Halloween

Happy Halloween!  We had 3 ninjas, Cleopatra and a porcupine at our house.  Rease was gone for Halloween visiting Nolan in Boston and we missed her.  But Halloween goes on and we had a great day!  The kids have been excited for weeks about dressing up and getting candy so they were so happy when the day finally arrived!

We had the Hammers, Flints and Chalks over for dinner and trick-or-treating together.  Everyone brought such fun and yummy food!

Once we said it was time for trick-or-treating, the big kids were off!  They had big plans to hit both neighborhoods so they did not want to waste any time.  The boys stayed with Josh and I and then Desh and I dropped out after a few houses and let Josh finish going with the boys.  Desh was happy to just have one piece of candy - he didn't care about going to any more houses after he had one in his bucket.  I couldn't get over how cute he was in his porcupine costume!  And my 3 ninjas had a great time together.  They did get cold by the end of the night but were gone a good long time before coming home.  

After sorting out their loot this is what they decided to keep before giving the rest to Papa Pumpkin.  It was a hard choice and they really debated, but they finally made their choices.  We had a great Halloween and are already talking about next year!

Some of the cute things the kids made at school for Halloween.

Desher

This boy makes everyone in the family smile.  He is crazy, fun and goofy and we love him!

This week Desh has had the worst diaper rash.  His diaper was rubbing so much that I finally stuck a pair of underwear on him so it wouldn't hurt all the time.  He thought that was the best thing in the world!  Couldn't stop smiling and strutting around.  

Bike Tricks

My kids love riding their bikes and lately have been into doing "tricks" on their bikes.  They usually have a whole routine that they do together then end with a cool trick.  This was the grand finale of one of the routines Liev and Rhen did.  They're so awesome.

Feeding Desh

I asked Liev if he would feed Desh breakfast.  He was so kind and willing to do it and made him a bowl of oatmeal.  I love how he took his job so serious and even made the faces you make when feeding a baby!  Such a good big brother.

Running for Todd

We have a running group that has been running together all summer.  Once or twice a week we get together and do a semi-long run.  One of our friends in the group, Todd, was just diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery to have it removed.  We did a special run in his honor the morning of his surgery and wished him well. We love you Todd and we're running for you today!

Church ties

We have the funniest boys.  They are always doing crazy things like putting their ties on with no shirts.  The best thing is they're all showing their muscles but really all I can see are ribs.  They need a little meat on their bones!

Fall Break

We spent our fall break up at the cabin this year.  We love having a place to get away and it's close for Josh to be able to come and go from work.  We loved being able to relax and have a few days to do nothing!  The kids raked the leaves into a huge pile and spent hours playing in them!

 We took a trip to Krispy Kreme donuts one morning for breakfast.  This has become a favorite place for the kids. 

 And we did a lot of nothing.  Played at the park, jumped on the beds, laid on the hammocks and Rease got buried in the leaves.  It was beautiful up the canyon and we had such a wonderful time on our days off of school!

Loose Teeth

Liev has literally lost 6 teeth within the past month.  It's not just one loose tooth at a time for this kid, it's two or three.  He is keeping the tooth fairy busy!

Nursery Rhyme Day

Keen had nursery rhyme day today.  Each of the kids in the class stood up and recited a nursery rhyme.  Keen chose to do Itsy Bitsy Spider and brought a stuffed spider as a prop.  He did awesome!  He spoke loud and clear and knew all the right words.  So proud of him!

Turtle PJs

Beck loves these turtle pajamas.  Actually he loves anything turtle themed.  He has worn these pjs enough now that he's worn a hole in the toe.  He doesn't seem to mind that his big piggie sticks out though.  He continues to wear them even so.

Liev school work

Liev has done some great things at school these first few months.  He has been working especially hard on his spelling words and sentences!

Meet the Author

One of Rease's favorite authors Jennifer Nielsen is a Utah native and was doing a meet the author night at the library.  Rease really wanted to go and marked it on the calendar weeks in advance.  So her and Josh went and listened to the author and Rease got to meet her and have her new book signed.  It was so good for her to be there and Rease came away with a greater love for books and reading after hearing Jennifer speak.  So glad she was able to make it!

Naked tantrum

Desh has been throwing some good, old-fashioned tantrums lately.  Today it was right after he got out of the shower and didn't want to get a diaper on.  Ok.  Naked tantrum it is.

Reading time

Josh takes after his mom in a lot of ways.  One of them is the quality time he spends with the kids.  He loves to have them gather around so he can read just like his mom does.  Love these two pictures of mother and son teaching kids the same way.