Happy Halloween!

We're so excited about Halloween this year. The girls are BOTH trick or treating (last year Lauren thought she was too old to participate & just handed out candy) and Nolan is finally big enough to understand the whole concept. And he's incredibly excited to be Diego! Mira wanted to be a prisoner this year with a black eye and a dirty face :)

Here's my goblins:



Lauren and her best friends were all going to be characters from Alice in Wonderland but only two came up with costumes! They were still really cute! Lauren was a "Lost Boy" from Peter Pan.

We decided to do two FRESH pumpkins just for today! The dry ice was a great affect, provided by Travis as a last minute surprise :) He also had his pumpkin spewing it's insides. Surprisingly, everyone LOVED it and commented on it.

Luckily the weather held out and it was not rainy or snowy! A perfect night for ghosts & goblins...oh and the little guy dressed up as Jeter, MY FAVORITE of the night! GO YANKEES!

Go, Diego, Go!

"Deep inside the jungle where nature's runnin' wild, coming to the rescue there's a very special child. Talking to the animals and swinging from a vine, this rough & tough adventurer is working all the time."

We have a HUGE Diego fan at our house. On any given night you could be asked to be a baby macaw, monkey or even a baby chinchilla...and you're in TROUBLE! But never fear, Diego and Rescue Pack will save the day!

No surprise here when Nolan said he wanted to be Diego for Halloween. So, I naturally started looking for a costume. Tough task! There aren't any. What would momma do? Make one. Really all I needed to make was Rescue Pack and a khaki vest - into the felt stash I go :) Lots left from last Halloween....

Here's what we came up with:
The Rescue Watch is a MUST! This is how you talk to Alicia and get messages as to which animal you have to save. I found this printable one on the Nick Jr. website and laminated it, along with the different options for animals. Each one has velcro on the back so they can be changed out.
For NOT having a pattern I think these turned out pretty good. The vest is just that...a simple vest with the same patch on it that Diego's has. Rescue Pack is worn by Diego with just one strap so that's what we did. I didn't even have to make a trip to the fabric store, thanks to extra orange felt from the goodie bags we made last Halloween :)

Last night Nolan wore these until the very moment I put him into his bed! I don't care that it's not very fancy, he loves them and that makes me feel great. Can't wait to see him as Diego for Trick or Treating!

Nolan Picasso

Remember the smell of poster paints in Kindergarten? I can still smell it! Such a joy to make crafts for special occasions in school when you're little. So, today while I had a few things to get accomplished in the kitchen, I sat Nolan down at the table with some of my scrapbooking paint, a foam brush and a BIG piece of cardboard.

Kids love the simplest things :) Thank goodness! So, to start we had to put on an apron, so we didn't end up with paint all over the shirt.
It's sissy's...but shhhhhh, don't tell Dad it's PINK! Then he created his masterpiece one color at a time. While I was baking I'd dribble some paint on his "canvas" and he would use the foam brushes to put it JUST SO. Then he'd tell me when he needed more paint and which color he wanted. I was able to make 24 cupcakes, bake them and clean up the entire mess while he painted.

He worked SO hard on his creation that he thought he needed a drink...WITH ICE when he was done! I happily agreed :)

Scawy!

The title of this post is inspired by dear Nolan. Scaaaaaawy. That's how he says scary, with a LOOOOOOng drawn out middle and a quiver in his voice. Although it's early, we decided to go ahead with the Halloween preparations and carve pumkins. We took the kids to pick out their own pumpkins and the girls we super excited. They waded through mounds of pumpkins to find JUST THE RIGHT one! Nolan picked the first one he saw...just wanted to get one & take it home. Since he was still so little last year, I really wasn't sure he'd be up for the whole cleaning-out-the-guts-carving-it-out process...it takes a bit of time & patience.

But, as you can see (and par for the course with this guy) no hesitation at all, he loved it!

So, everyone chose their own design. Nolan colored his with a sharpie and Dad helped carve a face freehand. Lauren picked hers from a pattern, carefully poked the holes and carved out the wolf design. Mira drew her pattern on and cut it out, then (also par for the course) had to add BLING to hers!



Truly, there's not much better than the scent of pumpkin with candles burning the insides, lots of laughter from the kiddos and a cool fall breeze in the air. Except maybe MY personal favorite part of pumpkin carving.....

roasting and eating the seeds! Oh, and dressing up the DOGS! :)

{Witches}

Halloween has to be my favorite time of the year! It's not too cold yet and everyone is starting to get excited about the impending season. It's the kickoff for SO much goodness!

One of my personal favorite things to do is to go see the Witches at Gardner Village. It's so adorable how they have them EVERYWHERE! Kids and adults alike, everyone is happy to be out & about. Some hot cocoa, a little shopping and lots of photo opportunities :)

Even the trees are decorated with pumpkins hanging in the branches. How can you not feel happy & excited after a visit to the WITCHES?!?

We had caramel apples and Mira had her hair done with green sparkly hairspray. She even offered to take a photo of us by the duck pond...maybe next time we'll kneel or have her stand on something so the ducks have a chance of being in the photo :)

Fall is a wonderful time of year, especially here in Utah! Snow will be here soon, but until it arrives, we'll be decorating the yard, carving pumpkins and savoring every last ray of sunshine!

Happy Birthday Lauren! v2.0

In lieu of having a birthday "party" Lauren opted to take a couple of friends to the movie theater to see "Cloudy, with a Chance of Meatballs."

Her friends were so sweet and made her a special birthday HAT that she was required to wear the enitre day! And she did :)

This is them being silly in the back of the car on the way. They all wore matching knee high neon striped socks with their capri jeans to the movies! Ahhh, to be young again :) Glad you had a great birthday, sis...you earned it!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

It seems nearly impossible that 15 years ago right now, I was on my way to the hospital. Not knowing that I'd been in labor all day at work and certainly not expecting to be having a baby since my due date was still 6 weeks away.

Lauren at Age 2

While my brain tells me it's true, my heart says otherwise. Time has simply slipped through my fingers much faster than I EVER thought it could. I feel so proud and blessed to be Lauren's mother. She would make anyone feel like the perfect parent since she practically NEVER misbehaves, always does what she's told and rarely talks back. She is poised, intelligent, kind, thoughtful and loving.

Happy 15th Birthday, sweets! Thank you for being such a wonderful person and giving your all every day. I love you more than words can say!