Starting Off Four Strong

This year, I have to admit, I was really looking forward to Garry taking the kids out by himself and getting some alone time. Just me, a bowl of candy, and the remote control. Yahoo!!!

But it was not to be. Garry called me after about five houses to come and get Braden. And then Molly came home. And then Macey straggled in. Finally Emma came home with her Dad.

But I have great hopes for next year!

My Little Pumpkin!

We let all of the kids pick out a pumpkin this year and a pumpkin design. They got to pick eye shape, nose shape, scary face? smily face? teeth? no teeth? After they decided, Garry would start cutting.

I washed all of the pumpkins and got them ready to be carved. Emma said that she was excited for the day when she would get to wash pumpkins for her kids. Just to prove to her that girls can do more than wash, I took over Braden's pumpkin and carved a fun little BOO! design. Girls can do it all, Emma. Just remember that.

Boo at the Zoo!

When we lived in Maryland we would participate with friends in the "Haunted Forest" in Southern Maryland. We would walk down this beautiful garden path and there would be booths with businesses passing out candy, coupons and flyers. It was fun, and we loved going, even in the rain.

I did not think that we would find anything as great here, but I did! We decided to try out Boo at the Zoo! We heard that it was crazy crowded, as most events in Utah are. So we made a goal to be there early. We arrived at 9:30 -- a 1/2 hour after it started. Already the parking lot was full, people were parking on the street and in the back parking lot. CRAZY!

But instead of little businesses in Southern Maryland handing out coupons, the Zoo had huge names there: Chick-fil-A, Red Robin, Wendy's, Chuck-a-Rama, Chipotle, Village Inn -- we came away with so many coupons for free kids meals -- it was great!

One awkward moment -- while waiting in line at the Verizon booth, I got stuck in the middle of a flash mob performing to Thriller. I tried to get out of there fast with three kids and a sleeping baby in a big old stroller. Oh dear. I am sure that it's on Youtube somewhere. . .

Searching. . .

Remember last year when I took the kids to the fundraiser in Riverton and it was a borderline debacle experience?

This year I tried again! Once again we went out to the "Search for the Great Pumpkin". But this year I knew what to do! We brought good flashlights. Not great. Just good flashlights to help us find the candy on the way to the Great Pumpkin. Last year we had wimpy Princess flashlights and could not see anything and did not find anything. Nope. Not a single piece of candy. I kept telling Garry that we needed really strong flashlights and maybe even a lantern. He had never been and so did not understand the importance of a strong light. But I think that now he has gone through the experience, next year we will be even more prepared!

This year Garry was there. Which helped a lot. Last year he was in Washington, D.C.

This year the kids were older and so I was not anxious about losing them and demanding that we all stay together. I told them to go for it and I would find them later. They did great and found lots of stuff!
And we found the Great Pumpkin! Hooray!

We went with our friends from down the street. We have kids the same age who are good friends. This little boy is Molly's best friend so I thought it was cute that she was a Princess and he was a Frog.

Cruising

We went with some friends down to Provo to go on a Halloween Cruise on the Provo River. It was a really short trip down the river where we were able to see about 100 elaborately decorated pumpkins on the side of the river and there was a pirate who jumped in our boat and passed out candy. Macey was terrified of the whole process. About twenty minutes after it was all done, she finally talked and asked that we "never do that again." Molly, however, asked about the pirate for DAYS. Where was he? What was he doing? Were we going to see him again? She thought that he was awesome.

By far, I think that the best time of the night was when we went to Krispy Kreme for donuts and hot chocolate. The kids watched the donuts get made, and the adults hung out and talked. It was fun.

Kind

Last year Emma won an award at school called the "Dragon Leader Award". It was a year long commitment with various things that we had to do all year long. It was a little intense for Kindergarten.

So I was relieved when they announced this year that the Dragon Leader Award would be given out monthly instead. Every month two students from each class would be invited with their parents to a breakfast ceremony to celebrate the accomplishment of the student.

Macey was chosen for her class. We went to school, ate donuts, and she got a certificate from the principal. I teared up when I saw what her teacher wrote on the certificate -- that she was chosen for working hard and being kind. There's no question that Macey is a rock star when it comes to reading. But I love that her teacher acknowledged her kind heart.

Goodbye, Old Friend!

A few months ago Garry asked what kind of family we were going to be. At his work and in the neighborhood, there seems to be families that go boating frequently. They are boating families. Then there are camping families. The families who would go three wheeling. The cabin families. What kind of family were we going to be? What was our thing?

Apparently this year we became a soccer family. Garry coached Emma's and Macey's teams and Emma would also attend Academy Soccer and Goalie Training. It became quite a commitment.

But Macey's last game was Monday and Emma's was yesterday. We are all done with soccer until March! Woohoo! Goodbye, old friend. See you in five months.