picture of me with them, even if I was all sweaty and tired from the whole event...      Josh took all the kids home and I stayed to help clean everything up.  It only took us a couple hours to get everything cleaned up so we could go home.     Before we left, we got a group picture of all of us PTO moms.  This was our reaction to the carnival finally being over...yay!!!      As exhausting as it is putting carnivals together, I love it that my kids always have a good time.  It really does make it all worth it...I'm still tired today though!

"Spooky" Sugar

Every year my kids get excited about Halloween. One of the things they love about it is that they get to have fun Halloween cereal... 

  So, they were really excited when I let them have it more than once, only because I found the "old school" versions...you know, the way they looked when I was a kid...          Jaron's favorite is the "Count Chocula", Jantzen's favorite is the "Yummy Mummy", and Jaedyn's favorite is the "Hot Choclia"...aka, "Count Chocula".  I love how she says that.   My kids told me that cereal boxes back in the "olden days" looked kind of weird, but they definitely loved the way they tasted.  I love how they think I'm so old!

"Halloween Dinner"...Take 1

It's that time of year again...when I make my family fun Halloween dinners.   My kids get so excited about this every year, especially Jantzen.  He loves to help me plan them.

For our first Halloween dinner this year I made "mummy dogs" per Jaron's request.  Along with those, we had some "bat and pumpkin skins" with some "pumpkin puke" to dip them in and they washed everything down with some "ghost blood"...mmmm, yummy!!

   As usual, the kids all loved it!       We had a guest with us for dinner tonight...Jaron's best friend Jace.  Jace thought this dinner was pretty cool and yummy.  He told his mom later that night that she needs to make "mummy dogs".
For dessert I put some "raw meat" out on a plate for them to eat...      At fist Jaron was a little hesitant to try it, but the rest of the kids dug right in...     ...and they all enjoyed it!     Don't worry, it wasn't real meat.  It was rice crispy treats made with red velvet cake, but it looked pretty real.   It was another successful Halloween dinner for my family.  They all enjoy these dinners so much and I love having this fun tradition every year for them to have fun memories of.   I wonder what's going to be for dinner next week...

Smith Center Field Trip

Today Jantzen got to go on his first field trip since he's been in elementary.   His class, and the rest of the 3rd graders, were going to see a play at the "Smith Center" and I was lucky enough to get to be one of the parent chaperone's.  

The play we went to see was based off of this book...

   A lot of it was in Spanish, but luckily they did English translations, otherwise some of us wouldn't know what was being said.  The play was interesting, definitely not the best story I've seen played out, but the kids all seemed to enjoy it.  I think they were just happy to not have to be at school doing work.  There was one part in the play where the husband and wife embraced each other and all the kids yelled, "Ooooh, gross!"...that gave all of us adults a good laugh!
Jantzen and I got to sit together on the bus as we drove back to the school.  He thought that was pretty cool, mostly because I let him play on my iPod.     Even though the play wasn't my favorite, I had a good time hanging out with Jantzen.  I love it that he's still young enough to think that hanging out with his mom is still cool.

A Day at the Park with Friends

I took Jaedyn to the dinosaur park today after dance because I told her a few days ago that there's turtles there. At the moment she's obsessed with the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", so she immediately thought I was referring to them. Needless to say, I didn't have to do any convincing or begging to get her to go there. Her friend Sarah from dance decided to join us too. 

When we first got there, I made Jaedyn eat her lunch, then I gave her and Sarah some bread to feed to the ducks and geese.  At first the girls had no takers on their yummy bread...

  ...but that quickly changed!   Jaedyn and Sarah got bombarded by ducks, geese, and pigeons!  At first, it kind of freaked them out.  After a minute they were okay with it and had a blast throwing bread to them all.  There were a few geese that tried to take the bread right out of the girls' hands, but I was right there to shoo them away before anyone got hurt.      When our bread was all gone, we went on a walk to try and find the "Ninja Turtles".  Jaedyn spotted a couple of them along the edge of the pond and she told me that it was "Donatello" and "Leonardo".  She was sad that all four of the turtles weren't together, but she did find the other two swimming in the pond.  So, all was good in Jaedyn's world.  I love that girl and her imagination!      We did some more walking and exploring along the pond.  We discovered that the "Ninja Turtles" have several relatives in the area.  Jaedyn was super excited about that!   On our way back to our car I asked Jaedyn to pose for me in front of some ducks.  Her expression cracked me up...     She was afraid that the ducks were going to come up and "bite her booty".  Silly girl!   Jaedyn has now requested that we visit the "Ninja Turtles" every week after dance.

