Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Last Monday the kids had a day off of school, so we headed to the St. George pumpkin patch and corn maze. Perfect weather, perfect company... it doesn't get better than that.
Luke looking cute before getting all dusty and dirty.

They had a great rope swing and the kids just loved seeing how high they could fly. Here they are lining up for a turn.

Fun tire swings hooked to a horse walker.
And of course the cow train. Luke loved this little ride and boy... the guy drove it fast.

Aspen, Mia, and Katelyn having a ball.
Cole found a fun tower and of course had to pose for me.
It took me a good 10 minutes to get Luke down from the tower. He wanted to stay up there all day.

He got pretty mad at me, and that set the tone for the corn maze. Notice I didn't get any cute pictures of Cole and Mia. I was too busy taking care of my sad little Luke, who trailed behind with his bag of Sun Chips.
And last but not least, we got to pick out our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. We ended up with 4 wonderful pumpkins that we can't wait to carve. Thanks Geneva for making all the arrangements for this really fun day. We missed you.

Late Nights in Our House

This is the second time in one week, that Cole has fallen asleep in the bath tub. I guess I kept him up too late. And this is a common sight. It's really late so she should be asleep, or at least putting away the laundry sitting in the basket, but she's too busy reading to worry much about silly things like that.

Countdown to Halloween

The Ultimate Halloween Advent Calendar Yesterday was the best craft day of all. I met up with some of my dear friends and we made this awesome Halloween Advent Calendar out of paper mache boxes and some scrapbook paper. I'm so in love with it. It was just so fun deciding how to decorate each box. Mia helped me glue the magnets to the back, and I filled each box with candy or small toys. I keep them on the metal board in our mud room and the kids are so excited to open each box to see what's inside. It's always nice to hang out with friends and create something that I know will bring my kids so much joy. You can't beat that!

Fall Field Trip

Cole's first field trip was to the local pumpkin patch. It was the first cool day of fall, so we loved wearing our autumn clothes, including jackets.

He searched for a while to find just the right pumpkin.

Here's the winning pumpkin!

After the kids finished picking their pumpkins, they took a break and enjoyed some yummy apple cider with their friends.

Then they climbed back on the bus and headed back to school, where they watched "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." Isn't kindergarten FUN?

Kindergarten Openhouse

Here's Cole with his teacher Mrs. Morales. He was so excited to show his family around his classroom.

The Fun Things I Do

Now that the weather is cool enough, it's time to refinish some furniture. I bought this YUCKY coffee table at the goodwill for $10, which was a rip off in it's starting condition. As you can see, it wasn't even washed of its dried on food.

I wish I had pictures of the kids helping with the project. Cole and Luke scrubbed it with soap and scrub brushes. And Mia, YES Mia, sanded it with the electric sander. She thought she was pretty grown up. It took two days, but here's the result after one coat of primer and two coats of paint. The kids love it. Now they have a platform to stand on, before jumping on the couch.

Here's a tip: If you haven't repainted furniture before, make sure you use semi-gloss paint. Once I used Gloss, and it was awful. Shiny but always felt kindof sticky to the touch, and left fingerprints. Stick with the semi-gloss. That's what I used here.

G.N.O.

Last Saturday night we were lucky enough to get tickets to the Miley Cyrus concert. Kristen got the most amazing seats for the 4 of us. And it was so much fun. So we turned it into a full-fledged "Girls Night Out". The night started with dinner at Cafe Rio. Then we headed to the concert. We loved the special effects. Here Miley is riding a motorcycle over the audience.

The concert was so much fun. I was singing and dancing as much as the girls were (yup, I'm one of those crazy Moms). Afterwards we went for ice cream! It's so much fun to share these great times with my little Mia.

Here We Go Again

Introducing our newest munchkin! Arriving (approx) April 23, 2010.

Labor Day Hike

To get out of the heat we decided to head to the mountains for a Labor Day hike. It was a 1.2 mile trail and pretty challenging because I had to carry Luke most of the way. But the reward at the end was worth it. Even in the late months of summer, the waterfall still had water. And it was COLD. I was scared to death that Mia was going to slip on the rocks.

Cole acted pretty miserable after he got wet. Our friend Joe was the one to get the kids down.

Luke was too busy enjoying his bread with jam to look at the camera.

Back down at the bottom of the trail, we had to get a photo of all the cute and tough kids.

Celebrate a New School Year

Mia's school has a fun annual tradition. To kick off the school year they each get to release a balloon into the sky. It helps them remember to "soar to new heights". And it's all biodegradable. Can't beat that. The countdown....

It was amazing seeing 1200 balloons fly away. The three yellow ones (held by the principal) symbolized a yellow ribbon, to honor our service members.

Cole is 5

Happy 5th Birthday Cole. We love you so much.

Future Super Hero

For Coles 5th Birthday party, we decided to have a Super Hero Party. Not just any super hero party, but one that trains little boys to become future super heroes. Here is the group of warriors just before we started their training. Mia made the awesome banner with crayons. She was my assistant during the whole party. And little Luke was babysat by Geneva (thanks, friend).

Before we began, the boys had to pick their super hero name. Cole decided on Wii Man. We had other names such as T-Rex, Lightning boy, Toot man, Captain Underpants, and Jake the Super Snake, to name a few.

Their first challenge was to practice their aiming and shooting skills. They had to use a balloon pump to blow up a balloon, let it go, and hope that it lands in the target - which was masking tape on the carpet. The Red team won.

Next up was the obstacle course. The kids first had to fill a cup with water (a cup with tiny holes poked in the sides), hold it over their heads and run down the sidewalk to dump the water in another bucket. A perfect day for a water game. It was 110 degrees outside.

Next they had to balance a ball on a spoon.

Then they had to jump through a hopscotch course and jump over a few objects. The last part was the challenge of riding a superhero mobile around orange cones.

And finally race to the finish line. They all earned their capes.

Time for presents. Cole loved the gifts his friends gave him.

We love Costco cakes, and since they don't make a superhero one, we decided to go with the soccer cake. Cole loves soccer as well, and the cake was wonderful.

Happy Birthday Wii Man.

Friends

We have Awesome Friends. Aren't these adorable? I love the sugar sparkle stars. How creative, Geneva!

We Love Daddy!