Such a "Pretty" Daddy!

This is what happens when you have a daughter... 

  ...you get to be her dress up toy!   Josh was a good sport to let Jaedyn put some of her play jewelry on him.  He had more on, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it all.  Josh is such a good dad to let Jaedyn do this.

Double Dose of Scouts!!

Tonight was a busy night for us, both of my boys were getting awards at scouts.

We started the night first with Jantzen's pack meeting for Cub Scouts.  He earned his Bobcat award and was presented with it tonight at a fun ceremony that involved face coloring.  Josh had the most fun coloring Jantzen's face, as you can see by the big red spot on his chin.

  Jantzen was so excited to receive his Bobcat award tonight and we're so proud of how hard he's working in Cub Scouts so he can earn more awards.     After the awards part of the pack meeting was over, the Cubmaster had a fun game for all the boys to play.  They each got their own pvc pipe marshmallow shooter.  As you can see, Jantzen was a "little" excited about this activity...         Jantzen had a blast shooting marshmallows at empty soda cans...     After Jantzen's pack meeting fun was over, we had to rush back inside the church for Jaron's "Court of Honor" awards program.
Jaron was presented with his "1st" and "2nd" Class badges for work he had completed in his 11 year old scout troop.  I got to go up with him and get my pins for his awards too...              Jaron worked really hard to get these awards and his goal was to complete them before he moved up to the official Boy Scouts program...and he did it!  We're so proud of him and all of his hard work that he's put into his scouting career so far.      Here's my two little scouters that I'm so proud of...     They really enjoy going to scouts every week and learning new things.  Jantzen is now focusing on getting his "Wolf" badge and Jaron is focusing on his path to earning his "Eagle" award.  I know with a lot of hard work that they both can accomplish their goals...Good Luck Boys!!
Oh, and here's a picture of my awards...     I love that I get awards for supporting my boys too...I love them...my boys, that is!!!

Quick California Weekend!

We just got back from a quick weekend trip to southern California for cousin Amanda's wedding. We've been looking forward to this weekend for a while now because we love going there to visit and it was nice being able to go there for this special occasion. 

Here's Josh's cute cousin Amanda and her new hubby Marty...

   They have such an awesome story of how they met (this is a second marriage for both of them) and they are absolutely perfect together!
Their wedding/reception was at a gorgeous mansion that Josh and I wish we could live in.  It just happens to be owned by a couple that are part of the Rick's family (Rick's College aka BYU-Idaho).  The ceremony was beautiful and there wasn't a dry eye there, including the bride and groom.
(Here are a few pictures from their special day)      There was some dancing at the reception and I tried to get my family to dance with me, but they were all being party poopers until...Harlem Shake started playing.  Jantzen was all the way on the other side of the yard when this song came on and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there he was getting down to the music.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, but I didn't.  I've never seen him so excited about a song before, it was hilarious!  After that, I was able to get the rest of my kids to dance with me and their cousins.  We had a ton of fun and danced all night!
This morning we came home, but before we did, we stopped to eat breakfast with Nena and her family, then we headed to the beach.  We can't go to California and not make a trip to the beach, even if it's a quick trip.  It was an overcast day, but the weather was perfect!                 Even though it wasn't very warm, Jaron and Jantzen wanted to stick their feet in the water.  I told them not to get anything but their feet wet though because we were heading home, it was really hard for them to stay dry...they love the ocean!  They just stood there waiting for the waves to come in and "get them"...         Jaedyn didn't want to get anywhere near the water, instead she decided to draw pictures in the sand.  It didn't take long for her brothers to join her...     ...Jantzen kept drawing and writing words close to the waves, so they kept getting erased.
This was a cute little head that Jaedyn drew, I was really impressed with her artistic skills...      ...she then added a body to it...     ...I got a good laugh because I didn't quite know what was going on with it, but it was really cute.   Our time was up and we needed to start heading home.  Of course the kids weren't happy about that, but they have school tomorrow and Josh has to work so we had to go.  Luckily for them we're already planning our next trip to California.   Congratulations again to Amanda and Marty!  We all hope you have an eternity of happiness together!